Back in the summer, Leo was in our garden eating an apple while supervising Paul mowing the lawn. When he was down to the core he asked Paul if he could plant one of the pips so he could grow a tree, like he had grown a sunflower from seed.
We explained that growing a tree is a little bit different and would take a lot longer than a sunflower did. (Also, if I'm honest, I wasn't sure how well a fresh pip would take) Well, you know how enthusiastic a five year old can be and he assured us that if we planted it well in a pot of soil, left it in the sunshine and remembered to water it, it would grow. So in the interests of encouraging his interest in nature we followed his instructions. Sis months later, guess what ...
I love the fact that our grandchildren enjoy being out in the garden, searching for creepy crawlies and taking an interest in nature. Our grandson Max even goes to Forest School one day a week. It's a group of pre-school children who have nature lessons in the forest, they even build a little bonfire to toast fruit loaf over and of course marshmallows - standing well back and carefully supervised!
So the major topic of conversation this weekend has been the weather - we have certainly had more than our fair share of rain and the wind speeds have been awful. Let's hope that this band of stormy weather has passed by now. We had Leo and Rosie stay overnight on Saturday as Rachel was taking James up to London for the weekend for his 40th birthday celebrations. The problem was that when they woke on Saturday they found that there were no trains at all on our line into London. Debris on track, overhead wires damaged, dangerous weather conditions etc etc. Fortunately we are only about half an hour drive to our nearest underground station so they got a taxi there but they could have done without the sudden change of plans.
As you can imagine our weekend was dominated by looking after two very excited children - they do love a sleepover! When R&J came to pick them up to take them home Leo said 'thank you for letting us come Nanny, next time can we stay for three nights?' I don't think I have the energy!
6 comments:
How marvellous to be growing an apple tree - I hope Leo is appreciative of your nurturing skills!
Also, Leo does seem to be an extremely polite young man - I'd have him for three nights, if I were you! :)
I think there is a saying about planting a tree, not for yourself, but for your grandchildren. So interesting how well that little apple seed is doing. Not only nature but children benefit from your nurturing skills.
Aw, sweet Leo! He knows the way to melt his grandma's heart!!
That's brilliant Deb! If you're able to plant it outside, Leo will have endless fun and wonder watching it grow and the arrival of blossom. I like to look at all the apple trees along Britain's motorways - they're there because of people throwing apple cores out of the window!
How nice to be fostering a love of the outdoors in the little ones. I fear too many lose that nature focus too early. Oh a 3 day sleepover might require a 3 day total rest period after!!
What a great idea! I wish I had thougth of that when my grands were little. I did teach them a love of flowers, so at least that's something!
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