Pruning

A different sort from what we are used to. In town, a guy was casually lopping off palm fronds from seven-storey high palms with a chainsaw, the fronds crashing to earth while his colleagues darted in to collect them and toss them into their truck. The palm on the left shows the end result of his work.

It was another ridiculously hot day. We went into town to do some shopping, including a visit to the shop that sells more interesting flour than the supermarket -- the sourdough starter is on the go. At home, organic Lidl hamburgers for lunch on the terrace -- very nice!

After some lounging in the shade, the more arduous task of taking Mystère to the vet. As we left afterwards, I said to S, "So Mystère has nothing wrong with him, and I'm a hypochondriac by proxy." S said this was unfair, as Mystère has really not been his usual self, very tired and sad. 

But the vet looked at his teeth (fine), took his temperature (fine), did a blood test to check kidney function (fine), and even an ultrasound to check for tumours (fine). Verdict: "He's just old, and stressed from the journey." He has lost half a kilo since he was last weighed in May though, and that's a lot when you only weighed just over 4 kilos to start with. "I'll give him a jab to stimulate his appetite. And here's some powder to put in his food." We got home and Mystère demolished a plate of cat biscuits he's been turning his nose up at for days, plus some thinly sliced chicken, and later a chopped up prawn provided by S. He's in a food coma now.

Note: this very comprehensive vet visit took half an hour and cost us 65 euros -- I think it would have been twice that in France. We sat on the terrace to chill and recover from the stress, but I was eaten alive by midges, so we have retreated indoors for wine and nibbles.