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.
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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.
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.
April Fool’s Day and Easter Fun
Combining April Fool’s Day and Easter Sunday gave us a chance for some Easter Magic on the farm covered in my Easter Egg hunt post this week. We had 3 new baby rabbits arrive to join Buster featured in my picture here today and our lambs now total 6. With the first mow of the year complete and the new growth sprouting in the hedgerows it is finally feeling very springlike here at Coombe Mill. I hope you have enjoyed a lovely Easter break yourself with plenty of family fun in the great outdoors to help wear off the Easter Eggs! Please do share with me on the link up is 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.
March Welly Winner
Congratulations to Kara from Nearly there yet blog who is our February winner of the lovely Rockfish wellies. Kara took the family to the ancient technology centre at Cranborne for a fascinating day out. Kara, do DM or email (mail@coombemill.com) your choice of wellies from the Rockfish range including size and colour as shown in stock.
Favourite posts from last week added to the shortlist for winning the April Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter:
Ethan and Evelyn found so much for the children to do at Eastnor Castle over Easter
Making an ordinary moment magical at Bodnant Gardens, From Mummy to Mum got some beautiful family photos.
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 8470 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
Easter day has taken on a distinctive pattern at Coombe Mill over time. Those who have been coming for years are well aware of the traditions. This keeps me on my toes as we have to vary things each year, especially for the eagerly anticipated Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday. I cross my fingers each year it won’t pour with rain, and thankfully again it didn’t. I had laminated all my clues just in case but thankfully it remained dry.
April fool’s Day
Before the Easter egg hunt we have our regular morning animal feed run. It was rather apt that Easter Sunday was also April fool’s day as our chickens played a clever trick on the children. Only the regulars knew this was a regular prank and were ahead of the game rushing to the chicken coup. On Easter Sunday the chickens lay Cadbury Crème Eggs, and thanks to some careful counting and one of my children to run ahead there is magically enough for all the children.
Grand Easter Egg Hunt preparations
I had all my stack of chocolate eggs, my Easter Bunny onesie and laminated rhyming clues at the ready and crept away from the reed run to set up the Egg hunt with the help of Theo and Clio. Working nimbly and swiftly we hid hundred of Eggs at each location with some cleverly hidden Egg clues leaving me just enough time to catch up with the tractor and trailer returning.
Not wanting the children to find the eggs before the start I gave everyone just 15 minutes to wash hands and be back for the Egg hunt, this certainly wasn’t a problem for the children who couldn’t wait to get going.
Under 4’s Egg Hunt
To give the younger children a chance, I do a little Egg hunt first for them. The older ones watch on eager to join in while the tots explore the little gated ride on play area themselves. Hunting out the shiny wrappers brings smiles to their faces, though half of them are not quite sure whether to play or hunt first!
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Let the Easter Egg Hunt begin
Finally the older ones patience pays off as the little ones finish and I prepare to share the first Egg clue!
The children all want to help read the clues to give themselves a head start on where to race off to, but I catch the regulars out right at the start by changing the places from last year, a quick back track and my Ahoy Captain clue has them all running to the pirate ship.
Egg hunting is a frenzied business and soon they are left stumped for where the next clue is. The parents have spotted it but it takes the children a while and even longer to reach it!
From the pirate ship we search the train stop and then the den building zone.
The next clue takes the children off round the fairy gardens where there are so many secret hiding places.
From the fairy gardens to the games room and then one that no one could fathom. I have just completed a new Nature trail and no one knew where to go for that. It was a good chance for me to gather everyone close and give the slower ones a chance to catch up before tipping them with enough clues on where to go. Up the slopes they climbed searching for eggs and the next clue as they went.
Finally our last clue is read out and a charge for the sand diggers and castle play fort leaves space for everyone to search and play.
I couldn’t believe it had taken the best part of an hour, I’m sure I had more stops and clues this year. Anyway the last clue promoted sharing and caring. A theme we would come back to on activity hour the following day. To my delight the children took it to heart and were excellent at offering a few to others who had been less quick in their searching. Everyone ended up with a good haul and a smile as they set off to enjoy the rest of their Easter Day.
“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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