things i love thursday (5)

A special edition in honour of my return from holiday :)

* Staying in beautiful hotels with blue bathroom lights (see above).
* White fluffy robes.
* Old fashioned afternoon teas complete with little sandwiches, scones and cake.

* Finally visiting Haworth after years of meaning to. Above is the house, below is the walk down to the church through which Emily, Charlotte and Bramwell's bodies were carried - Anne was buried in Scarborough. I cried when I saw the little stool Emily sat on to write Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights is my favourite all time novel.

* Sleeping and reading whenever I want.

* My new tattoo (see above). Yes, it is a possum. It's my Australian sun sign. It means I can carry a little piece of Australia with me wherever I go.
* Coming home again to two disgruntled cats.
* Sleeping in my own bed.
* Meeting Kiki for coffee.

things i love thursday (2)

Aurora

Johnny Park

(pictures of the gruesome twosome because we haven't had any in a while and also in honour of Dave Grohl's birthday, as my cats are named after Foo Fighters songs!)

1. I started the creative writing course that Ma and Pa Yogini bought me for Christmas on Monday night. It made me remember why I write, how I write, when I write best and that actually, maybe I’m quite good at this. But more than anything it was so nice to be back in a university seminar room with like minded (and fabulously eccentric) people again. You don’t realise how much you miss things until you get them back. And you forget how there are some things that you just need to keep you going.

2. All my lovely potential clients booking onto this yoga course.

3. Sending off two pieces of writing this week. Just getting stuff out there feels fantastic, regardless of the results.

4. The new single from Laura Marling.

5. Home & Away is back after its Christmas break (I know, lame. But I'm hopelessly addicted and it makes me happy).

Your turn!

on cats & tatts

I read an article this morning about Mickey, a hairless Sphynx cat in Russia who was anethetised for three hours to have an ornamental tattoo inked on his back and chest.

My initial reaction, as yours might be, was WTF! Seriously?

Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of bodyart. I have several tattoos and am about to begin sitting for a new backpiece. However, I have made a conscious choice about all of my tattoos, a lot of thought went into each of them and they each mean something important to me. There are many theories as to why some of us human beans decide to get tattooed, none of which I think can be applied to cats.

A cat is incapable of making this sort of decision. But then, my cats had no choice when it came to them being neutered. Is this really any different? Whilst there is a reason for neutering a domestic moggie, a part of that reason is so that living with the cat is easier for the human. Is it hypocritical as the caretaker of neutered cats for me to take umbrage at somebody tattoing their cat? I can justify my cats being neutered but I cannot justify this. Then there is the argument of whether or not we should interbreed cats to have characteristics that are not really conducive to the cats survival - in this case having no fur.

Is anethetising a cat for a procedure that is purely aesthetic morally right? Is it Ok to be somewhat hypocritical sometimes?

On the other hand, on a person that would be a beautiful tattoo......

I'd be interested to know what you think, dear readers.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

There is an irony the fact that a couple of days after my last post I had the worst fibro flare up I’ve had in ages! Plans cancelled! Catastrophe!

Hey ho and never mind, we had fun anyway. As you can see we put our tree up and everything is coming up Christmassy! I’m starting to get excited about Christmas now and really looking forward to the break. Our office closes on Christmas Eve and doesn’t open again until 2010 (which is ages in the future, right?) and we’ve elected for very simple celebrations this year. On Christmas day itself we are going to the seaside (yes, I know, in England, in December, we’re insane), then I think we’re seeing family members the day after Boxing Day, going to a dinner party on New Year’s Eve at a friend-from-work’s house and who knows what in between. We’re definitely hoping for a trip to London (I want one of those Top Shop style advisor appointments before I’m too old for Top Shop) and bowling. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without bowling.

How about you, dear reader, what are you up to for Christmas this year?

This week I am also thankful for:-

• The writing/editing course my parents have bought for me.
• Pain medication for flare ups.
• V+ (the recording device on cable TV) which is very handy when Dave Grohl and Rhys Darby are on at the same time on different channels.
• My lovely life with Himself and the kitties (only one kitty present in the photo though!)

Not a Real Update!

I haven't updated. I keep meaning to and I will, I will! In the meantime shadow kitty would like to wish you all a happy weekend :)

On moving to Cambridge...

Well last week we went up to Cambridge for a few days to look at some houses and for me to sign up with some employment agencies (Himself is in the fortunate position of being able to take his current job with him).

Some very positive feedback at the employment agencies, but still waiting for any actual job interviews to raise their heads of course!

But in very good news we did find a house!! It was a bit touch and go for a while because we had to wait for the Landlord to tell us whether or not we could take the kitties but we finally got our answer yesterday and we move on 1st September. Very exciting but also tremendously stressful.

It's a lovely little house in a really quiet cul-de-sac with three bedrooms a huge open plan living room/diner (part of which will have to be Himself's home office), kitchen and conservatory (where the cats can take their toilet!!). It's a bit shabby and the kitchen is a bit small but the pros definitely outweight the cons and once all our stuff is in there it won't look so shabby I'm sure.

So now I have lists and lists of "to dos" - sorting out packing, getting all the bills and stuff changed, mail redirection, cat pheromone spray for their long car journey!

Today I have booked the removal company and also a room at the Holiday Inn for myself for the two days when I will be here with the cats and the furniture will be in Cambridge.

Exciting times!!

Kitty Kat!

I know this is a little bit sad and mad-cat-woman-ish, but I have put the Parkster up for The Face of Whiskas competition!

Please vote for the little sweetheart. The website is here. His full name is Johnny Park and if you search for him his profile comes up and you can click on his profile to vote.

I know he won't win, but it would be nice to get lots of lovely votes!

Paris is just around the corner!

So, the cats are in their cat hotel (very expensive and exclusive with underfloor heating/air con, separate dining rooms and toilets and an outside run -- so good in fact they will not want to come home), I have packed all the things that are important to me (clothes, make up, hair straighteners, travelling yoga mat), passport, tickets, money all checked...

Tomorrow morning we're off to Paris until Sunday. It's my 35th birthday on Saturday and to soften the blow my honey is very kindly taking me away (many Brownie points for him).

Life has been a bit crazy recently and this will be just what we need to reconnect, relax and take check of our lives.

See you when we get back!

Day 30 - I did it!

So I have completed my goal - I have blogged every day for 30 days. It's actually been really interesting to sit down each day and think of something to write about - to watch my thoughts and focus on one particular thing and articulate how I feel about that thing. It's another form of mindfulness and I'd like to be able to keep it up, although perhaps not daily! That's been quite hard.

For my last post I'll leave you with some photos.

Firstly the herbs I planted before Easter are beginning to grow (I hope to post more news on that later in the summer!)









And secondly, two fat kitty bums sitting on the sill.









Another month begins tomorrow, I hope the May weather in the UK is sunny and warm and I get to spend time outside. We're due a good summer surely!

Day 24 - Doga

The latest craze from the US to hit our little island is Doga - dog yoga. There there is even a book about it!

The story in the link is a pretty good one, with the dogs doing yoga outside. Perhaps a bit odd, but I can see where they are coming from. But Doga was first introduced to me in a magazine article by one of my students. In this particular article the dogs were in the yoga studio with their owners being held whilst their owners did their yoga asana (what happens if your dog is a Great Dane I'm not sure!). None of the dogs looked particularly happy!

Of course, this conjured up all sorts of images in my mind. From my experiences with mum and baby yoga, once one baby starts crying they all start crying -- what would happen when one dog started barking? And if I was teaching in my home studio I can't imagine the cats would be very happy about the smell of dog in their home!

Whilst I enjoy my kitties winding in and out of my legs during my own practice, I really don't think I'm ready to invite animals to my yoga classes!

Day 19 - Cats

After talking about different ways women utilise the "mother" phase of their lives, Andy reminded me that another way of "mothering" (and fathering I guess on his part) is the great privelege of an animal deigning to live with you.

I have had cats since I was 7 years old although in many ways I am a dog person . Cats are easier for little kids to look after and through university and my early 20s of moving around and being out at work all day, having a cat made much more sense. These days whilst I am in the position to and would love to have a dog, I cannot guarantee that I will be well enough to give it the exercise it needs.

Not that my two furry children are in any way second best. They are without doubt two of the most awesome cats I have ever known. And Himself loves them as well. In many ways they are our surrogate children (having decided long ago we did not want children of our own), and I don't care if I bore people to death talking about them.

Our 18-month old girl, Aurora, is the black and white one. She is part British Short Hair and came from a rescue shelter when she was 10 months. She adores Andy but took a while to trust me.

Johnny Park (JP) is the tabby and white one. He's just a common or garden alley cat, one of a litter of three that we got from a colleague of Andy's. He's 9 months old now and a complete menace who eats us out of house and home. He adores me and follows me everywhere, even gets under the duvet with me and scratches and mews pitifully when I'm in the bathroom with the door shut. Sigh...
And yes, they are both named after Foo Fighters' songs!