THE cat has got fleas again.

I say the cat. She likes to scatter them around the house so we’ve all probably got them by now.

The infestation comes despite a significant expenditure on chemicals to kill the little blighters.

I’m not sure where she keeps finding them as she rarely leaves the garden.

Mostly she just sits on top of a cabinet containing a couple of bearded dragons to soak up the warmth from their heat lamp.

Occasionally she will request feeding but mostly she just sits, yawns and washes herself as everyone rushes about – and the lizards cower in the corner praying nobody leaves their door open. I envy the pace of the cat’s life. Unfortunately for her, the baby is becoming a big fan and loves to grab handfuls of fur when she gets a chance.

As the baby becomes more mobile, the cat is going to see her sedate lifestyle transformed into one involving a constant search for a safe place to hide from grabby little hands.

Sadly for the last cat, after a unpleasant incident involving nappy cream and the youngest boy, the search for sanctuary took him outside where he was hit by a car.

One theory is he was so traumatised by all the unwanted attention that he jumped into its path.

  • NEVER a man to shy away from a decent soundbite, county councillor John Blackie this week branded road closures in the Upper Dales a ‘French farce’ amid concerns carriageway repairs ahead of the Tour de France were threatening the local economy. On the subject of Le Tour, a Whitehall plot to brand the Grand Depart an English event rather than a Yorkshire one has been uncovered. UK Sport apparently raised questions about Welcome to Yorkshire’s ability to run the event and tried to block chief executive and Dales resident Gary Verity’s involvement.

They were clearly taking liberties, not least because without Yorkshire athletes at the London Olympics – London, not English, mind – last summer would have been far less golden.