I've just called PFA – People for Animals. It's where we left him before our hols.

Well the poor little mite is still there. Probably slightly traumatised by his Shawshank buddies so it's time for his redemption.

Firstly, I have to convince Manjula. We have visited various homes with cats in the UK in a fiendish plan to subtly (yes, it is a stretch: yorkshire subtlety) show how easy/nice it is to have a cat.

One more maybe bigger challenge is to win over Lucy.

Fancy riding a cat Lucy?

So back to the 42, now known as Leela’s Lollipop.

Takes a lot of licking but it’s really worth it!
So my gift was an invitation. To stop, think, reflect and maybe review. The purpose being to come up with 42 things. 

So one really really BIG challenge 😉 

What 42 things? (Yes there is a link to a certain hitchhiker and the answer or meaning of life)

It’s not easy. 

We’re not talking bucket list here. 

Here’s the one who’s responsible for all this! Thanks Leela!

So as with any journey. Where are we going? What do we need? How do we get there? (Manageable steps!)

For me it wasn’t just about thinking of things to do that I would value or choose to fit in, in what remains of my life.  That’s of course, important, it’s also about realising things I’ve done. Maybe that I’m proud of or even that I might have done differently. 

So ….

…it’s about appreciation and learning about oneself, one’s impact and about others that are part of who we are.  

….it’s a list of everything that’s important. People who are part of my life, things I’ve done that I’m proud of that may have made a difference to me and to others, combined with things I haven’t yet done, happenings I wish to create, relationships to nurture, differences to make.

…. it’s about identity, purpose, value and fun

…. it’s what I decide

What do you think Leela? Is this the track you imagined it taking? 

In our innocence we thought it would be easy to register as a homestay. 

I’ll fill out some of the detail (saving you poor readers, from the full unbelievableness. That’s when I feel rested and up to it 🙂 

We’ve now had the ups and downs of dog-cat land for over a week. 

We first heard the assertive miaow of the kitten after a wicked storm. The resulting flash floods must have separated him from his mum. 

Lucie has been singularly unimpressed. She jumps from grudging acceptance to attempts to catch and well… I reckon she wouldn’t have the first idea what to do, if she did catch the cat. 

Well the whole situation has presented a major challenge. We leave for the UK in two days and Eric the Viking has come to stay, do his studies, look after the house and care for Lucie. 

It’s too much to ask him to look after the cat and deal with the potential conflicts. I do also need to recognise that Lucie does feel jealous and left out. If we were here, I reckon we could handle it and the bear/eagle would learn to live together. 

So….

We’re off to People for Animals. We’ve left Bill, and he left Manj with a ‘lasting impression’  the first and only time he’s scratched. Well she was most in favour of taking him there! (She’s now getting a Tetanus injection.)

If he’s still at the Shelter when we get back from the UK. I’ll smuggle him home. There was however a telephone call while we were in the office of someone looking for a cat! 

So Indian 🙂 

How not to handle it!

As you may know we have an alien in our midst. The heavy storm last week and torrential rain seperated the kitten from it’s mum. The first we heard of it was the woeful cat crying from Next door. Later that day it was out on the street (our neighbour is not the most tolerant or easygoing. 

So we fed it a bit of egg. Personally I’ve an open mind about these things. But cats are not BIG in India and well there are two bossy women here (yes Manjula and her side kick Lucie) me I’m way down the pecking order. 

Ring any bells?

Well as you might imagine they are not too impressed. 

The ginger disrupter. Is going to have to work hard to win them over. 

Yes a bit like this. 

But the cards are stacked against him. 

Manjula is close to being won over. 

Lucie is wound up, close to attacking. (Bark worse than bite?) 

The cat is a bit demanding and God knows where it’s shitting. 

We’re off to the UK in ten days time with Eric looking after Lucie and the house. So the whole thing might be a challenge too far. 

Update

We’re trying to get registered as a BnB. First call was the City Corporation. Wrong! We need to go to the Police first to get their authorisation. But it’s useful as we realise that the evidence of tax payment from the owner isn’t a good enough xerox copy so need to get it redone. 

We find a helpful advocate and his English speaking assistant. The letter from the owner giving Manjula permission isn’t good enough so we have to redo the rental agreement.

Bored? Had enough yet? 

You’ve seen nothing. 

We’ve had to get new stamped paper, check the revision of the agreement is AOK, sent it to Bangalore for the owner to stick his pic on it, sign over the pic and every page of the agreement, get it witnessed, send it back to Manjula, she does the same. Then we take it back to the advocate to be officially signed and stamped. 

Meanwhile we write to the Commissionerbof Police.  

Farrell Footnote

We’ve operated up until now as a AirBnB but as of this year we now have register with the Karnataka Government. 

So to all intents and purposes this is a new venture that we will launch in September. 

It will of course still be Mysore Bed and Breakfast, at 163 Moksha and the laid back team are in residence. 

India then.  Same but different. 

as we plan our second trip to the UK next month Manjula confesses to me that there’s one aspect of the trip she’s not looking forward to.

It’s a delicate matter!

It’s a significant part of every day!

so, which do you prefer?

I’ve just started reading GUT by Giulia Enders in which she relays important research findings and one study helps answer the question: “Are you sitting properly? ” ….

if you take into consideration the time it takes, the satisfying feeling afterwards, using less energy (i.e. Not forcing it out) avoiding haemorrhoids, and one or two other things, the squat method comes out on tops….

so there you are

But we knew this didn’t we?

there is a second aspect to this and it’s how we clean ourselves, I wonder if any research has been done on that subject?

I’m definitely with Manjula on this one!