Two mothers served their family's peas for dinner. Mother 'A' woke on Sunday morning. She staggered dopily to the fridge to get the milk for breakfast. "Ohhh, the peas!", she groaned as she spied the bowl of peas. They had been picked a couple of days previously and if she didn't pod them today they would have to be thrown to the chooks. What a waste!
After breakfast (and copious cups of coffee) she sat on the verandah, in the early morning sunshine, to shell the peas. Not two minutes passed before she was joined by her five and six year olds who began to shell peas with her.
Mother 'A' accidently popped a pea out of the pod which hit her in the face. Oh the laughter!!! Then the children found tiny peas and decided they were babies. Suddenly the peas became a game. They were mothers, fathers, aunts, sisters etc.
Then Mother 'A' noticed that the children were
eating the peas instead of putting them in the bowl. She had to set a rule. "Have as many as you want, but for every pea you eat, you have to put one into the bowl."
The three of them sat in the sunshine for half an hour or longer to shell all of the peas. Every now and then one of the children would reminisce, "Remember when the pea hit you in the face?" The giggles would start again.
At dinner time, there weren't enough peas left for the family meal so Mother 'A' had to hunt around in the garden for enough chard to supplement the peas. Fortunately there was plenty of chard to be found.
Mother 'B' walked into the supermarket and paid for some frozen peas. She went home and cooked them and there were plenty for everyone.
Which mother had more fun providing peas?!
Mother 'A' knows her way of living doesn't always work easily and she knows it's not a quicker option but she feels her life is richer.
Now for the broad beans! Aaargh!
How closely are you connected to
your food?
6 comments:
My sons still share memories of shelling peas with Mum, even though they were bought from the greengrocers and not from our garden as they are now. My sons are in their early 30's! Lovely story from your life Linda and I know that your children will cherish these days with you and also remember shelling peas with Mum.
What a lovely story. My most vivid memory of my grandmother was of her with 2 bowls in her lap shelling peas from her garden.Your children will grow up and remember these times with you also. Beautiful!
Love it!!! Thanks for this...... reminds me that I still have 5kgs of peas in the freezer from earlier this year which my children helped with too!! I must use them up so we can start all over again!
And that is the epitome of this simple life!
Hi Linn and Kate, Isn't it funny how pea shelling seems to form such happy memories? We had so much fun.
Evi, I remember when you had your bumper crop. I think you grew a lot more than we did. Can't believe you still have some in the freezer!
Busy Mum, Yes, says it all really and reminds me to focus in the right places.
Great story! It's so true that it's not always easier to eat simpler and grow your own, but there is always a story behind the meals. Oh and your children had a healthy snack along the way too.
Post a Comment