Posted on February 2nd, 2018 - 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 #50 things along with all other ideas for family fun outside.
Hello February
Well I for one am happy to see January behind us and the welcome longer days February arrive. It may still be chilly outdoors and the weather very mixed, but with longer daylight hours the opportunity to make a little outdoor time increases. Here on the farm we are waiting for our first lambs to be born and hoping the fields will soon begin to dry and and new season grass start to grow for the animals. The end of this coming week will see our half term guests arrive and after a couple of quiet weeks I feel ready for the buzz they will bring. I have lots planned for our guests and family over the half term and hope to share this with you here on Country Kids over the coming weeks. I hope you will have your own adventures to share too. As ever 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.
- 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:
- Merlinda from Pixiedusk who commented on 14 posts.
- Mary from Over 40 and a Mum to One who commented on 10 posts.
- Lucy from Kids of the Wild, Malin from Sensational Learning with Penguin & Karen from Would Like to Be who commented on 9 posts.
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.
December / January Welly Winner
Congratulations to Dawn of Dear Mummy Blog with the star of her blog Bella who is our December / January winner of the lovely Rockfish wellies. Dawn stayed with us here at Coombe Mill over New Year and has shared some lovely posts and videos of her time here and out and about in Cornwall. The winning post is from an overview of their family holiday here on the farm. Dawn, do DM or email (mail@coombemill.com) your choice of wellies from the Rockfish range including size and colour as shown in stock. |
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Favourite posts from last week added to the shortlist for winning the February Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter: Merlinda from Pixiedusk
Very Much So Blog shares a winter walk in Avebury, I’m rather taken with the wishing tree which I want to create at Coombe Mill
Meme and Harry shows how much fun a National Trust visit can be with the added sparkle of snow
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 7050 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
My featured photos from the week came from @theinspirationedit @welshcakeswellies @_i3eckie and @born_again_corkonian Please do check out these lovely folk on Instagram if you are not already following.
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Posted on February 2nd, 2018 - Fiona
Every family begins to build up its own traditions over the Christmas holidays and we are no exception. I spoke last weekend about our local weekend away for family time and Christmas shopping together. This week I’m sharing another of our favourite winter holiday activities, watching the horse racing. Our local showground is Wadebridge, just 20 minutes from us and where the kids go to school. It is home to the Royal Cornwall show in summer and a whole host of other events throughout the year. The Christmas point to point is one we have attended for the past 3 years and it is always a fun day and surprisingly good value for money, if the bets go your way!
Coombe Mill is in the most beautiful sheltered valley and the Royal Cornwall show ground is on the top of an exposed hill, well I don’t know how old you need to be to understand that the temperature will be vastly different, but no amount of telling the triplets to wrap up warm would work. We gave up and just threw a few extra jumpers and jackets of ours in the car for good measure. Sure enough they were frozen by the biting wind in seconds and piling on the layers from the car! Thankfully placing bets takes place in the big barns which is sheltered from the elements.
Despite being farmers, we know nothing about horse racing and place our bets with a team vote over a name we like and a hunch on watching the horses in the parade ring
For the first three races we felt like we should have been offered a bet on the losing horse, as it always seemed to be ours despite our braving the cold on the side lines and cheering. But finally our moment came in race four and Guy’s choice of horse came in first. We only had a £5 bet on each race to win but that one £30 win was enough to have us break even on the day.
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Guy and Farmer Nick couldn’t have looked more delighted, you’d think they’d won a fortune!
We put our winnings to good use rewarding ourselves with some excellent pasties and coffee against the cold.
There are always some lovely outdoor clothing and craft stalls to wander round between races too and I found myself picking up a couple of lovely unexpected presents there.
Our last race was a maiden race and we hedged our bets with an each way bet. Lucky we did as our horse came in second and paid out again. We left in high spirits despite the biting cold wind and headed home to warm up and enjoy the roast I had on low it the oven.
We certainly won’t be put off another flutter on the horses in future.
Helpful hints for winter horse racing at Wadebridge: |
|
Entry is just £10 for adults on entry. Under 16’s go free |
|
Fixtures for the year are online |
| Pasties, tea, coffee and cakes are all very reasonably prices and piping hot. |
| Our local moorland village pub host the bar for those wanting something stronger. |
| Limit your bets to just a fun amount per race and you won’t spend a fortune and may even come out in profit. |
Keep your car wheels on the tarmac in the wet as the field parking gets very churned up |
Wrap up warm as the wind up on the showground can be wicked. |
Posted on January 29th, 2018 - Fiona
Capturing young minds to learn their alphabet, numbers and shapes has never been easier. Chalkboard Books are a great new concept in learning made fun by children’s book illustrator Stephen Barker. If you know a child in this age range and fancy giving them a step up in early years education at pocket money prices then read on to discover more and how you could win the set.
What are chalkboard Books?
Essentially these books are just what they sound like, books you can chalk on. Follow the easy to practice traceable letters, numbers and shapes. The clever part comes in the ability to simply wipe away your work and have another practice. Made from shiny wipe clean hardboard, each page is perfectly designed to write and wipe time and time again. There is even a set of chalks and a handy clip close case integral to each book.
Learning Made Fun
The colourful illustrations and easy to follow guide is great for building pen control as well as learning the topics of the book. Each page brings fresh designs and learning and a new opportunity to chalk and wipe. I can see these books being popular with teachers and parents and at just £7.99 a book they would make the perfect educational birthday party gift.
Being big kids here at Coombe Mill we couldn’t resist giving them a little go ourselves just to show you just how great these books are. We will certainly be using them as part of our activity hour learning here on the farm.
Need to Know
| Books in the Series |
Chalkboard alphabet, numbers, shapes |
| RSP |
£7.99 per book |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Dimensions |
28.0cm x 21.5cm |
| Includes |
4 chalks in clip close integral case |
| Excludes |
Cloth to wipe clean |
| Illustrator |
Stephen Barker |
| Publisher |
Quarto Kids |
Win your set of 3 Chalkboard Books with Quarto and Coombe Mill
If you fancy giving these clever chalkboards a go why not enter to win the set here. Simply follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.
Chalkboard Books
Disclosure
I was sent my set of 3 books for the purpose of this review. However all thoughts and options are my own and in no way influenced by the promoter. If you are staying with us on holiday they may well feature as part of our arts and crafts sessions.
Posted on January 27th, 2018 - Fiona
If I were to order months of the year May would probably be my favourite with the growing spring animals and bursting summer plants and January bottom of the heap. However somehow this January it feels as though when I blink, it is nearly over. We’ve had some lovely winter weekend guests and plenty to keep us busy from the newly forming crazy golf to property maintenance and farm management ahead of the new season. In between we have enjoyed beach days and city trips and moorland walks as a family. After a rainy start to the week that kept me on indoor chores, I emerged with the sunshine to discover spring around me. From snowdrops to daisies, the farm is coming to life and daylight is now officially past 5pm here in Cornwall.
January you weren’t so bad after all!
It is a steep climb from Coombe Mill up onto Bodmin Moor but worth it for the far reaching views out across Cornwall. Up here, in Poldark country, the vast expanse of moorland can make you feel so small. The air is clear and at night it is a star gazers paradise. In fact it is now an official dark sky zone. When I master my night sky photography I promise to share our wonderful night skies. For now a late winter sun caught on my i-Phone.
Back down in the valley of Coombe Mill, winter moorland scrub gives way to spring flowers. I’m sure this rose has flowered all through winter on the wall of our old Millers cottage facing south.
The snowdrops are like a long white carpet along our riverbank now.
Our summer rhododendron are in bud and the camellia all over the farm are in full bloom now. Banks of new season daffodils are just flowering too following the early season ones now past.
Primroses are out in the woods but perhaps the biggest surprise was seeing daisies in the lawns. If only it would stay dry for long enough they could do with a mow, the lack of cold weather, snow or frost again this winter has left them running away mistakenly thinking it is summer!
Do you have a favourite and worst month of the year?
Posted on January 26th, 2018 - 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.
A soggy week to end January
I have been gloating until this past week about the lovely sunny weather in Cornwall for January. I have to confess that has all changed this week and going outdoors has meant puddles and showers at every turn. We have so many farm jobs pending and are praying for a dry day now to make them happen. In the mean time I’m sharing a post from the Christmas holidays this week. Fingers crossed you have managed better than us with an outdoor adventure to share 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:
- Clare from Mudpie Fridays who commented on 9 posts.
- Dawn from Dear Mummy, Sarah from Kippers and Curtains & Lucy from Kids of the Wild who commented on 8 posts.
- Karen from Would Like to Be 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 the top commenter and my two my favourite #CountryKids posts, if they 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 December Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter this week was Mudpie Friday, but unfortunately with no Country Kids badge and no kids in the post the next top commenter going though for a chance for the wellies is our joint 2nd place commenters with badges: Dear Mummy and Kippers and Curtains.
How could I not favour Dear Mummy and her lovely review of Coombe Mill from staying with us over new year.
I also enjoyed Would Like to Be’s fun muddy walk where they lost track of time.
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 7925 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
My favourite photos from the week came from @shellandthelittlies, @lifecookscabin, @organisedjo & @singlemahoy. Please do check out these lovely folk on Instagram if you are not already following
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