All The Live Long Day

Friday, 28 March 2014

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

This is Moses. Also known as Momo, Mosey, Mo-Bear, or Big Guy. The feline formerly known as Garden Cat. He is the latest addition to what you may now legitimately call my cat collection. The other part of which you've met here.

I first noticed Moses in August last year. Looking out of the kitchen window, I'd see a pile of fur rolled up in a little sunspot by our fence. But whenever I stepped outside to investigate, I would see a flurry of black and white disappear into the bushes in the back.

One day, Marco called me out to look at fur-pile, who was not dashing off at first sight of us, as usual. Instead, he stayed in his spot and glanced at us sleepily. Marco was wondering if he was okay, and I decided to put some food out for him, which he wolfed down once we'd cleared the garden.

So then feeding this cat became a daily thing. We soon named him Garden Cat and he even got his own box of kibble, because I felt reluctant to feed my girl cats' expensive dry food to either a) somebody else's opportunistic pet or b) a shaggy stray. Garden Cat was very hungry.

Garden Cat soon also became accustomed with his feedings, and formed an attachment to me. He would still lie in his corner of our flower bed all day every day, but get up to follow me to the spot I'd put the bowl down. Soon I was able to touch him or drag a stick along for him to chase.

We had fed him for several weeks by October. Even though he would go off to somewhere every night, had started to wonder if he didn't have anybody to care for him. He was sweet and ready to be loved after he overcame his initial skepticism, so we found it hard to believe he'd be a stray. But then again, he was skinny and dirty, and would come to our garden every day, even in bad weather. He hadn't been neutered (let's just say that you could clearly see he was a boy). One day I had to remove a tick from his neck, and his teeth were all crooked and broken. I listed him on an online site for lost and found animals and attached a paper collar with my phone number to his neck. Nobody ever got in touch.

In November, he visited for several days with a big neck wound that just got worse and worse and clearly hurt him. At that point I kind of didn't care if he had an owner anymore, because they were obviously not able to look after him right. I lured him in the house and booked an appointment with our vet, who cleaned out the big abscess, tested him for FIV (thankfully he was negative), chopped off his balls, and gave him all the injections he needed. Poor traumatized Moses...

Several months and some enormous vet bills later, Moses is still living with us. He eats like a machine and acts like a giant kitten when you play with him. I have grown fond of his big fluffy face.

Unfortunately, my girl cats are not as keen on him. Even though they are very slowly getting used to his presence, they hiss and show their teeth whenever he comes near them. This is why we are sadly considering giving him away, as my girls' stressed behaviour stresses him out in return. It does not seem fair for them to have to live that way. We want to give it some more time, but are not sure how long we should wait, and if their relationship is ever going to get better. My loyalty also clearly lies with Mae and Missy, and it makes me sad to see them unhappy. But I am still crossing my fingers for a happy ending.

Do you have any experience of taking in a stray cat? Or can you give me any tips on how to make cats love each other? I'd like to hear from you if you have a similar story to share!

Friday, 21 March 2014

Fine Tune: Grey Reverend - Everlasting

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Friday, 14 March 2014

Fine Tune: Hockeysmith - But Blood

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Friday, 7 March 2014

Fine Tune: Solomon Grey - Gascarene Sound

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Friday, 28 February 2014

Fine Tune: Emilíana Torrini - Tookah

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Monday, 24 February 2014

Things to do in Margate

I've showed you bits of Margate ~~one~~, ~~two~~, three times before.

Here are some more activities that you could engage in while there:

Visit a sliding house.

Try the pear and cambozola combo at the Great British Pizza Company.

Take pictures of sand and pretend you're looking at the moon.

Breathe deeply and fill your lungs with fresh sea air.

Hunt for textures.

Spent a couple of hours rummaging through the stock at Scott's Furniture Mart.

Look for colour.

Stop for a rainbow on your way home.

Friday, 21 February 2014

Fine Tune: Glass Animals - Psylla

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Wednesday, 19 February 2014

A very, very, very fine house.

Part of the Sensing Spaces exhibition I wrote about yesterday was a little movie featuring interviews with all the architects, including Pezo Von Ellrichshausen. Their segment of the film included footage of a house that made me feel all flustery.
If you'd let me, I would move into Casa Poli in the blink of an eye. It is my dream house. High above the ocean, build out of concrete and glass, it still blends perfectly with the nature that surrounds it. From the outside, you see a grey cube. From the inside, you see the ocean, the sky, the cliff-face. There are different textures of light and shade all around you, and the many viewing angles make the stark structure come to life.
Seeing this building made me quite emotional, actually. If you gave me the space and the guts, this is exactly what I would want to build and exactly the kind of land I would want to build it onto. I am looking at this at a time when Marco and I have been trying to make our minds up about where we want to live and what kind of place would make us happy. I wish I could find a place that would give me the same sense of joy and serenity that looking at the below pictures gives me. I wish I could feel so in tune with myself that I could close my eyes and be sure in my mind about where this place is and how I can get to it.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Sensing Spaces

I am very lucky to have a three-day weekend. I do not work on Mondays, and that third day off has been very successful in curbing the back-to-work blues that I used to experience every Sunday afternoon.
When I first started working part-time, I enthusiastically vowed that Mondays would be fun-days: filled with outings, crafts and awesome dates with myself. I was going to use those 24 hours wisely. Never happened. My typical Monday sees me in sweat-wear, lounging around the house, maybe doing some laundry and having an afternoon nap. Hm.
This Monday, mind you, I did go out! My friend Christina smartly shipped her two girl-kids off to Germany for half-term and was looking to fill her free time. She asked me if I wanted to do something in town together, and I surprised myself by saying yes! So we ended up having a fantastic day filled with culture, tea and shopping.
I suggested we go see the current architecture exhibition at the Royal Academy. I had read about it a little while ago and it looked and sounded interesting. It's called Sensing Spaces, and consists of 7 large-scale installations by different architects trying to convey the essence of their design beliefs. It felt like we were visiting a big playground, as you were able to walk through, touch and interact with the structures. If you are near London and interested in architecture, I can really not recommend this exhibition enough. And I am pretty sure that even if you don't give a rat's bum about architecture, but love to be inspired and to explore, you'd like it, too.

After all the art and a stop-over in Anthropology, we went somewhere secret: a tea room hidden above a Soho pub. You tell the pub staff that you're there for tea, and they will phone up and then invite you to step behind the bar to ascend a flight of stairs into a room that looks like you've made a trip back in time to 1940s London. Vintage jazz was playing, and we were served our tea on mismatched china at small tables with fresh flowers on them. I liked!

After tea, I proceeded to drag poor Christina all over Chinatown to track down ingredients for some Vietnamese cooking I have planned. She was a good sport about it and helped me hold baskets, look through bags of dried mushrooms and even lined up in one of the long check-out queues while I was still searching for an elusive oil. Thanks, Friend!

I enjoyed my London day. I can say I will probably not go straight away and do something again next Monday, but being out in town during the day and not having to hurry anywhere has reminded me that I once used to love this city and all it has to offer very much, and that I should try and keep that love alive.