Percy’s beanie is from Nature Baby and his cardigan (which has been in the family for five years!) is from babaa

I took Percy to the lemon tree yesterday. It grows in a garden on the street we used to live in; a garden akin to something out of a fairytale.

I used to take Che and Poet to this very place a few times every week and after we had explored and meandered and picked what bounty there was, we’d head inside to our landlord’s house for tea and biscuits and chats. While I don’t miss the house we lived in I still pine for neighbours like these; a sweet old couple who have become the third set of grandparents to our kids.

At around this time every year I pop in for a visit and pick lemons off the tree (Percy’s cardigan has visited the lemon tree more times than he has …. I love a long-lasting winter knit!). It’s always cold at lemon-picking time and afterwards we venture home and make plans for citrus-infused foods.

I think I’ll wait a week or so to use these until they’re a little riper. But then? Maybe lemon icing on banana cake, lemon syrup cake (any excuse for cake!), lemon curd (oh yum!) and perhaps I’ll slice and freeze a few to add to ginger tea when throats get a little scratchy as they tend to do in the winter months.

At the moment, spending mornings doing simple things like picking lemons, playing at the park and visiting our local cafe is just right for Percy and I. I’m well aware that this is a small window in time for us and so I’m cherishing every minute of it…him and I and his funny little ways. Within a few weeks it will all change and we’ll venture into a new phase of adjusting and learning and embracing (or resisting!) the new baby.