ON THE PROWL

Moth our little calico cat is now so heavily pregnant that unless she kittens soon I shall be obliged to fit the poor little minx with a roller skate under her tummy...my she is a size. I n spite of all our efforts to make a secure place for her to have the kittens we have so far failed to come up with anything to her liking . Unfortunately for us at present she seems to favour a spot an the kitchen worktop between the toaster oven and the sink...most inconvenient for all concerned.

Only one of our beautifully constructed hiding places has found any favour with Madam Fusspot and she does inspect this delightful spot beside the gas boiler whenever she returns from a trip outside and this morning I found her in the laundry basket among the tea towels and aprons. The ways of cats are strange indeed.

Twiggy too is on the prowl, she has moved almost entirely in to my bedroom at the moment but has displayed a desire to invade my sons wardrobe,needless to say her attentions in this quarter are not entirely welcome, cat hair and black trousers do not mix.

The spider in to downstairs loo is still cavorting about ,much to Pa's dismay and as it's main lodging seems to be behind the cistern I have fitted a mirror on the door of the loo so that he can see what is going on behind him whenever he has occasion to use the facility!!

Outside there are problems too,on a swift trip up the garden for a bunch of fresh rosemary I observed a pair of magpies stuffing twigs down one of our chimney pots and I foresee trouble in the near future if I fail to persuade them to stop. I am considering the use of an old fashioned “Soot Witch” a small explosive device use to dislodge baked on soot from inside the chimney. This will I hope cause the pair to have second thoughts as to their choice of nest sight!

There is still no news from mum which I hope is a good thing, I must admit that she never out of my mind these days and I know the boys feel the same. She is such a sweetie,and so very dear to us all. Pa had a difficult relationship with his own mother ,who was,in my opinion the most malevolent old hag I ever encountered. My mother has treated |Pa like one of her own sons since the day I first brought him home to tea and he adores her for it. I keep on finding myself repeating the mantra”Please let mum be OK” over and over again.