Past year brought with it a lot of joy, and also sorrow. Also it brought a lot of new friends and wonderful homes for Via Nocturna-kittens.
As new additions to family, Hulda & Cortex moved to us from Finland from cattery FI*Acousticat's. Big thanks for Katariina for letting these two darlings to join our furry household. Both are part of our longhair/balinese breeding program here in Poland as those two breeds are very rare in here.
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| Cortex |
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| Hulda |
Gehennas (SIA g) alias Anneli also went for her first shows and received excellent evaluations and her first two certificates.
But the most memorable award gotten during 2017 is Judge's Sweetheart ribbon from Mrs. Nurit Pahl that was awarded for our dear black housecat Lilith (NW15 Lilith, DSM). It is now time for her Highness to start sitting back from show life and we'll be bringing her only to very few special shows. She is only 8 years old so "barely middle aged", but after all these years (since 2012!) it is time for retiring while she is still on the top and allow the younger generation to step up. As said, it is not a full retirement, but we'll not be going seriously after Top Cat placements from 2018 onwards.
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| Her Highness, Lilith the Mighty Minikitten, Ultimate Ruler of the Universe and slavemaster of all mankind (also bearer of other catchy, but suitable titles) |
There was also a lot of sadness during 2017. On 18th of October our dear Igu Igu (7th Heaven's Fiorella) passed away peacefully after her body gave up the fight. There is still a spot in our home that has not been filled - and I wonder will it even ever be filled. Igu was the "mother" for all possible kittens, always taking care of them like they were her own. And she was also best friend for our Hyvinkaa, who is still waiting for Igu to come back. After Igu passed away we thought for a very long time that we lost Hyvinkaa as well for broken heart.
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| Igu the Ballerina |
Also sad news came from Finland when Hammaspeikko (Lilli) passed away due veterinarian mistakes after routine operation.
We had four litters born in our household during 2017, L's, M's, N's and O's. From the last three litters we still have few kittens looking for their own loving homes.
2017 also brought personal challenge for me, as I passed my preliminary exam to become a student judge in FIFe. Big thanks belong to my dear mentor Mrs. Satu Hamalainen and to all my friends and family who are believing to this dream with me. Next year will be very busy as I'll be traveling to as many shows as possible, either as a student or as a steward and exhibitor.
2018 is also bringing with it some very interesting litter plans and first matings are planned as soon as possible. So stay tuned!
During 2017 I also began the big (and never ending!) project of gathering cat show statistics and posting them to our blog. It has been a quite a big job, and there are plenty more still to do.
For 2017 I would like to specially thank all friends and owners of Via Nocturna cats for making the year good despite the moments of sadness. Let's all make 2018 a lot better and face the challenges with strong heart and will!
- Heidi, Via Nocturna
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