Bambino

For eighteen months or so I've had one of those bamboo-thingys that start life in a little dish of foam and water!  It's been repotted into some soil and is thriving.

 A couple of weeks ago I managed to break off a small shoot when removing some dead leaves and, instead of popping it into the compost bin, decided to put it in water to see what happened!
This is what has taken place!

Little roots have appeared and the plant is beginning to grow.  (Incidentally these curtains looked cleaner in reality than they do in the picture ... with apologies to my sister ... I will have them laundered asap!)
Let's not get distracted by the background.

The tiny cutting is showing signs of growth and I must admit to being delighted!  Such small things give pleasure!
Normally the two are kept side by side among all the other objects that vie for space on the windowsill ...

"Vie" ...
I'd not been particularly aware of the word (or used it) before it landed in the sentence above ... yet it must be part of my mental vocabulary.
The dictionary says it means, "to strive for victory or superiority ..." and its origin is Latin 'invitare' from which we get "invite".  Interesting connections ... in Old French the word was "envier" with the sense of "contend".
Meanwhile ... autumn has arrived ... dull and damp with mist hanging low over the hills ... even Eliot has lost his enthusiasm for staying out in the garden any longer than is necessary.

He shakes the worst of the wet from his coat before returning to the comfort of his armchair!
"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ... " indeed!