These past few weeks haven’t been easy. At all. On June 13 we had to have one of our cats put to sleep: Pixie, only 6.5 years old. We’re still in shock. It happened too quickly.

Studies have shown that losing a beloved pet is like losing a beloved member of the family, and our personal experience with cats (we’ve lost seven over the years) certainly confirms that. Stefano still can’t mention Pixie’s name without getting all choked up, and I have only just stopped waking up, screaming her name inside my head. We weren’t ready…that is, if you can ever be ready for something like this…

Truth be told, I want to forget what happened in Pixie’s last few hours at the vet hospital. I want to remember her as the wonderful, beautiful, loving cat that she was…By the way, that’s her photo on the blog header. She always had a look of total surprise on her face, and she was the gentlest cat ever. We miss her so much. Ci manchi tanto, amore bello! 

Changing the subject, we were supposed to be in Scotland this week, photographing puffins and razorbills and gannets. We had booked that trip months ago. But we had to cancel because Stefano had to be in Florence this week, for work, of course. No problem, since we decided to return to Scotland for three whole weeks in August. Ah yes, we love Scotland…

Okay, I should go now. Lots of things to do. I’ll try to write soon…on happier notes, I hope. Stay well, everyone! Ciao!