Two city sits – working on the road
This blog post was originally published on the 29th December 2018.
Towards the end of August we travelled back to Brighton for a week long housesit in Hove, with adorable Bedlington Terrier / Lurcher cross Joey! He was such an affectionate and sweet boy – more than happy to quietly doze at home but as soon as we got up he’d follow – whether we were going for a walk or just going to the kitchen! He didn’t like to be apart from us and kept us in sight at all times, even on long walks at the park. His gentle nature made for a nice, relaxing week of cuddles, walkies and meeting up with friends from our old stomping ground in Brighton. For the first time since we began our housesitting adventures we spent most of our days apart, as Chris picked up some 9-5 web developer work at his old company in London. While it was strange to spend that time apart after being together 24/7 all year, it gave us the opportunity to have some quality alone time, and Suze got to work prepping some sewing for the upcoming busy Christmas period!
From day one we slipped into a good routine of getting ready to go out early in the morning together – Chris catching a train from Hove to London while Suze peeled off in the opposite direction for a walk around Hove Park with Joey! This early morning walk was a lovely, gentle way to start the day as Joey padded over to greet each dog he saw, but never strayed too far from Suze’s side while we walked the circular path around Hove Park. After a good stroll we’d settle in for a few hours of sewing and snoozing (respectively!), or we’d walk into Brighton to meet friends for a cuppa. In the evenings we’d reunite with Chris at Hove station and take Joey for a quick run around at Hove Rec before settling in for a snuggly evening all together.
A real highlight of this sit was taking Joey to meet the Trusted Housesitters team at their head offices in Brighton! We were invited to go along for a chat with the team about our housesitting experience through the Trusted Housesitters website, and everyone loved giving Joey lots of attention and cuddles! It was really great to meet everyone and reflect on our housesitting adventures.
Although we spent the daytime apart, we enjoyed a really lovely week in the familiar surroundings of Hove, and it was made even better by spending it with such a good-natured dog! We walked so far together each day as his love for walking was seemingly endless, as was his tendency to snuggle up with us wherever we were. On more than one occasion Suze woke up to find Joey on the other side of the bed instead of Chris! Joey also loved to snooze in the sun on the wooden patio while Suze curled up in the garden hammock with a good book!
After Hove, Chris’ work took him between London and America for the two months that followed so we took a step back from our Go Walkies travels. When he returned we spent ten days housesitting in South Kensington, London, looking after Fox Terrier Frankie and kittycat Dymka for a family friend, while Chris finished up the last of his work in London.
As in Hove, we quickly settled into a routine of getting up and out of the house together in the morning and meeting up again in the evening. The flat was just around the corner from Kensington Gardens, which meant we could walk Frankie through the maze of paths in the park all the way from the Italian Gardens down to Marble Arch before parting ways for the day. Suze and Frankie spent most of their days exploring the vast Gardens together, stopping for Frankie to say hi to other dogs or for Suze to admire one of the many sculptures along the way.
We enjoyed our time in London – being back together again even if only for the evenings when we met up at Speaker’s Corner and walked home through the park with Frankie. We loved snuggling with velvety Dymka at home, and getting out and about with Frankie. We managed to meet up with some of our London friends over our time in Kensington, and Frankie even met Chris’ colleagues when he went into work with Chris one morning! These two short breaks in Hove and London were a great way to see lots of our friends and reflect on our housesits so far. After London, however, we were keen to get out into the countryside and back on the road…
