Monday, 15 April 2013

Al Fresco

I am just washing up in the kitchen and peering through the window when I freeze.  I have spotted something extremely unusual in our garden. 
Perran and Carenza have taken their revision outside.  The last person I saw in our garden had a carrot for a nose and pieces of coal for buttons.

I marvel at the twins’ concentration – there are plenty of distractions.  After the long icy start to the year, spring is arriving all at once, like one of those speeded up time-lapse sequences in a David Attenborough film.   Daffodils and tulips are blooming simultaneously and there’s a froth of blossom on the Mirabelle tree. 

And it’s noisy – the birds are making up for lost time, squabbling with rivals and trilling to attract a mate.  How on earth can Perran and Carenza focus through this cacophony?  Bumble bees are zooming ponderously about and frogs are croaking happily in the pond.  In the background there is a symphony of distant lawn-mowers and hedge trimmers.  But the twins’ heads remain bent over their papers.

I decide to take them out a cup of tea to reward their diligence. As I approach, Carenza asks Perran,

“What do you think of this big funeral for Maggie T then?”

“Ridiculous,” he replies.

Hmmm. They are reading the Sunday papers, not revising at all. 

But they’re right about Margaret Thatcher.  I give them their tea and go to fetch biscuits for them.

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