House-sitting locust style

BitterAndTwisted

Quite honestly, it would have cost you less to have paid for a pet-service and have been burgled at the same time.

I can't believe that you've not said anything to her in all this time. No wonder she's keen to house-sit again. If she was my own sister she would have had the benefit of my opinion a long time ago.

Even if she is flesh and blood I can't see one good reason why you should fell obligated to leave her with food for while you're away. I'd be minded to clean the whole place out down to the last loo-roll this time. Or find someone else trustworthy and with a few more moral principles to do it this time around. It can't be that hard as she patently doesn't have any

Taadaa

I agree with what others have said, to have left absolutely nothing suggests to me that she has taken things back to her flat - sorry, I hope that doesn't offend you. I'm just thinking about the things in my own cupboard and I can't imagine any circumstances where my sister would eat every last bit of it if she was staying here

And....to not leave any milk?? The first thing I think someone getting back from a journey is to have a cuppa, so if I have been keeping an eye on a place I leave some milk at least, if not bread and butter for toast. I wonder if you asked her to do that, if she would ask you for the money if she is that tight.

Although she is doing you a favour, it's still using gas and electric that would not have been used otherwise. I would maybe run your cupboards down a bit and leave less for her to devour so the financial damage is limited.

scottishchick27

I'd leave a stock of immodium in the cupboard with a note saying "I got these in for you as you obviousy had the trots the last time you were here judging by how much toilet roll you went through" :rotfl:

Callie22

54 loo rolls? Good God. To be honest, I'd be worried about coming home to no furniture ...

onlyroz

I was all for saying give her another chance until I read about the 54 bog-rolls. That really is taking the pee, in more senses than one, and I'm amazed that you just let it go at the time. Your "friend" is a thief and a free-loader who knows that she can get away with her shocking behaviour.

If you want her to house-sit for you again, I think you *must* bring up her previous visit and lay down some ground-rules. I don't see why you have to leave her any food apart from maybe stuff like salt, sugar, cooking oil etc - and for toiletries maybe a loo roll and some soap.

ska_lover

gibson123 wrote: »

How would you handle this? We go away every summer for a month and last year my sister offered to house-sit, which was great because we didn't have to make arrangements for my daughters pets. My sister lives alone in a flat, and said she would enjoy the garden. Anyway I really appreciated her offer and said yes straight away. The problem was that when we returned you would honestly have thought a plague of locusts had been through the house. i had "stocked up", so had bulk bought loo rolls, toiletries etc and my freezer and cupboards are always well stocked. i also bought fresh food, milk, bread, fruit, cheese etc, and a few treats, 4 bottles of wine, chocolate, her favourite biscuits and a box of chocs. She also got an especially nice gifts of hand-made pottery, a leather handbag and duty free bottle of good brandy brought back. Anyway when we got back there was literally nothing in the fridge, not even a tiny drop of milk, or a half tomato,not a tin in the cupboard (not even the tin of pilchards in tomato sauce that were going into the next harvest hamper). Same in the bathroom, no loo rolls, shampoo, soap, even the lily of the valley bubble bath won in a raffle and not used because it smelled horrid.
Anyway I did not make a fuss last year, it didn't seem worth it, but she has offered to do so again. Now it is very tempting, as she does look after the animals saving me a bit of money, but probably not as much as it costs for all the food, drink etc. she used when added to the treats and gifts I bought. I could of course just run down the groceries and not do the treats, what would you do?

PS my sister has always been mean, (not skint) she has plenty of money she just hates to spend it.

Hi there,

It seems a little strange to me to buy a hoarde of fresh stuff (fresh food, milk, bread, fruit, cheese etc,) just before going away for a month. Surely you must have brought this stuff for her to eat anyway, rather than come back to a fridge full of mouldy food? And you say you brought her favorite buiscuits? Well they were bound to get eaten I think

Sounds like she went a bit extreme with emptying all your tins etc, and it is a bit thoughtless of her to not stock up on basics bread milk etc for your return when you had looked after her so well.

If I were you, I would leave the basics only for her, perhaps enough food for a couple of days and then she will have to buy for herself, like she would if at home. If she mentions it, you can just say you didn't have time to do the shopping and tell her where the nearest supermarket is

londonsurrey

The fact of the matter is that you now know for sure what she is capable of, and that it is her true nature, i.e. she's on the lookout for what she can take.

Will she restrict herself to the kinds of things she took the last time, or upon finding her harvest somewhat restricted this year, maybe resort to something more freaky to compensate? You know her, and are best placed to answer this question.

Ultimately, if you decide that her care of the critters is worth the "bonus" she snags for herself, then there's your answer.

However, if your neighbours are a viable option, it might be a whole lot less hassle, although I do wonder, as she's already all set for a repeat of last summer, if she would sweet talk a neighbour into letting her into the house to fuss the animals for a bit, and then help herself to "just a few supplies". Lol.

gibson123

ska_lover wrote: »

Hi there,

It seems a little strange to me to buy a hoarde of fresh stuff (fresh food, milk, bread, fruit, cheese etc,) just before going away for a month. Surely you must have brought this stuff for her to eat anyway, rather than come back to a fridge full of mouldy food? And you say you brought her favorite buiscuits? Well they were bound to get eaten I think

I got this food in for her to eat, I expected her to use up the consumables and some of the goods in the cupboard, but i sort off expected her to buy more in so I had some stuff to come home to.

gibson123

What a response! Thank you all.

I have decided to have a frank chat with her about this. It is in her nature to make the most of every situation, she has done so since she was really small. If you had a bag of sweets they would very quickly become hers. I think we have all just got used to her over the years, and make allowances. In many ways she is very generous, with her time, with praise, with friendship and is actually a very nice person who would go out of her way to do a favour. This is just her thing and I think it stems from insecurity. We did not have much when we were young and this affected her more than the rest of us. I can't be angry with her, just a little bemused and will not be as gullible next time. I don't think she would have been like this in anyone else's house, she treats my house as an extension of hers, she looks in on my DD, walks the dog during the day and potters around the garden. I suppose she may even get lonely on her own. Thank you all.

londonsurrey

Is she the youngest? I have a cousin like that, indulged and petted by all, very much relies on her charm to "survive"/make her living. The "successful" version of this marries wealth, and it comes as a surprise to none of the family.