Cat care/housesitter wanted
Hi Upper Hutt!
I'm heading away to Australia for a good friend's wedding at the start of February and looking for a catsitter to come and stay with my two rescue kitties, Maeve (black and white) and Luna (tabby). They grew up in a colony before being taken in by a cat rescue and are still pretty weary of people at first so any sitters must be willing and able to come and meet them and me in person before the sitting dates (5-14 February) please.
I have a lovely 2 bedroom house in Trentham/Wallaceville, pretty close to Upper Hutt city (about a 20 min walk) and Wallaceville train station (a 10 minute walk).
Looking for a quiet non-smoking sitter, preferably a single person as that's what the cats are used to. Needs to be willing to stay overnight each night in my house with the cats, NOT just visits. They are shut inside at night and are pretty good at turning up for dinner (I shut the cat door before feeding them) or coming when their names are called or treat bags are shaken (if they're just having a really good time outside!). It's hardest at the current time when it gets dark so late into the evening so last resort is to put the cat door on inwards only and wait (after calling their names at intervals for a while).
Bonus if you can water and keep an eye on my (novice) gardening efforts, which will generally be feline supervised if they're still outside.
After the February dates, I do have two further sets of dates for sitting, so finding someone willing to discuss/look at future sitting dates would be lovely for continuity.
Please message me if interested and available, as well as with any questions.
Thanks!
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄
From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.
What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?
-
4.7% Second half of November
-
43.6% 1st December
-
17.5% A week before Christmas
-
33.1% Whenever you wish
-
1.1% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite tomato recipe?
Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.