Samantha Lee

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My apologies.....
This has now become a long one!!!
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Hello To The Community.

I am interested in embarking upon the house sitting journey as both a way of creating a way towards exploring the natural environment of the lands in which we reside, and thus keep active and well, as well as, an attempt to overcome the whole of life effects of housing oneself has in these current times.

There is myself as the main sitter, as well as a special friend whom is in my life. He may or may not be present during the stay, depending upon his present schedule and casual employment.

I am more than happy to discuss what type of animals you have and my ability to care for them, or if it be that, you would just like a presence in and around your home for the time in which you are away.

I was raised with outdoor animals.
Three labradors at different times.
A cat also, in the days when they were allowed to live outside.
I am comfortable around cows and simply just willing to be outdoors and on the land with all that that entales.
I recall the most beautiful experience I had one day with two Clydsdale horses, mother and son, which I will always remember.

My special friend was raised with inside animals and absolutely can create an affectionate bond with an animal.
He also seems to have the ability to read an animal well.
Either solo or the two of us, I am sure that the feeding and caring responsibilities of your animals will be met.

We both actually have sensitivities to cats, particularly indoors, however, will each do our very best to manage those effects individually.
I have looked after three different cats to date, including return visits to my original owner, and all has gone well.

I am not currently working and thus would like to feel a little more useful in the day. I am willing to adjust myself to the rhythm of the day with all that is involved with attending to your house sit.
I was raised in a family business whereby I observed and learnt to serve the community from a very young age.
I am a practical person.
My interests include walking and swimming.
I have had experiences with tai chi in the past.
I crotchet.
I love the open canvas that this technique allows for an image in ones mind, the possibility of being bought into the physical world, via such stitches.

All opportunities for house sitting and their individual requirements will be given my full priority, however.

I have a reliable vehicle.
I am currently in Victoria.
Travelling interstate is also a possibility.

If semi- local to you, I would also very much like to meet you in person before any decision is made, so that you may feel that you are absolutely clear about whom you will have in your home as you head away for a time.

I will respect your home and space as I enter into it.
My special friend, I am sure, will do the same.

~
May I ask,
that if anyone is messaging me whereby they are acting on behalf of an owner,
that they please make themselves known to me,
please.
~

I very much appreciate your consideration of me.

I look forward to any contact,
to see if we may be a good fit for one another.


With Kind Regards To You All.
Yours Truly.
Samantha Lee.


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House Sitting Journey
Began May of 2024
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The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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A lovely woman so graciously gave me an open door into the house sitting world by giving me my first experience of caring for her animals upon her property.
For three full days and nights I watched over her beautifully settled cow, whom still has her horns, whom is companion to an older male blind horse.
They were fed twice a day and both had very particular feeds.
It was lovely to observe their relationship over those few days.
There was also an indoor / outdoor female farm cat whom had access to the inside of the house via a cat door and had her own routine.
She was fed of an evening.
I also did some "mucking out" outdoors,
at my own pace.


The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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I met a mature woman in the local community whom was travelling overseas for approximately 4 weeks,
and she requested that I house sit for her.
I walked her extremely intelligent female dog once to twice daily, mainly off lead, in the surrounding, mostly remote area.
She was fed once a day only in the evenings.
I also attended to the outside of the property for her,
at my own pace.


The Baw Baw Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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For seven days and nights I watched over a very independent male cat whom had his own routine both inside the house, as well as outside with the chooks.
He had access via a cat door which needed to be opened of a morning for him and shut of an evening.
He was fed both in the mornings and in the evenings, as well as a small snack of dental food in the afternoons.
There were also five chickens outside whom were not laying at the time of the sit.
They needed letting out of their pen of a morning and letting back in of an evening.
I also regularly topped up their water and feed.
~This sit is the first review upon my profile page.~


The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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An important occasion for the owners bought me to a house sit to watch over two male dogs, a female indoor / outdoor farm cat and four chickens and a rooster.
The sit was approximately five weeks.
The dogs were walked around the property several times a day and were fed twice daily.
Both were allowed inside, however, only one slept inside.
The female cat had her own routine both indoors, as well as outdoors, and was let in and out of the house by myself.
The chooks were let out of their house and into their larger encloser every morning, as well as locked back up once they had entered their house of an evening.
Their feed was regularly topped up, as well as their water......
Not always to drink!!!
They were laying eggs at the time of the sit. They were collected daily and handed out to the owner's community as they accumulated.
Without being a requirement for the sit, I also attended to the outdoors of the property,
at my own pace.
~This sit is the second review upon my profile page.~


The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia ;
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Returning full circle to the property where I did my very first sit.
The owner so graciously had me back, to go on and learn how to rug her older male blind horse.....
two rugs.
This time, an increase in talking to him as I approached him and whilst in his space,
together with touch in particular places,
was also important to ensure that he knew exactly where I was., so as I could be free to place the rug on correctly.
He did so brilliantly remaining calm for me for four full days and nights as I repeated the owners rhythm and procedure which allowed things to go seemlessly.
Oh yes,
the carrots in my pocket also may have had something to do with it !!!

This owner has an ability to absolutely hold confidence in other human beings, their innate ability to learn, as well as, she holds the capacity to let go, to allow others to stand on their own two feet with new experiences.
This owner has been very good for me to interact with, a person holding such a confident outlook in others.
I hold a lot of respect for her and am very happy to return to her "animals of three" and care for them whilst she is away.

Extremely settled beautiful cow, whom still has her horns, whom this time around allowed me to pat her and be alongside her in her shed.
She is companion to......
An older male blind horse whom is actually happy to have different people around him if one sticks to the routine, who has a very kind nature.
And the female farm cat whom was in for pats on the first night again, whom also followed me out to the back paddock this time, prouncing around behind me, whilst I "mucked out" !!!

I rest well also at this property, even though they are only short stays.
~ This is the third review upon my profile page. ~


The Mornington Peninsula : Victoria : Australia :
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This particular sit was fulfilling a last minute need by the owners upon the day they flew out of the Country due to a sitter having cancelled.

What a delightful couple of chooks to have looked after.
These two were mainly inseperable as they free ranged the back yard every day having been let out of their coup of a morning and led back into their shelter of an evening with their daily meal.
Water and feed checked regularly as well as cleaned and topped up when required.
"Mucking out" daily, also.
The eggs that these two lovely chickens produce are particularly absolutely beautiful....
If you can find them!!
The little darlings do tend to change where they choose to lay.

The other main task was the watering of plants.
Extensive garden care indoors, as well as outdoors, covering a vast area on a moderate sized property.

Extensive watering of potted plants indoors.
Some requiring varied watering needs so often individual checking was required in order to not over water.
Large outdoor back yard garden requiring watering as well as numerous potted plants.
Extensive front garden requiring watering with numerous potted plants.
Many of the plants were propagated by the owners..
It is quite a remarkable mission that is going on and I do wish them all the best with their artistic endeavours.

By the end of the house sit I had a routine with the watering and became more efficient as well as confident with the results that I was achieving.
Attention also to the water feature and ensuring the water pumps were always in working order.
Attention also to the large home.


The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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What a privilege it is to be asked to return to support the owner of this property for the fourth time now.
We certainly do work well together and I very much always appreciate the ongoing commitment to an honest and practical interaction in all areas.
The animals are very calm this time around.
Super calm.
And we hope that this is because they know me now.
There has also been a change in recent weeks with the warmer weather beginning to kick in.
I have known these animals only through the winter months to date.
Arriving the night before the times required has proven to create an easy transition for the owner, as well as the animals, so we have continued to take this approach.
Lovely independent farm cat a little scarce this time around.
Beautifully settled cow now gets a rub at the top of her ears behind her horns, which she seems to enjoy.
Older male blind horse is very calm and affectionate at times actually now.
Thank you once more for the opportunity to learn by returning and being with your "animals of three".


The Wellington Shire : Victoria : Australia :
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What looks like being the fifth and final visit to the very first owner that I house sat for, due to me expanding my house sits across the border in the New Year,
it was once again a very real delight to look after her beautifully settled cow, whom still has her horns,
whom is companion to an older male blind horse.

Possibly a change towards much warmer weather sees them a lot calmer and moving more slowly this time around.
Maybe they are also just familiar with me by now.
But, they were extremely calm this visit.

Fresh coarser feed had me return after 30-40 minutes to feed the horse carrots in order to aid with digestion mid feed, which absolutely seemed to enable him to eat more easily within the requested time frame.

The independent farm cat was only in twice for pats and was again not seen much this time around.
The warmer weather may have also changed her feeding habits, having not eaten much tinned food this time around either.

In hindsight, it really has been a wonderful opportunity to return to the same property and observe, as well as learn something new about the changes that are made by this owner with her "animals of three".

I will always be grateful for the interactions with this owner whom has contributed in enabling me to take back existence in my own life.,....
by her example of living hers.


With permission of this owner,
my profile page now has a photograph on it to greet you all onto this page.
This is the very moment my house sitting journey began in May of this year.... of 2024.
My instinct kicked in as I jumped out of the car and walked straight into the paddock to say hello to those whom I would be watching over.
I extended out my arm to allow the horse to sniff it,
took the shot,
in order to let the owner know,
that in this very moment,
I was now physically present upon her property,
and all is well.

And so the journey began.......

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These are my experiences to date.

I have made a decision to, in most cases, complete a house sit and take a break first before looking at the website for another sit.
This way I can be fully committed to the current owner without any distraction or diversion of thought.
It also ensures that I have rested and can then give my full and complete attention to the next owner that I engage with.
I take the opportunity to spend time in someone's home seriously, and wish to have my energy and resources directed to the current sit in order to fulfill that commitment, until the sits completion.


I would also like to mention that I actually truly value the relationship that is built with an owner during the process of them allowing me to house sit for them. The trust and honesty is often fast tracked in this process that we are in together.
Building a clear and honest form of communicating becomes my priority to you, so as I can attend to life as it happens, whilst you are away. It is my wish for that honesty to stand strong both throughout the sit as well as on into the future.

For this reason, I am hesitant to expand my discussions into your community. It is thus my hope that you can take this into consideration when choosing your emergency contact.
That they are both independent enough as well as free willing to assist if needed. That they are personally comfortable with a sitter residing in your home for a period of time. That they are able to trust in your choice of sitter.

It is my hope that there may be an understanding that, whilst absolutely willing to be advised and informed of the needs of your animals,
in addition, as a sitter, I am going to hold the real time perception of the sequence of events that have taken place during a sit, and thus am able to express to the owners what current contributing additional factors there may be, if there is a change to an animal's behaviour during my stay.

It is my intention to preserve the integrity of your home.
The integrity of your space.
To continue with an animals routine as best I can.
To also, limit disruption.

For me, I am realizing that there is the possibility of me to play a small part in the somewhat important pilgrimages that both wish to be undertaken, and / or need to be undertaken by owners, and I wish their travels to be held by a certainty that they can rely on me if the end date requires adjustment.
This is an ideal and is subject to me taking on what I can at any given point in time.

There is, also seems to be, a growing understanding amongst "everyone" that this website offers a very real and significant alternative for animal welfare, that ensures limited stress and changes to the animal's environment whilst the owners are away......
All be it that I am a different human being that they will be cared by.

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Please also know that whilst the reviews have started being received to my page, there is no expectation at my end for owners to actually place one.
If it comes easy to you, please be free to.
I wish for it to be known that I place the responsibilities of the sit above any perceived exchange for a review to be placed.

Thank you once more for your interest,
your time in taking to read this,
and for your consideration of me.

With the kindest regards for you all in finding the most appropriate sitter that suits your current needs.

Yours Truly.
Samantha Lee.

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