Too much excitement

A bit of excitement this afternoon. From the main terrace looking towards Montmirat we could see a large scrub fire. Given the distance and comparing the size of houses nearby, the flames were shooting 20 meters into the sky. I called 18, who took an age to answer, good job it wasn't something serious then, and the guy said that they knew about it and they were on the case.

Eventually, you could see several fire engines in the distance and their tactic seemed to be to surround the blaze and stop it spreading.

Next thing we saw was a Dash 8 (a plane that normally drops fire retardant) which circled the area and a 'control' helicopter which patrolled the sky for a time.

Eventually the fire was brought under control and the planes departed.

Much later, as eleven of us were having dinner on the kitchen terrace, I let Max and Minnie out of their kennel to come and bug us and hoover all the crumbs from the floor. But instead of shooting up the steps to greet everyone they both shot off into the garden and, from his yelps, I knew what Max had found. I called him using his favourite treat as an inducement. I could hear him in the darkness trotting towards me. Out of the dark, up the steps he came and deposited a huge hedgehog at my feet. Needless to say it was yours truly that had to move the hedgehog to safety and save all the diners from its viscious fangs. Max, bless him, has a very gentle mouth and the hedgehog eventually scuttled off to its lair.

Just too much excitement for one day.