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.
Soft Play, The Ultimate Answer to Rainy Days
Soft play makes an all weather holiday at Coombe Mill a safe choice. With a table and chairs and even a highchair in the Play Barn there is ... Read More
Maps of the United Kingdom
Take a tour of the UK with Maps of the United Kingdom from Quarto Kids. Explore over 1000 fascinating & famous highlights in sound bites ful... Read More
Christmas Trees to Greet You in Every Property
Christmas Trees decroated with twinkling lights await you in every cottage & lodge for a Christmas stay. Add baubles and tinsel yourself to ... Read More
Honeysuckle Holiday Cottage Kitchen Makeover
A kitchen makeover for Honeysuckle Holiday Cottage giving a modern stylish look in contemporty colours for 2019. Practical and stylish for f... Read More
Move over flowers and boring chocolate boxes, here is the ultimate gift I challenge you not to want. A personalised Sweet tree blooming with treats just like our summer gardens. Will it be Smarties or Chocolate Buttons for the kids, Maltesers for the lighter touch, indulgent Lindor for your dearest chocoholic friends or Liquorish all sorts for a colourful twist. The choice is yours to make and personalise as you wish. Did I want to try one here at Coombe Mill? Well of course, thank you Prezzybox this one is a gem!
Which Sweet Tree would you choose?
What we love
We, OK I, chose Lindor as it is my favourite chocolate. It arrived beautifully packed and in a cellophane over wrap with big bow. Somehow I was expecting something smaller but was impressed with the size. Unwrapped it is a real statement piece.
The glass holder is the personalised part, I had Coombe Mill inscribed on mine and it looks prefect in fancy gold type. But it isn’t just the flowing blossom of chocolate that impressed me, it is the chocolate coated stem and branches and the chocolate raisin filled earth. This really is a chocolate delight in every sense of the word.
I had to hide it until after dinner and then brought it out. It was a huge “wow” factor as everyone dived in.
Sometimes I really don’t know where these great ideas come from.
The little touch that makes the treat
Each tree comes with a little tea light to add to your personalised holder after the sweet tree is gone. We think this is a lovely touch and a great lasting memory of a tasty thoughtful gift.
Need to Know
A few pointers to help you choose your sweet tree gift.
Edible sweet treats, Personalised tree / glass holder, tea light,
Win your Personalised Sweet Tree with Prezzybox and Coombe Mill
We are delighted to be able to offer a tree of your choice to one lucky winner. We think these trees are a perfect gift for any occasion. To be in with a chance just follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.
This time of year is birthday season in our house. My triplets have just celebrated their 14th birthday and my eldest is about to turn 20. We spent a lovely day in Plymouth with the triplets last weekend having lunch out, shopping and them ice skating for the kids and car shopping for Nick and me. It was a beautiful day and we walked to the car showroom round the Barbican and harbour soaking up the sun and the boats. Why the midlife crisis you may ask. Well that’s what my kids have dubbed it since it is a soft top I’m after as a late 50th present to myself. The weather the past couple of weeks has really pushed my soft top craving up the agenda and on Thursday evening I took ownership of an old SAAB convertible. Despite laughing at me and telling me SAAB is a real old persons car, my two eldest couldn’t wait to give it a spin and Theo has declared it perfect for him to learn to drive in. I know I will be fighting to drive my own car on a sunny day from here on in. Fingers crossed I haven’t put a curse on the summer weather now for everyone! I have checked my golf clubs fit in the boot and even my body board and beach kit so I am all set as a middle aged poser.
Nick and I are off on a little weekend away right now in my new car complete with twin sets of golf clubs while our kids manage the business. I have to say if this is having midlife crisis I can thoroughly recommend it!
Plymouth Barbican seafront in the summer sun last weekend.
The end of a beautiful day on the golf course.
Driving out in my gorgeous new car dubbed my midlife crisis.
All the photos this week are simple iPhone snaps out and about. I’ll return to a more farm focus next week which incidentally is looking wonderful, bursting with summer colour and new born animals. Here is a little taster:
Rhododendrons in the cottage gardens at Coombe Mill
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.
Is it summer yet?
I’m never quite sure as we approach May if it’s OK to call it summer now. As far as I’m concerned it is only 7 weeks till mid summer’s day so I’m going with summer. We are in the middle of birthday season here, my triplets turned 14 this month and my eldest turns 20 next week. Goodness I can hardly call them Country Kids anymore! Never the less Clio features in my post this week along with her friend and cousins for Greek Easter. I hope April has been a happy month for you. Please come and join me with your adventures on the link up below.
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, we had a week with no link dumpers so a pat on the back to you all!
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.
Favourite posts from last week added to the shortlist for winning the April Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter: Malin from Sensational Learning with Penguin
Over 40 Mum to One shares a lovely double visit where the need for wellies and waterproofs couldn’t stop a good adventure.
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 9200 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
Farmer Nick is half Greek thanks to his father. This has come with many benefits to me over the years as I adore our Greek holidays, meeting extended family out there and here in the UK and the wonderful tradition of celebrating Orthodox Greek Easter. If I’m honest the only downside to our Greek heritage is our Greek surname of Cambouropoulos which most people understandably struggle to pronounce and spell! As an English person learning the Greek language I can honestly say that is very hard too. Anyway back to Greek Easter, the Orthodox Church sets its calendar differently to the Anglican one and we usually benefit from two Easter celebrations as a result. We had a wonderful time here on the farm for English Easter with our Easter egg hunt and activities, then the following weekend we travelled with Clio and her friend to Seaford to family friends hosting Greek Easter in the UK this year.
We are lucky enough to have Nick’s Mum living close by and we were able to stay there along with Nick’s brother and his girls. This alone was wonderful for Clio, being surrounded by teenage girls for the weekend instead of all her brothers, who had opted to stay home and run the farm for us this year. If you have ever watched my big fat Greek Wedding, then there is a certain ring of truth to it about every good Greek gathering. Food and socialising is everything. The day starts early for the host who has to prepare and begin to cook the spit roast lamb from early morning. Having hosted it ourselves in the past I know this takes plenty of skill and patience. By the time we all arrive armed with designated plates of food the lamb is well under way. Clio and her cousin took their seats by the BBQ to share lamb turning duties.
Let the merriment begin.
The day rolls by in a blur of socializing, mouth watering Greek delights, wine and music. It is wonderful seeing all the generations mixing together with the younger children enjoying the day alongside the teens, adults, and grandparents.
The smells of food waft from the BBQ and kitchen making everyone hungry. I think starters may be my favourite part, there are so many to choose from though Kokoretzi has few takers so I get more than my fair share (all the bits of the lamb you would probably never use like liver, kidney, tongue etc on a big BBQ skewer – look away now if you are vegetarian).
But filling up completely is a mistake with Greek style roast to follow.
Play time and cracking the red eggs is always the best part for the children
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A welcome pause in the food allows just enough of a gap to tuck into puddings.
We left late afternoon full and happy while Yia Yia brought all the girls home later. Phone games and bubble blowing kept the cousins busy while the little ones played and the more senior generation took 40 winkes!
Celebrating Orthodox Greek Easter in Seaford
Next year Orthodox Greek Easter falls at the end of the English school holidays so we are hosting down at Coombe Mill, be warned if you happen to be staying that week, you may just get an unexpected invite to join our festivities.
Meet Duggee, the lovable Dog that runs an after school club for a motley crew known as The Squirrels. As seen on Cbeebies Hey Duggee has the perfect blend of learning, adventure and pure fun for little ones. This is something dear to our hearts at Coombe Mill and when we had the chance to check out Hey Duggee: The Stick Badge and Other stories with extra sing a long stick song we jumped at the opportunity. Read on to discover more and for your chance to win one of two copies of the latest series 8 DVD.
Hey Duggee and Coombe Mill
We love the idea of the fun after school club. It is the perfect base for the squirrels to discover new things about the world around them and to learn to solve problems by actually moving, jumping, running and more. This is just like the Coombe Mill activity hour on the farm, a chance for the children on holiday here to discover, explore create and make in nature with us.
Episode 8: The Stick Badge and Other Exciting Stories
In this episode the Squirrels are just preparing for their campfire when they discover a talking stick! Who could fail to be taken in by the wonder of this? See them get active and competitive in the annual obstacle race then learn about the solar system and get spooked by a ghostly sound whilst playing dressing up.
“Tales from the farmers wife” shares life on our lovely holiday farm with Farmer Nick and our 6 children. Step into our beautiful 30 acres and experience nature close up with farming and educational crafts in stunning North Cornwall. Family, fun and adventure start here.
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