Thursday 12 September 2013

The pea doesn't fall far from the pod

The other evening I went to the allotment with the littlest boy and picked a big pile of peas.  The biggest boy helped me to shell them yesterday, and when he found a perfect ten-pea pod his first thought was to find his camera and take a picture of it.  That's my boy!


He said to me, "It's almost good enough to go in a book about peas".  Well yes baby, I believe it is.

The other day at the country park I spied a peacock feather.  They are so beautiful, and I've never had one before, so I decided to pick it up.  The only problem - it was in the turkey enclosure.  The little people were horrified at my chutzpah and a bit terrified that I would be attacked and gobbled up by marauding turkeys.  I gave them the job of holding the gate shut as I dashed in.  They were so shocked and so vocal in their disagreement with me that it was a while before they actually got it together enough to hold the gate shut.  Luckily the turkeys didn't make a break for it.  I'm thinking come December they might be a bit quicker off the mark.  So I did get my feather from the bossy male peacock.  He loves to get in the various bird enclosures and give them a hard time.  Quite often he's in the big chicken run pecking the hens and generally causing trouble.  I'm wondering if a turkey pulled this out in revenge.



I've put it with the bullrushes we found on recent walks and another couple of nice feathers.  Reminders of happy summer days.  The colour in the peacock feather is quite extraordinary.  Shimmering iridescent greens and blues.


More colour in the garden from my lovely little rose.  It went from bud to bloom between breakfast and tea.



Today everything was covered in droplets.





Inside I'm knitting hard and fast, ready for scarf weather.  I have a long to-do list of decluttering and room arranging.  I am in the process of evicting my other half from the smallest bedroom which he uses as an office so that the littlest boy can have it.  It involves complicated furniture shuffling and I'll need an electrician and possibly BT as well, and maybe even a man to move an incredibly heavy oak desk, so I've been putting it off.  I need to get it done now though, it has waited long enough.

We are in the second week of school and already the biggest boy has had a day off with some mysterious headachey thing.  I have it now.  Sigh.  How the germs do love a nice hot stuffy classroom.


Have a good Friday and a lovely weekend.  I shall be out and about looking for interesting feathers and loose bullrushes.

31 comments:

  1. Lovely post, CJ. That peapod is perfect, what a beautiful photo. I love peacock feathers too. Our local zoo has a flock of free-range peacocks and we love to look for the feathers they have dropped.

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    1. A whole flock of peacocks, how lovely. I bet they're noisy though! Thank you for your kind comments Jennifer.

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  2. That pea pod IS perfect! Your photos are all so lovely. The peacock story is amazing.

    hope you all feel better soon. xo

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    1. Thank you Rebecca, your comments are so much appreciated.

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  3. When I was teaching I always ended up with some sort of bug when going back to school after the August break. You just seem to be bombarded with new bugs for which you haven't built up an immunity. Also my classroom had those silly fan heaters!

    As for turkeys once in France we stayed where the turkeys were free range - whenever we arrived back at our cottage they mobbed the car ( we're not talking just on or two there were maybe 30 or more birds)and I had to get out and shepherd them to safety so my husband could manoeuvre thopugh the cottage gates. They then would sit on the wire fence swinging back and forth. I think they thought we would feed them

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    1. Wow, a mob of 30 turkeys sounds quite scary, you're very brave to get out of the car and herd them!

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  4. Lucky you with the feather! Good luck with the decluttering and room rearranging.
    Terrific pictures. Flighty xx

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    1. Thank you Flighty. I have taken the first steps with the decluttering and room rearranging. Onwards!

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  5. A perfect pea pod and a fantastic photo. I wasn't very successful with my peas this year, certainly no ten pea pods. The peacock feather looks lovely with the bulrushes, pretty reminders of summer in a vase. I've got a mini bulrush in my tiny pond but it hasn't flowered this year.

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    1. Thank you Jo. A mini bulrush sounds wonderful. Hopefully next year!

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  6. Your son has a very good eye for a photo - I've 'pinned' his photo to my Beautiful Veg Pinterest board, the peas look so fresh and tasty! Wonderful flower pics as well, CJ - no point in letting the rain get us down!! I used to holiday on the Isle of Wight every summer with my family; there's a mill and garden there where the peacocks (and geese) roam free so the feathers were everywhere to be picked up! I still have a small bag of baby peacock feathers, so beautiful and iridescent! Good luck with the bedroom moving, it will be an ordeal but wonderful once complete! (I am facing the same ordeal myself - Just trying to find the energy and time to get on with it!)

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    1. Thank you Caro, I'm very flattered. Peacock feathers are beautiful, really quite amazing. You are so right about things being wonderful once they're done. I took the first step today (arranging an electrician), so hopefully I'll be able to maintain the momentum.

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  7. When we were renting on a farm, every 1st December the turkeys would start sleeping on the barn roof and returned every night until January. I kid you not.

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    1. This made me laugh! The dangers of Christmas must have been passed down through the generations in turkey folklore I think.

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  8. Love that peacock feather and your daring to get it:) It is beautiful! Also, it is so cute that he took a picture of the pea pod. You should write a book to include all your beautiful pictures and garden adventures. Hope you have a lovely weekend and feel better:)

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    1. Oh thank you Kari, you say such sweet things. Hope you have a lovely week.

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  9. Reading this I can smell roses after rain, not that we have any, it's the power of suggestion, I simply looked at your lovely rosy pictures :)

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    1. I can't stop photographing them! I am mesmerised by all the petals.

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  10. Hope you feel better soon. My girl is bringing home germs from nursery school now that term is in full swing. Love your daring dash for the feather, you would have regretted not going for it had you walked on by I bet. Lovely photos.x

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    1. You're right, it would have annoyed me all day. The children were a bit horrified by the rule breaking though. Thank you for your comment.

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  11. lovely colour that scarf!

    (I WANT some bullrushes too... sigh sigh)

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    1. Thanks Monica. Hope you find some accessible bulrushes, they're so chunky and nice.

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  12. CJ you did make me laugh!! I would have helped you get that feather!!!
    I have never seen a peacock feather off of the bird before, they are beautiful aren't they!?
    I'm assuming you've gotten the room sorted out for your son then?? I hope you found room for the desk elsewhere!
    Hope you're having a good weekend,
    Tammy
    X

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    1. Thank you Tammy, you're a star. The feathers are beautiful, even the slightly shabby ones. I have started on the whole room thing, but it's involving lots of tricky manoevering and maybe even an axe.

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  13. What gorgeous photos, especially of the rose. And that feather! Fabulous. My mum has a nice display of pheasant feathers in an old bottle in the spare room we sleep in, and I'm often tempted to pinch a couple - I do love pretty feathers. And the pea-pod is amazing. How wonderful that your boys are as enchanted by gardening as you are. x

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    1. Thank you Gillian. We're always on the lookout for feathers. The boys mostly find grimy old things that they insist on stuffing in my bag. Pheasant feathers are beautiful though, I bet they look wonderful in an old bottle.

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  14. The photos of the water droplets are stunning! You have such a beautiful garden. Also, I'm happy to hear you weren't trampled by turkeys!

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    1. Thanks Devon, it was a close run thing!

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  15. My girls favourite job this time of year is shelling peas - they literally ask if they can do it...no matter how long it takes. I may get them started on scrubbing potatoes next :)

    Nina x

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    1. Oh yes, that's a great idea. Mine will shell peas, but they usually end up eating half of them.

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