5:00 am yesterday I left the farm and headed to town for more grain. I only had 3 barrels to pick up of which one went in the bed of the truck and the two went on the trailer. The fog has been pervasive lately and the freezing fog I encountered made the roads slick in town. The highway is generally better since there is more traffic at higher speeds.
I was home in perfect timing for our regular morning routine.
Once R was up and before I took him to school I loaded the 2 barrels from the trailer into the truck, detached the trailer, then backed into the sheep pen. I dumped all 3 barrels next to the prior 4, trying to leave a bit of room in front of it for a bale of hay I need to pickup soon.
Once R was in school I had the house quiet and was able to spend my close to an hour practicing. I am starting to get a better strum and am trying to figure out the up stroke so that I am hitting all the strings evenly. I look forward to the new picks as I think it might help keep the pick in one spot instead of floating around my fingers.
I spent some time rummaging online trying to find any mandolin teachers around Spokane but am not finding much. I would really like to find someone that I can get some in person lessons with to hopefully correct anything I am doing incorrectly now before I get too far into playing and developing a technique. A lot of people do remote lessons but I really want in person if possible.
The afternoon was spent working in the pantry and kitchen trying to get things organized. It is full on like a rubix cube or one of those tile games that is missing one tile and you have to get the picture back by sliding the tiles around. It is still a work in progress for sure.
I got the boys fed and 
R got paired with another boy about his size, which he IS one of the smallest kids in the entire group. The big part of the night's drills was based around the double leg and refining the technique needed to perform it correctly.
J has his friend from his class that he is able to hang with and they pair up nicely as they are about the same size and are friends. A lot of time was spent with the pairs trading off taking turns working the double.
It took a little while for R to start to get comfortable but before too long he was into it and starting to figure out the motions.
By about the hour to hour and ten minute range the younger kids started to lose attention span but the coaches and helping parents reigned them back in pretty well. Listening is a real difficulty for most kids so the practice and showing examples with other kids helps for them to figure it out.
Both boys are having fun so far and are progressing nicely. Now if I could just get them to practice a little at home and refine their techniques the next practice will be a bit easier for them.
Once home the boys soaked for a little bit in the chlorine water to help kill off anything from the mats. The fishing kit ended up in the water and they looked wild in the light of the tub.
We found out J's not going to have class due to too many cases so he will be home the rest of the week. Such horseshit when kids are far less likely to have any issues with this. This paranoia over a flu is really disgusting and so very dangerous to our society. Humans will never and can never have a perfectly disease or germ free environment. Sterile is really not a good thing for most of the world. We have immune systems for a reason, maybe if you didn't poison yourselves constantly you would have a viable and useful immune system.
Today R has school, J is on remote learning, I have mando practice, writing, organizing in the pantry and kitchen, and possibly tonight the high school wrestling matches against Colville where my buddy lives which we MIGHT go to, not sure yet. I have to get the peppers potted up today along with any of the other veggies in the tent as they need the nutrients from the new good soil.
For more information about our farm:
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
