Sunshine and catnapping in Brittany

 Thursday 26/11/20

With less than a month to Christmas we are enjoying the most fantastic late autumn weather in Brittany.  It has cooled down dramatically over the past week but we have been treated to a fair amount of sunshine and very little rain.  Wonderful for getting the garden under control and preparing for winter.

We had an interesting experience last night worth sharing:

The cats have been in a very good routine so we were surprised but not concerned when they didn't appear when called at bedtime last night.  It was a clear evening with a full-ish moon - ideal hunting conditions.  We have had some strange digging in the garden, possibly a fox or 'le sanglier' (wild boar) so I decided to go and look for the cats to make sure they weren't in trouble.  I found Jess quite easily as my head-torch picks them up well but she seemed very spooked, tail puffed up and snorting like Jasper does when fighting.  She wouldn't head back to the house and kept trying to run up the driveway up to the road.

She wouldn't let me near her so I phoned Toni to come and help.  When Toni called, Jess first ran over to her but then changed her mind and was acting very weirdly.  I  managed to edge closer and scooped her up; she was soaked but seemed a bit calmer as I took her indoors.  Jasper had appeared in the meantime but Jess headed straight upstairs into our bedroom where she lay on the floor.  We both sat talking to her for a while, trying to calm her down, something just seemed off with her.

I continued to have a nagging feeling there was something wrong: did we even have the right cat?  She was completely black and was wearing a red collar - it must be her...  I turned on the light and took a really close look: Jess has one white whisker at the moment and trademark golden eyes.  Nope, we definitely had the wrong cat...  Toni had a closer look and got hissed at for her trouble! We had to escort the stranger to the door with a cushion.

Of course, Jess was patiently waiting at the front door, no doubt having a good giggle at our expense.

Jess' doppelganger

A very strange evening but we're thankful we didn't shut the intruder in the lounge with Jasper for the night - that would have been exciting!  We have no idea where this other black cat lives, as we don't recall having seen one before - but it clearly knows this area so must be local.

Bonus pic:

The indoor 'Lidroos' or cactus flower brightens up the house in time for Christmas

Two years on the road - a summary.

 Sunday 08/11/20

It's hard to believe it was two years ago that we spent the final night in our house in Cryers Hill, gathered up the last of our belongings, did the final cleaning and handed the keys over for the new owners to move in.  We had more concerns than concrete plans but set off on a great adventure to see where it would lead us.  

Two years down the road and we are still loving the absolute freedom we enjoy.  We're healthier, happier, closer to each other and, in spite of no longer having a traditional income, wealthier than when we left.  As an experiment, the adventure is definitely working,  and we now have fewer concerns and many more plans than when we started out.  There is still a lot for us to explore and we are loving every minute of it, and are also grateful to be able to do this.

To keep up the tradition of the blog I have again summarised a record of some stats for the trip.

We have now spent 433 days in France, 184 days in the UK, 60 days in Portugal, 48 in Spain, 4 in Belgium and 3 in Germany.  In total we have spent 458 days house-sitting; something that was never part of our plans at all when we set out, and have met some wonderful people and amazing animals along the way.  

We have travelled 10,992 miles (17,587 km) so far. This is not a huge increase on last year as we spent a lot of time in house-sits due to Covid challenges, and have therefore not travelled much apart from our epic Brittany / Normandy trip while we waited for the UK to drop quarantine measures in June.

Bokkie has consumed 2,137 litres of diesel and 357 litres of LPG.  Our biggest monthly expenses are still groceries (£275 p/m), diesel (£109 p/m) and campsites (£72 p/m).  Our total daily costs were quite a bit lower in the second year and have dropped from almost £29 after 12 months to £21.57 per day after 24 months.  These are direct costs only - for interest our indirect costs are about another £28 per day and covers insurance, storage, repairs, dental bills, glasses and contact lenses and international flights, etc.

What does the future hold?  We have had to get used to having plans cancelled and changed due to the ever changing world and are still desperate to get back to South Africa for an extended trip.  We have flights booked in January so are holding thumbs (or keeping fingers crossed) that they can go ahead.  After that, who knows?  

The more we travel, the more we still want to see before we finally settle down.  We have visited so many spectacular places,  and we are filled with wonderful memories as this blog attests to.  It seems too soon to stop, so we definitely want to keep adding to this as much as we can, and as much as the post-Brexit and post-Covid world will allow us to.  One thing is for certain: we will not be going back to a traditional 9-5 work set-up any time soon!