Wednesday Hodgepodge: Remembering lovely cats

Wednesday is here so of course that means time for another hodgepodge with the questions set by Joyce at the blog, From This Side of the Pond. 

1. What pets did you have while growing up? Tell us a little something about them.

My first pet was our farm cat Keiran, a lovely tabby cat, who adopted us when I was about two years old and disappeared when I was about eight. The picture shows her in the middle with three of my brothers and me on the left (I'm the youngest by a few years).

Our next cat was my cat Tiddles whom we got when I was nine - can you tell that I named her? Technically our next cat was Tiddles sister Fluffles (yes, I know my names are very original) but we'd only had her about a week when dad accidentally trod on her with disastrous results. Luckily the people we got Fluffles from still had Tiddles left to find a home.

We had Tiddles until she was 16, and the below photo was taken in her last year - I can tell by how scruffy she looks. Tiddles was so lovely, she used to tell us off if we'd been away and when she was happy she used to drool all over us.

2. What is one thing you absolutely must accomplish today?

Finish this post - I'm struggling to come up with a random thought this week. Hopefully by the time you get to the end there will be words that magically appear before your eyes.

3. Where were you ten years ago? What were you doing there?

Ten years ago I was living in outer London with my beloved, Bertie Boo (our Springer Spaniel), and the Brats, Princess Cookie Cat and Muffin Monster. I was the Senior Sister in a Hospice but was in the process of applying for my next job which was Palliative Care Lecturer Practitioner (fancy title for a nurse who also does education).

4. September 26th is National Dumpling Day. Did you celebrate? Apple dumpling, xiao long bao (steamed Chinese dumpling), chicken and dumplings, pirogi, matzoh balls, or gnocchi...which dumpling on this list would be your dumpling of choice? Have you ever made homemade dumplings of any kind?

Another weird national day that I might have to put in my diary for next year - who doesn't love a day that gives you permission to eat food. I do love Chinese dumplings in the form of Dim Sum and I've eaten gnocchi, but I'm not sure I've ever had any of the others.

Dumplings that we had growing up were Golden Syrup Dumplings (Click here for the recipe) which are lovely smothered in runny cream. I've never made them but writing this post has made me think I should give them a try, especially as Ken has never had them.

5. 'There are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find an adventure and those who go secretly hoping they don't.' William Trogdon

So which kind are you?

I think we're the first. When we go to other countries we try to immerse ourselves in local things such as avoiding the restaurants that have all the tourists in them and instead find the ones that the locals are eating in. We love exploring off the main tourist route as you always find really wonderful things that most people on holiday miss.

One local restaurant we ate at in Turkey really showed this - the owner dragged us into the kitchen to choose our fish, stood at the end of our table watching us eat, and at the end sat down with us and we carried on a disjointed conversation with our small amounts of each others languages.

We've gotten lost in the hills on a Greek island, stumbled across a taverna with a family party going on and been given free drinks whilst we regrouped. In Turkey we stopped to ask someone directions and a total stranger jumped in the car to show us where we needed to go as he didn't know how to tell us in English. I could go on, loads of little moments that we would have missed out on if we'd stuck to the normal tourist attractions.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Tomorrow September 28th is National Poetry Day here in the UK so I thought I would share with you a really short piece that I wrote when I was either late teens or early 20's - I'm not sure. It's about my blonde brother in the picture above, who died when he was 16 and I was 9. He grew sunflowers in the garden and there is a lovely picture of him standing next to them.

I saw a sunflower the other day

and instantly thought of you.

God must have made you chief

sunflower carer, as your smile

is in every flower I see.

I wonder what your answers to the questions would be, especially thinking about pets you may have had growing up. Before you go, pop over to Joyce's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and read or write some poetry tomorrow.

Pamela & Ken
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