Bonzo the cat's reign of carnivorous terror
Yvonne Amery of Clendon Park writes: "Our Russian blue cat Bonzo, who we inherited when mum died, began his reign of terror one winter's night with a long strip of fat that he hauled slowly up five steps to the front door mat. The next night he brought more strips, together with a cooked chop and followed an hour later with the rest of the neighbour's dinner ... This was becoming a worry but nothing could prepare us for the next episode: a large piece of raw steak and, after depositing it at the usual place, he disappeared returning with the chips, leaving 15 piled next to the steak. Poor Bonzo had a bad heart and I found him in the morning on the grass outside our gate where his heart had finally failed him and he had died of his exertions. We wondered if he felt that as vegetarians we needed some of what he fancied and we never found out whose food had gone missing."
'Add a million' mantra has echoes in past
A reader writes: "A New Zealand Herald headline 'House with sea view: Add a million' brings back memories of my father who used to do odd jobs for Laurie Speedy, a local (Milford) surveyor and property developer (land agent) in the 1920s. Apparently one of Laurie's favourite sayings was: 'If you can see Rangitoto put another £100 on it.' Now, almost 100 years later, we are talking about the same land but in the millions."
