First, they were two
then a third joined
the fourth wanted to double the fun,
but he just wasn’t welcomed.
Tag: Cats
Animal kindness…Every day beautiful people – Kindness Challenge
I wanted to join the Kindness challenge right from the onset but with so much on my schedule, I could barely see where to fit it in until an idea struck me that I could tie it with my daily observation of everyday people. I’ll try as much as I can to keep to the challenge for the next few weeks.
However, having always being a people observer, over time, I’ve noted both the lapses in human kindness as well as the beautiful expressions of kindness people show.
The lady below caught my attention during my early morning visit to the park over the weekend.
Pets and strays are not particularly a favourite in this part of the World though people own their pets and learn to keep them behaved, but in the case of strays, they are at the mercy of mercy.
I’d noticed the cute kittens when they wandered closer but within minutes, I was privy to a scene that made me happy.
The kittens seemed to know that their benevolent ‘Cat lady‘ was on her way, so they wandered out of their hidden corner.
She buys food for them from a nearby Waitrose and comes to the park to feed them each day, under the scolding gaze of the groundskeeper.
We had a chat and she related to me on how she had been told off severally by them, but her mind just couldn’t let her be when she thought that they were starving and now the groundskeeper ignores her 🙂
She couldn’t take in pets ‘cos her apartment is ‘no pets allowed.’ We talked about letting an animal shelter know about the little ones and she agreed to look into it and I thanked her for doing what she was doing.
I left with some sense of happiness. Her kindness didn’t go unnoticed.
![Cat_lady_3[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/cat_lady_31.jpg)
![Cat_lady_2[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/cat_lady_21.jpg)
![Cat_lady[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/cat_lady1.jpg)
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Observe kindness around you: “no act of kindness no matter how small, is wasted” – Aesop
P.S. You are invited to our monthly blog party this weekend. It’s fun and you get to meet fantastic folks
Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.
When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.
May I live,
unafraid to breathe.
Free from a choke-hold,
that becomes a stronghold.
May I live,
unafraid to live,
clinging to my expectations,
with feral desperation.
*
*excerpts from my poem*
It was impossible to please mother…Personal recount from Linda of Nutsrok.
This is a post swap between Linda and I. Be sure to visit her end and read my own little naughty side 😉
We get to share a short story of each others childhood escapades.
Now, this is called collaboration and we should do more of such things in this space.
Linda’s one of my favourite bloggers in this space and if you haven’t been to Nutsrok, then you, my friend are so seriously missing out on very good chuckles and charming company.
She always has me in stitches and appreciative of life. Her real-life recounts on her growing up years is worth a movie and I don’t exaggerate.
It was impossible to tell what would land me in trouble when I was a little kid. Mother was impossible to please.
We had a new kitten. I found a kitty surprise in the baby bed and knew for a fact Mother wouldn’t be happy, so I went into the kitchen and got Mother’s salad tongs.
She didn’t use them a lot. I picked up the kitty surprise with the tongs and flushed it down the toilet.
The cat poop had been nice and dry and didn’t leave a mark on the clean sheet. Pleased with myself for being helpful, I tossed the salad tongs in the sink and went on my self-satisfied way, without even bragging on myself.
In a few minutes, Mother called me. I found her examining the tongs, critically, looking and sniffing. “Did you use these tongs?”
Proudly, I answered, “Yes, Ma’am. The cat gee-geed in the baby bed and I cleaned it up for you!” I waited humbly for her praise.
You’d have thought I broke a what-not like I had a few times!
“You cleaned up a cat mess with my kitchen tongs and put them back in the sink. Look at the mess left on here! Do you want that on your food? That’s filthy. I’m going to wear you out!”
She got the fly swat and flapped my bottom three times. I hardly felt it, but I was deeply offended at her ingratitude.
She never caught me cleaning up cat gee-gee again with kitchen tongs or anything else.
The Black Cat and I….
As I walked I met a black cat
Sitting beside the trash can
Black cat and I
Stared each other in the eye.
His were vivid green
Mine as it’s always been
He meowed a bit
And he moved to my feet.
He looked mighty harmless
His velvety fur was spotless
And since he was nameless
I called him cuteness.
He couldn’t cast any spell
As far as I could tell
It must be an old wives tale
A superstitious belief gone stale.
To paint a poor kitty black
Not cutting it any slack.
I returned to pore over my mail
And indulged in a tall, cold glass of ginger ale.
Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Superstition, Daily Post Prompt
I am grateful and blessed to have you as my friend…
Life brings friends our way who turn out to become our families in almost every sense of the word and I am particularly grateful for such a friend as my dear good friend Mrs. Ekaete Augustine-Edet. ![1452678658237[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/14526786582371.jpg)
We have journeyed together from our days as single ladies working at the French Embassy, Lagos Nigeria almost two decades ago, to today as mothers and wives and she has remained such a steadfast friend, sister and motivator.
She is one of the driving forces behind my starting my blog, because she believes in me and my writing skills. She kept asking me when I would start my blog, until I got started.
She is there anytime I call with a need or something on my mind. I had reason to make such a call and as usual she selflessly gave of herself, her time and her pocket.
I thank God for a friend like you and really don’t have much words to appreciate your kindness.
On another hand, I have been blessed with running into interesting characters since last week.
Two lovely neighbourhood dogs, Lola and Cookie and Meow, The cat seem to have adopted me for reasons best known to them, though I do stop to say hello to the cute dogs when I am taking my walk and they are out and about.
Meow is a lone ranger, but always appears by the chair where I sit sometimes to watch the World go by and he rubs himself on my pants legs seeking attention.
I am more a dog person and not particularly a cat person but strangely, this would be the third encounter where different neighbourhood felines come up to say hello.
Since I don’t know much about felines, maybe those who do can tell me what this indicates.
I am grateful for little meaningless moments like this. They end up meaning a lot when we appreciate them and each moment that I spend in a state of gratitude, the phrase that the best things in life are for free couldn’t be more true than it is.
There is so much to be thankful for. Just look around and you will see.
You can join Colline’s or Maria Jansson‘s gratitude challenge platforms
Regards and blessings
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
a cooking pot and twisted tales 