I travel a lot, or as much as I can afford, and thanks to a Senior Bus Pass, I can get around on the service buses fairly regularly. A Senior Rail Card helps as well. Another bonus is that I can usually manage to write while travelling, thanks to my Nexus 7 or iPad Mini. Needless to say, I love travelling, and all of it is done for the pleasure of the journeys themselves as well as the meeting of old friends or the solo explorations of towns and cities. Under the meeting of old friends category, comes cat-sitting.
For many years I shared my home with a variety
of cats, but now we have only dogs. While I love the pooches, cats are equally
dear to me, and I miss having them around. So cat-sitting for friends spread
around the country is a win-win situation. For them, it's the chance to leave
their home and cats in the care of someone they (and possibly more importantly,
the cats) know and trust. For me, it's a chance to get my cat-fix, and just as
valuable, a chance to spend time with those long term friends before they slope
off to visit mutual friends. And to write in an atmosphere of peace and quiet,
even if that includes a cat perched on my shoulder. Or my keyboard.
Cats, like dogs, all have their own distinct
personalities, but so far I haven't included them in any ofmy stories. TBC,
who featured in the latter part of Game On, Game Over, is an amalgam of various
feline traits, written as the antithesis of the chocolate box uber-cute cat.
The felines who feature in My Melusine's Cats series, aren't really domestic
cats at all, though they share some of the behaviours.
So I'd like to introduce some of my cat-friends:
tabby Daisy, who now lives in Ellesmere Port and shares Fiona's couch with me;
Boudicca, who lives in Lordswood; Tarry and Dilly [though sadly Dilly is no
longer with us], two Russian Blue sisters of Keighley, and Frankie, who loves
the upside-down demented look, and now lives in Ellesmere Port with Daisy and the
charming and elderly Travis.
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