CataBlog

Rest in peace, dearest Zenith

Just opened my email to find out that wonderful little Zenith collapsed this morning and was rushed to the vet. Her arthritis had caused her trachea to become compressed and x-rays also showed he had very little lung area left for respiration. The vet said there was nothing more we could do for her other than let her go peacefully, so our dear wee girl has been euthanised.

Zenith was the cat that I'd have adopted in a flash if I didn't have my Monty. I'm hoping I stop crying before I have to go to work tomorrow.

Goodbye little one. I'll miss you more than I have the words for.

Not a cat. Or "How I found the best house painter ever!"

So earlier this year I bit the bullet and got the rotten weatherboards replaced and the cutest-house-in-the-whole-world repainted. I was a bit worried that all this would prove very traumatic to the Monty and to the unfortunate painters who had to work around him for weeks. But then Ronnie arrived and all was well. So I've just had him back this week to paint the bathroom after the install of the shiny new shower. And here's 3 reasons why...

1) He's totally understanding of exceptional-but-challenging cats like my boy. Monty drew blood (more than once) and Ronnie apologised to him.

2) Spiders
Yes, there's a wee story around this. Staunch, butch and mean as I am, I keep a length of toilet paper dangling down the inside of the bath (anchored by the plug) so that any spiders who fall in can climb back out again. During the house painting when there were multiple painters doing the intial stripping and sanding, the toilet paper kept disappearing from the side of the bath. So I ended up writing "Spider escape ladder" on the latest replacement to explain it to the obviously uncomprehending lads.

When I did get to meet Ronnie, we bonded immediately:

Him: About the toilet paper in the bath...
Me: Yeeeees (expecting comment about mad woman)
Him: Cracked me up first time I saw it. I knew exactly what it was for, but the other guys didn't believe me until you wrote on it.

Over the last 3 days, the bath as been filled with his drop sheet/paint/other painter stuff when I got home, so I hadn't really given too much thought to the whereabouts of the current spider escape ladder. Got home tonight to discover a completed paint job, spotlessly clean bathroom and this dangling down the inside of the bath :-)

3) And last but not least - these guys do an amazingly good job! They're thorough, exacting on the prep work and do a stunningly good finish. I'd post a photo of the bathroom, but with the flash it's all a bit blindingly bright at the moment.

So if you're on the lookout for a really good house painter, let me know and I'll give you Ronnie's boss's phone number. Just remember all you cat lovers and spider-not-kill-on-sight types, ask for Ronnie ;-)