Eve White
Meet Tibby, a feral cat who lived through the second World War with a family in Cockney London. Her adventures and observations are told in this book by Tibby herself. Experience her thoughts and fears as she settles into the turmoil and chaos of the times with a family she loves dearly, and who absolutely adore her.
Be there with Tibby as she is scooped up, put into a pocket, and taken for a ride on a tram “where I didn’t want to go”. Enjoy her change of mind when she is taken out of the pocket and is given to Dinkle Smiff. It was love at first sight. Dink’s and Tibby’s adventures, together and apart, before and during the war are truly heartwarming.
Eve Smith White grew up in London during World War II. Her stories are based on true life events from her childhood. As the British like to give nicknames to each other, Eve’s father nicknamed her Dinkle (shortened to Dink). Smith, Eve’s family name, was pronounced “Smiff’, which is a true Cockney pronunciation. Moggie is a British name for cat; hence the name “Dinkle Smiff’s Moggies.” This is the first in a series of eight books chronicling the adventures of all the stray cats that have come into the Smiff household since Tibby, and Tibby has pronounced herself matriarch of all the subsequent orphans who have turned up on the doorstep, or within “close” proximity.
Eve now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, Ken, and several moggies. Their two sons live close by. Kent and his wife, Jenny, have three moggies. Steve and his daughter, Jessica, have two moggies and two rescued Labrador retrievers.
Eve’s upcoming book will be about Scruffy and Snowy, “A Tale of Two Kitties”.
DINKLE SMIFF’s MOGGIES
Tibby
My name is Tibby. I am Dinkle Smiff’s first “moggie”, otherwise known as a cat. Dinkle was born in London, England, before the second world war, and so was I. Dinkle was a very sweet, kind little girl with blonde hair and spectacles, and I first saw her when I was a tiny kitten. Her father found me one day on his way home from work.
The first thing I remember was a bitterly cold day, and I was sitting all by myself under the bushes by the side of the road. I was cold and wet and hungry. I didn’t know where the rest of my family was, and I was lost! Suddenly, a hand came down and scooped me up and put me into a deep pocket. I was not very happy about being put into a pocket, and I wriggled around and tried my hardest to escape. I was very angry at whoever had picked me up; I was not used to human beings. As a matter of fact, this was the first human being I had ever been near. I realized later that it was Mr. Smiff who had picked me up.
I heard the strangest noises while I was in that pocket – apparently I was on a tram because I could feel the motion and could hear the clickety-clack of the wheels, and there were people everywhere; I was not used to people. I started to shudder because I was VERY scared, and
every now and then when I could not stop shaking with fright, this gentle hand would stroke my head and scratch me under my chin very tenderly. Mr. Smiff would speak to me in a very soft voice, telling me not to be scared, and that I would like it where I was going.
When the tram stopped, Mr. Smiff got off, and I went with him, still in his pocket. He walked slowly down the road, talking to me all the time. We went a LONG way and then we stopped and I heard a key go into a lock. Mr. Smiff opened the door, closed it, and then walked up the 14 steps that would take us into the kitchen. I heard him say “Where’s Dinkle? Tell her I’ve got something for her.” At that moment the gentle hand reached in and took me out very carefully. Oh, goodness gracious me – the lights were so bright – I blinked a few times, and then, there she was – Dinkle Smiff. She stood in front of me wearing a red blouse , a gray pleated skirt, gray woolen socks which came up to her knees, and a pair of indoor house slippers with bows on them. She looked at me and I looked at her, and it was love at first sight! “Oh, Dad, where did you find her? She is a lovely color, and she is SO TINY!” Mr. Smiff told Dinkle he had found me waiting to be picked up and given a home. He said he thought I was a feral cat, which is a wild cat, and that I might not fit in with the family and might have to be let outside to take care of myself when I got bigger.
