When I got in yesterday, Ming was sitting in the kitchen talking to a selection of Jerusalem artichoke tubers which he’d arranged neatly in rows of three on the table - like a little army.
They won’t speak,” he complained.
“Why would they?”
“Syllabubs on Mars are usually quite chatty. Nice little fellows.” He smiled wanly; reminiscingly.
(Syllabubs?)
“On earth,” I said, “syllabubs are a kind of pudding. These are artichokes. Not that puddings talk either,” I added (wondering whether this really was the kind of thing one needs to explain).
He stood up and went to the window.
“I suppose the good thing about these Syllabubs,” he said, “is that they won’t burrow under the fence and grow up on someone else’s allotment. It can work out expensive at times. That’s why you have to talk to them . . . make them want to stay.”
I went and took another look at his immigration papers. The lady in Manchester has given him a birthday; January. Ages yet.
I’ll tell him about the Geraniums tomorrow.
(They're 'Romanesques'.)
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3 comments:
OMG I love your delightful blog! I found it from today's 'picks' at blotanical.
I will definitely be back to catch up on the rest.
I'm a sort-of-still newlywed, having married a martian only he was here first. It's my spaceship in storage, and it's in the basement.
No matter though, we are still both from different planets. Sorting out the cross-cultural differences, especially when the artichokes aren't communicating, can be quite entertaining.
I love your artwork too.
Hello
I was really chuffed to read your message.
I'd be interested to know how you powered your spaceship during your journey here.
Esther
I powered my spaceship on Labrador retriever fur. It's a green fuel, it costs nothing, and it's abundantly available. It does take quite a long while to accumulate enough for the long space journey though.
Fortunately it can be tightly compressed into brick-sized portions so it doesn't take up as much room in the spaceship. Elbow room is very dear in a spaceship, as you probably know.
Now that I travel by automobile, I'm working out a way to convert the engine to run on Labrador retriever fur as well. I always seem to have excess fuel now that the spaceship is parked in the basement.
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