Six months of change

From May last year when we finally completed our big project of building Tree Roots Cottage Nick and I have had a bit more time on our hands. Time and money never go together; Tree Roots was a huge financial drain on the business. That said we are not ones to sit back and wait for the money to build, we know only too well that a successful business means continuing to invest, just becoming clever with the investment.

Perhaps one of the outstanding characteristics of Coombe Mill is the beautiful setting; we are at the foot of a stunning valley with the river Camel running through the grounds, plenty of woodland, meadows and in a designated area of outstanding natural beauty. The beauty of the estate can be a real drawback when looking at planning permission, but a total plus for our holiday makers. With 30 acres there is always a new area to plan and with budgets tighter this year making the most of nature has been our focus.

We worked with twinkl UK, the on line educational specialists, to help redesign and update our education pages with content relevant to our farm environment and the national curriculum. I have combined the learning from here with some great ideas on the creative use of outdoor space, inspired by those linking to my weekly outdoor fun based Country Kids linky, to create new pursuits at Coombe Mill. Over the last six months we have developed a thriving and evolving Fairy Garden, a purpose built Den Building Zone and are now working on a Wildlife Trail.

Add to this Activity hour on the farm, which began in time for the summer season last year, where we invite the children staying to help us create with nature each week and join us for some fun and games and we have a whole section developed around nature and still more ideas to follow.

Sharing what we do

I suddenly realised none of this was showing on the website; only those following me on social media and the blog knew half of what was on offer on a holiday at Coombe Mill. As we are right into the peak booking month of January I knew I needed to rectify this, but was struggling to come up with a heading to accurately reflect all these wonderful new initiatives.

This is where social media comes into its own, I asked on my Coombe Mill facebook page and some great ideas and phrases came through. Thank you to all who pondered and contributed, we had a great discussion going on which left me with a list of favourites, from here I finally settled on Wild Adventures to capture the fun.

As Activity hour is an organised event rather than something for holiday guests to do in their own time I have given it its own heading just as the Train and Little Helpers Club does. Wild Adventures encompasses all the nature based "in your own time" activities. All these headings now fit perfectly under the new Kids Fun Category. 

The category began to look over populated and so many of the facilities that are for adults as much as children have been moved into a new category titled Farm Facilities such as Fishing and Sport and Fitness.  

My hope is that anyone looking at our website will see at a glance that a stay at Coombe Mill includes so much more than just a self catering cottage or lodge holiday in Cornwall. If you have a chance to to browse our site I'd love your feedback in the comments here. 

Winter Beach Fun

There is nothing I love more than to see the sea in winter time. For us summer is so easy, the kids have the discipline of surf club each week so I know I'm going to get some sea air, but in winter short days, cold weather and school commitments can make it so much harder. This year I vowed I would make more of an effort to enjoy some of the nicer winter days down at the beach and I'm delighted to say I'm managing it so far.

We were blessed with some lovely sunny and mild days over the New Year break which made my children believe it is summer and strip off to play in the rock pools!

A football at low tide is the perfect way to keep warm after a chilly play in the water. The children do love it when the grownups join in too and frankly it helped to keep the grandmothers warm!

We had such a lovely couple of hours we returned when the children's cousins came to stay. This time the tide was in so we took the spades down along the coast path to the softer sand and built a huge castle. With no prospect of the tide reaching it the kids used it as a jumping challenge. It's fair to say my lanky 16 year old had a huge advantage of leg length and strength over the triplets and their younger cousins, but that didn't deter any of them from trying to clear the huge castle.

It was wonderful to see them piling on the castle one after another, crashing, falling and laughing with sand flying everywhere until the castle was conquered. It reminds me how it really is the simple things in life that makes childhood memories to cherish.

After ice creams and pasties we stopped to watch the sun sink low and head back along the coast path to the cars. I love this time of day on the beach in winter, the sunsets are magnificent and travelling home with sand in my hair I feel like it is summer.

Keen to hang on to the summer feeling and the merry mood of the kids we phoned ahead to Farmer Nick to light up the BBQ hut and defrost some Coombe Mill sausages. It was the perfect end to a winter beach day as everyone piled in to warm up around the coals as the darkness set in. 

These are some of my favourite winter days in Cornwall, making the most of our beautiful beaches and enjoying an alfresco winter meal. We are open again from half term on 14th February if you fancy some good old fashioned family fun on a winter holiday.  

Joining in with Country Kids

Country Kids is all about enjoying quality family time outdoors, for breathing in some fresh air and letting kids run free away from sofas, screens and central heating. It really is refreshing for mind and body and not just for the kids. If you have found a break in the weather and managed an outdoor adventure however big or small then please do join me here on the linky. Grab the badge and check out the others who link, there are always some wonderful ideas to make you want to grab your coat and wellies.

Country Kids is around in these communities, I'd love you to join me:

Pin on the Pinterest Board Just ask for an invite to pin and include Country Kids on your pins for me to stop by on your boards too (no need for a hash tag in Pinterest)

Follow Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays's board Country Kids  from Coombe Mill on Pinterest.

Join the Google Plus community page  for Country Kids and add #CountryKids to your tag elsewhere for a +1 from me

Share your posts on  Instagram and Twitter with #CountryKids for a like or a re-tweet

A few of my favourites from last week:

I love these hobby horses from a fun day out at Hadrian's Wall with North East Family Fun

Long Grass makes a perfect playing field for Jack's Paper Moon

It is the RSPB birdwatch weekend this weekend, twitching can be fun in many locations as Diary of the Evans Crittens and The Princess and the Pickle discovered.

Gemma The Family Girl matched my post last week with a trip to Plymouth Hoe showing just how much the city has to offer. 

Extraordinary Chaos found that a football match can make a great family day out, having just been myself I couldn't agree more.  

<a href="http://www.coombemill.com/blog/category/Country-Kids.aspx" target="_blank" title="Country Kids from Coombe Mill Farm Holidays Cornwall"><img src="http://www.coombemill.com/images/blog/country_Kids/thumbs/th_Country_Kids_badge_transparent.png" border="0" alt="Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall" title="Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall" /></a>

How many times were you told to "finish your greens" as a child? For me it was most meals. I try not to be as dictatorial over food as my parents were with me, taking the more modern approach of encouraging my children to try a little of everything at each meal but not stressing over the things they really dislike, usually anything green. As my children have grown up they have come to tolerate and then enjoy more and more of the traditionally hated-by-kids' foods. However they are not perfect and some will eat more than others. Cooking a roast in my house rarely involves any leftovers although I can guarantee what there is will be the green veggies I over optimistically produced.

Waste is something I dislike, usually the left over greens go in into tomorrow's shepherd's pie or chilli in minced size pieces, and the outer leaves in the preparation stages we save to feed the farm pigs. However I had an inkling of an idea I wanted to try and wondered if I could be more creative and hide our leftover greens in a cake, after all carrot cake is always a success and I've used pulses before now. I figured a chocolate cake would be the best to hide both the colour and the flavour of the unwelcome 200g broccoli, leek, pea and green bean combination. I tossed the idea onto Facebook and then felt inspired to take the challenge promising to blog the results, only if it worked!

 There is not much left after the first day so I call that a success. 

I actually videoed myself making the cake, it is really quick, in fact just three minutes from the start of the video to popping the cakes in the oven. I'd love you to take a look, this is my first go at video cooking, or vlogging of any sort come to that and I think I might try it again, it is easier than stopping to take a photo at every step of the way and a great way to make me tidy my kitchen before I begin!

Vlogging Chocolate Cake with hidden greens!

How do you get on with greens and kids? Do you end up disguising them to get a variety going or just stick to the one or two you know they tolerate. Do you make them try them or just accept it is an acquired taste that comes with age?