KIWI FRUIT. I read in
the paper the other day that some Tenerife farmers are adding new crops to
their repertoire. One they’re experimenting with is Kiwi, which apparently
needs cold to ‘set’ the fruit. So they’re planting them up in Santiago del
Teide where the potatoes grow. I can’t wait – I love eating Kiwi fruit with a
teaspoon like a boiled egg.
KIKA. In December 2000
we had been here almost a year and, deciding to continue our UK tradition, we
had invited about 20 people for breakfast on the Sunday before Christmas. The
day before, having bought the requisite sausages, bacon, and eggs, we were
relaxing on the terrace with a coffee when we noticed movement on the terrace
of the empty apartment next door. A cat and her four KITTENS had taken
possession of a nest created by a coiled hose under a sun-lounger. We pushed
some food and water through the railing while they watched us warily, and
throughout the day they stayed there, the mother cat sizing us up.
In the small hours we
heard noises outside our bedroom window, and the next morning we discovered she
had moved her entire family onto our terrace behind some plant pots. Well, we
thought, if they stay put through a noisy party it looks like we’re stuck with
them. They stayed. The kittens were too wild to approach, but the mother was
obviously tame – she even deigned to accept a roll of smoked salmon with cream
cheese. With glasses of Bucks Fizz in our hands we christened her KIKA. The
feline family adopted one of my planters as a litter-tray and didn’t leave the
terrace for a fortnight – friends would visit just to watch the kittens’
antics.
Then came KINGS’ DAY.
January 6th – Epiphany – is traditionally the day when Spanish
children are given presents, and there is the usual cacophony of fireworks that
gets more intense as the day progresses. The kittens were terrified, scattered
through the railing and disappeared. Kika was frantic. It took her – and us –
all that day and half the night to round them all up again.
A month later we had
re-homed the kittens, but Kika stayed. She welcomes us home by turning
somersaults on the path, small neighbours stop to say hello to her on their way
to school. Every now and then we hear a clang when she misjudges a leap through
the railing and bangs her head, and she’s knocked a tooth out doing it which
has spoiled her looks somewhat. She’s getting on a bit now - she’s given up
even looking at the birds that hop along the railing thumbing their beaks at
her, and she is increasingly fussy about her food.
But – she panics if the
door is shut while she’s inside the apartment, she still has mad moments when
she races from one end of the terrace to the other after a bougainvillea
flower, and she refuses to drink clean water, preferring the toilet water or
the mucky brown stuff in the bottom of the plant pots – there’s still a bit of
wildness left in her.
KILO, KARATE &
KARAOKE are the only K words in my Spanish dictionary, which just goes to show
what they Spanish think of the “KICKING K”.
I love the kiwi fruit too. In my blog I mentioned how the Chinese goosberry had been renamed. Your mother cat looks adorable. ;-)
ReplyDeleteToday's blog is somewhat different but then blogs often are. I guess my daily FB postings are blogs.
ReplyDeleteKiwi fruits became part of my fruit diet nearly 30 years when they were very expensive & only for special occasions. Some American guests of mine described them as "Chinese Gooseberries" - not sure why.
Your Kika cat story reads like a children's fairy story and is somewhat unusual. Never really sure about Cats. Yeats the poet wrote a marvellous poem about cats from which the musical show 'Cats' drew it's inspiration.
I've heard the story of how you found Kika before - but never in so much detail. Lovely writing xx
ReplyDeleteLove kiwi fruit, probably love them more than kittens!
ReplyDeleteawww, bless her heart...what a lovely tale of your baby! There is nothing so precious as a cat/kitten; love them!
ReplyDeletegreat K words...
I'd love another cat but we live in a flat now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story! Gentling a wild cat took some patience.
ReplyDeleteI love how you've got so many Ks together!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Baggy - kiwis more so than kittens :-)
I enjoyed reading your K post.
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Benalmadena Spain, until family problems brought me back to the UK.
Good luck with the challenge.
Yvonne.