This is hours of work…..

First there was the walk with a stool, as you do, up the road to raid the low hanging branches of a loquat tree (as identified by a child) that hangs over the footpath. This required conversations about baskets, relitive size of baskets – big scale negotiations, which soft toys were allowed to come and we hadn’t even left! At the site there was conversation, eh.. maybe I should call them arguments, about who’d go first, how long the turns were to be. (I was somewhat astounded that two different utes visited the loquat tree’s house while we were loudly negotiating and helping ourselves and no one said a thing)….

Finally home with the baskets of loquats, which are no where near as nice as the neighbor’s ones but we have decimated that tree. There is suddenly total calm with busy and excited chatter as the loquats are turned into a pile of seeds and the flesh is er, not eaten however I don’t quite know what happened to it. Then the true nature of loquat seeds is revealed- ammo! and THE WAR is set up. This takes time – choosing toys, making many catapults, and then starting on armour making… there is NO argument, it’s all totally building on each other’s play “yes lets” “I’ll get more spoons” etc. I guess the build up to war is divisive but when the loquats are down one realizes who one’s friends are.

The teams:

The armor making:

After all the set up not a shot was fired – to beautiful to ruin? Not enough time?… I left the spoons set up for days but they weren’t fired.