This mischief maker is so good at bopping me awake. Firstly, her meow melts me with sweetness then her paw runs across any exposed surface. Her claws are sharp. This morning she nicked my lip. I still worship her despite now having what looks like a massive spot.

Day 4. Freestyle belly dance. As I began, I had chatter in my head until this incredible beat was about to drop and my body, hips, legs, thighs, feet, neck KNEW they wanted to be part of the action. When it dropped my whole body connected in and all the chatter melted away. My stomach is aching and tight. Happy about that. A song I loved was The Drifters by Feint and Elizaveta. So much energy and joy in this one.

Turned my back for two secs and Catto has commandeered my dancefloor. Catto you need to move a bit more if you’re staying there, not lounge around like a Sultan 🙄

‘Oooo what’s these?’ ‘Smells good’ ‘Want one’ ‘Hello plant friend. Now I eats you too, yes?’

A beautiful magical cat with her roots in Egypt and a white feather bringing me luck. I arranged a new cover song today. Radiohead - Creep. I love singing Thom Yorke’s lilting phrases. I’m looking forward to sharing. 🎶

I’ve only ever seen Wisteria from cars. This time I walked past some. Oh my goodness, the aromatic perfume blew over to me on the breeze. It smelt of stocks - sweet, heady and full. I stroked my face across those purple petals. It was worth the wait.

I’m amazed at how well I’m doing on this super low carb diet and excited to see the results over the coming weeks. But today is cheat day and there’s a jacket potato in the oven with my name on it followed by chocolate in the cupboard. I love cheat days.

One of those magical moments happened. One where reality shifts for a second and you realise the universe is talking to you. Here’s the background story.

For a few years now I thought my leg muscles had atrophised. Since birth, I’ve had a tough time with legs and leg strength. It’s just one of those things, I told myself - It’s amazing they’ve got me this far, I’d say. I’d given up on this changing and just ignored it. Oblivion was best. Exercise and movement were painful. I didn’t do enough. I didn’t find it fun. End of.

In the last year, I’ve rekindled my relationship with trance music and beautiful beats. Ooooo I noticed, that makes me feel good. I WANT to move. Wow. This is new. On my first night clubbing after twenty years, I danced for eight hours straight and did 25km. Woweeee. This is really important for me. My body can’t stop moving to this uplifting music. So I started dancing at home most days with the speakers up high.

I’ve wanted to do belly dance for a while, had a hunch that it may be good for my wobbly body. I serendipitously found a lovely online teacher. I’m on lesson 3 and last night I practised my lessons to my new thing, dnb music. I went wild. My hips shimmied, my calves burned. I can feel my calf muscles. OMG. I’m good at this! I can feel myself. I’m not so numb anymore. Who would have thought it? (not me)

So I look down at what’s playing on Spotify because my body is feeling incredibly energised by the track, and I see three tracks next to each other in the list. And I smile. They read like this…

• Atrophy - Keep Movin - Many Signs -

This is the universe talking. Gotta keep on going. It’s the only way to survive. Keep moving, keep dancing, keep your body strong. You do have muscles, they aren’t atrophised, they’re just asleep. Let’s smash these walls down, I will help you. Just. Keep. Moving.

Day 3. Something incredible happened. I ran upstairs like I’ve never run up before (basically ever). My legs felt capable. There was no holding onto the banister pulling myself up. There was forward thinking power down there in my dear legs. My belly dance sessions are working for my body. I danced to uplifting dnb today and practised what I’d learnt so far. I found my rhythm - I can really move when I love the music. It was amazing. My feet beat fast, my heart beat faster. The less I thought about the moves, the better they were. I tried to be elegant. My arms followed my shoulders. My hips swivelled, my thighs and calves engaged, I was frickin belly dancing! And Oh! did I smile and laugh and leap. Favourite song - this truly rocked my boat - Coast to Coast - Matrix + Futurebound. What a cracker of passion and funk and soul.

Catto doing what Catto does best.

What a lovely furry chin.

Catto Chatto

Day 2. Shimmies, pelvic releases, shoulder rolls and the pièce de résistance - demi pointe. Basically being on the balls of your feet. Oh my, I haven’t been able to do that since I was a kid and even then it was touch and go. I’m facing my body demons. I’m going to win.

I love how much cats sleep. They definitely spend more time asleep than awake. It’s not like they go on two walks a day. Hmmmm I wonder what they get up to at night…

Come visit The Realm of Felurian, if you think you have the strength to leave.

An ode to moss (part 2) and soft green natural things. I was in my element stroking all this green fur. I think I get an asmr kick out of touching it.

Drove with a herd of wild cows last night. It was delightfully exhilarating. They sure have a powerful moo.

I love being surrounded by colour and fun.

Kitten vs Feather

Wild donkies (who were checking out cars in the window of a classic car showroom a few minutes before this), churches, a horsey and a baby pony. The mummy ponies are starting to give birth. Yaaaaaaaay. Exciting. They’re so cuuuuuuute.

Day 1. I have a new challenge. I’m going to learn and practise Belly Dancing for 30 days. I’ve signed up to Patreon lessons with Cassandra Fox. Beginner level. She has an awesome and powerful and beautiful dance. She’s lovely. So far my stomach muscles have done well. They’re almost behaving how I want them to 😃 My wash board abs are getting washed - slowly. I feel them. My body’s waking up. I want it to learn something new, to sing to a different song. Somehow it feels like I’ve danced this dance before. I’m calling this ‘Belly Trance’ as I’m a sucker for an uplifting electronic beat though I feel dnb fits perfectly too 🎶 Today my favourite song was - Rocket Guns Blazin by The Prototypes. What a spacey thrill of a journey. My belly was happy. This is my post belly trance face, in the garden, swinging on a hammock…I love hammocks.

Under the blossoms we did walk.

I was having a sort out of my suitcases. Winter clothes are finally going away woo! I find out Tally has a thing for them. She tried them all - large, medium and small like she was some kind of Goldilocks. And yes Tally, you are The Queen of the Castle.

Sprinkler fun. As a child I was obsessed with the sprinkler. It would whirl and twirl flinging out its cool droplets. Mum would turn it down low then all of sudden pump it up and I would shriek with delight and zoom round the back garden like some sort of elated banchee.

Going to live with Bluebell Fairies is pretty high up on my bucket list 🤩