Friday, March 14, 2014

Of beans and boys

It's autumn, and the days are getting cooler in the mornings.  The light is changing... it seems richer.  More concentrated, somehow.  The leaves seem to collect the light and glow as if lit from within.
The sky is clear and a deep blue, most days.  We have had a couple of frosts, which my courgette plants have not appreciated, but the tomatoes are still soaking up the sun, and I am anticipating cooking up several more pots of tomato goodness, to be used in the cold days to come.

We have some pumpkins nearly ready to harvest, and the apples are a week or so away from picking.  Our runner beans are having a last flourish, and I should have picked some today before they grow too big overnight, but I ran out of time.  Hopefully they'll make it into the fridge tomorrow, instead of having to go in the compost bin.

Despite the effects of the frost, the courgettes are still producing, and I made a big batch of chocolate chip courgette cookies with my 4yr old today - they are delicious!  Also, rather surprisingly, I think the sweetcorn will ripen before it gets too cold.  It took so long to grow, that we weren't expecting to harvest anything from it, other than mini-cobs.

I should plant leeks, and beetroot, and more carrots... but I probably won't.  Life is too busy at the moment, so I think we'll put a layer of compost over the beds that we aren't using, and plant them with mustard seeds - they grow thick and fast, stopping weeds from growing.

I'm enjoying the last of the warm weather, and the last of my time with my boy, before he goes off to school next year.  'Mummy, can we have special Jamie time now? he asks, several times each day.  Sometimes I say yes, and then we play with playdough, or build a train-track, or do jigsaw puzzles, or play with the toy cars and trucks he's lined up on the floor.  'Mummy, you have to choose which characters you're going to have!', he reprimands me when I start playing with the first vehicle to hand, without putting any thought into my decision.

I watch him - his big blue eyes so intent on what he's doing one minute, then crinkling up in a grin while he yells at the top of his lungs for no particular reason...  He is so precious to me - my last boy, wild, energetic, snuggly, determined and strong.  The other day we were chatting in the bathroom (as you do...) and he asked me 'Mummy, what would happen if I pushed this button?' pointing to a button on the toilet.  'I don't know, what do you think would happen?'  'Well...' he says, 'I think the toilet would keep filling up, higher and higher, and then fireworks would come out of the sky, and explode!'  I said 'You should try it, next time, and see if it happens!'
That's my boy - the world is so full of possibilities to him.  A magical place, where if you push the right button, fireworks could come out of the sky!  I love that about him.

I love the way he hides under the sheets on my bed, and yells 'Mummy, say 'Where's Jamie?' I am then expected to wander round the bedroom for 10 minutes or so, discussing aloud all the places where he might be, trying to find him but never succeeding, while he giggles under the covers.  The only problem is that I can never resist 'finding' him when I've had enough, and he has never yet been ready to be found.  'How do you always know where I am?' he asks me in puzzlement.  'How do you know it's me?'  And I always tell him, that it's because he is my treasure, and I know him by heart.  He loves that he's my treasure - he always has a happy little smile when I say it.

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