Family farm holidays in Cornwall magical for children, toddlers and babies.
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Coombe Mill Blog
"Tales from the farmers wife" shares the funny and interesting happenings on our lovely holiday farm with Farmer Nick and our 6 children. A behind the scenes look on balancing family, farming, the holiday business and cooking for all.
Hey Duggee the Stick Badge and other stories on DVD
Win Hey Duggee DVD : the Stick Badge with Coombe Mill. A charming Cbeebies series with Duggee the Dog who runs an after school club called t... Read More
Spring chicks chirp their arrival
Spring chicks chirp into life at Coombe Mill. 3 adorable little chicks as a welcome sign of spring... Read More
Country Kids 21st April 2018
Country Kids is a blog link up for all family outdoor fun running Saturday - Wednesday. Come and join the fun and gain inspiration for enjoy... Read More
Sticker world books cover the zoo, theme park and museum. Let kids get creative designing their own advert, map or entrance to their chosen ... Read More
Last weekend we were away for Greek Easter leaving our oldest children running the farm. The weather here in Cornwall was glorious and we returned to happy guests and sunburned teenagers! However April can be very changeable. It turns out we brought the drizzle from Sussex back home with us for the rest of the week. It wasn’t a wash out by any means but there was a certain amount of shower dodging. As it was the second week of the school holidays for many, including here in Cornwall, the farm was busy with school age children. They were great at dressing up in wellies and overalls and coming out to feed the animals regardless of the weather. The farm ride can take a good hour and a half and children often drift off before the end, my photos this week are from the end of a drizzly farm run with some very enthusiastic children who stuck out the weather and completed the course. So often I share photos of the tractor going to the farm but I realise I never share the homeward bound journey. What I noticed most after 4 days away was how much the spring growth was starting to show in the hedgerows and along the tractor path. Even through the dampness of the morning there is something spring like that appealed to me when I looked back at these homeward bound photos.
Homeward bound from the farm with spring growth visible.
Racing on the last leg home
The children always squeal in delight as Farmer Nick revs the tractor up for the last few yards home.
Drawn to the fairy gardens at the end of the feed run.
There was no running off indoors for these three as they set off to explore the fairy gardens.
Along came the sun
The day developed into a spring beauty and the farm continues to bloom. In fact we hit 20 degrees here by mid week.
Country Kids is the original outdoor family fun linky designed to:
“Encourage family fun outdoors, in an age where technology and screens are such a draw to a sedentary indoor life”
Welcome back if you are a regular to Country Kids and if you are new please join in. You will find plenty of inspiration for enjoying outdoor space and please do share your own adventures. We support the National Trust #50 things along with all other ideas for family fun outside.
As the holidays draw to a close
If you have been on the same school holidays as us you’ll be getting ready to return to school next week. It has felt such a long holiday having Easter weekend right at the start and we have certainly packed in the fun here on the farm. I’m sharing our Good Friday Easter crafting fun this week on the link up with bunny bonnets inspired by Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail the new new additions to the farm this Easter. Please come and join me with your Easter holiday adventures.
Guidelines for Joining in:
Post must be predominantly outdoors such as in the garden, the park, the woods or the beach with crafting, learning, exploring or playing.
Despite the title, both countryside and urban outdoor adventures are welcome.
Unheated covered areas like a barn or tent count as outdoors.
Please comment on my host post and a minimum of 3 others of your choice.
If you use #CountryKids when commenting the post owner will know where your found them and hopefully come back to visit your post.
Please take my badge, without it you won’t be considered for winning the lovely Rockfish Wellies.
Linked posts should be written and made live within the last 2 months.
I understand sometimes you need to do catch up posts and write about something from a couple of months ago but the publish date should be within 2 months.
There is no restriction on the number of posts that can be linked up, however please be sensible, if you have more than 3 consider linking over a few weeks.
Thanks to all of you who joined in last week and for the comments you took time to leave, sadly we had 4 link dumpers, come on this isn’t what Country Kids is about, please stick to the rules.
Rockfish kindly sponsor Country Kids
Win a pair of wellies from Rockfish Monthly
I am delighted to have Rockfish as the sponsor for Country Kids. Rockfish are a local Cornish company specializing in stylish quality wellingtons for all the family. We have been offering their country wellies in our borrow room here on the farm for over a year and they are always popular for their style, comfort and durability.
Each week my favourite #CountryKids posts, which include my badge or a link back here, will be considered for a free pair of Rockfish Wellies at the end of the month; the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather throws your way. Keep your posts coming, it could be you winning next!
For more more information on the Rockfish Wellies on offer with us and terms and conditions to win see here.
You can currently buy from the Rockfish webiste and save 10% at the checkout by entering Rockfish18
Favourite posts from last week added to the shortlist for winning the April Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter: Jo from Where Jo Goes.
Stopping at Two returned to Coombe Mill for Easter and share their week with us, How could I not love this!
Mother’s Little Steps took advantage of a Beautiful Cornish sunshine day over the Easter break for a trip to their favourite beach
Country Kids 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.
Join the growing Country Kids Instagram Community with #CountryKidsFun.
I'll like and comment on all and share my favourites from the week with a tag on a Friday on Instagram and Twitter. With over 9070 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
I'm shocked to the core by the sad news from Louise at Little Hearts Big Lovewho has lost her eldest daughter Jessica on Sautrday Morning. Louise has supported Country Kids since it started with wonderful family adventures and I'm sure you'll join me in sending much love to the family at this time. If you are wanting to offer support to the family, we are arranging a holiday for Louise, Michael, Sophie and Peanut here at the farm when they're ready for it, just email me if you'd like to contribute ([email protected]). There is also a Just Giving page for the Little Hearts Matter charity who have supported the George family throughout Jessica's heart journey. Here is the link if you'd like to donate there.
I love Easter time. The farm is bursting with new life and the options for Easter crafts seem endless. I had so many ideas for activity hour around the Easter theme and an eager group to come and join me on Good Friday.
Making Easter Bunny bonnets
Easter wouldn’t be complete without an Easter Bunny. We have 3 new little bunnies on the farm and I thought I’d make some Easter bunny bonnets with the children. This was a very simple but effective craft from a paper plate and strips of fabric. The children needed a little help cutting out their paper plate and negotiating the fabric with not very sharp kitchen scissors but apart from that it was all their own work.
The finished results certainly warranted a group photo
Designing Easter Eggs for the Fairies
Now wearing our Easter Bunnies we set about covering Easter egg card shapes in silver foil and decorating them with Duck Tape colours and floristry ribbon to make decorative Eggs for the Fairy Gardens.
Easter Cards
Out last craft before going off to hang our eggs was to make Easter cards. The children delighted in carefully colouring the Easter egg designs before cutting them out to stick onto coloured card of their choice. Messages inside went to family members, it was lovely to see them colouring and writing in the chilly March weather and really taking pride in their work. We parent were all for moving on from our Easter Crafts but the children were determined to take their time to make their cards just perfect.
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Hanging Easter Eggs and a thank you from the fairies
Finally everyone was ready to take their Eggs along to the fairy gardens and find a branch to hang it from.
There was one surprise left; the fairies had left some chocolate eggs to find in return for their beautiful decorative eggs. A treat no one could refuse!
It was a lovely set of Easter crafts to kick start our action packed Easter weekend here on the farm.
If you live near any natural countryside you’ll know there is a raw beauty to it that demands respect. For us Coombe Mill is set in an ancient wooded valley, itself an amazing habitat and micro climate, yet a couple of miles out of the valley and you find yourself on Bodmin Moor, another, quite different yet equally breathtaking part of our wild world. Woodland and moorland are two of the thirteen wildernesses of our world covered by the stunning new Book from Quarto called Wild World. No wonder Coombe Mill is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Conserving these important wilderness areas is a gentle topic covered in the book as each one is explored in informative poetry embedded in beautiful illustrations. To find out about the other 11 wild world areas and be in with a chance of winning this lovely poetry book read on.
What we love about Wild World
The gorgeous lyrical poetry is easy reading and a delight to absorb while the illustrations which surround each poem transport the reader into the habituate with the wildlife and nature found there. There is a handy reference page at the end which is more fact led to support the softer message through poetry. A further page suggests how we can all make a difference to protect these wild world areas in our everyday life.
We were very taken with how the book covers the relatable woodland, moorland and rock pools found here in England as well as well known wilderness areas from around the world such as The Arctic and Savannas.
Last week I shared the safe arrival of 3 new lady friends for Buster the Rabbit. Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, as they have become affectionately named, spent 2 weeks in the chick shed but it was time for them to move. The rabbits are New Zealand Whites and bred for eating more than as pets, as such they eat a huge amount and grow very fast. I swear they have doubled in size in the 2 weeks since they came to us and very quickly made the chick shed look too small. Furthermore Farmer Nick is off to the fowl auction next weekend in hope of buying some day old chicks that will need the shed. Buster had a grumble with his home too; the rain blew through the wire mesh making his straw damp. Farmer Nick has been moving a few chickens each morning from their winter house into Jurassic Park for the summer and this was then the perfect summer home for the rabbits. A good clean down, together with a new door system to let the children in without the rabbits escaping, and we were ready for the big move.
Farmer Nick leads the way with Buster.
Buster’s little yellow paws are evidence of the rain overnight seeping into his house. His new home is all water tight but still allows the fresh air and natural daylight in. He will be kept separate from Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail for a few weeks yet as a safeguarding intervention from us, however in time I’m hoping we will be able to welcome our own new born New Zealand White baby bunnies to the farm.
Next up Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail enter their first big home carried by Farmer Nick and Theo.
Happy bunnies and happy children
The three sisters couldn’t believe the space of their new home. It is perfect for them to find their feet and run around whilst allowing plenty of room for the children to all climb in and see them. It didn’t take long for the bunnies to be scooped up and cuddled. I wonder how long they will be able to do this before they become too heavy to lift like Buster.
The chickens are equally delighted to be back outdoors free ranging for summer.
Chasing, carrying and feeding the chickens in the field has always been a favourite with the children.
Don’t forget we are open all year if you fancy trying your hand at catching a chicken or cuddling a bunny.
“Tales from the farmers wife” shares the funny and interesting happenings on our lovely holiday farm with Farmer Nick and our 6 children. A behind the scenes look on balancing family, farming, the holiday business and cooking for all.
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