Rosie and Jim – A cat, a book and a bowl of soup

Hello!

So it’s been awhile since my last post, but I mentioned a follow up to Jim’s Skills – so without further ado, here is Rosie’s section!

When we first got Rosie, she was a lot shier than Jim, and she spent the first hours inside her carrier – where she had been kept all her life before the RSPCA found her. When she finally came out though, she got a bit braver everyday. Rosie was only 2 then, so she still had a lot of kittenish traits (she still does at five and a half!) and it wasn’t long before she wanted to explore.

The way that I connected with her was through play. Continue reading “Klever Kitties – Part two – Rosie Stubington” →

Well, we’ve almost made it through another year… phew! I guess that means it’s time to review the past.

Hmm, new years resolutions. I’m not sure I even bothered to make any, although, my whole family said that we wanted to visit our grandparents more. I think we achieved that pretty well! I’ll call it a success. I also wanted to learn something new. I’ve been spending a lot of 2015 learning code, anatomy and various other sciences so hopefully that counts.

Finally, spending time with the cats is always a permanent fixture on my list, but this year I also wanted to try and teach them some manners. That means no more stealing food, or chairs, or boxes… the list could go on for miles. I’m not sure that gets a tick as, for most of my evening I have been perched on the very edge of a beanbag that Rosie was spread out across. This is after Jim sat and stared at my plate for an entire mealtime and made an attempt to devour the gravy (why he was interested i’m not sure as it doesn’t even have any meat in it!). Ok – that one gets a fail mark.

Now for this year. Well, I should probably try to be a bit more active here (sorry!) but apart from that – I have no ideas! That’s not to say there aren’t things I’d like to improve (there are many!), I just don’t think there is a single solution that can be carried out through a year long task.

Instead, I want to just try and live for a bit – and enjoy what’s good instead of trying to change things to make life better. Maybe we should have New Year Satisfaction, and spend a bit of time just being grateful. I think that is possibly the point in thanksgiving, but being a Brit, I can’t say I’ve ever celebrated it.

So, tonight I will be thinking about what I don’t want to resolve. My new years count down…

10 – Rosie and Jim of course! Even if it means having to give up my sofa spot and always guarding my food, I don’t think I would ever want them to change.

9 – Books. Without them, my life would be a lot
more boring. I’ve just finished The Martian, and what a book it was. If you are a fan of New Years Resolutions, reading The Martian should be the first one you make.

8 – Soup. (See the pattern?) I’ve been suffering from a horrible cold and stomach bug. I spent my Christmas semi-asleep (no changes there), but if there’s one thing you can rely on to help you recover, it’s a hot bowl of therapeutic soup.

7 – Family. Cheesy – maybe. But true nonetheless. I’m so glad to have seen my Mum’s parents more after years of not seeing them. I had a fascinating conversation with my Grandad about quantum physics!

6 – Trees. Not only do they supply us with plenty of oxygen (which is just a little bit important) they are also rather good at being seats. A special thank you to my lovely tree in front of the house that has been putting up with me for years.
5 – Fluffy socks. I feel these are getting progressively more ridiculous, but i really do love socks, which is why it’s so annoying when I always take my left sock off without noticing. I have no idea why. I have got an amazing pair of panda socks at the moment with pompom ears.

4 – Music. Something that’s got me through a difficult year. No matter what your taste (and I don’t often find people who share music taste with me…), I like to think/hope that most people have enjoyed music at some point in there life. I suppose that is something to aim for this year – making my own music.

3 – Water. Not just for drinking. Ever since I was a baby, I have always loved water – especially being in it. I think I must have permanently looked like a prune I spent so much time playing in the bath. I also used to have bath “tea”. This was just hot water from the tap in a little plastic cup. The only problem was, I’d have so much tea it would wake me up in the middle of the night needing the toilet.

2 – Studying. I’ve managed to get into a good routine for managing my work, and it can be incredibly satisfying to end a day feeling you’ve achieved something.

1 – Friends. This is something I can find quite hard. In general, talking to people terrifies me! But I’ve attempted to stray from my comfort zone. While exhausting, it’s definitely worth trying to spend time with new people. There’s still work to do – but I’ve still time.

And 0!!!!!!!!!! Happy new year:) Hope it’s a good one.