Near Catastrophe!

We are cat-sitting. As it is a sunny afternoon the cat is wandering around the garden. Then DH realises that the pesky creature has just dropped a mouse.

Great.

We like simple cat sitting - feed and vaguely take notice of, type cat sitting.

We do not like complicated cat sitting that involves headless mice, vomit or diarrhoea. We had already explained to the cat that catching a mouse was not on the agenda. Well not on our watch, anyway.

"There it is!" said DH pointing to a plant, 

"There what is?" I ask.

"A mouse! The cat has dropped a mouse!"

"Is it alive?"

"Yes! Can't you see it moving?

"No. Where is it?

"On that plant in front of you! Quick! Get something!

"Like what?"

"I don't know!"

"How about a flower pot?"

"Well, get one"

"I cannot believe you have got me running around a muddy garden in my slippers!"

"I'll get the flower pot. You watch the mouse."

"I can't even see the mouse!"

"It's there. In front of you. On that plant."

DH, who is also wearing slippers, goes off to get a flower pot. 

I stare optimistically at the plant.

Then suddenly I see these two tiny terrified eyes. 

It suicidally leaps out of the plant. 

The cat moves towards the plant. 

We shoo the cat away. She goes off to sulk the other side of the garden in protest at our intervention, waiting for the opportunity to slink back and complete that which she had begun.

The mouse scuttles towards some stones, but the silly creature is still in full view. It then goes and hides under a large planter. Far more sensible, except that is where a frog normally resides. Sure enough, frog emerges clumsily from the other side of the planter. Either it has a hangover from the beer put out to drown the slugs, or it hasn't recovered from the orgy in the pond a couple of weeks ago, or it has just woken up. One thing for certain it is having great difficulty in co-ordinating its limbs enough just to hop. I chase frog into the pond before the disgruntled cat spots it. With an awkward lunge/ crawl and a tangle of limbs, frog belly flops into the pond and disappears from view. Phew!

Cat stomps off under the gate to chase wildlife around the allotments. Cat casually reappears half an hour later, sauntering in through the patio doors. I feed it eagerly, keen for it to have a full belly BEFORE it remembers the mouse. I hope the little creature lived healithy for another day, or died quietly somewhere out of the way, safe from the fearsome feline.

Meanwhile, we wait to see if any of the frogspawn that appeared after the recent froggy orgy in the pond, has survived the Beast from the East 2 snowfall and freezing temperatures of last weekend.