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.
My Shirley Valentine Beach Moment in Cornwall
Be Shirley Valentine in Cornwall on our hidden beach. A lesser known beauty spot. Enjoy a glass of wine on a summer's evening and soak up th... Read More
Studying Caterpillars and Butterflies for The Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly count is on till 20th August. See what is triving in your arrea and try these fun crafts for kids to support your study. ... Read More
Paddington Sightseeing Adventures Board Game
Help Paddington find his way home through London's famous sights in Paddington Sightseeing Adventures, the board game, from University Games... Read More
Caramel the alpaca loses his winter coat
Caramel the Alpaca has his winter coat sheared to the audience of our holiday guests. A relief for the alpaca and a treat for the geusts to ... Read More
Campfire and bark rafts down the welly walk.
Adventure down the welly walk with a campfire and bark rafts. Shade from the sun and a stream to sail the rafts, bubbles to catch and a rope... Read More
I always associate colours with times of the year as dictated by nature. In my mind winter is muted tones and grey, spring is green and yellow and autumn burnt orange and red. That leaves 50 shades of the colour purple for summer, from pink tones through to blue. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, if you look hard enough you can find most colours somewhere in nature all year, however in my mind these are the prevalent colours of the seasons.
My photos this week are a few close ups of the most common purples on the farm. Each one shouting summer vibes, holiday mode and happy days, well if you like summer of course!
Foxglove
From mid June to mid July the foxgloves spring up all around the wild areas of the farm. Round the lakes and in the animal fields especially but also waving high in the hedgerows. They may be poisonous to eat but they are stunning to observe and clearly a good source of nectar for our local bees.
Thistle
Prickly and quite unpleasant in many respects, the thistle does grace us with the prettiest of purple flowers in July. We keep these out of the cottage gardens and formal gardens of Coombe Mill where our guests like to relax and play, however in the wild meadows and along the river bank they quietly soak up the sun and sway in the breeze. Up close I admire their sturdy structure which is almost like a cactus.
Wallflower
By contrast to the thistle the delicate petals of these wallflowers hide on the sunny face of Miller’s House. Far from robust, they look like they would disintegrate with a puff of wind, yet somehow survive the summer adding a ‘chocolate box’ cottage look to our 16th Century old Cornish longhouse.
Buddleia
A butterfly haven, the Buddleia bushes on the farm not only smell devine, but attract an amazing amount of wildlife.
Hydrangea
Possibly my favourite summer flower, we have hydrangea bushes blooming across the cottage and lodge gardens as well as around the lakes. They are just beginning to develop from white into their summer shades and will continue to flower in deepening shades of purple well into autumn.
The one I am missing is Lavender; I love to see photos from others from the lavender fields of England. I wonder if perhaps Lavender doesn’t grow too well in Cornwall as I never see it here. For a giggle check out the colour purple in this curious Mediterranean orchid, the name gives away what to look out for “Hanging Naked Man”
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.
And the heatwave goes on…….
The farm is looking more brown by the day but our holiday makers are having a wonderful time while the animals are happily lolling around under the shade of the trees. Our kids have just broken up for the summer holidays and we are all looking forward to enjoying some family time outdoors. Whatever your plans for the week ahead I hope it includes some outdoor fun and as always 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 July Rockfish Wellies:
Top commenter: Pink Oddy and Glimmer of Hope
Little Hearts Big Love enjoyed school Sports Day. Something I really miss with older kids.
Check out the lovely Port Bonaire with Keithas Chaos
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. We crossed the 10.000 post mark with outdoor fun in this community today which I find really exciting. Thank you to all who join in.
We were lucky enough to be offered Nick’s cousin’s summer flat for our summer holiday with the triplets in Greece. Vouliagmeni is one of the desirable suburbs of Athens down by the coast and popular with Athenians for beach days and holidays. The flat was just one block inland from the beautifully maintained private Vouliagmeni beach and needless to say we spent quite a bit of time here during our week away.
A Gramable Underpass
The beach may have been just a few minutes walk, but it involved crossing the main coastal dual carrigway road and I didn’t trust the kids to look the right way for oncoming traffic. Thankfully there was also a subway which to the kids delight was covered in Graffiti and in their words was “gramable” for their Instagram profiles so they were happy to cross this way and we were happy for them to come and go from the flat on this basis.
Vouliagmeni Beach
There is everything you need at the beach for a day there without leaving if you are visiting from further away. You have to pay to enter but it is only a few Euros and so worth it. Once inside the sun loungers and umbrellas are free, the whole place is clean and litter free and there are many more facilities including cafes, loos and showers. With large open grass areas, flower boarders and even courts for ball games it is a very comfortable day in beautiful surroundings.
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Safe swimming
Vouliagmeni beach is very gently shelving with little wave typical of the Mediterranean. In early June the water temperature was perfectly warm and my kids spent hours in the sea just throwing a tennis ball to one another and keeping cool. There are lifeguards at either end of the beach for added safety.
Anyone for Bat Ball?
Their other great love became the Greek Bat Ball. After watching the locals all play we bought a set and had a go. It is so much harder than it looks and we were so obviously the clueless foreigners. The locals managed to keep rallies going for minutes while we only managed seconds. Jed is my naturally sporty one and he spent most of his time perfecting his technique on each one of us.
Not completely unplugged
The flat had no WiFi and very little mobile signal so the kids were truly unplugged most of the holiday. That said there was beach WiFi, all be it with a very limited signal strength, this kept the kids up to date with their friends at home via Snapchat from their sun loungers. After catching up on the chat there was always time for more swimming and a little siesta.
The Free Beaches
There are many free beaches in Vouliagmeni and all along the coast to Glenfada. Here you pay for the loungers and umbrellas or sat on the sand for free. However by the time you paid for our loungers and umbrella the price is much the same as the one we used. Most beaches were supported by tavernas, which we made a point of trying each night.
The Verdict
We all had a lovely relaxing week in Greece and were very grateful to Nick’s cousin for the use of their flat. We wouldn’t hesitate to go back, there are plenty of hotels in the area and it all felt so clean and safe. The beaches themselves are still not a patch on our Cornish beaches, but we can’t compete on water temperature and guaranteed sun and it was blissful to swim without a wetsuit; something I rarely do in Cornwall.
Tips for visiting Vouliagmeni Beach
Entrance price is 4 euro kids, students and OAPs. 6 euro adults. Payment is for a full day and their is no late admission discount. OAPs and students need to supply valid ID, even my 82 year old Mother in Law was not trusted at face value as being old!
Prices go up at the weekend (8 Euros for adults) and the beaches are overcrowded with Athenians as are the carparks and local streets. There are not enough sun loungers to go around on Saturday and Sunday, these days are best avoided.
Toilets and open showers are free
2 cafes stock drinks, ice creams and hot snacks. There is seating there or you can take away.
Across the road from the beach is a supermarket if you’d rather take in your own picnic
Bat ball courts are provided though they are very busy at weekends and any spare space is used.
The Beach has 2 Lifeguards all day.
Free beach wifi but very patchy to actually use as demand way outstrips supply.
The beach is litter Free with plenty of bins and staff to tidy each day. In fact this was true of all the beaches.
If someone says Croquet to me, I think of elegant garden parties, stately homes, long summer days with Pimms and cream tea. Well Coombe Mill may have the acreage of a stately home but certainly not the manicured lawn. It is however perfectly adequate for a family afternoon of outdoor fun enjoying this quintessentially English game. We are thrilled to have one of the quality Garden Croquet Sets from Big Game Hunters for our guests to enjoy these summer days here on the farm. Read on to discover more about the game, the lovely set on sale from big Game Hunters and how you could win one for your garden or even a community game in your local park.
History of the Game
An early version of Croquet is believed to date back to the 14th Century in Northern France. It was played in Ireland before finally coming to England in 1852 where it was an after dinner recreation of the wealthy. The modern version of croquet has only been around for about 100 years and while it still has that aristocratic feel to me, it is very much a game that can be enjoyed by everyone.
The Garden Croquet Set from Big Game Hunters
Bringing you right up to the 21st Century, this beautiful Garden set comes in a lovely carry bag with shoulder strap and carry handles, handy as they mallets to play with are weighty and substantial. We were very impressed with the quality of the set, like all the big Game Hunter Garden Range; it is built to last for years of fun. It is easy to assemble, though we did use our own mallet to bang the hoops and winning peg into the ground as we didn’t want to damage the ones for play.
Having set the game up (which takes just minutes) I soon had a family out enjoying the late afternoon sun on the farm take up the offer of a game. The rules take a bit of getting used to but once you grasp the idea it is great fun and quite competitive. There is skill and coordination involved and I can see how practice would really help. It is ideal for families, though very young children are more of a game hindrance if funny!
I left the game out for a couple of days and was delighted to see it repeatedly being used. For our set I laminated the double sided rules as I can already see them being referred to time and time again by new visitors.
If we host another summer garden party this year this will definitely be a new feature. You can make the pitch as challenging or small as you want depending on the size of your garden and competency of the players. It packs away so perfectly for travelling it would be ideal to take on a day out or family visit.
We were sent our set for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Our set is available for Coombe Mill guests to enjoy, just collect from the Boot Room and play.
I’ve said it before but in beautiful weather Cornwall takes some beating; from the stark beauty of Bodmin Moor to the sandy beaches and clear blue sea of the coast. During the recent heat wave I couldn’t resist popping down to the beach after supper one evening. I had planned to take some stunning photos with my DSLR but arrived to discover I’d made that rookie error of forgetting to put the battery in the camera! I braved the heat on a mountainous coastal walk and was rewarded with breathtaking views and a slowing setting sun. With only my smart phone to capture the scene the quality may not be right up there, but it still captures a little of the holiday vibe present on balmy summer beach evenings here in Cornwall.
Cornish coastline from the Coast path
Secluded bays waiting to be discovered
Campfires and friends watching the sun set over Polzeath
A Golden Glow on a balmy summer beach evening
I had such a lovely couple of hours I returned with one of my boys the following day. Again it was so hot we both went for a swim without wetsuits. I can’t remember the last time I did this in the UK. After the initial shock it was refreshing and a lovely rest bite from the searing day time temperatures.
Soaking up the Cornish sunshine the following afternoon.
Driving home in my soft top with salty hair and skin felt so uplifting. I know the heat doesn’t suit everyone but I just love it and it makes me appreciate the beauty of where we live. I will try to remember the feeling of balmy summer beach evenings in the middle of winter when we are all tucked up indoors by 3.30pm in the afternoon against the outdoor chill and darkness.
“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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