Are you trustworthy, experienced, non-smoking, and cat loving with at least a semi-green thumb? Experience the comforts of a cozy home while surrounded by adorable pets, flourishing houseplants, and fun amenities both in home and around the area!
THE OPPORTUNITY
We like to think our place is comfy, cozy, and a great place you’d like to call home for a while! While sitting you’ll have appx 1,500 square feet of your own private space including a master bedroom, master bathroom, full kitchen, laundry room, & living room. For fun there is a pool table, xBox Series X, Oculus 2, and pinball machine. If you’re wanting to start or keep on a workout routine we have an elliptical, treadmill, and small set of free weights. Our home has high-speed internet, access to a community pool during the summer, a great deck with sunset views, and a relaxing hot tub. Oh, and of course, the loving attention of our two little ‘foster fails’, Luci and Sylvi.
Regarding the area in general, we are:
~ 4 miles from Creekside Knox - a fun little food truck park that offers a lot more than just a few different food choices and one of our ‘go-to’ spots for socializing.
~12 miles from downtown Knoxville - a great little vibe around Market Square, location of the Sunsphere World’s Fair attraction) & World’s Fair Park.
~16 miles from Ijams Nature Center (hike, bike, paddle, climb, learn, explore, or simply enjoy nature in Knoxville, TN!)
~45 miles from the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
~45 miles from Pigeon Forge, home of a multitude of tourist attractions including Dollywood!
~47 miles from Gatlinburg, a perennial tourist destination with a high density of fun, walkable attractions!
For further-flung day trips and overnight excursions (we’re fine with that so long as we coordinate with our preferred drop-in sitters) - some places we enjoy visiting ourselves:
~105 miles to Chattanooga, TN
~126 miles to Asheville, NC
~ 174 miles to Nashville, TN
OUR ‘GIRLS’
Born in May 2020, Luci and Sylvi were feral foster fail sisters that didn’t meet a lot of new people during their first two years of life thanks to Covid. With that they’re both pretty shy when new folks come into the house although that’s gotten a lot better during the last year. My wife and I both work from home and have for most of their lives so they're very social once they get to know you. They like having humans in the house and are quite affectionate once they get to know you. If we go away together for a few hours they’re often waiting for us at the door and will often make a point of being in the same room as you. Movie time will often find one or both plopped in a lap and sleeping is usually with them on or around your legs.
Sylvi started life being called Sylvester due to an error in figuring out her sex prior to her first vet visit, oops! Sylvi loves attention, on her terms of course, and her ‘go-to’ move is to do a stop-drop-roll move in front of you when she wants affection… she’ll just plop down in front of you and roll over on your back so you can pet her tummy :-)
Luci is a talker. While not loud, I call her ‘little voice’ sometimes, you can carry on somewhat of a conversation with her if you meow at her. Upstairs, she likes to take a seat at the bar and will most of the time sit patiently there while we’re working in the kitchen. Sometimes she’ll put a paw on the counter and while she knows kitties aren’t allowed on the counters so usually a stern ‘Luci, no’ will suffice unless she’s feeling feisty.
Both are indoor only cats unless they’re camping with us and they sometimes forget this. So the number one rule is to never leave an outside door open where they can slip out! Sylvi in particular is a master at stealth and has on more than one occasion slipped out when she sees a chance at freedom. And she is extremely difficult to get back in the house if she gets out so best to not let that happen. Neither require any medications and both are all day grazers when it comes to food, no need to deal with special routines or specific feeding times.
RESPONSIBILITIES
As our house, pet, and plant sitter(s), you'll be ensuring the well-being and happiness of our furry family members and houseplants. Responsibilities are pretty minimal and include:
> Providing care, feeding, and exercise for our adorable girls. Sylvi and Luci are family - their health, happiness, and care are the absolute #1 priority here.
> Nurturing and maintaining the health of our houseplants. We may have gotten a little crazy over the summer and would love to have them all alive and thriving when we return but understand that plants can be a little challenging sometimes.
> Keeping a watchful eye on our home and promptly addressing any issues. We’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort over the last 18 months remodeling, well, everything! Having said that we’re looking for sitters that are familiar with homecare and can address little things that may pop up.
> Mail management. Separate the junk mail into a separate box and keep us informed of anything that might need attention. We are almost 100% online but sometimes a random notice, bill, etces through that didn’t get moved over to .
> Keeping us updated. We don’t expect daily updates, especially on longer sits, but we do want to feel like we’re still connected with what’s going on at home while we’re away.
>HAVE FUN! We were full time house & pet sitters ourselves for a number of years, if you’re not having a good time along the way what’s the point?
REQUIREMENTS
To be considered for this opportunity, you should:
> Our preference is a couple/team but we will absolutely consider strong single sitters. We don’t care what your personal relationship is but ideally you are essentially a ‘team’ where if one gets sick or gets called away on pressing business the other will stay and continue the responsibilities of the sit.
> Be non-smokers.
> Documented, verifiable experience in pet care and house sitting.
> Genuine love and understanding for animals, plants, and their unique needs.
> A responsible and trustworthy nature, respecting the home and its occupants.
> Not bring any outside pets into the sit.
Finally, we realize that if you’re full time sitters one of the more challenging aspects can be finding sits where the dates work out with minimal gaps between the ending of one and the beginning of another. Because of this we’re offering the option to arrive a few days before the sit actually begins and/or leave a few days after the sit ends. As previously mentioned you’ll have a completely private, separate space of your own with a seperate entrace should you want to take advantage of this option.
We hope this has given you some idea of what our situation is but of course we’re open to questions. If you think we might all be a good fit feel free to reach out and we’ll happily fill in any details that we didn’t think of.