The weather here has been sunny and dry for a change so today I thought why not go and cut the grass, it's looking a bit unkempt. There wasn't a cat in sight when I got the lawnmower out of the shed, I carefully unwound the cord/flex and went indoors to plug the machine in, turned round to go back outside and there are four very curious cats giving the machine a very thorough inspection. They will all disappear when I turn on the power, I thought to myself, as they all stood looking at me expectantly.....I pressed the button and pulled the lever, and nothing happened. Back into the house take the plug out of the socket, find a screwdriver, go back outside and start undoing screws, not easy with PB giving instructions via headbutts to my elbows, fiddle about with wires, replace all bits (in the right places), plug the machine in again press the button, pull the lever and still nothing, now there are five cats waiting expectantly...

Plan to find the other lawnmower that's buried under piles of (you don't really need to know). Go through the starting up procedure again, now there are six cats watching (do you think they are selling tickets?). This time we have power and I expected the cats to disappear into the shrubbery, well they are feral, you know the sort, slink around with their bellies touching the floor at the slightest hint of anything 'strange', not this lot, they accompanied me up and down the garden as I tried to achieve something resembling the stripes on a well manicured lawn. By the time I had finished there were five mainly black and green cats and one blue/cream and green cat watching me.

Being the tidy person I am I put the lawnmower back in the shed on top of the piles of 'stuff' and rummage around a bit to see if the broom is hiding it's self in there, it is, so now I can finish the job properly. I come out of the shed with the broom in my hand and all those "brave" cats run for cover!

Copyright © Shirley Holland
April 3, 2001