Just a couple of photos from the week just gone. The boys and I planted out ten baby Christmas trees in our field. The idea is that we’ll plant a few more each year, and then in about five years’ time we can cut these down and sell them….a mini business for the boys. We put little plastic cages around each of them, to protect them from the rabbits. Apparently, deer don’t like Christmas trees, but not sure I’d trust our local deer, so when they get bigger, I think we’ll put some netting over them. Anyway, by the time we were finishing up it was getting dark and starting to rain. The following day a storm swept across the country, so when I went to check on them the day after, some of the cages had blown off. But, the trees were still standing. Something poignant about these little trees standing bolt upright while larger ones had collapsed. So, boys and I did a better job of securing their protection cages, and hopefully they will survive.
One of our brave little trees. I also pruned our fruit bushes in the fruit cage. The door has broken at the moment, so it’s a good thing there is no fruit there. It’s a DIY project for the boys. It looks much tidier, and while it’s quite satisfying chopping back raspberry canes, it seems counterintuitive to cut back our lovely currant and gooseberry bushes. I’m certainly a very amateur gardener, but I think the idea is that the middle stems need space to grow. That made me think of how our family works…we are so fortunate to live in a time with many opportunities to follow up different interests, learn new skills, be involved in various projects or clubs. The list is endless. But, I’ve found that if we get too busy doing all these other (good ) things, our actual family unit doesn’t function as well; we tend to rush too much, are more irritable with each other and probably enjoy time less. So, every so often we do a re think of the things we do, and sometimes we drop something. It can feel painful at the time, but I think it allows us to breathe and grow more freely.
Sparkly Eyes enjoyed making these when a friend came for tea. Quite a bit of the mixture got on the baking tray, before getting in her mouth, and once cooked they tasted delicious!
Mothering through the seasons 