Sunday, June 21st 2026
Following the unbearable sadness of losing Peonie, I wanted a new black cat to fill the hole as soon as possible and ease the pain. After all, a black cat is part of Bressenden’s identity. We’ve had black cats here for many decades. I found a delightful, impeccably behaved little one-year-old at an organisation called Wisteria Cat Rescue in Rochester. I went to fetch her yesterday and she is settling in remarkably quickly. Her given name wasn’t really what we would want to call her so I tried hard to think of a name that was similar enough to Peonie that I would keep her memory alive at the same time as acknowledging a new cat’s personality. I couldn’t think of anything suitable, and then it came upon me quite suddenly as I walked in the woods. Just one letter different, and highly appropriate with its French connotation of lioness.