Top Ten Thursday - Magically Drawn

Welcome to this week's top ten Thursday which is a blog hop hosted by Tamara - Part-time Working Hockey Mom and this week the theme is all those things we feel we're magically drawn to: "stuff", foods, people, locations,... what are yours?

1. Ancient History - I love walking around ancient sites especially if they involve standing stones. As I walk amongst the stones I always touch them and wonder about the people who put them in place and what they really meant to them. Today, as it was the summer solstice, we visited Clava Cairns which are over 4,000 years old.

2. Cats - cats are definitely my spirit animal as no matter where we are, if we see one I have to have a chat to them.

3. Street Art - there are so many extremely talented people in this world and I love how street art has become more mainstream.

 

4. Doors - do you ever look at a door and wonder what is behind it. They fascinate me and I have many photos of these magical portals.

5. Glitter & Shiny Sparkly things - Ken often calls me a Magpie as I am drawn to shop displays that have lots of bling in them, or stalls that are selling costume jewellery, glittery bags, and basically anything that shines.

6. Statues - It's so wonderful when out wandering and we come across really unusual statues. We often debate what message the sculptor was trying to get across.

7. Donkeys (and horses) - whenever we see donkeys or horses, and if it's safe to do so, Ken will slow the car down or pull over so that I can have a moment with these beautiful creatures. Such soulful eyes and beautifully soft muzzles.

8. Fairy Lights - these make anything look magical. We have quite a few fairy lights around our home, wrapped around the stairs, across my dressing table, inside glass lanterns, and one set inside a decorative birdcage.

9. Tattoos - I haven't got any of my own, but I often wonder why people have the tattoos they have. Some are awful, but others are stunning and real pieces of art. The below is the arm of a waitress who served me a couple of years ago - I did ask if I could take the photo.

10. Stationary - when we moved to the Highlands I was devastated to find that there wasn't a branch of Paperchase here and I got slightly over excited when we were in Aberdeen last year and found one there. Whenever we are walking around shops and we are coming close to a stationary shop my beloved always tries to steer me away from them as he knows I'll be drawn into them. I can never have too many journals, pens, and cards.

What do you find yourself drawn to? Until next time, be good, stay safe, and make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Pamela & Ken

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P.S: It goes without saying that I am always magically drawn to my beloved. 💕💕

The Twelve Days of Christmas and Cats in Aberdeen

Today my beloved and I have been married 18 years so to celebrate we went to Aberdeen for the weekend. Despite a lot of snow we made it to the granite city without any problems to enjoy a couple of lovely days in the cold.

The view out of our hotel window with the sea just past that white building.

There were lots of Christmas themed things going on and that was one of the reasons we'd chosen to visit Aberdeen. After a very lovely breakfast at the hotel which included vegetarian sausages (I was very impressed) we drove to the Union Square shopping centre to leave the car in the multistory carpark. When we walked down into the shopping centre I became very excited when I spotted several shops that we don't have in Inverness, including Paperchase (my stationery heaven) and Krispy Kreme.

During December there is a Twelve Days of Christmas totem pole trail around the city and we managed to find seven of them. They're really lovely and show great carving skill.

My favourites of the ones we found were the partridge in the pear tree and five gold rings. I think the partridge is looking quite grumpy, but I guess I would be too if I had to sit there covered in snow.

The Christmas village was set up in front of Marischal college which added to the atmosphere. My beloved was shocked to discover that I've never been on a Helter Skelter in my life and I wasn't starting with this one - I think with my history of falls it may not have been a very elegant landing.

Here's a few pictures from the village including the local craftsmen's fair which was inside, and the ice skating rink which no-one was on when we went past.

The teacups were very pretty including the pictures that were around the top of the ride.

Beautiful Christmas tree.

By now we were in need of some sustenance and a little bit of peace in the busy city, but where to go. Well, in a city that has a cat cafe there is nowhere else good enough (see previous visit here) and when we arrived we were the only ones there so got the cats to ourselves for quite a while.

Love the decorations in the cafe including this meditating cat statue and the fabulous Christmas tree that the cats could play with.

As soon as Ken's scone arrived Zeus was straight up on his knee trying to convince him that he should get to share it (he didn't get any).

This is Romeo who came to visit with us for a while as well.

Boo who was in crazy mode, racing around and attacking rugs and scratch poles.

Pancake who has got the cutest little squished up face that you've ever seen. Her fur is incredibly soft, in fact I think it's the softest cat fur I've ever stroked.

The climbing trees had fairy lights around them which looked really pretty and didn't put Romeo off when he went climbing.

Theodore and Drago curling up together looking incredibly cute - I took a picture of these two together in the same bed last time we visited.

After she woke up, Pancake went climbing amongst the tree branches that line part of the cafe.

Me enjoying a pumpkin spiced latte from a black cat mug with the lovely Boo finally asleep next to me.

This is Ninja who is the newest resident of the cafe. She had been at an animal rescue centre for nearly a year with no one wanting her - I'm so glad she's finally got a nice home to live in. Aren't her eyes beautiful. The box behind Ninja is how the cats go in and out of the cafe to a room that is just for them.

Whilst we were there one of the staff brought out some treats for the cats and as you can see, it very quickly grabbed everyones attention with Pancake and Boo being very impatient and trying to climb her leg. We give the same treats to our Princess Cookie cat and she's a bit crazy for them too.

Romeo went and joined Theodore and Drago in their bed and have you ever seen anything so cute - the three of them cuddled up together. Theodore has even got his arm around Romeo. The staff were taking photos of the three of them too.

Ken took this photo in the toilet - someone is obviously a Harry Potter fan.

Hope you've enjoyed this visit to the cat cafe and the Christmas village. Until next time, be good, stay safe, and say hello to the next cat you see.

Pamela & Ken
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Friday's Friendly Contributions

It's Friday (for another forty three minutes) so it's time for the friendly fill ins which are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15 and Meowing.com. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. I can't believe people are still sold into slavery around the world. In September the United Nations put the number of modern day slaves at over forty million which is incredibly shocking.

2. I have nothing on Craigslist. (Craigslist is basically an online classified advertising site)

3. Going into December, the weather outside is chilly and it keeps trying to snow. It's a balmy seven degrees now, at 10:45pm. The last few days haven't been nearly as warm, with it barely getting above two. All the mountains around the area are covered with snow and the ski season started a few days ago. I'm enjoying getting out my warm clothes and I love seeing the snow, I just don't like it when it gets all wet and grey at this time of year.

The view out our bedroom window on the day of our first snow

4. My current weakness is cats! (I couldn't think what to write so asked my beloved and he straight away said cats). Technically this isn't a current weakness, more a forever kind of weakness - I just love cats so much and in an ideal world I'd have many more. Last night we were watching a show about cats, and the presenter visited a woman who has got fifty rescue cats in her house (it was a big house), sixty rescue feral cats in the grounds around her house, and over forty cats for rehoming - it was like a little slice of cat heaven.

What's your current weakness? Is it a food, reading, or even spending lots of time relaxing? Make sure you hop over to Annie's blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their responses.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and say hello to the next cat that you see.

Pamela & Ken

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Communing With Cats in Aberdeen

Those that know me know that I'm a little bit crazy about cats (I haven't got enough to be classed as a crazy cat lady yet, but give me time) so imagine my delight when going to a cafe where cats live and roam around whilst you're having coffee and cake. We visited the London cat cafe in 2014 and it was wonderful - read it here.

We booked to go early in the day and I'm so glad we did as there was only three other people there whereas when we left there was quite a large queue of people waiting to get in.

The cafe is very much designed to keep the cats happy and I love some of the design features that I would love to have at home for Princess Cookie Cat.

There is a large flat screen tv on the wall that is playing cat friendly things - birds, squirrels, and mice. The cats were loving it.

This is Theodore who has the most gorgeous eyes - a rich golden colour.

There was building work going on next door to the cafe and this lovely one was keeping an eye on what the workmen were up to.

Ken down on the floor talking to the kitty cats and taking lovely photos of them - I think he enjoyed it just as much as me.

The very handsome Romeo that Ken was talking to - apparently he tries to get away with a lot of mischief because of his very good looks.

On the left is Drago and on the right is Boo. Boo was so lovely and reminded us both of our little Muffin Monster who died a year ago, and Boo was such a crazy little thing and loved playing.

The gorgeous ragdoll Zeus, who as soon as our drinks and cakes arrived was up on the table trying to mooch food - of course we didn't give him any but it was lovely to have him visit with us. Note the really cute mug and milk jug.

Zeus and Drago surveying their domain from some of the various shelves around the room.

Ken annoying Drago with a bird.

Boo debating on whether or not to get involved in the bird teasing game.

I love that the cats do sit in the windows as per the title of the cafe - it must be lovely if you work in the area and get to walk past everyday enjoying the gorgeous kitty cats.

Drago and Theodore being extremely cute and loving on each other, again in one of the many window beds.

Our last view of the beautiful kitty cats as we left - it was so lovely spending an hour with them, and I can imagine that it must be great to visit this cafe if you live in a place that doesn't allow cats. If that was me I'd be there nearly every day.

There are signs like this all around Aberdeen, and they are full of really interesting facts about the city's past.

Have you ever been to a cat cafe? Would you if you got the chance? I'm sure you'll see this one feature in the blog in the future again.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and say hello to the next cat you see.

Pamela & Ken

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