Category: Cats

The Dog & Cats With The Fringe

9/12/2016

It was time to spice things up for the summer of 2016. We had already completed a dog sit in France followed by a cat sit (well four cats to be precise) in Austria. What would make the most sense for our next port of call? Scotland, it turns out. And, just for fun, it was time now to have both cats and a dog under the same roof. So back in the car we jumped for the long drive to Scotland’s jewel of a capital city, Edinburgh. Despite the distance to cover we actually had a chance to make a few stops in places like Dumfries and Glasgow.

Somewhere in Glasgow at 3 am

Now, for those of you who have visited Glasgow (or are from there) you may be surprised that I even remember that stay. You see, Glaswegians are the friendliest of people and always up for a good time. A night out with them means each move from place to place involves another pint of beer or shot of whisky, sometimes both. The Horseshoe Bar’s karaoke night will never be the same after Blair made his debut, and, if Terry is performing his card tricks at the Blue Dog, it’s definitely worth a visit for a drink and some live music. I’m sure the night would have gone on until the sun came up, the only things that saved us were declaring ourselves lightweights at 3:00 am and sampling one of the local delicacies, deep fried pizza, on the way "home". And so started our Scottish adventure. Off to Edinburgh we go!

Leith Links

On this occasion, we were sitting for a family in Leith, the historic waterside docks area of Edinburgh within walking distance of everything (yes, we like to walk, which is a blessing given all the doggies we look after). What we hadn’t realised when we agreed to the sit a few weeks earlier was that the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival was on at the same time and actually started on the day we arrived. What a bonus! Anyone who has been in Edinburgh during August will know what I mean. The city is buzzing with shows, people, just life in general. This welcome twist truly exemplifies the joys of house sitting. While you have serious responsibilities where pets are involved in a house sit - and they take absolute priority - there are always new discoveries and fantastic experiences to be found, and Edinburgh shared these with us in abundance over that long weekend.

We divvied up the responsibilities and developed our routine. I should explain that Blair has a theatrical background so I took primary responsibility for walking Midge, the Jack Russell, twice a day and Blair for feeding Emu and Sparrow, the two cats, and attending to their litter tray (God bless him). That gave him the time to attend at least double the number of Fringe events as me (our bank account has yet to recover)

Midge is a nervous dog, shy with new people until you get her outside. Then she transforms and, whenever I got her lead on, she would come into her own on the nearby Leith Links open space or during the more extended walks down to and along the waterfront.

Midge after a walk

The culprit

It was all going so well until she stopped very abruptly early one morning about as far from the house as I had ever taken her. This sharp halt caused her leather collar to snap in half. Worried that she would quickly take the freedom initiative and vanish down the street, I scooped her up into my arms and cradled her all the way home to strange looks from passers by. Unfortunately, with only two arms and a bewildered canine I had to get back home safely, Midge was all I scooped. I forgot to mention that the reason Midge stopped so suddenly was that nature called. So my deepest apologies to the wonderful people of Edinburgh for what we left behind and which had already been removed by the time I went back to look for it later.

On the Links

In the alcove

On Nicolo

Putting the always unpredictable Scottish weather to one side, Edinburgh is a fantastic city to visit, and if you haven’t been you should go. With both dog and Festival walking including going back and forth to Leith from the Festival events to check on Emu, Midge, and Sparrow, we have never covered so many miles in so few days. Or so many stairs for that matter. Getting to many of the Festival events required climbing up the hill on the top of which beautiful Edinburgh Castle is perched. Then when we got home we would go up and down the stairs of this three floored townhouse searching for the two cats, one of whom in particular loved to play hide and seek when not sleeping on top of me while reading a book. The other would often to be found gracefully “resting” in the adopted feline alcove. The house had so many fun nooks and crannies for cats to hide it was like exploring an Escher painting.

There was just one problem with this house sit. It was too short. If our gracious host family ever decides to invite us back and are reading this, two requests please:
1) Edinburgh Fringe 2017 would be great timing, and
2) feel free to stay away longer next time.

Our bright red car now has its nose pointed towards “south of the border”. For the first time as official house sitters, England, here we come!

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From the Cider Route to the Alps

9/9/2016

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Congress Centre in Bad Ischl, Austria

This wasn’t our first time in Austria. In fact, we had just been there earlier this year. That time we were on a road trip that started in England, took us through a multitude of European countries, with major stops in Cologne, Budapest, Sofia, San Marino, and Milan before returning. Along the way, we spent the night in Salzburg, the first time there for both of us. Beautiful, both the city and surrounding view. Other than Mozart, nothing else to add. What a delight then to now be heading to a famous and historic spa town frequented by Austrian emperors of old just 45 minutes away.

For this house sit, we definitely changed the game a little bit, trading one dog in Normandy for four cats in a stunning town in west Austria with the most spectacular views. We went from rural to town living, from open fields to litter boxes, from the odd bark to a chorus of meows.

I grew up with a cat, Bella, so know what they can be like and was a little apprehensive. Blair never did so he was excited. Whether he was feeding (it seemed constantly) hungry Matthew’s voracious appetite, stroking gentle and aged Philip who had been unwell before we got there, playing with loving Jane and her toys, or putting a hand out for Milli when she jumped on the bed at 6 in the morning to say “it’s time”, he seemed busy all day (and we won’t talk about sorting out the “little accident” that one of the four forgot to own up to). While his job was to make sure all their needs were catered for, mine, on this trip, was to make sure all of ours were. It’s easy to forget to feed yourself when you are trying to figure out what each cat will or will not eat that day, or chasing them around trying to snap photos for the daily email updates to their mother.

Unless surrounded by multiple cats at the same time, you tend to forget how different their personalities really can be. Some are shy, some noisy, some bossy, and some just really can’t be bothered! But with all their differences you can bet on one thing. When it comes to getting what they want they certainly know how to work as a team. Looking back now as I write this, some scenes must have been amusing.

The Fabulous Four with Blair

The early morning routine started like this. First, Philip would open the door to our room. Yes, you read that right. Philip had learned to open any door with a handle (note to self: remember to deadbolt the front door). Then, Milli and Jane would enter. They would each pick one of us to pounce on. Milli tended to walk back and forth over your body with a couple of meows. Jane would just whip out her claws. Then, just for good measure, they would switch humans to make sure we were equitably treated. Finally, Matthew would... well, mostly just sit and watch all of this go down. In the end, you had no choice but to wake up prepare their breakfast and let them out for their daily explorations. It really was the most intricate alarm clock I have ever owned.

Milli sleeping ...eventually

The evening ritual was its own affair. I can remember walking up and down the public steps outside the house, and round and round the large garden, making “kissing” sounds trying to entice Milli back in with treats for bedtime. And would she come? Well…. eventually. But who knows what the neighbors made of these two tall, strange foreigners wandering around at dusk calling out her name.
Cats 1 - Humans 0.

If you ever get a chance to visit Bad Ischl in Austria, go. With two rivers that join in the center of the town (one of which you can swim in), wonderful waterfront cafés (not to mention the cakes and pastries inside), and a spectacular backdrop, it’s what I think of as classic old town Austria. We walked, and explored, and walked some more during the daytime knowing that, being in a relatively small town on this trip, we could nip home to check up the Fabulous Four (and, naturally, deal with Matthew’s multiple food requests).

For some of our longer excursions, we were able to visit the nearby lakes, with stunning small towns nestled on the shoreline. Some of the places we made it to were Hallstatt on Lake Hallstatt - a definite tourist destination - and St. Wolfgang which was a quiet and beautiful retreat on the edge of the water. Austria just really is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Views across stunning Lake Hallstatt

This second house sitting experience of ours could not have been more different than the first, and yet it was another great adventure. Where and what next?

Update 9/7/2016: It is with heavy hearts we say that the story of our time in Austria has been punctuated by sad news. It has been a few weeks since we left and two members of the beloved feline family have passed away. This blog post is dedicated to Philip and Matthew. They are missed.

Matthew and Phil

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