Six sets of hands here to help us these days; the two of us make eight. Two more interns arrive before the start of May. And we may be taking on a young cook once school is out. It's officially the new season in these parts.

This morning, it's tea and pajamas and a rug covered in stacks of photocopies. A (very) Rustic Guide to Farming, V.1. A workbook of sorts for the kids, times six, one page at a time. I think they're about 50 pages each.

Yesterday we visited an elderly neighbour who had a deep freeze for us in his basement. His kitchen and livingroom were lined at the ceiling with all of the blue and red ribbons he had won in the past from farming. A small garage had been converted into a chicken coop, and he had built a couple of small stalls in his walkout basement for chicks he was raising. It was perfect.