Alfie, Badly Placed Sunflowers and My Garden

On Monday morning we drove Alfie to the vet. On the top lane, before reaching the main road, there was a handsome hare, just sitting on the verge and totally unflummoxed by my driving to within a few metres of him. Why didn't I have my camera with me?

Because Alfie was going to have the stitches taken out of his face where his eye and some tumour were removed three weeks ago, all three cats had been starved since midnight, since any food or drink I put down could have been eaten by any one of them. The vet, Aude, who is lovely, said that unusually, because Alfie has such a gentle temperament, that she might be able to remove the stitches without sedation, but just in case, that he shouldn't have had anything to eat. He was so good on the journey to the vet, not a sound from him. We waited for ten minutes and then went into Aude's surgery and she removed the stitches without any fuss from Alfie at all. What a lovely cat he is! She dimmed the lights and checked his remaining eye, which appeared to be fine still.

Today, things were not so good with Alfie. His eye was pouring with puss and clearly there was an infection. I kept expressing the revolting stuff by gentle pressure and wiping. We drove to see Aude, our lovely vet, and with a large needleless syringe she washed out the infection several times until the draining fluid was clear. I asked the question, through tears, that all pet owners dread asking "is it better to let him go now and not put him through anymore stress and pain?" She said that if he was her cat she would give him another chance with antibiotics. She then gave him an antibiotic injection and asked to see him again on Friday morning. She said he had the most beautifully temperament of any cat she'd ever seen. He didn't flinch while she had been doing all of these horrible things to him, except a little flinch at the rectal thermometer, which showed no raised temperature.   Here's Daisy looking after him.

And, by the way, on Monday, on the way home, in the same place, the hare was sitting, as if waiting for me to come back. He crossed the road in front of us and sat on the other verge for a while before making his way into the field.  It really makes my day to see something like this. I had never seen any hares before coming here and to see one close like that is just so wonderful and starts the day off really well.

Note to self - DO NOT FORGET CAMERA IN FUTURE. I used to carry it in my pocket all the time, but slammed the car door shut on it a few weeks ago and the screen has broken.  

I think you can make out the dent in the front of the camera in this photograph.  Luckily I picked up one on eBay for a pretty good price, so have the same model again - it takes me so long to get used to a new one with different features. 

The next thing was a friend coming from near Rostrenen to trim the goats' hooves. She arrived about 11.00am and Andy held each goat in turn while Ros cut away the overgrowing cuticle. While they were being held firmly, I managed to put a large syringe, without needle, into their mouths with worming treatment. Everything went well and that's that sorted for another year.

I think it make have been a mistake to sow sunflower seeds under the sitting room window. Two plants have grown about a metre now and are coming up past the glass and will soon block the view on one pane!

Still, at least I shall have a good view as they go on upwards towards the flowering moment. 

Under the kitchen window I have my blue pots and nasturtians which won't cover the view.

   This evening I had a quick walk round the garden when the sun popped out for a bit and took photos of - first Lychnis Chalcedonica Cardinal

Secondly the honeysuckle on the garden wall.

Then two seed heads from my red poppies in the border and

next of the nasturtians which have turned out to be plain and variegated this year.

Lastly a view of the pergola with the pink rose growing by it.

It's been a reall weird weather day, perhaps now we're heading towards winter again the weather doesn't quite know what to do.  I can't believe the sunshine finally came out today.  Apparently it's going to change at the weekend and be wall to wall sun for a while - let's hope so.

Three things I like:

1.   Purrdy snuggling up on my shoulder purring loudly.
2.   Collecting hen eggs - still warm.
3.   Eating my friends' daughter's birthday cake in the polytunnel.

Charlie's New Bike, Guémené-sur-Scorff Art Day and Cats

This morning I decided to go and collect a bike which I had seen for sale.  A red bike, for 6-8 years - Charlie's four and a half now, so it won't be long before he can use it. 

The vendor lived near Silfiac so I drove over in the Peugeot and I shall store it and wait for Charlie to get bigger. 

After leaving there I drove on to Guémené-sur-Scorff to a carboot sale the vendor's wife told me about.  There didn't seem to be a carboot, but it was an Art Day in the town and a small part of the main street had been closed to allow the artists to put up their stalls.

This is the florist at the end of the street and then a photograph of the reflections in the florist's shop window.

As I entered the street I could hear what sounded like a piano and Pan pipes playing. I wasn't wrong, there was a grand piano on the pavement, next to to a man drawing and a woman weaving. I spoke to the pianist and she not only performed frequently, but also taught the piano.

There was a man doing charcoal nudes - from memory - no nudes women acatually posing!

Also a girl with amazing hair, shoes and stockings was painting a water colour portrait of a Frenchman.

There was a boucherie/charcuterie open, and it was selling the traditional Guémené andouilles. 

I have copied this extract from the internet:

Genuine andouille from Guémené (100% pork, 30 cm long, 8 to 10 cm diameter, 1.5 kg) is only produced in the Morbihan department, in Guémené-sur-Scorff and the surrounding districts. Guemene andouille sausage is made from about thirty large pig intestines which are pickled in brine, calibrated and wrapped in layers around a central part called the "core" (with a diameter equal to about one quarter of the finished sausage). The core is also made of intestines cut into strips and assembled "on a string".After being inserted in a cow bladder, it is then tied off with string at both ends, smoked over beech logs, cooked for several hours in a bouillon flavoured with hay, and left to dry for a time that varies depending on the desired maturity. This delicious traditional speciality is celebrated particularly on the last Sunday in August at Guémené-sur-Scorff (56).

There's no doubt that andouilles - chitterlings in England - are an acquired choice.  They smell awful, but for me they taste brilliant.  I don't know of any other English people here who like them - I am alone!  I was brought up on chitterlings, which my father loved ,and I always ate anything he liked so I had a head start on liking them.

Just along from the classical piano player was an old house, partly boarded up and there was a cat crying inside.  A small group of people gathered on the pavement nearby and someone was trying to get inside to release the cat - I hope they succeeded.

A couple more views of the part of the street which hadn't been closed off.

At one end of the street there was this mimosa foliage against the sky.  I love the patterns of the frondy leaves.

As I walked back to my car I saw this white valerian growing out of the wall. 

I love valerian, but had never seen this colour, I have only seen pink and red before.  I stole a couple of stalks with the tiniest of roots on them and have planted them in my driveway bed and am keeping my fingers crossed.

I took these photographs in a rare sunshiny moment this week - foxgloves in my garden - most of the blossoms are sodden with rain at the moment and poppies have all collapsed.

and Purrdy washing, but it's the pots I like best in this photograph.

Here's one of the other two, Alfie and Daisy, taken yesterday afternoon.

I have been reading lots of other people's blogs this week and had a lovely time with them.  One, Snapdragon's Garden, inspired me to pick some of my garden flowers and pop them into a vase in the sitting room.

Three things I like:

1.   Coming home.
2.   Making chicken stock.
3.   Listening to The Archers.

Poultry, Collecting Rainwater, Blooms and Purrdy (again)

My Lavender Pekin hen and her nine chicks have settled in well and seem quite happy in the small run they will be in until they are at least ten weeks old. 

Next they will go up onto the field, initially in a separate area from the established flock, to get used to the whole idea of being properly outside and for both lots of birds to get used to each other through the open weave fence.

In between the grey sky and showers I have been taking photographs of flowers in the garden.  Here are a nasturtian and a purple petunia which I took yesterday. 

I don't think I ever really looked into the centre of flowers before I started taking photos.  The detail is amazing - really beautiful.  In fact, I think there are a lot of things I didn't look at properly before I took up photography.

Because of the amazingly hot dry weather we have had, particularly through April and May, we have been looking at even more ways of collecting rainwater.  Tomorrow we are going shopping for zinc guttering to put along the very shallow log shed roof.  In this photo it's possible to see part of the log shed on the left and the left hand side of the pond.

Water will run through the downpipe from the guttering to a water butt which I already have in use on the field.  From the butt a hose pipe will take it into the fish pond to keep that topped up.  The pond currently loses so much water from evaporation in the heat that we are constantly topping it up from the mains and I know that the fish will prefer rainwater.

Purrdy has been enjoying herself outside in the garden and also inside, playing with some of my shredded bank statements.  I'm glad they give her more joy than they did me! 

On Monday midday, the Writers' Group met here for the monthly get-together.  One of the group was driven here by her husband who fell asleep with Purrdy during the meeting and only woke up as we were taking photos of them.

It seem that everyone loves to cuddle a kitten and hear the happy purr.

Felines, Fluffy Chicks, Flowers in the Rain and Roast Lunch

Purrdy has settled in so well, it's as if she's been here forever. Alfie has accepted her with no problems.  Here are my three beautiful felines cat napping on the sofa.

Daisy is getting more tolerant of this little darting bundle of fluff, for whom everything is something to be played with, but she likes to keep an eye on her, just in case. 

Purrdy seems to play, eat and sleep in equal amounts. Every leaf blowing along the terrace in the June breeze has to be stalked, caught and fought. Each petal which falls off the geranium seems to trigger the starter's gun and she's off again to chase it down. I love her exuberance and the way she sleeps just under my neck when I sit back in the chair watching the television. If I am sitting forward, for instance, while typing this, then she sits on my shoulder as if I were Blackbeard and she my parrot. She has captured my heart.

I know I'm a sucker for chicks and hens of all sorts, but on Saturday I drove for 40 minutes to a lovely young French couple, living the good life with so many different families of cockerel, hen and chicks in separate runs. I was telling them that today I picked and ate my the first home grown broad beans of the year for lunch and they laughed and told me they'd had their first home grown peas for lunch today.

It's difficult if not impossible to buy broad beans in Brittany, and I love them, so I have to grow my own. This year I have planted them very close together, not as recommended on the packet, and just put a stake in each corner of their bed and tied string round. They seem to be supporting themselves and not collapsing at all like last year's crop.

Anyway, the reason I drove to see Dominique and Hervé was that they were selling Faverolle chicks and I thought I would buy five of them. However, when I arrived there was a family of Lavender Pekin bantams which later left with me in a cat basket.

I decided not to have the cockerel as my two cockerels just about keep the peace most of the time and I didn't want to upset the balance. So I went home with the mother hen and her tiny weeny nine chicks. I also gave in and had two of the Faverolle chicks.

They all seem to have settled in their runs in the rabbit parc and Purrdy seemed quite delighted with all these little inaccessible bundles of feathers, pouncing near the fencing of the run and bounding back and forth not quite knowing what to do about all these chirping chicks.

Finally, it rained last night and is still trying to rain today.  The waterbutt by the house is full, but the 1000 litre IBCs on the land are strangely empty.  They are fed from the barn roof, and should be filling up now, but don't seem to be.  Investigations necessary on Monday when my worker friend is here.

In spite of it being grey and wet, I decided to take some flower with raindrops photographs.

The first is of raindrops on a beautiful purple coloured poppy petal.  When I lived in England, after the summer of 2005, I collected a mugful of poppy seeds and this year found them amongst some boxes I unpacked.  There were a lot of seeds.  Most of them have grown into red poppies, but there are two purple ones - one single and one double.

Next a marigold whose seeds were collected last year from flowers on one of the small roundabouts in my nearest town, St Nicolas du Pélem.

And lastly, another poppy growing alongside the driveway - not well focused as quite a breeze today and I was just using my compact camera.

I don't always bother with doing a roast lunch when I'm here alone, but when I was shopping on Friday, I just felt like going the whole hog, as it were, and bought a rolled stuffed joint of pork.  Here in France the butchers remove the skin, which really I love to score and cook until it's a tasty crunchy treat on the side of my plate.  It looked very pretty before going into the oven and, in spite of having no crackling, it tasted very good when cooked with onions, sage, carrots and with roast potatoes and parsips  in a different dish and petit pois.

Last night when I was putting the hens and ducks to bed on the field, the goats were being very active, head butting each other and generally running around in their end of the barn.  I opened the gate between the two halves to collect an egg which had been laid behind the goat feeder trough and they took this opportunity to barge past me and through the main door of the barn.  Twenty minutes later, Basil was on the top of the roadside bank and Betsy was munching through the strawberry bed.  There was no way I could get them back in the barn without help.  I had my mobile in the car so 'phoned my worker friend which I hated doing as the Grand Prix was being televised.  By the time I had put the 'phone down, Betsy was in a corner and just walked through the barn door.  Two minutes later Basil walked in too with no encouragement at all.  I drove to meet the rescue van, but met them on a junction as I was too late to stop them leaving and couldn't for that moment get a signal on my mobile.  They were not amused, so I'd just like to send an abject apology to Andy and Flick. 

Three things I like:

1.  The sound of my cats purring .

2.  The way a raindrop trickles down the windowpane collecting other drops as it goes.

3.  The crackling of seasoned logs flaming in my well-loved woodburner.