Housesitter in Nottingham

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One of the benefits of running Housesitmatch is that I can hop into housesits on occasion. It’s such a treat to become a housesitter and petsitter to care for people’s homes and pets. I love to choose new places to discover, where I have never been before. Recently I became a housesitter in Nottingham, which proved to be a great adventure. Here’s what I did.

First things first, My name is Lamia Walker, I am the founder of Housesitmatch and we’re a housesitting and petsitting platform that facilitates affordable travel, and housesitting petsitting matches around the world. We’re run a little like a club.

How to start

You join as either a housesitter or a homeowner member and you get checked then you become friends with people you connect with for housesitting.

The housesitter meet and greet

In this instance, I volunteered to be a cat sitter and housesitter in Nottingham for Julia. She’s one of our regular clients on the housesitting platform. We had known each other for years as client and supplier but we had never actually met.

UK housesitter in Nottingham

That was one real advantage for me in doing the housesits myself, I love meeting people in our network. Julia was travelling to Mexico on holiday to visit her son and attend his wedding. So it was really important she found a good housesitter to care for her four cats in her absence. I happened to be free and volunteered this time.

Business owner turns UK housesitter

Meeting Julia and her four fun felines was an absolute treat. For a moment she treated me formally as her housesitter in Nottingham, and gave me an introduction to her home. She showed me where everything was kept for the cats, food, litter, spare bowls etc.

Easy sit guidelines brief

She had also prepared a document from the ‘Easy sit guidelines’ template we offer with all the key contact details, for vets, friendly neighbours, local facilities etc. It’s really handy to have as a sitter and a good reference for me while Julia was on the other side of the world.

Housesitting for Burmese cats

Not sure who was looking after whom to be honest. Julia’s cats were pretty self-sufficient and very routine driven. They really just needed me to feed them three times a day, and clean the cat litter. Other than that this housesitter in Nottingham was surplus to requirements.

Catsitting for indoor cats

They are mostly indoor cats. They spend much of their lives inside, doing their exercise, running their obstacle races and creating their own entertainment within the four walls of this characterful Victorian house.

Consequently, they provided non-stop entertainment for me their guest throughout the entire day. In fact it was quite hard to concentrate on my work with the feline theatricals going on around me.

Either the mirror or the reflection were proving irresistible

Why I love housesitting

There are so many reasons why I love housesitting and petsitting that it is hard to summarise them into a single blog. However, I really enjoyed being a housesitter in Nottingham and here’s why. It exemplified the perfect housesit experience for me and explains why I love it so much.

Meeting our members

Firstly, I often choose to housesit through our network because I love meeting new people. Perhaps, my next visit could bring me to your home!

Housesitting and the unsuspecting tourist

I also love being a tourist in new places. I find housesitting a great way to live like a local. It’s great to be guided by local knowledge. For example, Julia introduced me to her neighbour and friend Gemma.

Housesitter in Nottingham turns volunteer dogwalker

It just happened that Gemma needed a dog walker for the week so I volunteered. As a housesitter in Nottingham I fitted the bill perfectly. We organised a meet and greet for us to get used to each other and for me to learn the dog’s routine. Gemma took me on a lovely local walk through the village, open fields and farmland. On our walk we came across Thrumpton Hall which was a rather splendid looking historic manor house. It held a surprise for this housesitter in Nottingham.

UK Housesitter visits local hall

After returning to the housesit I couldn’t resist looking up Thrumpton Hall. Julia had mentioned it as a local point of interest and that it was quite historic but hadn’t gone into too many details.

What a delightful surprise it proved to be and right on our doorstep! In fact I emailed the owner and found I could arrange a garden tour with the groundsman for a £ 5 contribution to the year’s seeds!

One of those unexpected delights when housesitting

In its long and eventful history Thrumpton Hall has been owned through marriage and inheritance by the family of Lord Byron, the great poet. More importantly it became the Nottinghamshire home to his only child, Ada Lady Lovelace.

Surprises for a housesitter in Nottingham

What an unexpected surprise for this housesitter in Nottingham to trip over such a find in this charming yet quiet village. I was thrilled that I should come unsuspectingly to a home frequented by the ‘mother of computing’. Being a housesitter in Nottingham delivered the ultimate trip.

Ada, Lady Lovelace (from Wikipedia)

When she was 18, her mathematical talents led her to a long working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, who is known as “the father of computers”. She was in particular interested in Babbage’s work on the Analytical Engine. Lovelace first met him in June 1833, through their mutual friend, and her private tutor, Mary Somerville.

Analytical Engine

Between 1842 and 1843, Ada translated an article by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea about the Analytical Engine, supplementing it with an elaborate set of notes, simply called “Notes”.

Lovelace and Computers

Lovelace’s notes are important in the early history of computers, containing what many consider to be the first computer program—that is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Other historians reject this perspective and point out that Babbage’s personal notes from the years 1836/1837 contain the first programs for the engine.^[10]

The cats were really fun distractions

The pets always provide entertainment, and on this particular housesit they were so much fun that they proved rather distracting. Julia’s cats were very interactive almost like young children with a certain wisdom.

Cats provide constant entertainment for this housesitter in Nottingham

The cats were always popping up in unexpected places. Sometimes in the kitchen, on the cabinets. Sometimes in the bathroom on top of the doors! Athletic, knowing and very curious they always wanted to play. It really was a hoot. I loved it.

Lossit would appear in unexpected places looking down on my antics

Noises off

Some of their feline antics were laugh out loud funny. Listening to the mysterious and somewhat unusual swinging and creaking happening around the house, I would think, what is that noise? On my exploratory tours of the house I discovered all kinds of goings on with the cats using every movable object as a challenge and interactive play thing. Observe –

Cat-acrobatics in the house

The smartest trick was opening doors, they worked in pairs. One leaps up to release a latch the other pushes below

So while there was no actual need to leave the house for entertainment, it was all happening in the feline floor show. Nonetheless, I did venture out.

United housesitters in Nottingham

Thanks to two wonderful Housesitmatch housesitters who both happen to live nearby I was able to visit more of the local area. Both had also been a housesitter in Nottingham before me! Liz one of our housesitters whom I have known for about five years, and has housesat for us all over the UK, very kindly took me to lunch in the town of Clifton, at the Crusader pub which was lovely.

A grand day out

David who joined Housesitmatch during Covid and has completed a number of housesits, including several repeats. He kindly took me to a fascinating local tea and cake stop called the Dovecot Barn. Next to the tea shop they had a farm shop selling local produce and in between a bar selling local craft gins and the like.

Farm animals provide a distraction

And while we were enjoying our tea and cake we witnessed all kinds of animals in the field, including emus, alpacas and pygmy goats! Not quite what I was expecting but it was all really fun.

Housesitters in Nottingham

All three of us, myself, Liz and David had all been a housesitter in Nottingham for Julia. We had that in common. They very kindly shared their local knowledge with me as we toured the countryside so I realised just how much more I could discover if I had time.

Local tea shop and bar located on an farm

Daily dog walks for the neighbours

One of the great pleasures of housesitting is meeting a variety of people in new locations. Gemma and James were Julia’s neighbours. And their dogs Finlay and Flo were extremely affectionate. On our daily walks we would visit the fields and local walkways directly from their cottage.

Housesitter in Nottingham turns local dog walker

The dogs were exciting to watch as they dashed around the fields releasing all the energy pent up during the day. They are both Collies, very bright and supremely energetic. Our dog walks were very rewarding.

Walking in the fields nearby offered us all a breath of fresh air at lunchtime

I was honoured at the end of my time as a housesitter in Nottingham that Gemma and James kindly invited me for an evening out in the city to see the sites. It gave me a flavour for this fascinating city, steeped in history.

Night out for the housesitter in Nottingham

We ate dinner at the Bell Inn an ancient pub dating back to the 14 Century, which has a great bar and a rather curious sign at the entrance.

The train station is a Victoria building

After a wholesome meal they took me to see the statue of local footballing hero Brian Clough, who made history as both player and manager.

Local hero venerated

He was one of only four different managers to have won the English League with two clubs – Derby and Nottingham Forrest. This statue situated in the centre of town was funded by fans of Nottingham Forrest and erected in his honour in 2008 just a few years after his passing.

Being a housesitter in Nottingham in summary

When I had arrived and begun my volunteering as a housesitter in Nottingham I really had no idea how the week would pan out. I knew I had work to do, whenever I go housesitting I take it as time away from my usual routine to focus on new projects. So I had deadlines to meet and tasks to achieve. Nonetheless, spending time with the cats, in Julia’s fascinating home and village was a delight.

Discovering all kinds of great people, new friends and wonderful places to visit was an absolute boon. I loved my time as a housesitter in Nottingham and am really looking forward to my next housesit assignment. Could it be yours..?

Do you fancy housesitting to discover a new location? Join Housesitmatch today and find a new adventure.

Housesitter in Nottingham – A great adventure

Housesitter in Nottingham – A great adventure