Hexham England

We are looking for a house sitter for two months (August/September 2024) to look after two cats in our comfortable detached cottage in a quiet rural hamlet in southern Northumberland, a few miles from Hexham.

You would be caring for two sweet indoor-only cats. One is an 11-year-old rescue who has asthma and needs some daily medicine in her Lick-e-Lix, plus a steroid jab at the local vet's every four weeks. She also needs a regular brush. The other is a healthy 4-year-old ragdoll who loves company and will be quite demanding for playtime! There are no other pets, but we do also feed the birds everyday and it would be good to keep up with that.

There is a large, quite wild garden with lots of trees and shrubs. Garden care would be watering some pots on the patio and cutting the lawn every couple of weeks if you can face it, though we could also get someone local to come and do that.

There are loads of books in the house, very reliable wi-fi, a smart TV, a log burner (it's chilly up here in September) to supplement the central heating, an ensuite bathroom to the main bedroom, two studies for remote working, and lovely walks and bike rides from the doorstep. The ensuite is being refurbished in June.

There is a car here and it might be possible to add a sitter to the insurance for their stay, but if you have your own transport that would probably be easier. A car is definitely needed: it's three miles to the nearest shop, and whilst there is a bus service, it's not very frequent (about four buses a day, and none on Sundays).

Someone who loves cats, likes their own company, and either can work from home or wants to be around the house a lot would be ideal.