New Ark crew member, welcome Blue.

Following the tragic death of our beloved  Storm we felt the need to replace a grey cat, or at least Kim did. We didn't want a kitten , as it is likely to outlive us, so we visited the SPA at Mornac and chose a large and apparently friendly grey male. As he needed to be castrated, we had to return a week later to pick him up, sign papers and pay a contribution towards his medical expenses. We returned home with the new cat.
  We knew we'd have to keep him in for ten days or so, to habituate him to his new home, so shut him in the sitting room with all the facilities. However, the next day we thought he'd escaped, as he was nowhere to be seen. After a prolonged search , we discovered him squeezed away in a minute niche obviously afraid of coming out. He hid in a different place each day, and eventually, to be able to lay hands apon him, we had to entice him into a cage within the room. This worked ok, and we could haul him out and install him on our knees  where he gradually became quite tame, purring and rolling on his back. Just as we thought we had cracked it, after nine or ten days, disaster struck! Coming down for the loo during the night, I found the sitting room door ajar, obviously I hadn't closed the bolt firmly enough the evening before, the cat had shaken it loose and had legged it through the cat-flap into the garden. We called and called but there was no sign. However, later in the day Kim saw him sitting on a high beam in the open barn but he slunk off. Two days later, there was a doubtful sighting on a neighbour's barn. We were just feeling dubious we could ever recover him, when Kim saw him in the flower bed and he let himself be picked up and put back in the front room. Since then, he has been in and out of the room, sitting on knees and being a friendly cat. We hope we have succeeded in having him join the family
  Bye for now, going to stroke Blue...

Ark catch-up, and a car problem

     I see that I haven't blogged since going to the UK in February. It's not that nothing has happened in the meantime but I seem to lack enthusiasm, somehow... Still, people will be asking if the Ark has sunk so here goes.
   My recovery is proceeding steadily, though no as fast as I'd like, helped by twice weekly sessions of physio at Melle. There is a new chap there, Raoul, of Spanish extraction, I believe, though he speaks good French, who has helped me a lot.
  We lost our grey cat, Storm, while we were away. She never really recovered from her poisoning from eating a poisoned rat, despite our best efforts, and those of the vet, our neighbour , Ian, found her dead in his outbuilding and kindly gave her a decent burial in the orchard, under the quince tree, where so many of the Arks crew lie at rest...
   We have recently started to go to a local sewing club at the Loubille Salle des Fetes. At least, Kim sews, I just do my drawing, as I used to in former times. It helps a lot to share laughs and gossip with our neighbors. We also have also started to attend a gym class at the same venue, which I find unexpectedly pleasant, despite its being  Just after my Kine session, I'm knackered afterwards.
  There was an unpleasant shock awaiting us this morning--the car was making a funny noise yesterday and on checking the fluid levels this morning, I found oil in the radiator water. A trip to the local garage at Couture confirmed my fears that there was a problem with the head gasket, and the clutch thrust bearing was jammed. The repair will be costly, I fear, but the reserves will stand it, and Laurent lets us pay in several instalments.  Heighho, all part of life's rich pattern, it would have been worse when we were an  empovrished family rearing kids. We can't be without transport living here.
  Well, that's all for now, coffee calls.