House Sitter

This year's trip to Florida will be 37 days (5 days traveling, 32 enjoying Disney and the surrounding area). That is a long time to leave our house! Leaving a house for any period of time requires a plan: house sitting, pets, lawn, and plants.

My college aged daughter wants to stay home again this year. She wants to spend the summer with her friends and making money. She will house sit and take care of the pets.

My parents live close. My Dad is in retirement and loves taking care of the lawn (any excuse to get is riding lawn mower out). My mother will keep an eye on my daughter to make sure parties are kept to a minimal.

For last year's trip I found a great deal on wireless security cameras and placed them inside and outside the house at various locations. The cameras are great because in addition to recording they alert our cell phones and send us pictures when they detect motion.

We have 55 feet of flower beds that require a lot of work. More work than my daughter really has an appreciation for. So this year I am trying to install a watering system. I purchased a hose that acts like a sprinkler and ran it through the flowers, connected to an automated timer. What I learned is the sprinkler isn't sprinkling all the flowers. This weekend I will add a soaker hose to the gardens.

Long trips need a plan. Our plan is in place!