A word or two about cats

Posted on 13/11/2013 by bighair63

What is it about cats? Aloof, independent, marathon sleepers, expert hunters, master climbers and your friend, but only on their terms. They are fascinating and well-loved pets to some, yet despised and put into dustbins by others. They rival dogs as our favourite pets and were once considered sacred deities by the ancient Egyptians. They are featured in calendars, novels, their own diaries, films, cartoons, haiku and of course, on YouTube!

I have to admit I’ve spent many an hour browsing through endless compilations of cats doing crazy things. It’s pure entertainment. Don’t get me wrong, I spend equal amounts of time browsing ‘dogs to the craziest things’ videos, but today, it’s all about the cats. Take for instance, Maru who enjoys trying to insert himself into boxes that were clearly never intended for cat habitation. Or perhaps a strange Japanese show where cats climb into bowls…?!

Quite recently, a friend of mine announced that she was opening a luxury 5 star cat hotel. I was fascinated to learn that the franchise offers four poster beds with silk sheets, music piped into the rooms, trout breakfasts, cat massage, a dedicated cat entertainer and the option to have your cat send you a postcard whilst you are away. Wow, what more is there to say? Perhaps I should leave you with the cartoon…it brings cats down a peg or two.

Cephalopod Encounters

Posted on 09/11/2013 by bighair63

Did you know that the plural of octopus is octopuses or octopodes? Me neither. According to the dictionary, octopi is definitely wrong.

I’ve recently come to learn that octopuses are AWESOME! During our holiday in Greece we bumped into an octopus on three separate occasions. The waters around Kefalonia are crystal clear and bursting with interesting marine life; perfect for snorkeling. So, on one bright, warm day we headed out on an excursion with Jamie, a marine biologist, whose main area of study was octopuses, hence my sudden interest in them.

Our transportation for the day was a traditional Greek working boat or Kaiki which sailed us around the coast, stopping along the way to drop anchor so we could learn about urchins, starfish, eels, sea cucumbers and octopuses. Jamie, kept us rapt with tales of Greek mythology, mafia and marine life in between our snorkeling adventures when were left to explore the bays and mingle with the fish.

Within moments of taking our first dip into the water I stumbled upon an octopus gliding across the seabed – what luck! I squealed with excitement through my snorkel and called for Jamie who swiftly caught it, but not before it squirted us with ink and wowed us with its ability to change a variety of colours in a matter of seconds.

Back on board the boat, we stood over the little guy who eyeballed intently before trying to climb out of the temporary aquarium using its suckers. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I couldn’t help touching it. It probably goes without saying that feeling an octopus’s tentacles wrap around your hand is weird and slightly alarming – for a moment I thought it might never let go. After a few interesting octopus anecdotes we put him back in the water and watched him swim away.

Here are some things I learnt:

An octopus can get through a hole the size of a ten pence piece (if you don’t believe me, I found a video on YouTube. Essentially, if its eyes can get through a hole, then so can the rest of it
Their tentacles will grow back should they accidentally lose one in a fight or to prey
They make little nests that look like miniature fortresses
They live about two years
They can survive out of the water for 3-5 minutes (possibly more?)
After mating, the male dies
Greek people love to eat them 😦

Below: A photo I took from the end of the pier near our apartment in Fiscardo – this chap was happily minding his own business.

Below: our transportation for the day.

A Brit Abroad

Posted on 03/11/2013 by bighair63

I promised to share more cartoons of my recent Greek holiday and so… If you’re not a frequent visitor of the Aegean and Ionian islands (or indeed parts of mainland Greece), you may not be aware aware that the sewerage system is somewhat antiquated and unable to cope with anything other than organic matter. Therefore, every toilet is equipped with a bin into which all non-organic matter must be placed.

This took some getting used to and on several occasions I found myself accidentally contravening the rules of the washroom in a moment of distraction. I feared for the town as pieces of my paper found their way into the system to clog a rusty pipe or wrap around a vital bit of machinery. I imagined embarrassing scenarios; a flooded apartment, surly looking Greek men with plungers tutting menacingly and me plaintively muttering “it wasn’t me Gov”.

I found myself chanting ‘PAPER IN THE BIN. PAPER IN THE BIN’ in order to focus the mind and the memory before every trip to the loo. Thankfully we were all spared the potential messy consequences of my action and on my return to the UK, I vowed never to take our sewerage system for granted.

Next week – encounters with a cephalopod!

I’ve been away

Posted on 28/10/2013 by bighair63

A combination of lack of inspiration, a new job, holidays and general laziness have been conspiring against me over the past few months. I’ve hardly put pen to paper except to doodle in the margins of my notepad during exceptionally boring meetings.

I envy those comic artists and illustrators who manage to pour their creativity onto paper week in and week out; keeping the masses entertained with unwavering dedication.

I recently took time out to holiday in Greece. Kefalonia to be precise. Despite my love of crisp autumnal mornings and streets scattered with crunchy brown and yellow leaves (if we’re lucky – usually it’s soggy, wet, mouldy leaf litter and unpredictable weather), I think a short stint in warmer climes is good for the soul.

Every day for a week, I tentatively opened the curtains (as I would do in the UK) wondering whether the skies would be dark and foreboding, and every day I was delighted by clear blue skies and golden sunrise.

During the first couple of days, two things stood out. The first, which I’ve drawn in this post, was the extraordinary number of ferrel cats. Unbeknownst to me, Kefalonia is often referred to as the Island of Cats. They are everywhere, lurking in alleyways, behind walls, under cars, in supermarkets, beneath bushes and in restaurants. Always watching. If you feel something brush against your leg or catch some movement out of the corner of your eye, it’s likely to be a cat slinking past you. Not one meal was consumed without a handful of cats watching us put every forkful of food to our mouths. This was the first thing that made me put pen to paper in weeks.

A little excerpt from my sketch pad! My second observation (amongst others) will be covered in my next post or posts (depending on my mood) so stay tuned!

Close encounters of the herd kind

Image

Last weekend we headed down to Shropshire for a change of scenery and a spot of camping. We’ve been camping every year for nearly 15 years and every year I’m filled with excitement at the ‘idea’ of communing with nature, cooking over an open stove and exploring my surroundings. Somehow, the reality never quite lives up to the ‘idea’. But, in a masochistic sort of way, I enjoy the uncomfortable sleeping, the 5am dawn chorus, the rain showers and leaky tents, the midges, the toilets located 5 minutes from your pitch and the cold nights etc.

This year was particularly cold after we forgot to bring some vital equipment, namely the sleeping bags (amongst other things). Before you judge, I recently spoke to a friend who forgot the family tent on one trip, so my incompetency levels haven’t quite hit rock bottom.

This year our destination was The Buzzards a delightful little campsite (listed in Tiny Campsites, by Dixie Wills) on an organic smallholding. Elaine, the owner, is full of beans and more than happy to help you with anything you may need (including sleeping bags!). She handily sits on the tourism board for the area so can supply you with a leaflet or map for every nook and cranny worth visiting in the area. If you fancy exploring some quintessentially English villages, taste testing cider, tromping around medieval ruins and beautiful countryside, then Shropshire is a good choice.

Now to the cartoon. Yes this did happen. We did get chased by a large herd of cows (approximately 22 of them) across two fields and over a fence. I have video footage though it is mainly of the ground whizzing past as I run for safety – accompanied by a soundtrack of “wait for me” and “oh my God!” and lots of heavy breathing. On reflection, I think the cows were more intent on getting a closer look at us, but having read numerous stories of people being trampled to death, I didn’t want to take any chances by facing up to them. Except of course to film it!

Monkey Business

Posted on 23/08/2013 by bighair63

The last few days I’ve had a stonking headache and terrible pains in my shoulder. I may as well have been walking around with someone driving nails into my muscles and bashing the side of my head with a hammer. Thankfully it has subsided as the bank holiday weekend approaches. Although, I’m not sure camping is the best remedy for already aching shoulders.

Doggy chat-up lines

Posted on 16/08/2013 by bighair63

I’m off to a wedding tomorrow and have been trying to draw some caricatures of the happy couple. There’s a real art in capturing someone’s personality and features with a simple few strokes. It is not my forte and because things haven’t been going well, I decided to take a break to draw something easier – like dogs!

Nursery rhyme

Posted on 09/08/2013 by bighair63

I’ve been playing with Adobe Illustrator again. Whilst making the most of my last few weeks in part-time employment (back to full time in September), I’ve been trying to pick up a few more Adobe tips and tricks. I’ve been wading through tutorials on Youtube including this one on how to draw a vector pirate skull. This is actually much more comprehensive than the previous tutorial I posted although there a few bits you might want to fast forward to avoid boredom and the incessant pirate music.

The result is a revamp of a cartoon I drew 20+ years ago! I should really post the original so you can compare, but I think it’s hidden in a drawer somewhere at my parents house.

Overheard on the bus

Posted on 08/08/2013 by bighair63

I love people watching on the bus, you hear all sorts. My other half came home chuckling the other day and told me about this conversation between a mother and her 5yr old(ish) child. What a bizarre thing for a small child to think of. Apparently it had the whole bus in hysterics. I wonder if it is worth spending a week or so travelling around the city, drawing interesting conversations…

Some days it’s all about the CAKE!

Posted on 01/08/2013 by bighair63

I have a very sweet tooth and can put on weight just by looking at a cake. There’s a voice in my head that is constantly chanting ‘EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT.’ More often than not, it’s chanting ‘EAT CAKE. EAT CAKE. EAT CAKE!’. I try hard not to succumb to the urge to satisfy my cravings because afterwards there’s a taunting voice chanting ‘FATTY, FATTY, FATTY’. Sometimes I wish I could just have a great wedge of deliciously moist cake and not feel guilty!