I was away, now I'm back

My "R" theme was Reflections, but
another possible theme I was
considering was "Roads".

After the A to Z finished, I managed to put up my reflection post, and then I had to prepare for a work trip. I'm back from that trip as of tonight, and the weekend to come is going to be filled with collecting all my kitties back (my two, and some foster kitties).

I have yet to continue with my blog visiting catch-up, but I still plan on doing that. Meanwhile I have actual homework to do, because I'm doing a course in PHP & APIs during this month of May.

I also have a presentation at work to prepare for, this Tuesday, and I won't have a car all week because I got rear-ended a few weeks ago and the car needs to be at the shop for a whole week.

Another "Road" photo I would have included.

Hopefully some time soon I will actually have more writing stuff to talk about. I will say that I went to one Sunday session a few weeks back, and it was great. I did get stuck into revising one of my projects that's been stewing a while. But I haven't been able to get back since. That's yet another thing I fully intend on doing more of in the relatively future.

So there is all that. But I'm here basically to say hi, and to let you all know that I truly do want to be here more! ;)

A to Z 2015 - "K" Photos

For Day #11 of the A-to-Z challenge, we're at the letter "K", and I have the chance to show off some of the little cuties I've had the privilege of fostering ... or adopting ... or taking photos of for other foster carers!

Kittens

  

GOALS update & Cephalopod - a day late!

***WARNING, maybe-spoilers*** - THE GIVER, Lois Lowry

I really enjoyed this read, though sometimes in the beginning I found it a bit cringeworthy reading about the corny jokes the happy family unit made to each other. The story really does start out so 'pristine' and orderly, and then comes the scene where the second twin gets 'released', and the true horror of the society hits home. There was a hint of that reality when we found out about the previous 'Receiver''s release, but the twin scene was just really dark.

At the end of the book, I really wanted to be able to read on and find out what happened next, after the sled ride - but I guess that isn't the important part of the story.

I'm also very curious about the setting in this book, e.g. how the heck did humans get to such a point? I can sort of imagine it being some apocalyptic war that nearly killed everyone, and so they became mega strict about allowing 'free will'. But I was left wishing I actually knew the history. I know there are other books in the series, but not sure if they explain more about that history or not. But I guess I'll find out when I read them!

Gulp. Umm, since last time I guess I haven't done much with my creative stuff, BUT I have still done the occasional bit of editing on SUNDOWN III. There is also a writing group that meets every Sunday, which is run by our 'region leader' on the NaNo site. I haven't been to one yet, but I think I'm going to try to go as many Sundays as I can. I can't go tomorrow but maybe next week. It's about time I did something that requires me to be accountable.

In the meantime, this happened to me today:

And there are seven more that have just been trapped, needing care!!

No wonder I'm distracted from my writing. ;) Rescue chaos doesn't allow for much spare time for 'other things'.

Editing ctd., sort of (and foster kitty)

Since my last update, I've done a bit more editing - but since the weekend began, I haven't done any. Tonight I hope to get some more done, but I had a terrible night's sleep last night, with kitty rescue "stuff to do" pestering my mind, so I guess we'll see. :P

This morning while I was trying to get back to sleep after two hours awake and tinkering with said "to do stuff", one of my foster kitties, Maurizio, decided it was time to play his new favourite game - Tug on the Bit of Carpet That Isn't Meant to be Lifting But Is! It's an awesome game, sure, but at around 5:30 am on very little sleep I wasn't as in the mood for it as I usually might be! So I got my kitty spray bottle ready for the next time he started up with his tugging.

Of course he somehow sensed this was going on, because he quit the game immediately. But not wanting to encourage a later continuation, I locked him and the other fosters out of my room anyway, and managed maybe 40 minutes more sleep before my alarm went off.

So that's where I'm at today - sleep deprived, but reasonably happy I guess. And I have chocolate in my drawer here at work - I can tell you right now I won't be waiting till Chocolate Friday to crack that open (it's only Wednesday).

Maurizio, my stunning foster boy.

NaNoWriMo ~ Slowly she goes

As of the end of Day #18 (yesterday), I had written 37,556 words.

I have slowed right down to barely 1k a day, because this is all I require to hit 50k by the end of November. I think I wrote about 1200 words yesterday.

It's possible I won't finish the novel by November's end, but I'll definitely hit 50k!

I'm still enjoying the story, but I guess I am slightly burned out with other stuff going on in my life - namely, kitty rescue stuff - so it's all I can do to hit that small amount of words.

Today we are rescuing at least 12 cats (including at least 10 kittens).
There are 8 kittens with no mum, in one lot.
The other kittens are with a mum - all I know is that there's plural kittens there, but not sure how many.
We are also rescuing an old boy who looks sore, tired, and in need of serious TLC.

I volunteer with a bunch of awesomely generous and caring people. But it takes a lot of coordination to make a rescue like today's happen.

First we have to find a rescue to take on the cats. We also have to find a carer if the rescue doesn't have one available. We always try to have carers sorted first, so we can 'entice' our affiliated rescues to take the new kitties on. ;) Then we get to think about how to collect kitty from the pound. We have to organise transport, which often involves multiple people participating in a "transport relay", as is happening today.

I guess that's the challenging part, but after rescue, we also need to get the kitties healthy, get their vetwork done, and find them a forever home! And while we're doing all this, we have to find room for new cats coming into pounds weekly.

But it's very rewarding to be a part of this. Here's an e.g. of why:

One of our little foster babies in care at the moment - Webster.
Look out on Facebook for his very own page, coming soon. ;)

Too lazy to post anything but a cat video

Because I don't really have much to write about at the moment, because it's a Sunday and I'm feeling extremely lazy today, I thought I'd share this video instead. It's of my temporary foster cat George:



Suffice to say, George loves chasing his tail, attacking his own reflection in the shiny floor tiles, and generally being a bit of a wacko. ;) He's definitely one of the more vocal cats I've ever met, and he has big boofy paws and is very cute. Even if he isn't quite sure how to be gentle when playing.

I hope you guys are having a great weekend. :)

Cephalopod Coffeehouse & Do You Have Goals? [Sep.]

Wow, it's that time again! What have I even read during September? I'll have to go and check my GoodReads list...

*runs off to check GR*

Oohhhkay, here I am, back again, and I've read (or at least finished) 3 books this month. The one I'm going to feature is Anita Shreve's Testimony.


I thought this was a really good book, but it left me feeling pretty sad.

Very near the start, we find out that because of the scandal that occurs in the book, somebody dies. So for most of the book I was trying to figure out who it was. Reading the story, there were a few characters, and 2 in particular, that I got a sick feeling about, wondering if it would be them.

I was intrigued by the fact that Shreve got away with writing in so many different POVs, even 2nd person. Obviously most of the story wasn't in 2nd person, but still, it was interesting.

Shreve is a great writer, I already knew that. But after reading this book, I immediately wanted to read some mushy love story with a happy ending, to get past this one. I'm sure you have all read a book like that - one that was very good, but that you sort of wanted to forget with some follow-up fluff. ;)

I'm not even going to go back to last month & check where I was at then. Because, for the most part, it's where I still am this month. I have actually done some minimal revision work, but you'd laugh if I told you what I actually did, as it was very small. Then again, some famous guy mentioned in Stephen King's On Writing (yes, I'm fiiiinally reading this) apparently had a "good day" if he managed to write 7 words. So I know I did better than that. ;)

But yeah ... On Writing. It's making me feel so very ashamed of how LITTLE I am doing. The good thing is that it's also making me desperately hungry to GET BACK TO IT! I really want to be working on my novels right now. But I'm not.

Here's my latest excuse.

I am currently utterly consumed (not literally! phew!) by foster cats. At one stage I actually had 7 cats in my 1-bedroom villa. Thankfully that number went down to 6 the day after it hit 7. Then I got the 6th kitty new foster care, so now I'm at 5. One of those 5 is another temp foster who hasn't yet found new care. Then I have my own 2 foster kittens, and my own 2 adult cats. And I will be temp caring for a 6th cat until early October, as her carer is going away. So yeah, my life is basically foster kitteh-dominated right now.

My current temp foster, George, or as I call
him, "Jorje" (said with Spanish accent)

Particularly because I spent much of the last 2 days helping to organise saving 10 cats from euthanasia (one of whom was pregnant, so really it was more than 10 cats!). And now I am drinking a lot of champagne.

That's all I have to say for this month. ;)

2 kittens down, 2 to go ;)

♥Champagne♥

Back on May 15th I posted about one of my foster kittens being rehomed.

At the time it was 1 down and 3 to go.

Now I've rehomed two, and have two to go!

I'm pleased to say that Batman's sister, the super-awesome Champers,
has now been rehomed as well. :) A lovely young guy secretly
arranged to adopt Champers for his girlfriend's birthday
(she had spotted Champers and said "I want that one!",

so no fear that he was making a mistake).

Apparently the girlfriend shed happy tears
when she and the kitty met for the first time. ;)

One of the admin ladies from the rescue I work with

made this picture up for Champers:

Anyway, I have to say that my house is very quiet without Champers,

and I miss her extreme wackiness. But it's good to get the

boisterous kitties rehomed, so I can concentrate on

socialising my remaining scaredy fosters.

What I'm reading & other stuff I'm doing

So, that's what I've been reading lately. I am currently on book 3, Forever, and really enjoying the read. Honestly, I think I am enjoying the series more since the Isabel/Cole dynamic really got started. I'm intrigued to see where the story ends. So far this series has been a 4 out of 5 star reading experience for me.

This is also what I'm doing -
trying to find homes for my foster bubbies. :)

As for other stuff I'm doing? Ummm, I have to admit not much. I'm not really looking forward to this month's "Goals" post, because at the rate I'm going I won't have anything to report except ... nothing. :) I hope I can get some work done on editing before then, because right now I'm in a bit of a sorry state. I guess I'm preoccupied with foster kittens and cats that need visits to the vet and budgets that sort of blow out as a result. But it's nearly JUNE, people, and June is when BuNoWriMo begins. I really would like to have more editing done by June.

What am I listening to? Right now, this:

The Smashing Pumpkins are my favourite band of all time, but my favourite album is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, an epic double-disc of awesome. Obviously Siamese Dream is a work of legend, but to me it's not the absolute pinnacle. But right now I'm listening to "Hummer", track 4, and there are just not many songs in the universe better than that one.

Anyway ... I don't really have much else to say, so I'll end this here. I guess I just wanted to touch base and say hi. :)

1 kitten down, 3 to go ;)

♥Batman♥

Last night my foster kitty Batman's new mum

(and new little human brother ;)) came to pick him up.

It was sad to say goodbye, but I think he'll settle in well.

I hope he will, anyway. Fingers crossed!

He settled in immediately when I first picked him up as a foster,

so I don't doubt he'll do the same in his "furr"ever home.

To celebrate my time with Batman I wanted to share a few pics:

Yup, he is a total cutie. :)

Anyway, that's 1 kitty down and 3 to go.

Batman's sister Champagne is adorable as well,

and the two scaredy fosters I have are coming along nicely.

In truth, part of me is relieved that Batman is gone,

because he ate the lion's share of food each morning/night,

and my budget could use a break from that. ;)

Revision report #2: SQUEAKY #1

What that means is this is the second report on my revision of Squeaky book 1. Just thought I'd clarify the blog post naming convention. ;)

So, uhhh, since I last wrote about this, I've definitely got a lot done. I have edited up to chapter 7, I think, or maybe it's chapter 8. At one point, a chunk of one chapter got put into another chapter, and then two little chapters became one, so I've lost track of the count a bit. I've also lost count because it's been many days now since I last edited anything.

Firstly, last week was full of nights when I had to go out. On Friday night, not only did I have to go out, but I also picked up two foster kittens. Eek! So not only do I have kittens who take up a lot of my time and attention, I also have a bit of foster kitten anxiety (leaving them alone all day, getting their diet right so they don't have diarrhoea anymore, etc.). They are getting used to a diet of boiled chicken breast, and tonight I will be steaming some pumpkin for them too.

I feel mean leaving these little guys (well, one's a girl) alone. But hey, being alone is better than being put to sleep, right? The people I'm fostering through are very reassuring. But I do feel a bit tense!

Soooo, all of the above means I have totally slacked off on my revision. But at least I got something done. I am currently stalled needing to input edits of a chapter in Scrivener. Then I need to print the chapter out again & give it one last go over. I already have the chapter after that ready to edit. But it's proving to be a struggle to get over these hurdles as they appear before me.

So, then. That's where I'm at. I hope you are all having a much more productive time of it. :)

A-Z blogging challenge "H" - Haven (The Cat)

Okay, so The Cat Haven in Perth (well, specifically in Shenton Park) is one of my favourite places in the city. It describes itself as "the last place of refuge for homeless, lost and abused cats", and as a cat lover it is definitely all about a cause I can get behind. My favourite thing about the Cat Haven is that a person can volunteer to foster cats and/or kittens. I first fostered kittens back in 2008, when I got a mother and her five babies. The babies were barely three weeks old and had only just opened their eyes. The mother cat was amazingly purry and affectionate - clearly desperate for lurve. She was skin and bones, so I fed her up till she put on weight. It was a delight watching the kittens learn to do all those grown-up cat things, like hiss, do grown-up poos and wees in the litter box, and wash themselves without falling over.

I wound up keeping the mother, because it had been months without contact from the Cat Haven (it was their insanely busy period, so I forgive them).

Last year I fostered some more kitties, this time requesting that I not be given a mother. In case I kept her too. Hehe. I got five "flower pot kids" who had spent their first few weeks living in a flower pot, in the soil and their own excrement. As a result, they were dirty (in spite of many baths, their fur was still stained) and their back leg muscles hadn't developed properly - they'd just been sitting still, piled on top of each other in the pot. So my instructions were to give them lots of playtime. Tough job, but someone's gotta do it, right?

The Cat Haven ladies knew these kittens as "a hissing pile of caterpillars". They were tiny and very young, but they already knew how to hiss. They were terrified. So I also had the task of stopping them hissing quite so much - socialising them! And I must say I think I did a pretty good job. By the time I took them back to the Haven at the end of five weeks, they'd all stopped hissing (even the tortoishell one who had earned herself the name Hissy Miggins).

With this second lot of kitties, I ended up feeling like I imagine a frazzled single mother might feel sometimes. It took me half an hour to get the kids to bed each night. There was also one kitten who was very clingy and constantly wanted to be patted and to snuggle. She was very gorgeous, but I'm not much into the clingy thing. LOL. I like my personal space, man! Another kitten, a beautiful little guy who was black (I've always wanted a black cat), loved to snuggle too. He was pretty irresistible. But in the end I did take them back to the Haven, and it was like a weight had been lifted. Still, I had a great time and missed them when they were gone!

In conclusion, for anyone who's heard me talk about what I do for a living, yes...I am a cat lady (with two cats - the third disappeared last year) librarian who lives alone. But I'm okay with that. :)