A Sense of Adventure

First of all, some good news - all the cats (including mummy cat) have new homes lined up. Two of them are re-homed already :) I miss their wee cheeky faces!

One of my favourite graphic novels at the moment is actually aimed at kids. Its magic and innocent adventure grasps the imagination of all ages. I'm talking about "Hilda" by Luke Pearson

Hilda is a brave blue haired little girl who comes across many magical creatures resulting in wonderful adventures. She is content to roam the countryside or town by herself with her trusty pet Twig sketching rocks and getting into mishaps. As they move from the countryside Hilda finds it difficult to adapt as she misses the freedom and magic she had experienced there. With time she discovers the hidden wonders of the town and her adventures continue. 

I love these wee stories, the artwork is so pleasant and they capture my imagination between those hardback covers. There is something about children having amazing adventures that makes us nostalgic for days gone past. I was excited to learn that Netflix is making an animated series based on Hilda. As with any fans of anything crossing over to a different medium there is a little trepidation that it wont live up to expectations. The voice acting in particular will make or break this adaptation. We have a little time to wait as it isn't due to hit the small screen until 2018.

Now continuing the theme of adventurous girls my next favourite comic of the moment is Lumberjanes!

If camp was actually cool this would be it. Its focus is on the five members of the Roanoak cabin: Mal, Ripley, Molly, April and Jo who are part of this peculiar camp called Lumberjanes run by the kickass camp director Rosie.

Lumberjanes was created by Shannon Watters, Grace Elice, Brooke A. Allen and Noelle Stevenson and published via Boom! Box. This special camp is "for hardcore ladytypes" where these five friends encounter mystical beasts and working together they get out of many scrapes with the battle cry "Friendship to the Max!" I've discovered tonight that they are also planning on bringing this to the big screen as a live action at some point. I'm less inclined to believe that this will be as successful as the Hilda adaption but I would love to be proved wrong.

You can probably guess from my two top comics/ graphic novels of the moment that I am fascinated with folk tales, mythical beasts and the like. My boyfriend James introduced me to this podcast about Myths and Legends which fired my imagination and made my daily walks much more interesting. Check out the website here and I would highly recommend finding it on whichever app you listen to podcasts on. Basically this guy Jason explores the myths, legends and fairy tales you may think you already know, or don't know and really should (basically this is the intro to his show). He looks at stories ranging from King Arthur, the Norse Gods, Slavic tales and more. So far I find the Japanese tales I have heard the most enjoyable. I was going to give a synopsis here of one of my favourites involving a young man with a compulsion to draw cats but rather than ruin the tale you should just listen to the episode which happens to be episode 11. Enjoy! I particularly like to listen to it whilst wondering through the local old cemetery, especially now that it is Autumn and the leaves are turning spectacular colours.

The Healing Properties of a Purr

I find it so frustrating I have went backwards in my recovery all because I tried to go back to work too soon. I really thought I was ready but I had fooled myself. I have gotten so bad that I cannot walk for very long again as I have a bizarre pressure in my lower back which becomes more pronounced. My numb leg becomes worse even just trying to go to the local shops and back. I also have some weird sensations in my 'good' leg. All in all it's sounding pretty bad. I have also become increasingly lethargic. Pretty much my body is saying - "calm down you fool and let me heal".

This would all be a recipe for falling into a funk but as luck would have it tomorrow I'm getting something awesome which will keep my spirits up. I'm getting to foster a mum and six kittens. YAY!

The lovely big chap I had been fostering was returned to the cattery on Tuesday. The idea was to give him more exposure onsite to find him a home. He has since been reserved :) Hopefully he will be in his new home soon.

He transformed from a big lethargic lump who slept in a box all day unless it was food or poop time - into a big 6 year old kitten. He was a massive 8.4kg and since slimmed down to 7.1kg on the day we returned him. He absolutely went nuts chasing after a red lazer dot and at times loved nothing more than to climb onto my lap for a cuddle.

He was the one that stuck by me the day my back went out that caused me to go off sick. We both may not be very photogenic in this picture but he definitely helped my spirits in one of my scariest pain filled days so far. This picture was after many painkillers so I wasn't in as much pain as I had been previously but I was unable to get up off of the bed:


He got to the stage where he wanted to be beside me at all times. Typically like many cats enjoying blocking it's owner from accessing their computer:

He even helped me in my quest to start up crochet again:

I'm gonna miss Gato but I am sure he is going to make someone an awesome cat. It will be better for him to be in a home where he can get outside too. I am excited to continue in my cat fostering journey and meet some new cool cats to keep this crazy cat lady from sinking into a black hole of depression cause she damaged her back.

I have recently read this awesome little comic by Justine Prado and Jenn St-Onge through Emet Comics called Finding Molly: An Adventure in Catsitting. They are currently promoting a Kickstarter campaign to help fund making their first volume and if they get to a certain amount they will also commence the second volume at the same time. The story is about a recent art school graduate who doesn't know what to do with her life and cannot find inspiration for her art. She falls into the roll of cat sitter and uses these experiences to make a humorous comic blog. It may be the crazy cat lady in me but I love this comic so far!