Month: May 2012

Am glad to report that at 10.20pm last night my neighbour (who is my cats’ holiday mother) rang to say Max had just walked in the door and was looking for food!  Alls well that ends well, but a missing animal, be it a cat or any other pet can be so stressful and I really feel for those owners who never get any closure either with their pet returning or at least finding a body.  At 9.00 pm we were both walking down nearby Shockerwick Lane which is bordered by banks and high hedges and one or two luxury homes calling for this little absconder.  When a mile of walking had achieved no positive results we headed back.  It was cool – the sun setting to the west of the city spilled its last rays eastwards and lit up the Bath stone of the village houses across the valley.  it was so peaceful that for a moment I forgot one missing cat and felt both glad and priviledged to I live where I do. It’s such a magic part of the West Country.

Today we are back to normal, Max and Mollie in for food at around 7.30am then off to hunt or sleep in the long grass or a shady border.  It’s 3.30 now and Mollie has just showed up again, only to disappear just as quickly.   Our last cat was twelve when he died and you tend to forget how their life cycle changes as they grow. That when they are young they have boundless energy and the need to explore, sometimes a fair way from their home. Cats are free spirits, they write their own rulebook and we poor humans are merely here to serve and on occasions like yesterday worry!

I’m trying not to get paranoid today.  I’m telling myself that it’s very hot and the last thing cats want is to be indoors.  Max was last seen around 7.30pm last evening.  He came in for food then disappeared again.  His usual pattern is that he turns up around 5am and wakes me, eats then goes out again, eventually settling three doors up at my neighbours, spending most of his day with her two cats Toby and Bilbo Baggins.  Today however, no one has seen him.  We’ve checked the main road (as we tragically lost a cat in an RTA twenty odd years ago) and there was thankfully no sign.  Then you start thinking ‘has he got himself locked in?’  Our other cat Mollie went missing for two days a few weeks ago, turning up severely tramatised and necessitating a visit to the vet.  It turned out she had been locked in a neighbour’s cellar.  The trouble with cats is that they are incredibly curious and sometimes this works to their detriment.  An open door is an invitation to explore and perhaps, if it’s a cellar, to find mice.  Once the door has been closed by a human who hasn’t a clue they are in there, they are trapped.  Worse case scenario is he’s been locked in either the house or the garage by someone as they were loading the car in preparation to go away on holiday – paranoia really kicking in here – I must calm down!

Hopefully, he will come home with an expression which says , well here I am, what’s all the fuss?  If not, I’m about to compose a flyer for door to door distribution.  Fingers and toes crossed we have a happy ending.

The Olympic torch passed through Bath yesterday on its way through the West Country.  There has been so much enthusiasm and goodwill en route – the crowds have come out in force to watch the torch bearers and their accompanying entourage (buses, Gold BMWs,police and minders).  I don’t think there has ever been such a year for celebration with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics happening within months of each other.  2012 certainly is turning out to be an eventful year.

And talking of events, to coinicide with the Jubilee weekend, I’m offering a 24 hour window to download free electronic copies of my trilogy.  This is in the run up to publication of my fourth novel, which ties in with the other three.  The only proviso my publisher has made is that it is done through them and not Amazon.  So I will be in touch later with details of how you can get hold of these three books.

I’m just on the back end of Tuesday, a wind down to Wednesday morning and the great world of work.  I went part time last August and do 18.75 hours per week.  Before that I worked as Admin Manager in a busy hospital Pharmacy Department – a job that was full on from the time I arrived at my desk to closing the door to go home.  Now I work in a job share in a non-front line area and it makes such a difference.  Suddenly my world has become sane again.

I always thought I would miss full time work but I’m finding I absolutely love my free time.  Most of it is taken up with writing and it means I can get some sensible structure in my life.  When I worked full time I had protected time for writing at weekends.  I had perhaps an hour most evenings, but there’s not a lot you can do in an hour other than checking through what you’ve previously written and editing – the creative stuff had to wait for Friday night to arrive!  This then became in direct competition with all the domestic weekend things like cleaning, cooking and ironing and of course somewhere in all of this was a social life too.  It became very much a balancing act.

Now I have time to plan, to spend time in the garden, meet friends for lunch while still having that financial safety net which helps so much when you’re an indie author. I also have time to enjoy the countryside surrounding Bath, a sample of which I have posted above.  Lovely to get out in the fresh air and walk – now I have the best of both worlds and have never been happier!