Seriously, the LAST of the pumpkins

This morning the boys were throwing missiles into the air, so I sent them outside during their tenzees break to jump off some energy. The missiles were nothing more than a toy tied to a scarf, but they flew pretty well. The boys took it in turns to stand on the red box at the corner of the lawn, then jump and throw it as high into the air as possible. Thought I’d better sort out the remaining four pumpkins which were ready for use before they went bad, so I spent 45 minutes cutting and peeling them. My hands were sore afterwards! I had asked Nick to cut them up for me, but he misunderstood and thought I was referring to the left-over vines still in the garden out front, which he and the boys diligently tackled during the afternoon. All that remains in that garden now are a few straggling ivy vines which I need to eradicate, two plants of unknown make, and about six mango trees. The mango trees were a surprise to us. While pulling out the pumpkins I noticed some tree-like plants, so pointed them out to Nick as he usually seems to know a lot about tree shoots. We both realized that they looked like the familiar beginnings of mango trees, and remembered having cast some pips there a few months ago. Apparently mango trees are quite difficult to grow from pips – they need to be carefully nurtured in damp, shady soil. Well, the conditions were obviously perfect for them under the pumpkins in our cat-litter Piccolo-damp garden. Back to the pumpkins though – Nick and the boys shaped the debris into a ball and then pushed, pulled and rolled it out of the garden onto the lawn, where they jumped on it and then bagged it. So that’s really the end of the pumpkins. After supper, as it was dry and calm outside, I grabbed the camera and tripod and went outside...