Bucketlist

In a change from the recent animal blogs,  I decided to talk about my 'bucketlist' instead, as I've been thinking and planning bits of it recently!

Does everybody have a bucketlist?  Or is it just me?
By bucketlist I mean a list of things you want to do before you die :) Or at least get too old to do them.....

when I turned 50 I realised (maybe a bit later than some people!) that life is for living. And I decided to experience as many of the things I'd like to do as possible. already since then I've done quite a bit - too much to list here; and anyway as I've done it already I've crossed those things off the list now!

this is about the remaining stuff on the list...

There's loads on it - where to start?

A trip in a hot air balloon and a glider. Maybe even a parachute jump!

A glide down a zip wire - should be easy to do as there's one just a couple of miles away! But can I persuade anyone to go with me? Not a chance!!

Going Ape in Whinlatter forest - climbing through the trees on ropes etc.

A segway ride; driving a tank; quad biking..

Completing all the wainwright walks.

Getting a piece of writing published - just once!

Learning blues/jazz piano. Having bought my digital piano, I am already trying to learn - still stuck in the old classical ways - following the music note for note. How I'd love to be able to improvise...

 More Shakespearean acting on stage - a bigger part next time!

Going to see a play at the Globe

More travelling - love to see Ireland, especially the Giant's causeway and walk across that rope bridge they always show on the tourist info! Iceland and the Arctic circle to see the Northern lights! Russia, Africa, India, everywhere....  :)

I'd like to become a Buddhist - go for refuge. Maybe even become an ordained Buddhist.

Learn to swim. Ever since I snorkled in the Great Barrier Reef (albeit with the help of the crew and flotation aids!) I need to do it again. Learning to swim is on my list for this Autumn, once I've done the Rave for Life, the 100km Nightrider cycle ride and the Yorkshire 3 peaks challenge....

Abseiling - how fab it would be to glide down a mountain side...

Riding a horse - never done it.  (well when I was very small, but can't remember it)

When I watch those TV ads about starving children in Africa, watching those haunted yet beautiful eyes, instead of crying and paying £2 a month, I'd like to actually do something to help them.

I'd like to be like my friend Sam, who when she saw the terrible life the street dogs in SriLanka were having, started up a veterinary hospital, and a charity to keep it going.

I could go on and on, but that lot will last me a few years :)

Oh, one final thing. I'd like to find a good man who would love me enough to do some of those things with me; and maybe have a bucketlist of his own that I could help him with...

Ha! That last one seems the hardest one of all to achieve, but even if it is I will have a bloody good time working my way  through the rest of my bucketlist!!
I don't want to get to 90 and have regrets about what I didn't do.
If I die of fright doing any of the above, then at least I didn't die in a chair in front of the telly...

Esmerelda

After a bit of a break, I thought I'd better get the rest of the cats out of my system!
Just been on a lovely break to the South of France = what a beautiful place. I now know why all the Impressionists loved to paint there as the light is superb. Wish I'd taken my art materials, but just didn't have time to sit and paint... Never mind, took lots of photos to inspire me now I'm home :)

Anyway, back to the cats. Esme was a delightful cat.She was found by a motorist, when he saw her wandering in the road. Luckily, he stopped, picked her up and brought her into the cattery.  Before I post her picture, I'll explain that she came from the same place as Jimmy Jaw. and after Esme was found, we went to the farm she came from and found dozen of other cats in an appalling condition. The lady who lived there was never prosecuted, but we did persuade her to hand over most of the cats and those that remained were neutered and monitored. Most of the rescued cats had to be put to sleep as they were in such a poor condition, but Esme had such spirit that she willed herself to survive.
She'd been fed on bread and milk (and only occasionally) so when she came in she was literally skin and bone. Most of her fur had gone and she was blind. Cats cannot survive without meat in their diet  - they just don't get the right nutrients and vitamins.

so this was Esmerelda when we found her....

In that state, nobody wanted to adopt her - after all, nobody thought she would survive very long. So she HAD to come home with us.

And what a good move that was :) She lived for many happy years, although we never knew how old she was as most of her teeth had gone when she was found, she was un-neutered like the others and had had kittens, but god knows how many she'd had to care for and what it must have taken out of her.

the spirit that I referred to made her a special cat. Her blindness never once stopped her doing what she wanted to do. She would wander out into the garden, find the warmest and most comfortable place to lie and made sure she was the last one in at night!

She never lost her adventurous nature and often the neighbours would report here wandering in a zig-zag down the path....

And of all the cats we had, she was the most loving of all (except for my little Skippy!)

Every evening if I sat down after work, she'd make a beeline for my chair, haul herself up onto my knee and settle down, purring wildly. I would groom her gently and she'd purr louder the more I groomed. 

Not being able to see, her sleeping places were always odd. She would get into a plant pot or lie in the rockery in the garden; get inside any cardboard box that was handy and once got inside a little bed that I'd made for a dollshouse. 

I loved Esme.

Here is the little round ball of fun that she became....

There were two more cats after that. First Bing, who was named Bing because he was found in a place called Crosby. He was quite elderly when he came to us, but was a lovely, gentle cat. Although he wasn't with us very long, he left a lasting impression because of his gentle nature.

This is Bing:

And finally, Jennifer. She was brought after we'd stopped helping at the cats charity, by a farmer down the road. She'd been hanging around the farm - a lost kitten and he thought she might be ours.  So she stayed.

And a proper little character she was too. She was tiny, another of my favourite tabby kittens! Full of mischief, she loved going out roaming the fields and would always come back late in the evening, having enjoyed the long summer nights.  We only had the pleasure of Jennifer's company for a couple of years - she always was too adventurous and one night just didn't come back. We never saw her again, so either she found a home somewhere else (which I doubt) or was killed by a car or an animal.

I did miss her....

Here's Jennifer

So, that's the cat saga over finally! 

Lots of them have been in our lives over the last 20 or so years, all of them gorgeous in their own special ways.

Next time - the dogs.....

xx

Jimmy and cozzie

After a bit of a break, I decided to finish the saga of the animals! The break is really because of the animals, as I've been out on the bike a lot training for the charity ride and also walking to prepare for the 3 peak challenge.

But as it's snowing today and I am full of cold, with swollen glands and feeling sorry for myself (lol!) I thought I'd stay in and write a bit of blog.

So - Jimmy Jaw and Cozzie were the next kittens.  Jimmy was 'found' near a farm after he'd apparently been hit by a car. His little face was such a mess - the skin on his bottom jaw was hanging down like a huge flap. But our wonder vet operated and stitched it all back together, so Jimmy mad an astonishing recovery. He was going to come here after that! While he was recovering in the cattery another tiny little scrap was brought in. she had been thrown over a garden wall with her litter mates and left to die. The only survivor, little Cozzie was barely alive when found, but was nursed back to health with hourly hand feeds and bathing, etc.  She was far too young to survive really, but against all the odds turned into a little divvil.  she was put into a cage with Jimmy and they bonded from the start. so when the time came for us to adopt Jimmy, guess who came too?

And what a comedy duo they were. Jimmy was always quieter and had a bit of trouble eating sometimes with his patched up jaw (hence Jimmy Jaw - the nickname that came from the fact that he resembled Jimmy Hill!)
but he became a mini celebrity once when he went missing and made the papers! He turned up after several weeks, skin and bone and starving!  Cozzie was always the naughty one - we came in from work one day to find her climbing inside the Christmas tree; the next day we came in and the tree was lying on its side!!

Those two were inseperable as kittens and always close. Cozzie would wander around Keswick; Jimmy was a country cat; but they both brought us plenty of 'presents.' ie mice, rats, etc....
Here they are:

And here's Jimmy's Jaw...

Well, those two lived for a long time. Jimmy was always prone to kidney problems after his stint away from home, but they were both elderly when they died...

Next time, Esmerelda, my dear, dear favourite blind cat.