Stephen & Gillian

Dear home-owners

I'm Steve Mead, a mature English man, living in Exeter, and I've been living in Devon since 2006.

Gillian is an Artist who paints and mainly sells her work abroad, and she's been living in Cornwall, and later in Devon for most of her adult life.

Having taken early retirement, I've recently taken up medium to long-term house-sitting. This has been very successfuI with three excellent references already. I have other very good references, other than on this web-site. I am happy to house-sit in countryside, town, or village.

I'm well-organized, reliable and trustworthy, and you can depend on me to take excellent care of both your home and pets whilst you are away.

We are both non-smokers, and treble Covid vaccinated, and have reliable vehicles, so we can easily access remote settings.

I have a wide range of practical skills, and am also an experienced gardener. I have some excellent house-sitting references, but have never signed on with a house-sitting Agency before, so this is fairly new to me.

My previous experiences in England prior to joining this web-site were with a three month, and a one-month house sit in Tedburn St Mary, looking after Jasper the cat whilst the owner was overseas travelling, and a full day looking after Whisper; a little Yorkie terrier, who readily took to me and was great fun.

In New Zealand, we have house-sat for a week looking after a garden and rabbit; filling in for friends who had the house-sit but couldn't make it. (the change was cleared with the owners beforehand); a long weekend looking after a house and a super smart collie called Shep, and a long weekend looking after a precious show-cat called Sharma, along with their Parrot called Buddy: - these last two sits were brought about by meeting the second family on a camp-site, who then referred us to the other family. Our other experience was at a farm near Akeroa where we were asked to sit five farm dogs, and a cat, and to generally take care of the farm animals for a long weekend. More recently in October last year, we were offered a four week dog, chickens, and swimming-pond house-sit near Matakana in New Zealand, that we were happy to take up.

I have a natural affinity and ability with dogs, cats, horses and other creatures, and have owned several dogs and cats at different times over many years.

I can readily handle big dogs, having had experience with my own. I was the best of friends with Henry for 12 years, a powerful and very special yellow Labrador, and nurtured him after he developed diabetes and went blind. I injected him with insulin twice a day for six years, and took his blood samples from time to time, so I have a modicum of medical experience too. The bond between us was so great that Henry would run with me very fast in an open field or on a beach even when he was blind and off the lead.

After Henry passed away, we acquired a Collie/Labrador called Flossie who was the smartest dog ever, and who pretty much trained herself. During those years, two stray cats decided to join us permanently, and were named as Foxy (a ginger tom); Fluffy (a long haired black and white), along with another dog, a Labrador called Freddy; so with Flossie; Freddy; Foxy, and Fluffy, life could at times be very confusing.

Foxy came to us as a bedraggled skin and bone young cat, so I slowly fed him up and nursed him back to health. Fluffy turned up a few months later, but initially seen only in glimpses, he would run away at first sighting. I gained his trust and he let me groom him on my lap one day for more than two hours whilst I teased out his tangled and matted fur: thereafter he stayed. I took Foxy, and later Fluffy, to the vet for checks and vaccinations, and they both turned out to be healthy and beautiful cats.

During this time, I was privileged to live in a farmhouse on Easdon Tor, Dartmoor, and befriended the twenty or so ponies and six foals who stayed there, but which sadly varied in number from year to year as my favourite, an archetypal 'rocking horse' dappled brown on white stallion, was taken away, never to return. (Photo available.)

My main interests are a love of Nature; gardening; walking; film, music; reading; chess; bridge, drama, and writing: - (I am currently writing on Climate Change and its implications for the world), along with the more active past-times of cycling, tennis, table tennis and skiing, and in earlier days, football and cricket.

We have chosen not to keep pets at the present time as one of our great passions is travelling and spending time camping for three to six months each year in New Zealand during the English winter. We feel that such a life-style does not fit well with keeping a pet, but will now be able to spend time with animals when looking after other peoples' whilst house-sitting.

In summary; I am a clean and tidy non-smoker, who understand and appreciate the responsibility that comes with looking after other peoples' homes, and I am very happy to keep lines of communication open with you for updates, and am confident of dealing with any situations that may arise in your absence.

When I stay in somebody's house, I care for the property as if it were my own, and the same applies to your pets, as I always treat animals with care and kindness, regardless of how I meet them.

I look forward to hearing from you and having the opportunity of meeting you, your pet(s), and your home.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Mead