Phil's R&R

Phil, I think, was physically exhausted yesterday, so when the weather dipped into the low 20s, we had an indoor day. He wrestled with the boys, and hiked with the older two down to the lower pasture. He was encouraged with how much he had cleared in the fall.

And he again spent most of this afternoon, dozing on and off, while I read to the boys for about three hours straight. I love it when that happens.

For myself, besides enjoying the boys' introduction to King Arthur and middle grade fiction (so fun to listen to the guess the plot!), I spent some time trying to figure out where we we will actually plant the planned crops. Eliot Coleman again proves invaluable, and the four hours or so I spent on Saturday night were, again, productive.

I had been feeling very behind in planning, and I realized suddenly this week that, overall, we're doing well. We had all last year to acquire many of the items we need, and many of the animals we'll need. I also have hopes that the weather this year will not be so unusual as last year, offering us a better chance to make a market garden work.

In completely non-farm news, I began the fascinating book What Mothers Do. The author says, correctly, I think, that we have a lot of words for the bad mother, like neglectful (not mothering enough) or overbearing (mothering too much), but we don't have words for the nurturing-just-the-right-amount mother. Our language fails us when it comes to describe the excellent mother.

Further, I know when the boys were little, I would get to the end of the day often and wonder, "Where did all my time go?" It probably often went towards settling petty disagreements (socialization), making meals and cleaning up (nutrition for health), reading or playing (education), taking a walk (nature study, exercise). This is all important to raising good men, but it seems so petty or easy to overlook.