Fall had officially arrived! In the Wine Country, Fall means the harvesting of grapes and the smell of bubbling fermentations wafting through the valley. But as I stood looking out over the fruit and vegetable gardens in the backyard of my new house sitting assignment, my mind was on a different kind of harvest.

Tons of heirloom tomatoes, fruit-laden fig and apple trees, multiple varieties of mint and basil, raspberry bushes, and a fence covered in white concord grapes; this was all at my disposal for the next 3 weeks! Did I mention fresh chicken and duck eggs too? My inner chef was squealing with delight.

During my sit, I made tomato preserves, pasta sauce, raisins, tomato soup, fried green tomatoes, and an apple crumble. The owners jokingly challenged me to make wine from their grapes as well. Of course I took on that challenge but the wine ended up very sour so I dumped it 😉

Sadly, one week into my sit, I was awoken from a deep sleep at 1:30am by the sound of someone shouting from a loud speaker outside. It was a Sonoma County Sheriff alerting the neighborhood that a fire was coming our way and we needed to get out now. Terrified, I threw on whatever clothes I could find and tossed some possessions into my car. I then gently placed the special needs cat into a pillow case (because I could not find a cat carrier). I put him and some of his special food into an open basket and placed him in the car. I then ran to the chicken/duck coop and opened up all the doors so the poultry could escape if needed. 

I evacuated to nearby downtown Napa to stay with friends and thankfully, around 12 hours later, the roads back to Sonoma were reopened and I was able to return to the house. The fire made it within 3/4 mile of the house before it burned out. The property and animals I left behind were all perfectly fine. I was glad I could report this happy ending to the owners who were travelling around Europe. I couldn’t even imagine how worried and helpless they were feeling.

The fires still burned in the area for almost 2 weeks and the air was often filled with smoke, but the threat to the property was over.

Duties:

– Care for 2 cats (one with special feeding needs)
– Care for many chickens & ducks
– Gather eggs, properly label, and store
– Water outdoor plants
– Keep house tidy
– Relay important voicemail messages to owners
– Relay information and deliver needed items to property maintenance man
– Email owners with periodic status updates
– Visit multiple times before the sit to meet owners and walk through duties
– Drive owners to their airport shuttle

Unexpected Benefits and/or Realizations:

– Having fresh eggs every day is amazing!
– Being able to pick fresh tomatoes, figs, apples, herbs, etc is wonderful for my love of cooking and baking (and eating).

Unexpected Events and/or Challenges:

– Nearby fire caused the mandatory evacuation of myself and cat with special needs
– Fire also prompted many calls from concerned friends of owners whom I contacted to ease their worries
– Had to trouble-shoot issues with automated watering system and water additional plants by hand as a back-up plan until owners returned
– The house is on a shared well which went dry and left me without water for half a day