Apples and Pears

Written for https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/category/what-do-you-see/

Sheila tugged at the apples hanging off her tree like a rainbow. Her pear branches shed the last of its beauty, and the basket was heavy in her hands. Cooking apples-the only way to them was in an apple pie, crumble, or make her own cider.

Making the pastry, she prepared a thin layer, toasted the bottom in the oven, before pouring apples into the base. A blanket covering, she smiled. Baking with her mum, in the small kitchen, she remembered adding salt to the rosy reds instead of sugar. She took several bites before urging her to put the lot in the bin.

Her dad, born in London, would always say, ‘going up the apple and pears’. Confused, she asked him one day, and he said it was cockney rhyming slang for stairs, not that he was buying them.

Tomorrow, she was babysitting.

It was the perfect time to show her granddaughter how to make a pie. She enjoyed creating cupcakes; even when most of the liquid spilt on the tray.

At least the earth’s harvest couldn’t go to waste.

It was more difficult with the pears; she disliked them.

Perhaps it would be good to donate to the nearest shelter, or visit Facebook, sharing the kindness, to see if someone wanted to take them. In a few weeks, winter would set in. The littering on the floor could be ideal for animals with nothing to eat.

She might not be the best cook, but the proceeds of her garden were Mother Nature’s early presents.