pea blossom

There were once five peas in one shell, they were green, the shell was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green also, which was a very natural conclusion....

thus begins the story of the Pea Blossom by Hans Christian Anderson....
When my son was in primary school, he enjoyed hearing this story before bedtime....and I enjoyed reading it to him.  Now, when I plant my peas, I remember the story...and how I would give him a handful of peas to "shoot out into the world" each spring.

Planting peas is a special moment for me, and I get very sentimental about this chore.  I have a special fondness for peas...not for eating them, as much as for planting them.

Peas were the first thing I ever grew.  My father prepared a "postage  stamp" sized garden for me when I was about 9 or 10 years old. He gave me a pack of pea seed, and told me to plant them and take care of them.  He reminded me that a good time of year to plant peas was on my Grandfathers birthday...that way I would always remember when to plant them.  He told me it was MY garden, and that if the peas were to grow, I would have to take care of them.  I have been fond of growing peas ever since.  I worked hard on that garden..weeding and watering.  I would look out my bedroom window at them at night, and early in the morning..just checking....

these grape hyacinth look like blue peas to me....

So, I planted my peas today....
I like a Dutch variety called Norli.  I brought a small packet years ago, from Shepherds Seeds (now white flower farm). I save my pea seeds from year to year because I love the purple blossom on the Norli...and the flavor is good too.
It is a snow pea, good in stir fry.

Yesterday afternoon on the way to my spinning group, I took a pocket full of my pea seeds...and shot some out into the world...maybe one will fall and grow where it can encourage someone to feel just a little bit better...or maybe one will wind up in the crop of a pigeon, it's not for me to know.

And just to update a project note...I finished spinning what I had carded up of the Angora/Finn blend.  I wound up using my noste to wind a center pull ball and ply up the lone remaining bobbin that was leftover, and it worked quite well.  I had seen this method discussed on a spin group a few weeks ago, and found it to be a good tip.  I still have more of this to card before I can spin it, so in the meantime, I started working on the roving I purchased from Grace Hatton...you can see it here.