We are looking for someone (or a family) to stay at our house while we travel to Italy (hopefully to find our own house sitting arrangement). I am a professor at Emporia State University and finally taking my first sabbatical to research and write after 8 years of teaching masters level classes in Art Therapy and Psychology. My husband is an attorney who is suspending his solo practice to accompany me to Europe. We have two dogs. Goodall is a fluffy Belgian Tervuran mix and the sweetest boy you can imagine (although he can try and escape and roam the neighborhood if the gate is left open). Desmond is an older Black Labrador Retriever who is Goodall's best pal. They're quite friendly and neither ever has an accident in the house because we have a doggy door. We have a large 4 bedroom home with 2.5 baths. It is on a half acre in a residential setting only a few blocks from the university. The town is about 25,000 people. It is halfway between Kansas City and Wichita; however, Topeka (our state capital) is the closest larger city and is 50 miles away. We can probably work out the insurance aspects so you can use our cars and motor scooters.
Responsiilities would include keeping the grass cut, bringing in the mail, and watering the many outdoor and some indoor plants as needed. We have several large flower gardens with perennials that make this a very attractive place to live.
Emporia is close to the Tallgrass National Prairie. A unique ecosystem, it is a 10,000 acre wildlife park with sweeping vistas and is newly re-populated with buffalo, coyote and other animals.
Emporia isn't fancy in terms of restaurants but we do have modern shopping, authentic Mexican food, a new Indian restaurnt, and sushi! We recently acquired a micro-brewery and Irish pub and if you like riding motorcycles or bicycles then the area is well suited to your taste.
Our home has Wi-Fi and satellite TV. We will cover water, electric, gas and money for food for the dogs. We will leave extensive instructions and contact lists of veterinarians, plumbers, etc. We are good friends with many neighbors, so a walk across the street may be all you need for specific information.
Before our trip abroad, we hope to travel to/from Vermont mid-August with a possible stop over in Ohio from Aug. 30-Sept. 1st. Therefore, it's quite possible to have a house/dog sitter covering both trips with shared time in the house before our departure for the 4-6 week sabbatical.
Depending on when you might arrive and if by plane, we could probably pick you up at the airport (Kansas City or Wichita are about each hours away).
Thank you!