House sitting

Wow, I've got a lot to catch up on, so expect a few posts in the next while. Here's another reason why I've been so tardy at posting.


What is this collage of, you might ask? Well, this is the last place that I was house sitting for two weeks in August. Absolutely beautiful place, however, did you notice how many FLOWERS there are in the above pictures??? I tend to not do too well in the way of house plants, so when these people asked me to stay at their place and water the plants outside EVERY DAY that it didn't rain, I'm going to be honest and say that a little panic set in.

This house is up where Village Girl went to the Rich People's Park, so it's in a very nice area of town. I know it was only two weeks, but it seemed MUCH longer. Let me take you on a tour.


They live up against the mountain, so there's not much of a backyard. Most people would leave it at that and maybe put in a few plants and rocks. Noooooope, not these people. This picture doesn't do it justice, but they've planted at least half way up the hill. Ever hear of an irrigation system? :) There are soaker hoses up there and some sprinklers, but they aren't on timers, plus there's a lot that gets missed by the sprinklers, so there's a lot of hand watering to do.


This is a picture of one of the trails that I had to hike to get up to where I needed to water. It was quite steep and on my 2nd day there, I spooked myself. I heard a twig snap, turned around, but that's not what scared me, because I've stayed at this same house during the winter and have seen deer standing exactly where I was standing and thought, "That might be cool to see a deer this close up." No, my mind wandered and started thinking, "I wonder if there are cougars up here?" I've heard about cougar attacks in Coquitlam in people's backyards, and here I am UP IN THEIR TERRITORY IN THE MOUNTAIN. Bren kindly reassured me that if a cougar was going to attack me, it would stalk me for about half an hour and then it would attack and I'd never hear it coming, so the twig I heard snapping probably wasn't a cougar. Thanks, Bren! That made me feel much better. After that it was a little hard to water while constantly looking over my shoulder or peering through the leaves expecting to see a pair of hungry eyes staring back at me. Hungry eyes ... isn't that a song from Dirty Dancing. Anyways, at least while I was up there I had a gorgeous view.


I could see the Costco complex, the Sumas flats and of course the beautiful Mt. Baker. So, after I had watered up there for AT LEAST one hour every day that it didn't rain, I had to also water the stand alone pots down below AND keep seeds topped up in the bird feeders.

In this picture above there are 4 bird feeders and 3 bird baths. Yes, just in this ONE section of the backyard. Again, beautiful, but it was my "job" to keep it that way. I say job in quotes because most people get paid for jobs, but I digress.

When I stayed at this place in winter, the area in the picture above was over run with birds. The ground looked like it was moving there were so many birds there. I guess they can find their own food during the summer, so instead the chipmunks and squirrels took all the seeds I put out. I didn't mind seeing as they were storing up for winter. They would fill up their cheeks, run up the hill, empty out and then come back for more. Carmen, sorry if the pictures below look too much like You-Know-What and creep you out.


There was also a friendly Mr. Frog in the backyard who I had to get a picture of when he was sitting just underneath a little statue that looked almost exactly like him (see below).

I also saw a lizard, but he was too quick for me to get a picture of and the first day I was up on the hill watering a hummingbird came and played in the spray of the hose. That was very cool to watch (although he got a bit close ... like reach out and touch him close, and I was afraid he/she was maybe protecting a nest and was going to attack me). I didn't have my camera with me when he/she did that, and he/she didn't come back after that ... maybe because I sprayed him/her when I thought he/she was going to attack me. Oops!

In the end, I think the place looked pretty good for me having NO green thumb and the owners said everything looked great. Phewf! Another house sitting gig under my belt. I'm now back at "The Box" as I affectionately call it (the place where I started out with no internet and no cable ... yeah, that's been taken care of).

I will leave you with a few pictures of my favorite flowers from the last place.

I've been to 2 GREAT concerts since I've talked to you last and had dinner with old friends, so I'll try to catch up really soon. Thanks for sticking with me ... that is ... if you're still out there?