Sweet talent and companion planting

A sweet friend of mine recently told me that our closest friendships should really be a version of the garden wisdom of companion planting: By combining plants carefully, they can help each other in terms of providing nutrients in the soil, offering protection from wind or sun and also, by attracting beneficial pests or acting as a decoy for harmful ones.

This really appealed to me. You sit alongside each other, you are not the same, but your difference encourages growth in each other, stimulates productivity and pollination and you can protect each other from the pests that get you down.

I often feel the pressure to try and be good at lots of things, but decidedly I am not. Whilst I love listening to music, I am in no way musical. Sport is not and never will be my strength and whilst I enjoy cooking and baking, I do not relax doing it.

I was beginning to feel guilty that I couldn’t find the time to make Little B’s birthday cake. I have yet to wow him with my culinary skills in this area. I felt quite bad about this. Then out of the blue my ‘companion planted’ friend offered to make him a cake decorated with his first love, penguins. What joy!

He was thrilled and so happy with the result, utterly delighted. I avoided a little bit of stress and was able to truthfully glory in the talent and skill of my friend. As so many spectators at the Olympics can testify, being able to cheer someone on from the sidelines is as satisfying as doing it yourself. Aren’t these penguins sweet? Very very clever.

If you are inspired to make a cake yourself do also visit my friend Sandra’s blog – she is a genius with Lego inspired cakes, check out her tutorial here