Town Cat, Country Cat

I have just returned from visiting my sister. She lives a few hours away with her boyfriend and their cat in a pretty French town. She's quite a cook so I was certainly well fed during my stay and I particularly enjoyed the home-made cheesecake. But used to the pace of country life I am always struck by the differences between my home and hers. Instead of the hooting and tooting of owls, the steady hum of cars outside the window in all I hear at night and the street lights cast a constant yellow glow over everything.
In the same way life is also very different for her cat compared to mine back at home. Whereas my four legged companions roam the fields and forests, napping in the hedgerows and chasing butterflies, her cat lives indoors. She is the queen of that house, bossing her owners about as she steals the best seats in the house or demanding that they open the door that leads into the conservatory so she can tease the neighbour's dog through the window. She's a particularly stroppy madam if I'm honest, and she's not keen on visitors who enter her realm. I sometimes wonder if she would enjoy a visit to the country, to roam freely outdoors with grass beneath her feet and not a car in sight but perhaps in reality the vast openness would scare her. I know for a fact that in reverse my own cats would not like to live in a world with gates and boundaries.
By the end of my short stay I was ready to head home and as soon as the car pulled onto the gravel drive my cat Debbie appeared, greeting me back, and not far behind her was Roux. I always enjoy a trip away but in my heart I know that, like my cats, I belong in the country too.

Catherine Walker is the author of The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady available now in paperback and eBook!

Drawing from Real Life

Hi there, hope you had a good Monday! I decided that it was about time that I introduced to you the cats I share my life with properly. There have been a few that have come and gone over the years but in residence at the moment there are six. The eldest in Isla, a very shy but incredibly sweet girl with a short tail and bright blue eyes. She has a fluffy white coat with splodges of pale grey and is the mother of three of the other cats that live here; Debbie, Hercules and Roux. All three of these are ginger and white and get on so well. They love tumbling around and chasing one other and when it's chilly they like to seek out your knee and curl up on it! The remaining two boys are their cousins, Archie and Teddy. Although brothers they look nothing alike. Teddy is also ginger and white with a very refined handsome face, whereas Archie is a long haired, very fluffy black and white cat who squeaks like a mouse when he sees me in the morning.
Six! I hear you cry. Well they all came to me as stray cats and not one to turn down a cute face, I decided to take them in. They have grown up in the countryside, roaming the fields and exploring the pathways, and it is not unlike Teddy to disappear for days at a time. This morning he turned up for breakfast for the first time in a week and I have a sneaking suspicion that he has found another home, a holiday home if you like, that feeds him on all those other days that he doesn't show his face here. Perhaps, I wonder, he takes it in turns to visit each house on the street, getting the best of the grub in exchange for the cuddles.
All of these cats have played a part in the creation of The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady, whether it be their appearance, their character, or the times, good and bad, that we've been through. In the book Harriet has five cats; Modi, Bea, Cocoa, Flicks and Mona. Some of these characters are a concoction of several cats combined, others drawn straight from real life. As I continue with the blog perhaps I will share a few more of their secrets with you :)

The True Story of a Not So Crazy Cat Lady is available now in paperback and eBook!