Beans are a great confidence booster for a novice gardener. They sprout and grow quickly, providing instant gratification. The scarlet runner beans I planted are also known for their profuse and lovely red and white flowers. They covered the trellis outside the window for the better part of the summer. I've been harvesting the dry pods for a while now, and have them in a little bowl in the kitchen. The beans themselves are also beautiful, either cream- or mocha-colored and speckled with dark brown.
All in all, they seem like magic to me. And now I can see why it was a beanstalk that grew up to the sky in the fairy tale. These guys screamed up the 8' trellis and sent long shoots off the top looking for purchase on something else.
As for being full of beans, that would be Penny the cat. Our ranch-style house has one long hallway that runs from the living room on one end, clear to the other end 0f the house, then takes a turn to the last bedroom. The door to my office and the linen closet share that corner. Since we moved in, Penny has greatly enjoyed launching herself from the living room and down the hall at top speed, claws scrabbling on the wood floor, until she collides with the linen closet with a thud. At this point, she usually regains her balance, shakes herself, then oh-so-casually saunters into my office.
Well, the other day she made a discovery: if she gets enough momentum up, when she hits the linen closet door she releases the earthquake-proof latch and it swings open. Then, she can climb in and snuggle with the folded quilts in there to her heart's delight.
