Wonders on the Doorstep.

This is yesterday’s news, but I was too busy yesterday so I’m posting it today. First, an update on the celebrated strawberry. It gave me a dilemma. I put it on a white painted windowsill to finish ripening, and it sat there for most of yesterday looking beautiful. It was big, it had a deep, even colour, and there was no sign of a blemish. It was the model strawberry. I just wanted to look at it; eating it seemed almost sacrilegious. I reasoned with myself. Life moves on and the strawberry wouldn’t stay like that forever, so I ate it in four bites. At first I thought there was something amiss; it didn’t taste as I expected. But then I realised the truth of the matter. The taste was so much richer and sweeter than you get with shop bought ones. This is generally true of all home-grown produce, of course, and I should have expected it. I hope this is just the start of a summer of strawberries. Strawberry heaven, indeed. 

And now, two notes about the kids from the village primary school. I watched them yesterday when they came out for their run around the playing field, the bottom end of which faces my garden on the other side of the lane. They ran down the side of the field that borders the lane, and then turned right to run along the bottom edge. There is a field on the other side of the fence there, containing a herd of young heifers. The cows had seen them coming, and had moved up to the fence to watch. As the school party turned the corner, one of the little girls waved to the cows. That set them off, and they ran alongside the kids on the other side of the fence. When they got to the far end, the teacher let the kids and cows get to know each other. Young humans and young cows playing together and being friends. It just shows that you don’t need to travel to see the wonders of the world, just keep your eyes open.

And then there was a knock at my door later that afternoon. It was somebody delivering an envelope addressed to ‘Mr Beazley, the rhubarb man.’ Inside was a batch of letters written by kids from the school, thanking me for the rhubarb I gave them recently. I had loads of the stuff, far too much for me to eat, and I hate food going to waste. I offered some to the school and the cook was glad of it. It seems that Angela the cook had made it into rhubarb crumble and the kids had enjoyed it. This is one of the letters:

 Dear Mr Beazley Thank you so much for the lovely rhubarb that you gave us here at Norbury School! Angela (the lovely cook) made it into rhubarb crumble which we had with custard. Everyone wanted seconds! We are really grateful that you gave us the gorgeous, mouth watering rhubarb. It is the best rhubarb I have ever tasted! We would be even more grateful if you would be able to provide us some more! Best wishes Rachel Year 6 There were four others like it from Freya, Ebony, Sam and Ben. Isn’t that amazing? I don’t mind admitting it brought a lump to my throat. Life can be so bloody nice sometimes.