Tribute to our girl Bree

On 19 July 2010 our dear little girl Bree left us. This has been one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make. She’s had a rough year, including becoming really unwell in February 2010 and we thought we might lose her then. Although she recovered, the wee spark had already left her.

She’s definitely squeaked through the door of reasonable doubt with her previous 8 lives though! What a lot of great memories we have of our adopted kitty.

Our first experience with Bree was when this white shape started sleeping regularly on our front porch. Nicknamed “Cat B” (as we already had cat A), she managed to find a spot to sleep in peace where Eve never went.

Bree formally entered our lives with a moment of daring theft on 26 January 2006. Obviously starving, she ran into the house, jumped onto the table and nicked some leftover chicken from dinner. From that point, we decided to keep her.

She was in pretty bad shape when we adopted her – only weighing 2.2kg, covered in fleas, needed teeth extracted. With an old broken tail and manky fur she wasn’t a pretty sight! With some TLC however she quickly turned in to a lovable pet. Due to her “Cat B” status, an appropriate “B” name was sought. As she was initially pretty anxious, we named her after “Bree” from Desperate Housewives! It was always difficult to guess her age, between 10 and 12 at the time of adoption the vet thought.

Not everyone found her as lovable as we did though! Eve had her furry nose firmly put out of joint with the new arrival. It was weeks until she would stay in the same room with Bree. Still, they slowly adapted although having two female territorial cats in one house could be challenging. Regular yowling, chasing and hissing battles ensued, especially fighting over the catnip.

Bree settled herself into the household. She was never a terribly active cat, preferring to sleep in the sun when given the opportunity. Despite her age, she managed the move down south well and absolutely relished the Canterbury summer (mmm…30+ on the deck) and also enjoyed the double-glazing and heating in the winter.

Bree had some less cute habits though. Regurgitating food was one – leading to an extremely amusing incident where she vomited into The Dragon’s trousers which he put on before realizing what she’d done. Awesome.

It’s been a bit of an eye-opener having an older cat. She’s been through the mill – hyperthyroidism last year (did you know cats can have radioiodine?), has a heart murmur and in February 2010, became extremely ill with vomiting and diarrhoea.

As she’s got older, she’s begun to struggle to move around and wash herself. New experiences for us include brushing a cat, cleaning the ears of a cat, clipping the toenails of a cat, bathing a cat…

Thanks for all the memories little one. We’ll miss you terribly.

Here’s a photo tribute to our baby:

The first pictures of our new arrival taken January 2006. Gosh she was thin! As with Eve, never managed to convince her to keep a collar on.








Looking lovely December 2006:




Out in the garden March 2007. Not sure why she looks so worried!




April 2007. Sleeping in the sun - Bree's favourite activity






August 2007. One of the unusual times where the white cat slept on the white washing...


November 2007. Bree adapted well to the move to Christchurch, discovering that sleeping was possible in different cities


April 2008. She loved the fire in our flat in Christchurch. The cats grudgingly learned to share - although Bree seemed oblivious of the potential danger!








We moved into our new house and bought beanbags for one room that proved extremely popular...


As did the catnip...Catnip? What catnip!






Last days in her favourite place...


With love from The Rose & Dragon

A day at the bank, a night at the opera

Lovely evening tonight listening to the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra playing at the Town Hall. Despite the 80's interior (there's even a mirror ball way up high!) the acoustics are excellent.

First up, Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat major. As an ex-cellist, I'm a fan of lower-pitched instruments (cellos, bassoons, horns etc). Very lyrical, well executed and typical Mozart.

Second up, Strauss' Metamorphosen. Hmmm. Never been a massive fan of Strauss anyway and this can only be described as orchestra lift music. The middle of the trilogy is always the trickiest...think "The Two Towers"! Conductor didn't help, primarily waving his hands around without paying any attention to the music or pace. Lucky the double bass player kept good time.

Lastly, and the crowning glory, Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Probably the most recognised first movement in the world. The orchestra seemed almost nervous at the start however carried it well. Second movement maybe a little slow. The third movement, which in my opinion is the best, was excellent. Both the audience and orchestra really got into it and emphatically played. Ah Beethoven :)

And having seen the pipe organ in the Town Hall, I'm itching to hear it before we leave!

The Rose

Sigh.

I replied to a thread on facebook quoting an opinion piece about just how busy parents are including never having any time. I asked, why whine about it, it was your choice. Various parents took exception to that comment! I debated adding to the thread and thought, "fuck it, they'll miss the point anyway". However, sharing these thoughts on my blog is valid so here goes:

" "No child people cannot have any idea until they are there themselves". That cuts both ways - you have no idea how frustrating it is to have my time "punished" for choosing not having children. People being late for work or leaving early as they have to "sort out the kids". Who gets left doing the work then? Another example is today, where I have to do everything in the weekend as I worked 60+ hours last week, only paid for 40, will lose half of that in tax and some of that goes on "working for families tax credits"! Time is important to everyone. If you were actually expected to pay the true cost for having children, maybe you'd consider cost, time and the impact on others around you. Still, I'm sure this will be dismissed by all parents who are so selfish that the only thing they can see is themselves or their kids."

I don't think people who have children realise how much discrimination there is against people WITHOUT children. People can't understand making a choice not to have children, "you'll change your mind dearie, it's so wonderful" - then bang on about not having time, money, life, purpose and being jealous that you have nice stuff and go overseas. The childless pay the lions' share of the costs of children in the community with no benefit. You can't do or say things in public - "think of the children". You can't expect to enjoy a child-free environment e.g at a restaurant, as apparently everyone loves a screaming child. And what benefit do we get from all this cost? It's not like there's any quality control!!

Rah, my sweet kitties are better behaved, nicer, easier to live with and more able to be loved unconditionally than any child.

The Rose