Wonder Woman and the Giant Peach

"Help, can't breathe."

Misty mornings, dewy spiders' webs and crane flies.  It's that time of year.  I've been going at things far too slowly I think.  I'm ready for the new term at last.  I feel that bit of determination and the need to be organised circling in my brain.  I could make New Year's resolutions today, and I've finally come up with a word to live the year by - "Productive".  That's what I need to be, productive.  I want to be Wonder Woman.  I was talking to a busy friend who was still working at midnight the other day.  I need to put more effort in I think.

I had all these thoughts this morning.  After lunch I found myself in the garden, weeding and tidying.  I often end up gardening that way.  One minute I'm walking along on my way to the bin at the end of the garden, the next thing I have a trowel in my hand and I'm rooting out weeds.  I got rid of the tomatoes in pots on the patio as well.  They weren't a success.  Tomatoes in my garden like to be in the soil for some reason.  I picked a load the other day and made sauce for the freezer.  Winter spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, love it.  The remaining tomatoes are ripening very slowly.  In the cold dripping early mornings they look quite sorry for themselves.  A tomato should be basking in the sun shouldn't it.  There might be a few more to be had though.

There's a giant peach in my oven.  The children's school love to torture parents with regular dressing up days.  This week it's Roald Dahl Day.  Apparently James of Giant Peach fame just wears regular clothes, so if you have a giant papier mache peach you can wear what you want.  The littlest boy and I tackled the project after school.  We sellotaped a balloon down to make it rounder, more peach less balloon shaped, then stuck on strips of newspaper with 50:50 flour and water paste.  I was sat there with it dripping from my hands, trying to grip a slippery balloon and smooth out the paper nicely, and the littlest boy said, "Gosh, it looks just like a giant peach!".  Not a hint of sarcasm.  I do so love his happy take on life.

The first couple of layers are drying out now.  I've popped it in the oven, and every so often I turn it on for a couple of minutes to keep it lightly warm.  If I forget to turn it off, which is extremely likely, the balloon will go bang and I'll just have an oven full of soggy newspaper sticking to the walls.  If all goes well and I end up with a peach I understand it needs to be decorated with insects.  Anyone know anything about that?  I haven't read the book, but I've seen something about bugs and seagulls.  There are some scarily professional ones on Google Images.  I'm not sure I'll rise to seagulls.  When we've perfected the giant peach, we will be moving on to giant ears for the BFG.  Wish me luck.