Eight Legs, Two Tails and Lots Of Whisker's !

After losing my beloved little Scotty dog a few years ago Tickety Boo has not felt the same without a pet on board. I toyed with the idea of another dog but soon realised it wouldn't be fair to leave a dog for nine hours a day for four days.I then thought a cat may be a better as I have to work. I forgot the idea for a while but always felt there was something missing from my life. That is until I heard of kittens on the way! Through face book I had seen a lovely photo of a kitten called Pugwash, he was adorable and belonged to a fellow boater, it made me think again about a cat as a pet. The seed was firmly planted when Pugwash's owner told me that his Mum, Mia was having Kittens again! I contacted Mias owners to tell them I was interested in giving one of the Kittens a home! Once I had made that decision the countdown began! I was literally counting the sleeps! Mia would be pregnant for nine weeks, then I would wait for around eight to nine weeks to get my Kitten!

Mia's owners were kind enough to keep me updated with progress and they let me know when the kittens were born, photos followed and I just got more excited with each day and update. I think it was Pugwash's owner who said why not have two kittens? I hadn't actually thought of having two but the more I thought about it the more it made sense! if I had two they would keep each other company while I was out at work. I mentioned it to Mia's owners and they were happy to let me have two!

On the 29th October 2017 Mia had four kittens, sadly one didn't make it but the other three were doing well.

I was to have Sisters that I have named Kit and Pixie.

 This to date is one of the funniest photos of the partners in crime!! Looks like Pixie is giving Kit a leg up! These two balls of fluff have enhanced my life no end. They are such good company and constantly make me smile. I don't know what I did without them!

Yes I have to hoover more often, wipe around more often with anti bacterial spray. Yes my curtains have lots of claw holes in them, my shower tray is home to a litter tray. my pristine shower curtain is now full of pulls and my lovely white duvet cover is now fur coated, sticky rollers rule! The boat resembles a cat gym with toys strewn around the floor. A huge cat tree takes up space in the saloon. I can't turn my back for too long if I am preparing food, and I wouldn't change any of it! My boat is their home now I am just a lodger in their gaff! I had forgotten how nice it was to have pets about.
I love the greeting I get when arriving home from work. I don't even mind my really early wake ups in the morning, when the two little darlings tear arse around the boat which is akin to the wall of death when you see motor bikes in a cage!

 These two turbo charged fluff balls leave me in awe at their speed when chasing each other!! After waking me at silly o clock with their antics and me getting up to feed them, they then curl up and go back to sleep, leaving me wide awake at 5am! However they are forgiven as they are so darned cute!

I wobbled a bit when I wondered if I was doing the right thing getting two Kittens but it has to be one of my better decisions. I absolutely love how they have brightened my life! They are adorable and give so much unconditional love not to mention their duo comedy act, priceless!

Yes I am a smitten crazy cat lady and it's great! How could you not fall in love with these two?

Sad Endings...Hopeful New Beginnings..

My post title tells it's own story really. Sadly my five year relationship has come to an end.

It does hurt like hell but we both wanted different things out of life. As this is all very raw at the minute I will leave it there. I really do hope we can both move on and be happy as life is far too short not to be.

I have always and still do love my life afloat, it isn't for everybody as I have found to my cost, but it is for me. I think 14 years afloat proves that fact! I have always wanted to share my love and enthusiasm for boat life with somebody who truly loves it as I do but I realise now that is not where my happiness lies. I can be happy alone, and I am the majority of the time. If that special person comes along great, if not I refuse to live my life being disappointed because I didn't find him!

I have done so much thinking and soul searching over the past few weeks, mostly positive thinking as I am a positive person. Negativity in any form drains me completely, so any signs of it I quickly try and diminish and replace it with a happy thought. It is so much nicer being in a good place rather than a bad and the only person who can control that is ourselves. It isn't and never will be anybody else's responsibility to make our own lives a happy experience! Hey my life isn't always positively rosy, I do have dark down days but it's how you deal with them and recover from them. I am sure as hell from now on going to make a concerted effort to distance my self from anything that doesn't make me happy! If that means going it alone I will. Fate will take care of the chances of me meeting my soul mate and if fate decides my only soulmate is me, then so be it!! I have a lovely family and a close circle of invaluable friends who really do prove there worth when you are going through a tough time. If I never meet my special someone these important people in my life will be enough for me!

I refuse to let the bad times of the relationship cloud the happy times. I want to look back on the many photos and smile at the memory because it was a good memory that made us happy in that particular moment. Happy memories firmly locked in my head and my heart!

Now to the reason why I have suddenly decided to write my blog again! It is something I love doing but have let it fall by the wayside recently. I love putting my thoughts down on paper as and when they pop into my head, cringe making for some people but going by messages and views of my blog some people really do enjoy my ramblings!

I had a lovely visit from my Cousin, Sandra, yesterday with her friend Doug. They are both seriously thinking of buying boats to become live aboard's so they wanted to pick my brains, I was happy to oblige! Doug surprised me by saying he had read my blog after Sandra had told him about it, how nice is that? I now know I have two fans, my lovely Mum and now the lovely Doug! I dedicate this post to you Doug as it was you who kicked my sorry ass into gear to dust off my lap top and write again! I am sure if they both go ahead with their dreams of living afloat they won't regret it..hopefully!

So for any of you who read this look out! I intend to delve into the world of blogging again!

I have lots to waffle about.

I have new members to the crew of Tickety Boo! For those of you who don't already know who they are all will be revealed in my next post!

So now back to today. The weather is again glorious, if a little too meltingly hot for me. Life on my boat is lovely anytime of the year but when the sun shines through all my windows it's truly magical and is full of happy light dancing on the ceiling! If that doesn't put a smile on your face you are truly missing out on the simple things in life which to me are precious!

Yesterday was spirit lifting for me, lovely visit from Sandra and Doug and then a really fun filled evening with Jules a couple of bottles of wine on the back deck while being entertained with a glorious sunset.

                                                            Jules, my wine swigging sidekick!

Perfect ending to a positive day! I had forgotten just how blessed I am to have the honour of being able to sit on my back deck on a balmy evening on my beloved Tickety Boo who I very nearly gave up. I am so happy I didn't..