I am looking for a house sitter for my house in Italy. It is a old farm house situated 17 km outside Siena in a very little hamlet (only 10 houses) in the countryside (the surruondings are very natural, a lot of forests with many hiking possibilities).But there are also a lot of historical places and cities nearby (Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra..) The main reason why I am looking for a housesitter are my animals: 1 dog and 1 cat and 2 horses.The dog Pongo , a simil beagle, male, 12 years old, is very energetic and loves to be walked around. He wants a lot of attention but is quite easy to handle.(probably during this assignment i will bring it with me)
Minu,the cat is very old and sleeps nearly the whole day but she is also asking continuously for food and comes. she also loves to be cuddled (she could stay on your legs the whole day) As she is very old now she has also a cat wc inside.
The horses are free to roam in a big paddock, ca 10 min by foot (or 5 with the car) from our house.They need to be controlled and fed twice a day ( see if they have enough water and hey and that they are all ok) The have a open stable which has to be cleaned . They live outside now for 10 years and are used to it (and are quite happy with it) . I prefer somebody who has some experience with horses (you should be confident to handle them, e.g putting a fly masque on or taking them to show them to the vet if something happens,be able to put up a feet to control it ecc).they are very calm horses (1 of them is quite old 31 years ) and not difficult to handle but you should know how to do it.sometimes they need some medication and you should understand if they need some medical attention.
I am quite apprehensive to leave my animals to people I don't know so i am looking for somebody who really loves animals, enjoys having them around and has experience handling them. The dog and the cat live together with me inside my house and during the night they sleep inside on their sofa ( Pongo likes also my bed!)
I have also a garden and some plants need some watering.
the house itself is quite big: 3 sleeping rooms a big kitchen a studio and 2 bathrooms. It is a very old countryhouse and we renovated it completely 19 years ago in a very simple tuscany stile (there is also a open fire place).It is no luxury villa but there are all the modern comodities (wifi, , dishwasher, washing machine, central heating with pellet ecc) Most of our neighbours are good friends of us and can help you out if you have any problem (it is quite international, italians, swiss, germans, norwegian..) as you can imagine in this place there are no shops cinema bar ecc. but a lot of nature so it could be intersting for somebody who loves walking reading and staying with my animals.As there is nearly no public transport you need a car .
If somebody is interested I would like you to come 2/3 days before I leave to explain everything and to introduce you to my animals and friends.(i included these days in my requested dates)I have enough place to give you hospitality in this time.Feel free to contact me for further questions.