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03.09.2020

The kitten's personalities are well developed now. They are both HUGELY affectionate providing tons of cuddles and buckets of purrs. Buster is super smart and has enough energy for sixteen kittens. He is almost constantly in motion. He chases toys and does somersaults when he catches them. He runs into and up the walls and he can now easily reach every surface so we put barrier scent (menthol) on the edge of counters, tables and other non-porous surfaces. Maybe Buster will slow down some after he's "fixed" in a couple of weeks. Maybe.

Charlie has some adorable mannerisms, a few look like he's puzzled (a fast tilt of the head). He's funny. The photos don't do him justice. He's sweet and magical. Like Mr Mistoffelees from Cats, the musical.

Charlie relaxing. Buster's favorite game is playing with
Uncle Tommy's tail. 		Charlie with his signature head tilt.





06.09.2020

Oberthür park is only 1 block from our home. At least twice a year an event is organized for families at the park with games and other physical activities and a wide variety of food and music, traditional dances and costumes, and group activities that originated in Bretagne and other cultural traditions. Every adult wore a mask.

More constraints have been imposed on us recently and everyone is complying to get back to normal. It is likely that a lockdown will happen in France sometime this winter and this disruption may go on for many months. But, on the positive side, people are much more used to video conferencing and I am staying in touch with friends much more than I had the previous 4 years we've been here. So that's nice.

Sometimes the mail takes quite a while to get from the USA to France. Two years ago our ballots didn't arrive until a week before the election. With CovID-19 we thought the mail would be even slower this year so we downloaded our ballots from the Oregon Secretary of State website and submitted them via email. We had to sign a waiver since our ballot could not be secret. Two days later our ballots arrived in the mail so it seems that vote by mail in Oregon has factored in CovID-19 and the process is running smoothly.

An advertisement placed on our entryway for the cultural gathering at Parc Oberthür. Social distancing and mask requirements
for the park. 		Several booths were set up for arts, crafts
and environmental products.
Part of a very portable magic show. There was a huge section for family games. And with the French,
always good food and drinks.
African musicians add to the multicultural flavor
of the festival. 		Children receiving instruction on
tree rope climbing. 		Up they go....
In Europe, most games involve a castle
one way or another. 		The renovated playground has animal sculptures
carved from tree trunks. 		This playhouse slide was very popular.
Great looking gnome sculpture.





20.09.2020

The trials and tribulations of being a kitten parent - shredding paper. It started with a paper towel roll but continued with Kleenex, napkins and sheets or scraps of writing paper. We can't use the menthol on paper so we are barrier scenting as many surfaces as possible.

Buster has grown to be long and thin and Charlie has just grown. Both are at least 50% bigger than they were when they first came here.

Tommy has managed to reclaim his kitty tree. I'm not sure what took place but both kittens now make way for Tommy (almost all the time) so he's more at home again. That makes me happy.

Although there are occasionally some hisses and cries, for the most part the kittens and Tommy are affectionate with one another and everything feels wonderful in kittyland.

The kittens were quiet for too long, so I decided to investigate. I found this. And followed the trail. Minus one roll of paper towels.
Sleepy time together. Sometimes Buster likes to sleep
in the toy box. 		Charlie is a beautiful little kitty.
Buster and Charlie watching the rain.
They're getting bigger. 		Playtime in the kitty tree. Tommy likes Buster when he behaves
and leaves his tail alone.
"You're not so bad. Kinda reminds me
of myself when I was younger."





26.09.2020

In addition to the expansive and amazing Saturday market there are neighborhood food shops all over Rennes. We went to one of our neighborhood butcher shops ( 6 blocks from home) and passed by a bakery (boulangerie), pastry shop (patisserie), cheese shop (fromagerie), fish shop (poissonnerie) and other stores and food shops along the way. There is a large Carrefour in town but most of the "box stores" here are not large. That's partly due to the population but it's mostly due to the consumer culture here which is geared toward small store owners. We briefly visited the duckies on our way to the butcher shop. The water level is low but the heavier rains will start soon and will fill the pond to overflowing before the end of the year.

On a shopping trip we cut through Parc Oberthür. We're so lucky that we live only a block away. Autumn colors in these flowers at Parc Oberthür. We found a great butcher shop close by with
excellent meats. Seriously excellent.
Neighborhood cheese shop on the way
to the bouchèrie. 		Fromagerie interior





27.09.2020

Thabor Park is only 7 blocks from our home. Our Nice friend Kathleen gave us a heads up about a local photography exhibit, a segment of which is in Thabor Park. Martin Parr's work is weird and clever. Weird and clever is cool.

In addition to viewing the photographer's works we spent some time in Thabor Park just enjoying the sunshine, flowers and greenery. Parks are safe places to spend time (with a mask if people are around) and the sun, air and nature is good for your body and your mind.

A high school and a library are near
the entrance to Thabor Park. 		Map of Parc du Thabor,
Rennes' 200 year old park. 		Thabor Park has an abundance of flowers everywhere.
Overhead view of the botanical garden. There are 3000 species of plants
in the botanical garden. 		It's always very peaceful in the gardens.
There is a lovely koi pond
in the center of the gardens. 		Here's a koi just below the surface. You could spend all day between the rows
of this floral mandala.
There was even a banana tree. Many, many rose bushes. The rose bushes are on the outer ring.
I loved the ornate light posts. The Hunt of Diane, Charles Lenoir. Woman on foot, copy of the Louvre sculpture.
Part of the Martin Parr exhibit in the window of the orangery. Martin Parr photos are being exhibited at the Frac Brittany art gallery until January. Thabor Park reminds me of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, but on a smaller scale.
These cottages were near the greenhouses. I never saw parks this stylish
in the United States. 		Statue butt
And another one The Abduction of Eurydice, Charles Lenoir A gazebo for stages performaces.
Thabor park employs eight gardeners. Bird topiary Summer flowers
Dovecote above the avairy. The avairy has dozens of parakeets. Dove invasion
Masked lovebirds (just like Ruth and me) Zebra finches Pheasant and rooster
There are nice playgrounds for children
at Thabor Park. 		Plenty of kid-friendly structures Another view of the playground.