May 2, 2017. Sad day for Sootie

LOCATION:  House-sitting outside of Poullaouen, Brittany, France

WEATHER:  Much nicer.  Mostly sunny. Highs in 50s

 

In addition to the 21 chickens under our care, we are watching two cats.  Both are farm cats - roaming inside and out.  One sleeps sometimes in the chicken coop to keep the mouse population under control.  The other cat, Sooty, had a run-in with the neighbor's big dog the day before we arrived, so we have been nursing him back to health.

When I went to bed last night, he was snug on his little bed in the utility room.  He wasn't around this morning to beg for breakfast.  The cats have a catflap so they can come and go.  Mid-morning, our neighbor stopped by to tell us the sad news....Sootie had been run over and was lying in a ditch in front of his house.  We felt so bad, but there was nothing we could have done to prevent it.  We buried him for the homeowner. This is the first accident or death we have had pet-sitting.  

 

In preparation for today's day trip, we put some eggs in the mailbox in case any passerby wanted to buy some while we are out.

 

Then, we took a drive around the area.  We made a circle, stopping in several cute villages.  

After about an hour, I started worrying about gas, lack of cash, and was hungry.  We were out in the middle of nowhere, with just tiny hamlets with nothing open.  We happily found a town that filled all of our needs.  We stopped there for lunch, and found an ATM and a gas station.  We left with a full gas tank, a heavy wallet, and happy tummies.  Lunch was a French pizza.  Like the ones in Italy, the crust was paper thin.  We ordered one with goat cheese and mushrooms.  Yum!

The waiter put this interesting bottle of olive oil on our table with lots of herbs inside...

Most of the towns have a big church in their centers.

The fields are absolutely stunning.  The landscape views are  fields with ripening crops of rapeseed and wheat.  It reminds me of the rolling hills in southern Minnesota, except different crops. 

We found a super market and I stocked up .  Back home, we planted some tomato and zucchini plants for the homeowners.  

DINNER:  I  made my brother's cassoulet recipe.  It was superb!  It was easier to make here in France since all the ingredients are readily available.