Adventures of a Cat Lady

Another year almost down, the older I get the shorter each year seems to feel. Ok, thats absolutely not true (but true). Jan-Mar always feels like a drag and you think, ‘when will this year end’. Spring arrives, things feel less dark and miserable. June arrives and you think, ‘what, already have way through the year?!?!’ Then time drags a bit more, you’re in October and thinking, ‘have I started Christmas shopping, if not then I’m seriously late!’ December arrives and the final count down to the end of the year is on and you think where has the year gone.

What have I done this year? This is a question Im asking myself now, thinking I should have done more! I thought/hoped that I would blog more than I have this year, so that box remained firmly unticked, theres always next year. Added to the to do list for next year…

I am a creature of habit and routine. God forbid my habit or routine are changed in any way. In this way, my life is very repetitive but in a way that leaves me content. I enjoy the repetition and knowing what will happen, spring I plant flowers, summer the garden blooms and is truly a sight that makes me happy. In the autumn I have grapes and make more grape jelly than what I know what to do with, inevitably throwing away grapes because Im sick of the sight of them. Oh and a colleague gives me apples from her mother-in-laws orchard, then I make  a lot apple butter each autumn.

I started a social group that visits a different cocktail bar in Amsterdam every month. This has has its pros and cons. The cons of starting a group and thinking it would be easy but as with anything that has people, rules are quickly implemented and then even then there are bumps in the road. Pros are trying out different cocktail bars. I must admit that I am generally unimpressed by Amsterdams best rated bars. Most them seem to be tiktok attractions with little to no customer service and mediocre drinks at best.

My friend group still remains the friend group and we laugh, a lot. A few years ago we did a staycation (which I organised) in the Netherlands and this year I was tasked with planning a group trip to Mallorca, Spain. It was a success, to a degree. I will always have incredibly high expectations and there were a few lessons learnt, although the crew seemed happy and said ‘lets do it again next year’, which means I need to start planning sooner rather than later… Its nice to have monthly activities, where we always laugh, no matter how bad the attraction!

Im not a crazy cat lady without my cats! The girls are something… Having European Maine Coons, they are truly gentle giants, although in their European size, slightly less giant and more large fluffy kitty. Penny continues to adore Callie, whilst Callie mostly tolerates her. Penny most certainly has all of the personality that Callie chooses to hide from the world. Callie is over weight and exercise is very slowly being implemented…. They are a comedy duo which covers me, the house and all visitors in long cat hair.

This year hasn’t been without its challenges…

I dated a guy who I thought ‘we could absolutely have a future’, we were getting rather serious and it was time to meet his cat. I don’t dare men with children, no no… I date men with cats, which comes with its own challenges. After meeting the cat, it became apparent that there could be no future. I think the only ‘saving grace’, as it were to the situation, was that the cat hates everyone equally and not just me. It was not a personal vendetta against me but against the entire world. I’ve dated a lot since then but I remain single despite my best efforts.

This year saw me going to Luxor in Egypt for my summer holiday. I am not exaggerating when I say it was the worst holiday that I have ever had. The heat was overwhelming, I laugh and tell people I’ll see them in hell (my dark humour) but it seems Egypt is hell and beyond my comfort in temperature.  It was 45C (113F) and it seems that my comfort level peaks after 24C (75F). Sexual harassment is known to single (female) travellers in Egypt but this trip for me was over the top, even within my resort and not something Id never like to experience again. It was also a strange mix of cultures that simply didn’t gel. Egypt has been inundated with Russians, as they can travel without a visa there. As a people they are fine (I did have strong opinions on this topic, given the illegal war in Ukraine), if not rather loud and a bit rowdy, mix this with staunch Muslim Egyptians and it absolutely doesn’t create a quiet or relaxing holiday.

On my return from holiday, something terrible happened, which I am still processing. I won’t go into full details, as I’m ready to but it also impacted the cats. Penny now has a stress related heart murmur, which we hope over time will go away, we hope. The cats now constantly spook each other too… Over the last 2 months, they have gotten slightly better but there remains room for improvement. This had a massive impact on my mental health, which has been difficult. Its not the way I wanted to see the year out. I have to say that a few friends and a neighbour has been fantastic and I am absolutely grateful to have such amazing people in my life.

On a slightly brighter note, I have been lucky enough to see a few artists in Amsterdam this year.

Robbie Williams was fun. I am by no means a fan and was given seeing him as a gift. He was absolutely entertaining. Netflix also have a special with him at the moment, which provides insight into his life and I thought that this allowed me to have more insight into who Robbie is. I’m no karaoke singer and didn’t like that he actively engaged the audience to sing 90% of the songs with him.

Dermot Kennedy, has one or two very popular chart songs (I think), he’s very Irish. He did a quite a good concert, sadly it did leave me feeling like that now Ive seen him, I don’t need to see him again. I feel like he’s peaked… Let’s see if he puts out any more chart toppers and if the temptation is there to go again.

Jack Whitehall, a very British comedian. I’ve seen a his series and specials on the Netflix, clearly the best being the series with his Dad. He is quite funny. I am glad that I got to see him in the flesh.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Werq The World, the less said about this event, the better.  Sadly,it was not a hit for myself or my friend in any way….

Madonna, the American Queen herself. I’m not a fan of Madonna, as such. However, I know that she’s lost most of the cartilage in her hips and I felt like this would be one of the last tours with her attempting to dance. I was absolutely not amused that she was 2 hours late to the stage or that she then ‘created banter’ by insulting the audience throughout her show. The performance was ok, Im not going to give it the arse kiss rave reviews that already exist because quite frankly after 40 years in the business, I had high expectations of her. I thought it was interesting that she has 4 of her 6 children preforming with her but I didn’t agree with the 11 year olds starting their ‘set’ at 11pm.

My year has had its highs and its extreme lows and honestly, I’m ready for 2023 to be over, I have several choice 4 letter words that I use when I think of the year. I did have laughs though and lots of cocktails and neither of those are a bad thing.

I hope you’re year was better than mine and I hope that you continue to share my blogging journey with me next year. I look forward to seeing you then!