A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen - Book Review

Have you ever read a book you loved so much that you feel even a glowing book review won't do it any justice? Well, that's what 'A Street Cat Named Bob,' was for me.

I found the book in this quirky little bookstore nestled in Kalk Bay, Cape Town and although I could barely afford to scrape enough together for dinner that night, I just couldn't leave the store without it.

I'll admit, at first I thought it was hilarious. Over the years I have managed to adopt the nickname, Crazy Cat Lady, among my friends... so when I laid eyes on this book in the store I had to laugh and take a photo of it for my friends. I knew they would find it funny. 

But after snapping a quick picture, curiosity got the better of me and I picked the book up to read the blurb on the back:

"When James Bowen found an injured, ginger street cat curled up in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, he had no idea just how much his life was about to change. James was living hand to mouth on the streets of London and the last thing he needed was a pet.

Yet James couldn't resist helping the strikingly intelligent tom cat, whom he quickly christened Bob. He slowly nursed Bob back to health and then sent the cat on his way, imagining he would never see him again. But Bob had other ideas.

Soon the two were inseparable and their diverse, comic and occasionally dangerous adventures would transform both their lives, slowly healing the scars of each other's troubled pasts.

A Street Cat Named Bob is a moving and uplifting story that will touch the heart of anyone who reads it."

Needless to say, after that I was hooked! 
It is an absolutely gorgeous true story about a busking, heroine addict living on the streets of London. While struggling to beat his addiction, he stumbles upon a seemingly homeless ginger tom cat.  Little does he know that this friendly feline is about to turn his life around. 

This book is so heartwarming and emotionally touching. It is filled with hope and love! It's a story about angel's, blessings and guidance in the most realistic way possible. What I love most about this book is that it isn't written over-dramatically. It is believable and enjoyable to the point where you really can't put it down. I read the entire thing back to front within two days and was absolutely gutted when it came to an end - only because I didn't want it to! So for all the bad that is in this book, like it being quite repetitive, it really would be your loss if you chose not to read it because of the negative aspects it contains. 

I know that this book is based in London - but being put into the shoes of a homeless person for the duration of the read was really eye-opening for someone living in South Africa. Seeing things from their perspective is hard to take in but it is so important to understand it too 

It is so true that people perceive homeless people (or as we call them, 'hobo's), drug addicts and beggars differently. Very often we don't give them a chance and reading this completely changed my view on how to handle it when approached by someone on the streets again. As the author says, he could have been asking someone for the time but the second they see his appearance they shoo him off and won't give him the time of day. It really pulled at my heartstrings. 

One thing that this book reinforced for me was just how clever and incredible cats are... or any animal really. They choose people, you don't choose them - and that was exactly what happened in this book. 

Animals make the world a better place and they make our lives complete too. They are the best companions you could ever ask for and one thing this book really encourages is for you to just appreciate your furry friends.  

I was smiling the ENTIRE way through this book. It was such a feel-good read and to top it off, it had such a happy ending. 

Addo Elephant National Park

I had the most wonderful weekend out in the wild, going on game drives where there was little to no signal. Every so often it is so good for you to deviate from the beaten track and get lost in the roads less traveled. 

Day One was scorching hot, I arrived mid-afternoon and ventured out on a game drive where I spotted beautiful and majestic elephants, eagles, tortoise, zebra, warthog and lots of buck. 

This is a photo of me introducing my nephew, Jenson (9 months old), to Pumba!

He was such a gem all weekend, laughing, smiling and giggling in between his adorably chaotic crawling EVERYWHERE!! Nothing is safe anymore now that he is officially mobile! Ahhh!

The elephants and the eagles really did steal the show for me this weekend. Both are creatures that I am absolutely fascinated by. 

Unfortunately we saw no wild cats; but on day two we did manage to spot black-backed jackal and hyena munching on stolen prey. 

I called shot gun with my mum while my brother, his wife and Jenson went in their own car... and boy did mum and I party it up in our vehicle. We're as bad as each other really!! Mischief I tell you. 

In the evenings once the gates to the park had been shut and everyone else had gone to bed, mum and I ordered bottles of wine, stole glasses and hopped down to the watering hole hoping to see animals drinking but alas, it was dead. 

It was really wonderful to bond with her again though. 

Our family has been through a lot lately and so it was lovely to forget everything and just let our hair down together.  

In the mornings we'd head over to the local grill and bistro and fuel up with some breakfast - Jenson having his mushed up carrots and butternut baby foods. I couldn't help but feel bad! 

I had to share this photo of Auntie Jade and her stunning nephew though - how freaking cute is he in his little stripey shirt and Happy Chappy cap!? 

My heart melts. 

Overall, it was just wonderful to break routine and escape out into nature for a while. 

I'm not the kind of girl that likes to be in big cities, in clubs and shopping malls and wearing bloody makeup and high-fashion all day, every day. 

I don't like sitting on a computer day in and day out - surrounded by drama and developing a seriously bad case of small-town syndrome. 

Escaping this past weekend really just fuelled me up in wanting to head back out there into the world again. 

I've been stuck in South Africa for a year now, which is the longest I've been without traveling in an incredibly long time and it is starting to eat away at my spirit. 

I've got a few ideas in mind - mainly being to save, save, save while working my butt off and keeping out of trouble and then heading over to India for a little trip next year for the Holi One Colour Festival (tick another thing from my bucket list!) in March. 

From there I'd come back and continue working and saving like mad until I have made a firm decision on where I want to move to for a few months and work overseas. That's been an idea of mine for a while now and the main countries that really appeal to me are Canada (one of the things on my bucket list is to learn to snow-board at a ski-resort there and work there while I'm at it! Lets face it, Canadian accents are beautiful, the country itself is beautiful and the people are renowned for being friendly, quirky and fun!), then there's Bali... my biggest dream in life (barring being a famous novelist!) is to go there and surf - be a beach bum for a while. Here I could teach surfing or English, work in a back-packers. I was thinking about it all yesterday and the thing is that in Canada, I know loads of people from really close friends I met while traveling through Europe last year, old school friends that have moved there since university to pursue musical careers, to amazing 'pen-pals' and blogging friends. Bali, I know no one that actually lives there but I know many friends of mine that go there often to surf and get away (lucky right???). This inevitably makes Bali slightly more scary for me as I'd be 100% alone - but it's awesome to have options. 

Lastly there is Australia. Again, I have not only friends from school and friends that I met while traveling through Europe that live there but I also have family. Family who have been so kind as to offer me FREE accommodation while finding my feet there. 

I don't want to choose a country purely based on accommodation reasons though - and to be honest, Australia, as wonderful as it is, wouldn't be number one on my list. 

My cousin that lives there has been giving me some amazing advice though... drilling into my head that if I don't get out of this small town and branch out, experience what the world has to offer while I am young and have nothing holding me back - then I will regret it... and you know what? He's right. I will. So I know I need to go. 

I was looking at my savings account as some sort of a security blanket and thinking how great it is to have all this cash saved up for if and when I need it but I could die tomorrow. Any of us could - and if I don't go and live my dreams of travel while I can, with the money I have saved, I'll always regret it. 

Someone very cynical told me that I won't have a chance to regret it, because I'll be dead (thanks for that.....) but I see it completely differently. 

So I can confidently say that I have made my decision. 

I will be going traveling again A LOT as of next year. A few more months of saving up to achieve this and then poof... I am off on a new adventure. Where to, I don't know yet - and that is half of the excitement. 

June Shoes of the Month

Red used to be the one colour that I couldn't stand. It's odd because it is also the one colour that my mother kept on begging me to wear back in the day - telling me it looked so good on me.
I never agreed.

I can't really describe it. To me, red is just such a harsh and bold colour and I tend to lean more towards earthy shades. Browns, greens, oranges and of course I love my black and whites.

Lately though, red has started to spark a bit more of an interest in me.

They say that if you put a beautiful woman in a white dress and send her strutting down the street, she'll not turn nearly as many heads as if you put the same beautiful woman in a red dress and walked her down the same street.

Red is striking. It oozes self-confidence and sex appeal. Which, as a singleton of today's world.. you need, right?

Today I am wearing these sparkly pumps. I'm also wearing a red button up shirt. Who would have guessed?
I love absolutely everything about these new pumps of mine. The bow. The sparkle. Even the colour.
It isn't a bright red - I'd say it is leaning more towards the maroon side, which is one of my favoruite colours.
It's deep and it's dark and over all the style is completely me.

These shoes are available at Mr. Price for an absolute bargain of under R 100.00 in South Africa.

As many of my regular readers know by now, I am trying to grow my shoe collection by buying one pair of shoes every month - but, at the end of the day, I'm always happier barefoot... especially now with my new tattoo. 

Have a fabulous week ahead stunning people.

I may go a bit quiet over the next while or so. I have a fair bit on my plate. I'm just about to finish my university degree and qualify as a journalist - finally! I'm also flying through writing my second novel, which I'm dedicating every waking and breathing second to. On top of all that, two of my dearest friends will be leaving little old Knysna this week... for good. It's going to be painful to bid them farwell. Goodbyes are never easy.

There's one quote that I'm trying to keep in mind here:

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings."

I'm very happy for them to be spreading their wings and venturing out into the world and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how far apart you are from your loved ones, true friendships never die.