There's always Something Good In Adverstiy

Ok, adversity may be a bit of a strong term, but silver linings in clouds seemed too trite. Mr Smelly Cat and I had prawns for supper last night. I was being good and had a big crunchy salad and prawns, Mr Smelly just had the prawns. They looked ok, they smelled ok but they were not ok. You get the idea... me moving at supersonic speeds, walking sticks flailing. I recovered by the small hours and had high hopes that it was just one prawn, and that Mr Smelly would be all right. He's so old, 18 in early June, and frail, so any upset is a huge setback for the old boy.

Oh dear. This morning the kitchen, where he's confined overnight (not a cruelty, he's senile and gets lost otherwise) wasn't nice. So, I had only been talking to Kim the other day about kneeling down and how I thought it would be ok for me to do it. In his usual manner, he was over-protective and exhorted me not to, and that's where we left the discussion. This morning, there was no way I could clear up the disasters without getting on my knees.... but how to get down there? I'm only 5'3" (well, I may be back to my original 5'4" now I've had my hip fixed!), so it's not a long way to go, but it's bloomin' scary when you've a) not done it in months and b) there's nobody about to help in case I got stuck or toppled. Still, the smell of cat diahrroeah is a wonderful spur to try new things!

I fetched in my garden kneeler, which has been doing duty as a tea cup stand next to the garden bench until I can use it for its intended purpose, and off I went. Now, I'm sure you've already had quite enough detail about Mr Smelly's extrusions, so let's just say that the kneeler worked very well indeed, though it would have been improved by a nose peg. Job done, disinfectant wielded, it was time to sit down, give my knees a break and feel pleased at another little step forward in my mobility.

Poor Mr Smelly Cat, I don't think he'll be scrounging for prawns again any time soon!