At any time you may have a pleasant surprise: one day our cat Garrida had a bad injury and needed treatment in the animals' hospital. Bernhard took her to Penela, and while he was waiting for the doctor to finish his work, 2 kittens approached trying to attract his attention. One even clung to his pullover using its little claws and teeth. Yes, the doctor explained, we care for them, but they really need a proper home. Bernhard liked the little ones, so he called Brigitte and asked: "what do you think about this?" As we wanted to have more cats since our Zarca had disappeared in May, we decided to adopt them both. Only 5 weeks old and without mum, we did not have the heart to separate them.
So we have 2 mor cats: Minka (photos on the left) and Loni (on the right).
They seem to be happy: they eat a lot, play around, always waiting for us to make time for them.
And Bernhard already prepared the long ladder to help them get down the trees they will climb without knowing how to descend...
This is not a secret: it seems to be quite difficult to germinate woodruff seeds. But we succeeded. Bernhard put 15 seeds - kept in damp soil - into the refrigerator for 4 months. And they germinated! In the end Bernhard had 5 tiny plants. In May he put them outside. Two of them did not survive, but we have 3 nice plants now. 
Our kittens are 4 months old now. They do everything together - playing, eating, sleeping....
A new holiday home is under construction at our country estate. It is likely to be available from April 2011 on! As with Casa Brigitte, it is a matter of reconstruction. It will be larger than the former house: 2 floors, the ground floor with 1 bedroom, bathroom, spacious living/sitting room and open kitchen. First floor: 2 bedrooms and one more bathroom. Everything very comfortable, with central heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. The house is suitable for disabled people as well. And we are lucky to receive 40 % funds from the European Union, from the Portuguese PRODER program for delvelopment of the rural areas. One more success for the Rural Tourism.
