If you go down to the woods today

You'll pass a small herd of alpacas, a few assorted large horned cows and you'll find lots of little fungi.

If only I knew exactly what I was looking at maybe I'd be making wild mushroom pasta right now.

We had a busy weekend full of all the normal things - football, books, a fast grocery shop, walking in the country park, more football and a bowling party for the eldest.  It was a bit rushed to be honest.  I'd like more time to just hang with the little people.  Everyone is a bit tired at the moment.  I've just held the littlest boy as he sobbed himself to sleep - he doesn't want to be in his new room any more.  He needs to be nearer to me in case he doesn't feel very well in the night.  He wants it all put back the way it was.  Oh dear.  Actually I want a few things to go back to the way they were - if only it was that easy.

I did a little garden tidying today while everything was nice and dry.  Underneath some dying peony foliage I found this little caterpillar and a cyclamen that I'd forgotten existed.

I do love these delicate little flowers.  This plant asks for nothing, quietly appears every year as everything else is dying, and blooms in an elegant understated way.  And the leaves, oh the leaves - beautiful.  Heartshaped and painted darkly, a perfect foil for the pale flowers.

I pulled up the borlotti beans in the garden, amongst other things.  Some of the pods were dry and contained the beautiful painted beans.  Some were still fresh, and the beans were a pale green.

I'll be making vegetable soup with a handful of them.  And maybe some houmus.  There aren't loads, so I'll be eeking them out.  The fresh ones are delicious, really worth growing.  I shall save some of the driest ones for planting in the spring.

I also found my new favourite salad ingredient, growing in between two rows of runner beans.

Delicious crunchy radish seed pods.  I planted a row of radishes between the beans ages ago, but they didn't really do very well.  However now there are these wonderful little pods to pick.  I know you can get a particular variety especially for the pods (rats' tail???) but these work just fine.  Other half ate them at lunchtime without even asking what they were!  Handy, if I ever feel the need to feed him anything suspect.

I do hope you have a good week.  I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open, so it's off to bed for me.  Let us hope I am not required to be on call to the little people.  Sweet dreams.