The evil cat, news and a dolmen.................

Any one who is owned by a cat will know that they are contrary creatures, each with totally individual personalities. Mischka has always been a loner in our family of kitties, when he was a kitten he was the naughtiest cat I have ever owned and Sasha who was at that time just 3 years old, used to sit on him when he had had enough of his nonsense. He was not called JD (juvenile delinquent) for nothing. He has not improved with age hence the very expensive visit to the vet as a result of him seeing off some stray cat! We have also been suffering with the heat wave which has affected most of Europe this past week and Wednesday was a dreadful hot and humid day (just like Durban for my South African friends). We had both collapsed during the day and not achieved much but by evening there was a major thunderstorm which did help to break the cycle of heat. However, late evening when doing a head count of cats, Mischka was missing! Mervyn and I spent a couple of hours wandering around in long grass, brambles and mud calling for him but he did not appear. By the time it was starting to get dark I was of the opinion that he had either met with a dreadful accident and we would never see him again or he would stroll in as if nothing had happened. Given that it is still daylight until after 10 in the evening we decided to take one last look around, I looked out the French door and there was the little beast walking down the garden, wet through and full of brambles. Considering that there is one thing that he is absolutely terrified of and that is thunder, I am surprised that he had not fled home at the first indication of a storm. He had most probably fallen into a deep sleep due to the heat and only woke up to discover that he was rather wet!!! As it is not safe to leave the cats outside at night as there are nocturnal prowlers who would just love kitty for dinner, I have to shut them inside at night so I was very relieved that he did condescend to return home.
I have completed a new bear list on e-bay so I have done some constructive work this week. Meet Tristan and his little friend Maxwell.

By Thursday the inactivity of his life was beginning to get to Mervyn and I promised that we would make an excursion to Vannes. As the morning dawned wet and extremely humid I was glad to get out of the house, never tell me that stone houses are warm in winter and cool in summer (but that is another story). Vannes is no country village, a large city right on the coast of a very beautiful bay with canals and shipping. Our first visit was to the local tourist office. I have found these a wealth of information and staffed with delightful people who put up with my fractured French (most can speak English). They provided us with maps and pointed out places to visit. This is a town for several visits as we only managed the old city section. This picture is of part of the old city wall and a corner tower. Standing on the wall I took a picture of the beautiful garden down below which is only just being planted out with new flowers for summer.
No guessing for the contents of this shop.................

Court of the Angels, a decorating shop with the most wonderful selection of angels I have ever seen under one roof. A tiny shop down a narrow street, there were carved angels made from stone, resin, metal and wood as well as other beautiful items to covet.......................

Vannes is a very beautiful city founded originally by the Romans in the first century AD! Full of old timbered buildings, an incredibly beautiful cathedral and narrow cobbled streets, I will definitely have to pay another visit. I have a fascination with gargoyles on buildings and was delighted to discover a series of three right down on pavement level. As it was raining I have tried to capture the water dripping from the mouth of this one, don't know how clear it is thought.

By lunchtime we were both walked out and decided to drive along to the edge of the canal to eat our picnic lunch. As it was still early I decided to visit a dolmen which was not too far away. This is a picture take from the front. Thought it looks just like a pile of stones with a hole underneath, the sides have been built with stones carefully cut and placed in position. This burial monument dated from the 4th century BC consists of two chambers linked by a y-shaped corridor. The site was in use from neolithic times to the Roman period. I was intrigued to discover that the dolmens, menhirs and megaliths are unique to this part of Europe. I will have to visit as many as possible whilst I am living here in Brittany.
I visited the Pontivy tourist office yesterday returning home with a wide selection of maps and booklets. I discovered that the Knights Templar built a hospital in Kerfourn, the little village that we are staying in. No evidence of anything here now and no indication of where it was situated unfortunately. There are lots of places right on our doorstep to visit during the next couple of months........................

If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday. ~Pearl Buck