Susan Ferguson loves being around animals and keeping active

Posted on 22 April, 2024

Susan Ferguson, a 70 year old retired lady from Hornsea in West Yorkshire has been home sitting for five years through the national home and pet sitting company, Homesitters Limited and says it’s a great way to stay fit and active.

Before retiring, Susan worked as a Manager in the mental health service for many years but decided to retire in 2016.

As well as working full time, Susan is also a firm animal lover. She owned a small farm holding where she kept pigs, dairy cows, sheep and bred rare breed hens, ducks and geese.

When Susan decided to retire, she was determined to keep as busy and active as she had always been. She also wanted to ensure she had a purposeful and fulfilling retirement where she was giving something back to the community. She keeps herself busy with local community volunteering work as a watch keeper and also helps out at her local charity shop.

Susan says, “I like to keep busy and while I do a lot of volunteer work, I also quite liked the idea of being around animals again and earning a little bit of extra money.”

After seeing an article on Homesitters Ltd in a national paper, she knew the role would be a perfect fit for her.

When reading the piece on Homesitters, it sounded like an ideal way to ensure she could keep active as she enjoys long walks, getting lots of fresh air and being around an array of animals which she really missed. As she has a degree in Agriculture, she particularly enjoys the more rural stays.

Since doing her first homesit in 2018, Susan has completed 10 assignments and enjoyed all of them. She has several regular clients and the three cocker spaniels she looks after hold a special place in her heart.

Susan also finds time on a homesit to catch up on hobbies. She does lots of knitting, reading and catching up on emails and organising fundraising events she’s involved in. Susan also says that homesitting has helped her save money on her bills. “Whilst it’s not the main reason why I homesit, it’s a lovely benefit to the job.”

Before a homesit assignment, Susan likes to go up to the area the night before so she can get a feel for the area and all the places she’d like to visit.

Susan comments: “I also do a bit of online research so I have a good idea of things I’d like to do when I’m there.”

However, for her next homesit she even had to do some research on the pets she’s going to be looking after. Susan will be looking after a Cavapoochon dog, Persian cat, Tropical fish, an Axolotl and a Crested Gecko. She says: “I had to google what an axolotl was as I’d never heard of one. Fortunately, it seems like quite an easy pet to look after!”

Prior to any homesit, Homesitters Ltd always arrange for a preliminary visit to the property so the homesitter can meet the owners and the animals and get a detailed idea of what is involved in the assignment before agreeing as to whether they would like to do it.

Susan says Homesitters is a professional company and great people to work for.

She adds, “They are a lovely company to work with and are very supportive. I know that there’s always someone on the end of the phone if I need them which is very comforting and reassuring.”

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