How to do some (feasible) good in 2014

Oh hi 2014!

I'm not making New Year's resolutions. I hate people who only appreciate their lives at the start of a new year. In my mind, you should have a zest for life ALL YEAR ROUND and not just when you buy a new calendar (or get a new one for Christmas).

I try to do good deeds as much as possible. Just small ones, unexpected and not brag about them on Facebook or tell the world that you're a great person. You should like yourself, not do things to get other people to like you. I do feel that if you like the person you are, others will enjoy your company naturally.

I was thinking about good things to do the other day that can help others without costing you loads of money (which no one has these days...) and here's my good deed feed:

1. Foster a cat

Admittedly you have to like cats A LOT to do this one.

We're fostering this cat right here :)

We couldn't decide whether to commit and get another cat after our little cat was put to sleep earlier this year. We're away a lot and it was a big decision, until I came across Cat Fostering. You take a cat in to your home and the cat is displayed on the charity's website until a new potential owner comes forward.

The charity pays the vet bills, food and litter (although we just decided to pay for the food and litter ourselves you don't have to) and in return you give a cat a safe and loving home. There's no guarantee you'll have the cat forever, although our cat is almost ten years old so she's unlikely to be adopted at this age; which is good because I'm already attached to her!

Check out http://www.leedsfelinefriends.org.uk/page9.htm for more information.

2. Give blood

You have loads of blood you selfish beast and you're keeping it to yourself locked away in those veins!

I'm signed up to be a blood donor, and it's only for the fact that I'm currently on medication that I haven't yet given blood. I can't wait to do it though, although I'll probably pass out right away, I'm hoping to be excited about doing something to help others.

Find out more about becoming a donor here http://www.blood.co.uk/index.aspx

3. Shop at charity shops

I bloody love charity shops, I can't get enough of them. You find things you never knew you needed wanted in your life! Like for instance, that old chipped jug, or that book you were going to buy full price, or maybe a dress you've never seen anywhere else!

And the best part? It's a CHARITY shop. You can GIVE to charity and GET stuff in return! Everyone wins!

Plus, you can walk along the high street and decide which charity to support - Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation... Jackpot! Cats Protection League!

Help the cats, people.

So we've fostered a cat...

I quite like cats, I don't know if I've mentioned that before...

I've really missed having a cat around the place ever since Catty was put to sleep back in March this year.

If it was up to me, I'd fill our house with cats. But it's not just my decision and we just weren't in the position to take a cat on forever, it seemed a big commitment at this stage of our lives.

So when we came across the cat fostering section of Leeds Feline Friends, a cat charity in Leeds, it seemed the perfect solution, we get a cat, the cat gets a home and the charity helps a cat but doesn't have to build a huge cat rescue centre they can't afford to run. Everyone wins!

We emailed them and a few days later had a home visit where we pretty much just chatted about cats for over an hour :) bonus!

A week later, Zuki arrived at our house:

She's 10 years old and has been living in a cattery for the last year after her previous owner lost his house. The poor thing lost her home and went from what I hope was a loving home to a strange small pen in a cattery surrounded by other miaowing cats. We're fostering her until a new owner wants to adopt her, but we'll probably have her for the rest of her life because there's a huge shortage of people who want to adopt older cats.

I personally love big, fat older cats. They're my weakness because they already have cat personalities and they're so stubborn that you know they won't change them. Zuki wakes up from her 18 hour catnap if we're talking too loudly and miaows at us in such a way you'd think she'd lived here forever. And we actually talk a little quieter. 

It makes me sad to think of Zuki living the rest of her days in a small unit with minimal human contact and not getting affection. I like to think we've helped one cat, but there are so many more that also need homes.

It's a nice feeling to know you're doing something to help, but to also know YOU get something out of it too :) A cuddly cat (that has very moody tendencies...) to come home to on a miserable weekday.

I think everyone should foster a cat Check out http://www.leedsfelinefriends.org.uk for details on how to foster a cat.

Visiting Mijas, Near Malaga

Ola!

I had the pleasure of visiting the small town of Mijas recently on a sun holiday which I'll go into more detail about later :)

Now, if you've never heard of Mijas (pronounced Me-hacking sound in throat-Kas) you're not alone, I'd never heard of it either, but The Boy had been there on a family holiday YEARS AGO and wanted to revisit it.

He went at a stage of childhood where you don't give a rats ass about quaint little squares and picturesque streets, back then he wanted BEACHES and FAIRGROUNDS and ICE CREAM and moaned at his mum for dragging him away from his bucket and spade. I can't say much has changed in that time but there's only so much beach and ice cream a grown man can take, so we took a day trip.

Mijas is located on the Costa Del Sol which is blessed with an alright public transport system, the bus and train systems are easy to navigate and fairly priced too - a great way to see more of your destination.

So we took a train to Fuerengirola and then a bus to Mijas which winds around some lovely steep mountainy roads so shut your eyes if you scare easy, ok?

The road to Mijas

You arrive into an aforementioned quaint little square right next to the Tourist Information office and the donkey stand where you can take a donkey tour around.

I chose to ignore the donkeys as they were tethered in such a way that meant they were facing the wall which looked cruel to me so I chose to opt out of a donkey ride. (I'd also eaten a LOT of tapas on holiday so I thought I'd spare the donkey's back).

If you head to the Tourist Information office, a nice lady will give you a map of the town for free with all the points of interest. It looks like this:

It's not a big place and it's so lovely to stroll around, so get moving on foot and try and find all the points on the map. We only skipped the highest one as we could see it from the distance which seemed good enough :)

Here's some photos from Mijas:

Have I tempted you to get up off your sunbed yet and explore more of the Costa Del Sol?

Should I mention I had some of the best tapas of my life in Mijas and I kick myself now for not taking note of the restaurant name, you'll just have to go there and find it for yourself - deal?

Remembering Catty...

I miss my beautiful boy so much. He sure LOVED to sleep and eat and meow and he is missed a LOT around the place. I found these photos on the computer the other day and wanted to share them.

Should I get another cat now or wait a few months? He can't be replaced, that's for sure. He was a one of a kind cat.

Why don't we talk to each other in England?

Usually I write about cats and sunshine on here, but it's been a while since I wrote a blog and it's currently election time in Kenya, so my perspective has slightly changed. I still love cats, don't worry.

Every day I'm here I find something that I can learn from Kenyans. They are so genuine, so welcoming and so community spirited that it puts me and my British reserved ways to shame. Why are we so afraid of making conversation with strangers these days in England? We're so afraid of each other that we've forgotten the simple thrill of a three minute conversation with a complete stranger just in case they turn out to be a 'weirdo'.

And this isn't just me as a tourist having conversations with locals. This is what I've observed over the few months I've been here, locals greeting each other, shaking hands then holding them as they continue the conversation, not being afraid to invade personal space, climbing over each other in the matatu, parents passing their children to the conductor as they climb in and out of the matatu.

It feels like everyone knows everyone here, or they know someone who knows them and for that reason I feel safer than in England. I've seen a few examples of mob justice here, where if a pickpocket or similar criminal is seen and caught by people around them, they'll be beaten. While I might not enjoy watching this and agree with it, to me it's better than what we do in England - turn a blind eye and look the other way. We're too scared to get involved that we walk away from the situation.

I'm sure there's a whole lot wrong with the justice system here, I'm not naive and I'm not saying that Kenya is perfect, but when it comes to the general basics of treating others and you would want to be treated yourself, I'm enjoying being part of it. Maybe I'll try and strike up a conversation with a stranger on the bus back in Leeds, but knowing my luck they will actually turn out to be a weirdo.

Here's a picture of my cat to counteract this post:

In conclusion: Talking is good and it actually gets you things in life! It always help to network and have contacts but in England we've stepped away from this with the entry of fandangled technology. Our eyes are getting weaker looking at small screens and we've forgotten the art of simple conversation, instead wondering 'why is this person talking to me?' Roll with it and talk, see what happens.

Marina Grande - Sorrento: Put it on your list

During a four day trip to Sorrento back in October, we strolled (you do stroll on holiday don't you? You don't tend to stroll so much back home...) down to Marina Grande and I fell in love with Sorrento that little bit more when I saw how cute it was:

 

All views should be like this.

 

It's only tiny and it does lose the sun quite early in the day, but it's so cute and so authentic and so darn ITALIAN that I felt like I was in a movie set. So many places are so spoilt by us tourists that you lose the feel and the vibe of a place in the desperation to make us feel at home (WHY THESE PEOPLE LEAVE THEIR HOME COUNTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE IS BEYOND ME) Sorry, I've ruined the vibe of this page now...

Plus, I saw at least fifteen cats sunbathing on moored boats, so that had to help. I love cats.

There's a cat on every boat in this picture - trust me.

Here kitty kitty, jump in my handbag

It's quite a climb back up to the town, but it's worth it the sweat. I could have spent days just loitering around here, hanging around with the old ladies selling doilies and watching the fishermen.

In conclusion: Sorrento is pretty and Marina Grande is pretty awesome with a steep climb involved. If you like film sets, you'll like this place a lot.

What I Want...

There are so many things I want in life right now I thought I'd sit and get them all in a blog...

I want to be sitting on a beach watching the sunset somewhere, anywhere. I want to just sit and watch the sun dip in to the sea. If there was cool music playing, a beer and a blanket around my shoulders, I'd be fine with that.

I want to do a parachute jump. I don't but I do.

I want to stop overhearing petty conversations and squabbles that DON'T matter in the grand scheme of things. Some people have no idea what is out there and how good they have it, I don't ever want to slip in to that danger zone of normality.

I want to be snuggled up here:

I want to know where this cat came from...

I want to stop typing and go and drink some red wine.

Stopping now.

The 5 Most Daring Things I've Done So Far... dum dum dum!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I've been training my cat for car travel and it's taking longer than expected. Bloody cat.

Anyhoo. Whilst I have travel on the brain, I have exciting news!

No, I am NOT pregnant!

We're doing a charity skydive at work. Not at work technically, that would be the lamest skydive ever. No, the drop location is yet to be announced but we're all throwing ourselves out of a plane in the next few months. Scary hey?

It got me thinking that I've done some scary/daring stuff already in my life, am I tempting fate by signing myself up for yet another risky activity?

I figure life's too short to spend it hiding away 'just in case'... it's better to live it than worry about it!

So in no particular order, but starting with the scariest first, I give you my list:

1. Camping in the Serengeti, Tanzania

Ain't no lions getting in my tent!

Woah. Poopantsville this one. It was one of those moments I thought to myself 'What the hell are you doing spending the night in the Serengeti in a tent?!!!' and I honestly didn't think I'd last the night but it was reassuringly uneventful. The camp was completely open and there were zebra all around us but no sign of any KatieEaters. We sat around the campfire hearing stories about tour guides waking up in the night to find lions around the fire... gulp. My recipe for surviving a night in the Serengeti? 1 beer, 2 sleeping pills and some sturdy earplugs. You'll soon wake up to sunrise feeling like a hero.

It wasn't until the next night where we camped at the Ngorogoro Crater and a fully grown elephant appeared a few feet away from our truck that it sank in just how cool this was. TIP - If you ever find yourself being chased by an elephant, just run in diagonal lines and you'll soon lose them. Or is that a rhino?

2. Flying solo across the world

Sadly not like Amelia Earhart, I was just a passenger, this time. No, I flew to Honduras a few years ago, and not only was it my first flight alone but I had THREE flights to catch (SIX if you think about the return journey as well mmm hmmmm) 19 hours and THREE planes later I was feeling mighty proud of myself let me tell you.

Two main horror stories were the guy who I sat next to asking me if I wanted to watch Air Crash Investigation with him on his laptop (true story) and the final flight after two long previous flights turned out to be the equivalent of a paper airplane, it was the size of a private jet on a windy night. My nerves were shot to shit after that long journey, but I calmed down pretty quickly with a glass of wine in my paw.

3. Zip Lining in Honduras

While I'm talking about Honduras, I'll drop in the absolutely insane and completely unsafe amazing zip line/canopy tour I did in Copan. I hear you guffawing 'that's not daring!' but if you'd care to watch my video and stay tuned until the camera pans around, I suspect you might think otherwise. Especially when you get to the end of the line and note that the wire that is the difference between life and death has been wrapped around a DEAD TREE. Don't tell my Mum.

One guy we were with got wire burns because they let him do the course in the dark and he didn't see the end of the wire and slammed full speed in to the tree. They made him finish the course because there was no other way down. Ouchville.

4. Still with me? Impressed at all? How about visiting a Mexican Doctor who used Google Translate to treat me?

This one is SO weird. I got an infection on my leg from a open scar (quick sick story that still makes me retch...I was sunbathing and looked down to see A FLY SITTING RIGHT ON THE OPEN WOUND!) Anyway, I needed antibiotics and quick, and found a Mexican doctor. My Spanish is fine if I need to order a cerveza or get the bill, but explaining the situation to the Doc was going to be tricky.

Luckily for me, he had an iPhone! We conversed through Google Translate for a while, I got my pills (to this day I don't know if they were antibiotics) and as I was about to leave, he called me back for one more translation which was 'Don't eat pig during the healing process' ... *blank look from me* 'sorry, pig?' nodding from the Doctor. I checked with a doctor when I got home and in his many years of practicing medicine, he has not come across this seemingly Pig-ist reaction. But I'm open to any comments from anyone in the medical profession!

5. I got married.

Collective puking from readers! Whatever.

I still maintain that buying a house is more of a commitment than getting married, but it's the most intense and full on day of my entire life, no regrets as yet my friends! Married life is NO different to life before, but with this weekend comes wedding anniversary #1 and it's been a fab year. Thank you for bearing with me, I kept it short on purpose.

So, I'll leave it on that note. I'd LOVE to hear what your most daring moments are and I'll let you know how the parachute jump goes. I REALLY hope I don't get the work experience guy rolling up my parachute...

What's Catty Doing?

Just in case you've been wondering what Catty has been up to recently, I'll fill you in.

2011 was a good year for Catty, check out what a busy year he's had and some of his favourite things to do...

Busy growing in to an EVER BIGGER cat.

Checking out his snow boots!

Sniffing stuff and being curious in general

Diving! Scores please?

Perfecting staring and the art of total lack of spacial awareness. Yep. He is a busy dude.

Balancing and that.

Catching some rays! Outta my sun!

Snoozing on laps, did you know cats sleep for up to 20 hours of the day?

Making new friends who have beer!

Drinking out of toilets - I don't think I'll ever understand this...

Practicing my 'I'm just too cute for anything laborious' face.

So there we have it. Catty has BIG PLANS for 2012. He's going to go on a diet (he doesn't know this) he's going to chase more things thinking he is a dog, he's got plenty of sleeping to be catching up on and muddy paw prints to tread through the house. Hopefully this Boxing Day he won't be sick on the carpet and this year I'm crossing fingers he stops using the bathroom mat as an extension of his litter tray. All I have to remember is that this is actually HIS house and I'm just lucky he allows me to live there with him.