Posted on November 17th, 2017 - Fiona
Welcome to Country Kids from 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 100 things to do before you are 11¾ along with all other ideas for family fun outside.
Winter grazing brings kids and animals together
Here on the farm we have let all the goats and alpaca out to graze the paths around the lake usually reserved for the tractor rides. The animals are delighted to munch on the leftovers of the summer growth while it saves Farmer Nick on Hay bills and strimming costs. The bonus for the guests is having the animals wander freely around with us on the morning feed run. This young lad was quite fearless striding on through them all on his way to the deer field, he certainly had an adventure or two to take home. I hope you have an outdoor adventure to share too 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.
- By joining in with Country Kids you’re giving me permission to email you weekly as a reminder.
- 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.
My top commenters from last week:
- Louise from Little Hearts Big Love who commented on 12 posts.
- Cheryl from Time to Craft who commented on 9 posts.
- Mary from Over 40 and a Mum to One who commented on 7 posts.
We have just one guilty blogger link dumping this week, Please go back if it is you. Do remember I comment count on Thursday after lunch so get your comments in before then if you want them to be counted and please approve your comments by then if they need moderating so I can see others leaving you the blog love.
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 November Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter this week: Louise from Little Hearts Big Love.
Top Commenter 04.11.17 (Appologies for not counting last week in time): Sonia from Mamma’s School
I’ve not visited the Tower of London in years, but this pot from Over 40 Mum to One reminds me how much there is to discover there
Discovering you can eat every part of a plant might sound strange till you read this lovely post from Right from the start.
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.
Follow Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays’s board Country Kids from Coombe Mill on Pinterest.
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 6650 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
My favourite photos from the week came from @mudpiefridays, @itsagingerbreadlife, @kiddycharts & @_i3eckie. Please do check out these lovely folk on Instagram if you are not already following
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Posted on November 17th, 2017 - Fiona
Last year, when the chicken flu scare came along, Farmer Nick spent his Christmas Holidays building an indoor chicken coop to comply with the government ban on free range chickens. It actually worked out really well and the chickens thrived in their winter quarters with luxury laying boxes and plenty of space. As he had built the coop so well we decided we might actually take them in this year by choice. The entrance path up to their field was starting to get boggy being trodden over through wet autumn feed runs which makes it easy to slide over. We chose a busy Sunday morning with lots of eager helpers for operation chicken move.
Practicing on the chicks.
We visited the chicks first for chicken catching lessons. The chicks are in a smaller coop already and easier to pick up than the adults, not to mention being smaller and less intimidating to the children. They mastered the art of chick capturing with ease which filled us with confidence.
Moving the chickens
Next stop the adult chicken field. Farmer Nick let the children run around first feeding the ducks and chickens in the field to build confidence in everyone.
Then they collected the eggs, enough for everyone to be rewarded for their help.
Finally the kids tried their new found chick capturing skills on the chickens. Huzzah, a captured chicken ready to move.
Most of the children preferred to cuddle the chickens into them holding their wings down so they didn’t flap. Farmer Nick did show them how to hold them by their legs and wait for them to stop flapping and hang still which is the easier way, but most were happy to just watch this.
Each with their own style the chickens were carefully moved from the field to their winter chicken coop.
Chicken entertainment and nutrition
We caught the last of the chickens the following morning and were greeted with our first eggs from those who had already spent the night there. The children added branches to their indoor toy. This will need refilling as part of our morning rounds throughout winter but it adds a little fun chore for the kids to the regular animal feeding and nutrition boost for the chickens while they are indoors.
It really is a ‘hands on’ experience holidaying here on the farm. Of course we could have moved the chickens on our own, but it is much more fun to allow the children staying to help out with our working farm activities.
Posted on November 13th, 2017 - Fiona
The prehistoric world has always been a fascination to little ones. There is something about dinosaurs that really appeals to their imagination. The desire to learn about these ancient creatures, their habitat and lifestyle and master their funny names is endlessly sort after from one generation to the next. Toy models and floor mats in our holiday properties are always in use and dinosaurs are a favourite theme for our crafty activity hour each week. With this in mind I was thrilled to receive a copy of the Layer by Layer discovering Dinosaurs book complete with sounds from Quarto Kids. Read on to discover what we love about this book and how you can win your copy.
A multi layered exploration of a prehistoric planet.
This book is perfect for young dinosaur lovers. The colourful illustrations are eye catching and bright while the interaction of lifting each flap to reveal a new layer of life in different areas of the world let each habitat evolve in front of your eyes. Add the sound effects to each scene and this book really comes to life. Children will visibly bury themselves in the mystical world of the book.
I can see us using this book here as an introduction to a dinosaur led activity hour and following up with hunting for the dinosaurs in our sand pit, or even creating a leafy dinosaur world. The possibilities are endless when imaginations are triggered by such a compelling book.
Need to know.
| Size |
Approximately A4 8.268 in x 10.906 in / 210 mm x 277 mm |
| Author |
Anne Rooney |
| Illustrated by |
Suzanne Carpenter |
| Format |
Novelty book with Hardback cover, glossy card pages inside with glossy paper layers |
| Sounds |
Batteries included |
| Published by |
QED publishing (Quarto Group) |
| Age range |
5 – 8 |
| Price |
£14.99 |
| Stockists |
Quarto Knows online shop, Waterstones, Amazon |
Win your Discovering Dinosaurs Layer by Layer book with Quarto and Coombe Mill
If you know someone who loves dinosaurs and would love to open this on Christmas morning why not enter to win. Simply follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.
Discovering Dinosaurs
Disclosure
We were sent our copy of discovering dinosaurs for the purpose of this review. All thoughts expressed here are my own. Our copy can be borrowed from the Coombe Mill Games room book shelves by our holiday makers.
Posted on November 12th, 2017 - Fiona
Whether you live in the city or the countryside, you’ll want to looks stylish for the new season. As autumn fades and the nights draw in, those winter days out crunching through leaves, whether alone or with family and friends, give time to relax, to unwind and to reflect on the good things in life. Get yourself kitted out with this season’s must have clothing for town to countryside style and feel good wherever you go.
Fashion for men
I used to think men had it easy, shorts and t shirt in summer, shirt and trousers with a sweater in winter. It turns out when shopping with my discerning teenager there is more to men’s fashion than meets the eye. It has to be the right brand, at the right price, in the right colour and the latest ‘in fashion’ style. Thankfully help is at hand right from home with online shopping. We have been browsing for the perfect town to countryside style in jumpers this season and found a lovely selection from Jacamo. My son was quick to focus in on a Timberland jumper as the one for him and has been thrilled with the quality, softness and fit. Made from 100% organic cotton in a deep shade of blue it has that perfect understated style he was after; just right for at home here in the countryside or at college in the city.
He added to his collection with some Union Blues, black skinny jeans from the same site. Bang on trend, stylish and comfortable for a long day in college and yet stretchy and practical here on the farm. Dressed up or down it is a wardrobe staple this winter.
Feel right on trend where ever you go this season with these great country gentleman to city style wardrobe must haves. A few well chosen items will cover work, weekend breaks and chilling out with the family to give you understated classic style without costing the earth.
Disclosure
We were sent our jumper and trouser choice free from the Jacamo website in return for this review. All images, thoughts and opinions are my own.
Posted on November 11th, 2017 - Fiona
We have been enjoying some ridiculously mild weather and nature is all confused. Here we are coming up to mid November and you would swear on some days it was still summer. Our early afternoon temperatures have topped out at 16 degrees in our lovely sheltered valley and I am still in shorts and T shirts. Okay it chills down at night and the heating has just gone on in our house but I’d say that was pretty remarkable for late autumn. I am refusing to call it winter yet. Winter is my least favourite season and I’m determined to minimise it, so far it’s working a treat; November in Cornwall is keeping winter at bay for 2017.
Global warming?
Who knows if global warming has a part to play? I can say that 12 years ago we were snowed in this week and Farmer Nick had to come and rescue me and the kids from playgroup. The snow fell so fast that morning that we literally couldn’t get home without a four wheel drive. We haven’t seen snow like it since and my younger children barely know what it looks like as they were only babies then. Fast forward 12 years and the bees are still out on the summer flowers, no wonder we talk about the weather in Britain.
My photos this week reflect some of the mild temperatures of November in Cornwall 2017.
Red Campion so common in the Cornish Hedgerows still in full flower on our riverbank in November.
Summer Hydrangea with the last of the petals and rich colours forming.
The bees hard at work in the November Sun.
Delicate Fuschia flowers proof that the frost is yet to strike.
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