Permission Granted

There is a pomegranate tree in the yard of an apartment complex in the neighborhood that is huge and has a ton of fruit on it every year. I eye it every autumn with jealousy and nostalgia for the pomegranate jelly of my childhood. And lament over the wasted fruit as so much of it dies on the tree every winter. Yesterday, on a walk with the children, I finally saw someone outside of the complex. I asked if she lived there. She responded that she was the owner. At which point, I asked if I could pick fruit from her tree. She said, yes. Between now and harvest time, I need to learn how to make jelly, because while I was present for picking, juicing, and eating, I never actually participated in jelly making with Mom. Oh, and it was a total teaching moment for my son, who witnessed the transaction...Always ask permission, we don't take without asking, even if we don't think anyone is using it or would miss it if it were gone.

May I Suggest Peas

Among the many wonderful reasons to garden, if one of yours happens to be to amuse your children then may I suggest peas. We also have a strawberry plant, which is fun to harvest from. Anything picked fresh from the garden is far superior to store-bought, but there is an extra element to hunting for pods on a vine. They blend in so well with the plant that hunting for and finding peas becomes an experience. I remember it from my own childhood and now seeing the delight in my children's faces when they discover another pea pod to pick makes me feel like life is a bit of a circle game. We are currently watching our first tomato of the year, waiting for it to turn green, and if you are a four-year-old boy, waiting for it to get "too big to fit in the back of a truck." Happy Spring.

Say it with Style

For beautiful hand-crafted cards at a great price, check out: http://cardsbyerika.blogspot.com/. I'm ordering these two. So pretty. I love them.

9 1/2 Years

It's funny how you can still surprise your spouse after 9 1/2 years of marriage. You pull something out that he never knew or saw you do before, something totally ordinary, and you Wow! him.

How did I Wow! my husband? With scrambled eggs. What? I said it was "ordinary".

I made scrambled eggs...fluffy, not dry, not wet, perfect in every way, as if Mary Poppins herself were standing over the skillet in my kitchen. This is a skill I have because I am my mother's daughter.

He was in awe, partly because they were awesome and partly because I never made him scrambled eggs before.

"What?" I said. "Just because I don't like scrambled eggs doesn't mean I don't know how to make them."

He said I should make them all the time. I so love flattery, but I also love fried eggs.