Tag Archives: kittens

Fun whilst it lasted

journal, ,

1. From 30 November though advent, Christmas, New Year, and my journal’s birthday, all the way to 15 February I posted in these pages at least once a day every day. Admittedly, occasionally I would cheat and backdate an entry for a few hours in order to get it in if I wasn’t near a computer in time, but basically it was so. It was so, for now that it is broken. Still, it had to happen, and now it is, the subconscious pressure to not break it is no longer there, so that’s good. 😉

2. Had a good weekend, just relaxing with my folks in the New Forest. Bella and Arthur enjoyed it too. Settling back into haunts that they had grown used to over Christmas. Even Bramble shared the same room with them for a bit, so that’s progress!

3. Read through Part Two of my novel on Saturday. There are definitely some bits that need attention before I can put it at the mercy of the CC’ers however it’s actually not bad, and I was able to run through a prelimary revision of the part, dividing it up into five chapters. On Sunday, I hacked around the first three pages, and sorted out some POVs. I think the revision process is going to get easier as I learn from what people pick up on in the crits…

4. A Monday day off is a nice and leisurely way to ease oneself back into the week. The reason for this particular day, was because the carpet man was cometh to fit a nice new carpet to my stairs. He was only here two hours, and so not only do I have a nice new staircase and the not unpleasant smell of freshly laid carpet, but I had the rest of the day to write, and to revise, and draft out the next concert band programme … and to do #5… 😉

5. Frakking hell, Battlestar Galactica just gets better and better! I ended up watching three episodes of season two because it’s so damn good.

Fun whilst it lasted

journal, , [mood | happy

1. From 30 November though advent, Christmas, New Year, and my journal’s birthday, all the way to 15 February I posted in these pages at least once a day every day. Admittedly, occasionally I would cheat and backdate an entry for a few hours in order to get it in if I wasn’t near a computer in time, but basically it was so. It was so, for now that it is broken. Still, it had to happen, and now it is, the subconscious pressure to not break it is no longer there, so that’s good. 😉

2. Had a good weekend, just relaxing with my folks in the New Forest. Bella and Arthur enjoyed it too. Settling back into haunts that they had grown used to over Christmas. Even Bramble shared the same room with them for a bit, so that’s progress!

3. Read through Part Two of my novel on Saturday. There are definitely some bits that need attention before I can put it at the mercy of the CC’ers however it’s actually not bad, and I was able to run through a prelimary revision of the part, dividing it up into five chapters. On Sunday, I hacked around the first three pages, and sorted out some POVs. I think the revision process is going to get easier as I learn from what people pick up on in the crits…

4. A Monday day off is a nice and leisurely way to ease oneself back into the week. The reason for this particular day, was because the carpet man was cometh to fit a nice new carpet to my stairs. He was only here two hours, and so not only do I have a nice new staircase and the not unpleasant smell of freshly laid carpet, but I had the rest of the day to write, and to revise, and draft out the next concert band programme … and to do #5… 😉

5. Frakking hell, Battlestar Galactica just gets better and better! I ended up watching three episodes of season two because it’s so damn good.

Music, kittens, and quotation marks

journal, , ,

1. As long as I breath from the diaphram, and blow the notes confidently, my piccolo playing seems to be coming on quite well, and not too screaching and ear-piercing. That said it’s still loud and high, and really I ought to be careful just how late I do practice Vaughan Williams’ Folk Song Suite.

2. Bella and Arthur seem to be adapting to my music making. Once cautious, if not fearful, of flute and piccolo, now they will carry on sleeping throughout… 😉

3. The current vintage of Sloe Gin has a damn fine tast. Mm-mmnn… sloe gin and chocolate olivers.

4. This might be useful, and there is way too much to be said in the world about the humble quotation mark.

5. I am on the last page of revising Part One, Chapter Six. I’m still getting some good crits back from CC, and I may try submitting it somewhere once I’ve got Part One finished. This said, I’m trying to work out if that’s wise or not – I mean what if some publisher was to get back to me uncharacteristically quickly with a ‘this is great – send us all of it’ reply? Yeah, I know, that’s unlikely (on both counts), but Sod’s Law dictates… :-\

48 in 50

journal, , , [mood | tired [music | Nylon - Get ekki meira

1. You can’t call it training, but it is exercise. Tonight, I swam 48 lengths in 50 minutes. Not bad, but if I am to ‘beat the hour’ with my 60 lengths, I need to do better. If you haven’t done so already, you still have time to sponsor me… 😉

2. Over the next month I will be spending 5 days out of the office on training courses. 2 days in London learning how to project manage, and 3 days in Milton Park, AbingdonDidcot – 1 learning how to use Microsoft Project, and 2 days learning about XML Schemas…

3. Applied for a few webby designery jobs last night. This evening I got home to find that one of them – a web design agency in Swindon (yes, I know, Swindon!) – liked my CV very much and would like to interview me (Yayy!) however they had two questions, one was would I be moving from Bicester or commuting, and the other was that this was a fairly junior position with a salary in the mid to late teens and was this alright. I replied saying that:

If I were to be offered this position, then although I might in the short-term commute from Bicester to Swindon, I would be looking to move nearer.

For your information, my current salary is £xx,xxx.

They can read into that my answer and make their own decision. Still at least the CV and letter works!4. Three critiques so far to chapter four of my novel over at CritiqueCircle. Those that have read it seem to like and seem to admire my slightly odd/brave style and think that against the odds I pull it off. 🙂 That said, they seem to be understanding it pretty well, seeing as I seem to have made a slight oversight and failed to post chapter two!! 😉

5. Bella seems to have made friends with one of the neighbouring cats. They were both on one side of the street when I got home, and had both gone and sat under a car on the other by the time I had got to the other. Arthur meanwhile, was keeping guard outside my garden…

Musical taste

journal,

It seems that Bella quite like my flute playing. She will go and cozy up in her bed in the corner of the turn of the stairs, and lie there basking as I play, heard and toes hanging out all over the place…

…however Arthur? Arthur is less than pleased. Displeased indeed, and show’s his displeasure with loud miaows, although whether this is actually in complaint to my flute playing or just James Horner’s music to Titanic and in particular My Heart Will Go On is still to be decided. Certainly he didn’t miaow during my rendition of Nigel Hess’ Morning Commuter, but that might have just been because by then he was hiding behind the curtain! 😉

Breaking News!

journal [mood | pleased

This morning, as I was having my breakfast, and after Bella and Arthur finished there’s, Arthur mosied up to the cat flap and pushed his way through. Bella followed.

When I got home this evening, Bella was waiting for me in the house, but soon went out again, and then Arthur popped back. A bit later they both came in for their tea and then went out to make themselves comfortable, and to have another run round the neighbourhood before coming back in for a bit more food, and a lounge in the armchair with me and a cuddle 🙂

Awe, my little babies. They’ve all grown up and flown the nest!

Teaching young cats old tricks

journal

Why is that cat flaps have to make a disconcerting flap-flapping noise upon opening and closing. It seems to frighten the life out of young Bella and Arthur. Segregating one of them off temporarily into the cat basket I showed them in turn the workings of the cat flap, and then walked them round from the front to the back garden and over the fence. They seem to prefer using the (human operated) patio doors… 😉

Sunshine and showers and thunderstorms

journal, , [mood | bouncy

The subject line to this post just about sums up my weekend. But it’s been better than that. I’ve not begun re-reading Blood & Fire yet, but I have made a start on a first ‘prologue’ chapter to Mr Tumnal. I’ve also read a bit, and thought about that Other Novel.

I had the best roast dinner last night, roast beef with roasted veggies and gravy (and yes, I did serve it up in a jug to pass to myself). I’ve watched some tele and read some more, with cats purring on my knee (yes, both cats on my lap at the same time – they’re like that). Today I had the (now traditional) Sunday Night Pizza.

I’ve done some research into new carpet for my stairs – there’s a traditional soft-furnishing shop in Bicester’s sheep street with the kind of old men that you can imagine that have always worked there.

A good, and productive weekend… 😉

Death and the bifrost

journal, , , [mood | happy [music | Nylon - Get ekki meira

Despite my best efforts, and getting up at a reasonable time both on Saturday and Sunday, it seems thawt I am not going to finish The Novel this weekend. Thawt’s not to say that I am not close. Very close. For I am that close, but I am not there yet. I haven’t written as much this weekend as I had hoped – there is definitely something about the amount of writing achieved being directly disproportional to the availability of time in which to do it – but I have written, and I am closing in on that final conflict…

And Bella and Arthur have had an enjoyment weekend too, unleashed and roaming mine and the neighbours garden. Of course keeping them in until they get access to the fabled cat flap is now going to be increasingly difficult now that they have tasted freedom.

Bella & Arthur Unleashed

journal

Bella and Arthur went out on their own for a bit this afternoon. Had a good rummage round the back of the shed (hope they didn’t disturb Edwig The Hedgehog), nipped over the fence; had a good play in next door’s garden, did the tour of next door’s kitchen, and scaled the heights of next doors trees before coming home for tea…

Lord Muck
Lord Muck
Originally uploaded by shepline on 9 Sep ’06, 5.57pm BST PST.

( more )

What? You want to write in this book? What, like, now…?

journal,

Whilst Bella is more of the active, out-doorsy type, wanting to get stuck into some serious tree climbing, Arthur, it seems is more into literary contemplation. He’s also a bit of a geek. He likes the laptop, and he likes to sit on my novel and pretend that he’s helping. He likes purring loudly whilst doing all of these things…

What? You want to write in this book? What, like, now...?
What? You want to write in this book? What, like, now…?
Originally uploaded by shepline on 6 Aug ’06, 10.55pm BST PST.

Nonchalent
Nonchalent
Originally uploaded by shepline on 6 Aug ’06, 10.55pm BST PST.

Tree climbing is fun!

journal [mood | cheerful

Not content with scaling the height of the floor to ceiling curtains, and goding Arthur into following, Bella, today discovered the joys of tree climbing. How long will it be until Arthur follows suit…? Not long, me thinks…

Tree climbing is fun!
Tree climbing is fun!
Originally uploaded by shepline on 6 Aug ’06, 9.06pm BST PST.

Just a little bit higher...
Just a little bit higher…
Originally uploaded by shepline on 6 Aug ’06, 9.05pm BST PST.

You get a great view from up here, Arthur!
You get a great view from up here, Arthur!
Originally uploaded by shepline on 6 Aug ’06, 9.05pm BST PST.

A whole garden to explore (and next door’s too!)

journal

It has been hot this weekend. Too hot at times. Although here I find my internal thermometer at odds with my brain, because at 30 degrees it is not as hot as it was in Italy, but for some reason it feels hotter.

Anyway, I had to have the door open, but Bella and Arthur aren’t really old enough (or had their full set of jabs) for unattended gallivanting around the neighbourhood, so I went to my local old fashioned hardware store and bought 1 knot of dupe and a couple of leads and secure collars and tethered the little kittens to the coffee table.

They’ve had a great weekend (as have I, watching them from the shade) and now they are flat out asleep… 😉



Originally uploaded by shepline on 16 Jul ’06, 9.46pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 16 Jul ’06, 9.43pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 16 Jul ’06, 9.42pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 16 Jul ’06, 9.40pm BST PST.

( more )

Ninja moves…

journal, [mood | silly

Watching Arthur and Bella at play is one of the best ever entertainments – the ninja moves that they employ to catch their sibling unawares in particular. Vertical take-off’s; they somehow manage to shoot out, feet splayed and land some distance away where you least expect. They chase around the room at high speed and never knock over anything breakable.

The best entertainment not on TV.

~~~

Last night, Arthur expressed determined interest in the back door, left ajar to allow air through as I ate my dinner. He voiced his complaints at not being allowed out with little miaows. Today I went and bought collars and leads and rope to allow them out, and allow me to have the door very open, and what do you know. They like playing with the rope, and tieing each other in knots, but do they want to go out? Well what what do you think…?!!

~~~

Cat-Assisted-Typing: the posting of last night’s episode was delayed a bit, as Arthur insisted on coming and helping. Strolling nonchanantly across the sofa he would get up on the keyboard and try and save my work. Oh, and Bella didn’t help by going for the mouse and knocking it on the floor whenever I left it scoop Arthur off the keyboard.

~~~

The Cycle of Breakfast. Sitting at the table eating my cereal, Bella would climb up the far side to get onto the table, walk across to join me, and I would scoop her up and put her down. Arthur would climb up the far side and walk across the table, to be scooped back down by me. And Bella would be coming up the far side of the table already … and so it would continue. Great fun, for cats… 😉

Mr Green and Miss Blue

journal, , [mood | amused



Originally uploaded by shepline on 8 Jul ’06, 11.56pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 8 Jul ’06, 11.56pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 8 Jul ’06, 11.53pm BST PST.



Originally uploaded by shepline on 8 Jul ’06, 11.53pm BST PST.

Meet Cat1 and Cat2 – I’m still working on names. Currently, I’m wondering about Alberto and Loris…

They are simply adorable – and very playful – already they’ve taken flying leaps at one another across the room, climbed on doors, crawled under cabinets, and there’s nothing better than the piece of paper tied to a string! 😉

( more )