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