For eight years now (since I arrived in Nice), I’ve wanted to visit a little bonsai shop called “Bonsaï Center” nestled in an alley between apartment buildings on Boulevard Cessole. I finally went yesterday. It’s by far the best self-proclaimed bonsai store I’ve ever been in — and there are some good ones on the US West Coast, so that’s saying a lot. They have Japanese and Chinese soils (!), as well as a huge selection of gorgeous pots, true bonsai scissors, and fertilizers, also all from China and Japan. And, of course, bonsai trees.

I couldn’t afford any of the bonsai, and anyway, already have a beautiful maple and my stone pines. (I may train the stone pines into bonsai eventually.) I did like the Venus Flytraps in the greenhouse section, even if I couldn’t quite figure out what they were doing in a bonsai store. Since I’ve always wanted one, have a humid greenhouse-like patio and plenty of bugs for it to eat, I got this plant here. The Carnivorous Plant FAQ is one of the more informative sites I’ve found.

In kitten news, Kanoko is looking more and more like a “cat” now. I think he’s definitely going to be big — just look at this photo I took today, compared to only a week ago. His face is more feline, and he has BIG paws. I’m also happy to see that his whiskers are growing back, though a bit angry too because now it’s clear that whoever abandoned him had cut them right down to the skin on one side (there was no stubble and I actually thought he had fewer whiskers there, but now whiskers are reappearing). He’s a very cheery, well-behaved kitten; it’s wonderful to have him.

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