A great base to explore the south of England! ) We have two friendly, healthy 8-year-old, indoor/outdoor cats who will need care and a bit of love while we head to the USA.
Southampton is a very old city of about 250,000 diverse people. It has important docks (the Titanic, and the Mayflower, sailed from here), a good chunk of medieval wall, two universities, culture, good restaurants, shopping, good transport links.
Our house is in a quiet, very convenient residential neighbourhood (Upper Shirley). It's 260 paces to a corner shop, less than 10 minutes' walk to The Common (350 acres of parkland), a city park, pubs, cafes. A walk of minutes brings you to a shopping street; there also are a few buses nearby, so a car is not 100% essential. You can walk from Southampton Central Station to our house in minutes (1.5 miles)
Built 1924, the house recently has been extended and renovated. So it's bright and up-to-date but still cosy and comfortable. A major feature is the 25' (nearly 8 metre) kitchen/dining room that extends from front to back and opens onto the small patio and landscaped garden. There are three bedrooms upstairs, modern bathrooms. There is good wifi, a landline , easy on-street parking on our quiet road.
From Southampton, there are frequent trains to London Waterloo (1 hour, 20 minutes, an easy day trip) and many other UK destinations. There are ferries for the short trip to the Isle of Wight. The lovely New Forest, a national park with its 1000s free range ponies, cattle, donkeys, sheep, is just 20 minutes away. The cathedral cities of Winchester, Salisbury, and Chichester are easily accessed, as are lovely villages. A great area for gentle walking, also cycling, sailing, horse riding, shingle and sand beaches.
Our main need is for cat care for our friendly-but-independent furry cats: they may well want a lap to sit on! Other modest needs are to bring in mail, tend a few plants and the small garden, mow the small patch of lawn, communicate occasionally with owners, leave our home clean and in good order. There may be small jobs available to an eager handyperson or gardener--very welcome, but these are not required.
I'm happy to provide more information and photos to prospective sitters after initial contact. Please do tell us something about yourself and your experience with cats. Please note, too, that we may need sitters at other times of year as well. Non-smokers only, please.
I'm American and my husband is British; on this trip we'll be heading to the USA for family visits. Our precise dates will be very close to the dates in this posting, to be confirmed as soon as we've booked tickets. We love house sitters, have had great experiences over about 10 years with sitters from many countries; it's such a good solution for travelers, pets, and sitters. Cheers.