Bedclothes

and in particular sheets came under review in this household yesterday.
The Senior Cat came out of his room for breakfast and mewed apologetically,
    "I don't know how but I've torn the top sheet."
Now the bottom sheet I could understand...almost. That gets a fair pounding. The Senior Cat is a very restless sleeper. 
The Senior Cat's mother, my paternal grandmother, told me that she used to pin the blankets down because he was  such a restless sleeper. She showed me one of the giant safety pins she had used in her efforts to keep the bedclothes on him and keep him warm at night.
When they married my parents did not get a double bed. It would have meant the relationship would not have lasted a week. They had separate beds side by side - except in one location where the small size of the bedroom made that impossible. (Yes, somehow, they still managed to have four kittens.)
And now of course the Senior Cat sleeps alone. We bought a new mattress for him a couple of years ago. Middle Cat, who knows about such things, decided it was essential. Has it helped him sleep? Perhaps it has - a little. 
But he is still restless. He will always be restless. The bed requires completely remaking every day. In winter he has two blankets - one of them goes sideways so that there is a greater length to tuck under the mattress. That strategy lasts about half the night. He also has a duvet/doona/eiderdown (call it what you will) and my old mohair rug from university days. 
As he feels the cold these days all this seems to be essential. And no, before you ask, he does not have an electric blanket. That would be dangerous. 
Every morning he pulls the bedclothes up in a half hearted attempt to make his own bed. I then go and do it because he is too old a cat to have to be worrying about such things. 
But yesterday.... I surveyed the sheet. It was ruined. It was  not a particularly old sheet or even particularly thin. Somehow though it was no longer a sheet. 
    "Can't you mend it?" he asked.
    "No, even if I had a sewing machine, that cannot be mended. I'll buy some more sheets."
Thankfully we can afford new sheets, good new sheets. I pedalled off to a shop some distance away. It sells sheets, towels, table ware and the like. I have been there before - some time ago. It is the time of the year when, if you are lucky, things are on sale.
And they were. I stood there. I looked at sheets. They come in the most amazing array of colours and patterns. No, none of that will do. 
The young woman working there smiled and asked if she could help. I explained the problem. She laughed.
    "That sounds just like my father! I shouldn't ask but do your parents sleep in the same bed?"
I explained and she went on laughing.
    "Oh that is so like my father!"
I told her what I wanted. Plain, preferably white. The Senior Cat is very conservative. Something with a high thread count please?
She considered the problem.  Showed me some on a display bed. Exactly right.  Yes, they had a set for a single bed in white - half price. I considered. Was there a second set available? Yes, but pale blue.Hmm... the Senior Cat might put up with plain pale blue as well. I bought both. 
They are good solid 1200 count pure cotton sheets. I hope the Senior Cat won't put his paws through those any time soon.