Greenhouse, Part II

Phil made some sawhorses this morning. He said, "I don't know how we've gotten along so long without them."

He plans to buy some more of the specially designed sawhorse anglers, so he can have spare sawhorses, besides the ones used in the greenhouse.

In the afternoon, the boys and I went out to be in the greenhouse. I put down the weed barrier, and Abraham and Isaiah each helped me put in a ground staple (Isaiah was a good bit more stable with the hammer, but thankfully my fingers stayed intact even with some wild blows from Abraham). It felt like a great moment of country living when our roll of weed barrier ran out with just one more 8' section to go. So close!

BUT—I had only to open the other bag of weed barrier, and I could finish the job. We'd planned ahead! We're getting on top of this whole "out in the boonies" life.

Phil worked to set up the growing station: on top of the new sawhorses, he screwed on sheets of plywood. Then came the almost paper thin grow mats, topped with plastic sheeting, topped with aluminum window screen for a grounding rod, more plastic sheeting, and, soon, sprouting seeds. We hope.

Then Phil cut up little strips of board and battened down the plastic. The chickens had been able to access the greenhouse, and while I'm all for free range eggs, I don't particularly like chicken manure on my weed barrier. It's stinky. So I'm happy to get the greenhouse sealed off from them. We need to adjust the door a bit (probably actually cut the rectangular front off and trim it to a half circle, then batten it down), and I think the aluminum screen needs to be trimmed, but we're just about ready to plant.

The three younger boys absolutely LOVED their new play area. I'm sure just being outside in a semi-warm environment was a great relief. Isaiah and Jadon were bit with the artistic bug today, so Isaiah took out his art supplies and drew a well-shaded form.

Abraham, generally a staid little fellow, went uncharacteristically hyper. He sang. He threw bits of boxes (he had just throw one at the camera, below: I was surprised I didn't have a photo of only brown box).

He danced.

He threw himself into bitty boxes. He was so active, I had a hard time getting a focused photo of him.

And Joe, through it all, watched his brother and imitated, as best he could. Right now he sings songs that sound like, "Ar-ar-ar-ar. AMEN!" So he sang that.

Joyful times in the greenhouse today.

Jadon, though: he's growing up. Phil looked at him today and said, "He has the look. It's time for him to start working, to start doing more school." Which was very interesting, because last week, for no discernible reason, I thought the same thing. Jadon's growing up. It's time for him to do more than play.

I am so thankful to always be on the same page with Phil. It's a blessing I don't hold lightly.