Friday 15 February 2013

Amusing Bunni: My Visit To The Bunni Hutch


It was one of those things I'd always imagined doing one day but since I found out about her devastating illness last November, the idea of going to Chicago to visit Bunni and Kittehkins took on a much greater sense of urgency.


PRETTY KITTY












As I said in my previous post, Bunni and I have known each other for some years online and over that time we've become very close - she's like a sister so it was really important to me that I go and meet her.

Typically, my passport had expired so I had to renew it and get my U.S. visa waiver organised before I could do anything else but, strangely enough for government organisations, it all went very smoothly and painlessly so I set out for the airport at four o'clock on a crisp January morning and headed to Chicago to spend a couple of weeks with Bunni and Molly.

Everything went very quickly when I arrived at O'Hare - I had collected my luggage and cleared immigration and customs in no time at all - I even got a cab almost immediately. I called Bunni from the cab to let her know that I'd be arriving soon and within half an hour I was being greeted by Bunni's cute little smiling face at her front door.
It was so good to meet her at long last, hugs and kisses were delivered in person to both her and Molly and there were two whole weeks to get to know them better.

From past experience, (I've been around cats since I was a kid and I rescued two great little guys from the streets in London), I know all the right buttons to push with kittehs - and they can also sense very well whether people like them or not....... suffice to say that Molly and I were getting on like a house on fire within the first day or two....... she was so relaxed with me she even came up on the sofa, cuddled up beside me and fell asleep.


I TOOK THIS ONE MYSELF











 


Oh, and by the way, just in case you were wondering, Bunni and I were getting on really well, too - our meeting only confirmed what we already knew about each other and conversation was really easy and natural.

Fortunately for me, Bunni likes good food and she likes to go out to good restaurants just as much as I do so, on the second day I was there, we went to the Viceroy Of India for some good old British food - you know the sort of thing....... tandoori lamb chops, chicken tikka massala, butter chicken, saag aloo, etc..
The following day was Bunnikins' birthday so we wanted to do something special - I'd already asked her on the phone a week or two before to have a good think about where she would like to go. Bunni did just that and decided she would like to go downtown to Lawry's......... oooh, yes....... prime rib carved at the table....... lobster tails....... all the trimmings....... nice bottle of Barolo....... yummy!

LAWRY'S, CHICAGO

After all the excitement and running around over the first few days, Bunni was feeling tired and was in pain - she'd been looking forward to my visit and her birthday and there was no way she was going to let her illness stop her if she could help it.

Anyway, we took things a lot easier for a few days until she felt a bit better - with Bunni's problem she has good days and bad days so we just played it by ear, took each day as it came and did as little or as much as she was able to do at any particular time.

I TOOK THIS ONE, TOO

We'd planned to go and see a movie one day so before the film we went to a great little Thai restaurant that Bunni knows and had an excellent lunch  there before setting off to the nearby cinema to see Les Misérables.

It was nice to see Colm Wilkinson, who played Jean Valjean in the original London stage production, in a cameo role as the Bishop in the film....... Russell Crowe, on the other hand, sounds more like a half-strangled bull with its balls caught on a barbed wire fence when he....... "sings".

"MOOOOOOOOO!"

Seriously, though, regardless of Russell Crowe's vocal shortcomings, that film and music are now indelibly etched into my mind and every time I see, hear or think about Les Miserables, I immediately think of darling little Bunnikins.

On another day we had some good old American country cooking at the Old Country Buffet - their fried chicken was easily the best I've ever had, (and I've been around a bit).

Opus#6 even phoned from California one day and I finally got to have a really nice chat with her, too.

Needless to say, the two weeks that seemed like lots of time when I first arrived went by with a whoosh and all too soon it was time to go home. That morning Bunni and I walked a couple of blocks to her local diner, (she's been going there for years), to have a damned good American breakfast....... omelette with everything in, fried potatoes and pancakes with whipped butter and maple syrup, (Bunni didn't want to leave me to the mercy of airline food)....... and then it was time to go back to the Bunni Hutch and call a cab to take me, extremely reluctantly, to the airport.

Bunni thought it would probably be up to half an hour before the taxi arrived so we were taken a bit by surprise when it showed up after about five or ten minutes. I knew we could both easily have become very sad and emotional as we were saying goodbye if we'd had an extra twenty minutes to wait around, so perhaps the cab's sudden arrival was a blessing in disguise.

Kittehkins was curled up in her little bed looking absolutely adorable and I had just  been about to take another photo of her when the cab turned up....... so I didn't even have time to get the photo or give her one last hug before I left.

GORGEOUS, LITTLE MOLLY

I would dearly love to have been able to stay for a bit longer but the short time I did get to spend with Bunni and Kittehkins is something I will treasure forever.


TO BUNNI WITH LOVE


If you would like to contribute to Bunni's medical fund you can use this PayPal button.......




  THANK YOU







22 comments:

MM said...

Awwww sounds like you had a lovely time, glad you got there and spent time with Bunni. Shame it ended so quickly though but at least you still have fond memories

MM said...

I did some rescuing myself last Saturday, I rescued an adolescent dog, off someone with osteoporosis, was supposed to be a lab and she'd bought him as one but you can see he's cross lab and staff he's adorable but gets very scared at times when he wee'd in the house and sicked he cowered then I found out her hubby never liked him and kept him in a room no bigger than a cupboard.

Woodsterman said...

So that's what Bunni wouldn't tell me about. She owes me big time for that. I would have called loved to talk to you too. She and I are even because I forgot her Birthday.


Anywho, Spidey I'm so glad you did that for her. She always did love you best. Bless your heart for that.

Randy G said...

God bless you for taking the time go see her, and thanks much for the update.

Bunni said...

Hi Spidey: Thank you for writing such a lovely post about your visit here, and putting up the pretty pics you took of Molly! She sure adored you visiting, and so did I. We had lots of fun sampling some of my fav restaurants, seeing the movie, and just visiting and relaxing. I'm glad for the most part I wasn't feeling too too awful, so we could spend a good amount of time. The 2 weeks went very swiftly, and we miss you a bunch.


I glad you were here last month, because I have been feeling worse lately, as you know, and if you waited too long to come, I would not have been able to do as much. You are a great friend and your visit cheered me up a whole bunch. I'm glad you have fond memories of your visit here, and that the weather cooperated. Molly misses you and you sure knew how to relate to her. I'm glad you had so much experience with cats, and talked me into getting one.


Also, thanks for posting the link to my donation site again. I really could use more donations, as I first put it up 3 months ago, and people tend to forget as time goes by. Molly sends her love and kisses, and so do I!

Teresamerica said...

You are a super duper awesome friend to visit Bunni. That was very kind of you. Thanks so much for the update. Wish I had money enough to visit her myself. She is in my thoughts and prayers.

Barking Spider said...

It's only the truth, Bunnikins - I wish we could do it all over again.
I'm so glad I managed to get the timing right, what with that damned hospital infection you picked up while they were doing all the tests, I was starting to worry that the useless hospice nurse you started out with wasn't going to do anything at all - thank goodness you got your own doctor involved - that nurse was a blithering idiot.
I had such a nice time when I was there and you were a real, little trooper travelling around the way you did - I only hope it didn't tire you out too much.
I miss you and Molly a lot - the phone is a poor substitute for actually being there but I have very fond, (and very clear), memories of my visit.
Lots of love to you and Molly and I'll talk to you again very soon. xx
(I hope this helps to bring you some more much-needed donations)

Barking Spider said...

Thanks, Teresa - it was a real pleasure to visit Bunni and I'm sure she knows that you would visit her, too, if you could.

Barking Spider said...

Awww - poor little mite - good on you for rescuing him, MM.

Barking Spider said...

I really did, MM, and nothing will ever make me forget that precious couple of weeks we spent together.

Barking Spider said...

It was my pleasure, Randy, and you're very welcome.

Barking Spider said...

Sorry about that, Odie, we decided that we wouldn't say anything about my visit until after I'd been there, (you never know when there's a Labour/SWP/UAF Lefty apparatchik checking flight details). It's a real pity you didn't just happen to call while I was there as I'd have loved to talk to you, too.
Thanks, mate - Bunni and I are a couple of kindred spirits, so going to visit her was something I wanted to do more than anything.

Barking Spider said...

Thanks, Opie - Kitteh is such a gorgeous, little darling and her coat is in great shape - Bunni looks after her so well and spoils her rotten so she's a really happy little girl.
I agree with you about Russell Crowe - he's a great actor but his agent would do him a real favour if he turned down any more offers of "singing " work. :-)
I'm glad we finally got to talk, too, after....... it must be five years by now.
And for me, when it comes to Bunni, nothing is too much trouble so I just had to be there for her.

Barking Spider said...

Thanks, TCL, we had a great time - Bunni is such a lovely person and my visit has only made our friendship even stronger.

Bunni said...

I feel the same way, Spidey! Thank you for all your beautiful comments to everyone.


And, all my plas who commented here on this post, thank you so much for your kind words! Spidey is a fun and wonderful and kind as I imagined he would be. He's a great friend, and I'm happy he got to share his visit with you. Anyone else who wants to visit, let me know before it's too late. God Bless you all.

Rad IoFB said...

Great post, such a good freind to Bunnikins and a Gentleman. So right about Russel Crowe by the way. Vendetta@RFB

Barking Spider said...

Thanks, Vendetta, I'm afraid I completely forgot that I was supposed to drop you a line when I posted this....... what am I like!

Barking Spider said...

You are most welcome, Bunnikins, I had a really nice time and I'm so glad that you did, too.

Nomine Deus said...

I am so glad you got there to see her Spidey and Kitteh, your pics are great and it sounds like you had a good time...

Barking Spider said...

Me too, mate - it was the best.

Bunni said...

Hi ND, it was a very wonderful time. I just wrote a blog post about it, and linked this one.
Spidey, you are the BEST! Thanks for visiting and being such good company when I wasn't most of the time, feeling so tired and ill and all.

Barking Spider said...

I loved visiting you and Molly - and considering just how ill you are, Bunnikins, I thought you were absolutely amazing.