I’m glad you have young family you can rely on to help. We gave the daughter and son-in-law a few acres on the farm and I dog-sit their dog during the day while they work or take vacation so I guess it all trades out. LOL
Ah, that’s another good point. We bought this house after our old one got hit by lightning and burned a few years back, and we lost our two Dachshunds, who used to go everywhere with us. We since ‘inherited’ five housecats, all related. Now that they’ve moved back in town, we have reliable cat sitters again to take care of them when we go on vacation or travel for the holidays. They’re the only ones on her side of the family we trust enough to make sure the litter boxes are cleaned, they’re fed and watered, and they get some attention. Otherwise, we’d probably come home to five half-starved, semi-crazed feral felines and a house that smelled like the inside of a lion cage at the zoo. LOL