"Farmgirl is a state of the heart." – Mary Jane Butters
My heart will always be on the farm. And the barn in springtime has a special draw. We have spent lots of time with farm babies lately.
Category Archives: The Ranch Hands
Easter in England
Our littles, as English as they can be this Easter. Images both from the garden at home and the dining room at Wimpole Estate. Not that anyone would have thought it was our dining room lol. It is a grand table though, yes?
best of anything
"I love the new paper dollies Aunt Amy painted for me best of anything!"
– Little Men
And these little girls love the paper dollies their big sister makes for them. They have been busy designing ball gowns and christening paper people with names like Lisette and Clarabella. The only disagreement came when Moira offered to make a prince as well. "No Princes!" said Abbie Rose with absolute conviction. She has no intention of playing the boy and was pretty sure she would end up with the job. Therefore, there are only damsels in this paper kingdom.
practicing the art of adventure
The call went out from the homeschool group on Friday morning to meet at the adventure forest. I hesitated for a split second thinking, wait. Obstacle courses, ziplines… maybe I should call Allen. Maybe we should go when I have more help. I don't know how to get there and……
…and then I stopped my maybe-ing and considered the possibility that it might just all work out and the sun was shining and what the heck. We shelved the books and began packing lunch and finding wellies and water bottles. Our destination was Thetford forest. It was great nearly free fun. (As is common in Europe, you are welcome to take yourself on in but the car will cost you to park.)
Tess' favorite part was the musical forest trail. At each turn of the path there was another interactive instrument: chimes, ropes on pulls, in ground piano keys to jump on.
Abbie's favorite part? "The desert," she said. Meaning? The enormous sand pit with the big diggers which I thought would frustrate them but instead they nearly broke a sweat determined to coordinate the two arms.
The boys and their friend played ball in the open field then hit some of the bigger kid equipment. There was a little worrisome point for Brendan. It is not a big deal for Kieran to go off a bit ahead with older kids but Brendan is a little too young to be a big boy and a little too big to be ok being designated in the hand holder group. I could see his brow furrowing some and figured that was the problem. Luckily Aidan saw this too and had him tag along promising to keep a close eye. Brendan brightened right up and stuck close to his side so as to prove he was up for the honor.
By the afternoon's end Abbie proudly announced there was sand in her wellies which translates to "all is well with the world." They were fearless and carefree. Things I was not at their ages. But if you make it to the end you'll see that is changing with time. : )
“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints.” — Wilfred Peterson
Here's to adventuring.
right now
right now I am…..
reading – The Help and loving it.
watching – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and loved that too. Alot.
going – to the vet. Alot too. Yorkie in the throes of an autoimmue crisis. Still unfolding.
– to lunch with a friend
– on ambly, puddle splashing, questions-about-the-universe-asking walks with little people.
planning – Holy Week and Easter projects. Small-scale, simple, natural, classic. Still in development stages but coming together.
enjoying – newly painted trim on the entire farmhouse exterior. The farm does one property on the complex every year and this was our year.
organizing – the magazines. Pulled out the old Victoria's from April's past and getting newly inspired.
cleaning – under furniture. In all rooms.
eating – super 'clean' primal dinners (and meatless/grainfree breakfast and lunch) That's it. Ok and coffee. Finding I am not even all that excited come Sunday's in lent so cravings must be improving. No zealous pitch here. Just is going well. Which means I am sorta…
considering – this
up too late – working through photography workshops and techie materials. Lenten podcasts. Hoping to eventually listen to some of this. Continuing ed for Mom. So much to learn, so little time. The world is a fascinating place.
making – more canvas projects. They usually get uploaded over there and there, whereas I ramble more over here. Make sense? If you want to keep updated on the going's on, pop over. : )
contemplative exercises
It's funny because every day, every single day, for weeks I have thought of all sorts of things to write about – books we read, things we do, thoughts I think. By the end of the day however I am sometimes so worded out. A wonderful thing happens when I sit down though. There is just me and the pictures in my camera from our days. That's all. I sit and look and remember and exhale. Slowly all the stress that creeps in through news and social media and appointments and bills just slowly slips away. All that is left is us again. Just these faces reminding me why I get up in the morning, why the world is still very good. That 'lovely' is not just an impossible dream. It happens right here each day.
Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you.
- Annie Dillard
Lambing Time and Other Pleasures
My first thought was, is it really nuts to pay money to visit a farm? When we live on a farm? When we have lived on farms? My second thought was no. The British concept of farm as attraction is brilliant. It creates income for rural communities and allows children to roll up their sleeves and experience so many more aspects of rural life than any one family could normally enjoy. So we timed our visit to a local farm during lambing season when we could see the spring babies and they could try their hand at bottle feeding. The three youngest had a glorious day truly. They wandered from pen to pasture, fed animals, dug in a massive sand pit, and jumped on the trampolines. We lunched at their cafe and took home happily exhausted children who declared it 'best day ever.'
high five
"We have some good players on the team this year but what we really need is a leader. We are looking to Brendan for that." This was what his coach had to say.
Brendan is smaller than everyone else on his team this year. He runs faster than many of them. He is good at this game, as are many of the others. There is something else about him though, a big heart inside that little man. He has an uncanny ability to see the bigger picture and how several people can work together. How not to sweat the small stuff. That happens when you are the eighth child and have been keeping up with five older brothers your whole life. You quickly learn to assess the game, running two steps for their every one if that's what it takes.
I am really happy he is having so much fun, really happy that all that watching and learning has paid off. Mostly though, I am so happy that he is valued not only for the points he can score but for setting a positive tone with his friends, leading with a smile. I am happy that he high-five's every single teammate when something awesome happens. The score isn't that important to me. He may never be playing soccer on tv but he will be part of other teams. It is my sincere hope that he will always be someone who can be counted on to help others move in the right direction.
Potato Pancakes
Was going to post a menu with recipes but then, remembered whose life I have lol. So maybe some pretty pancakes instead? We made up a bag of potatoes from the farm the night before and used the leftovers to make pancakes for a meatless lunch for the kids the next day. I improvised a recipe similar to this one. Linking that mostly to show the recipe was one with baking powder and no onions. Made them like a breakfast pancake.
wonder and marvel
“Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.”
– William Martin
A friend shared this quote which echoes my focus for my children – embracing the extraordinary ordinary. Ordinary life is extraordinarily beautiful to me.
I saw in my facebook feed this morning that another of my favorite writers, Kim John Payne of Simplicity Parenting is hosting a free video series this week about bringing peace and balance to family life. I recommend Simplicity Parenting often. It may seem a paradox because while I embrace the message wholeheartedly, we do enjoy extracurriculars. But we are also home living very simply during the school days so the balance of in- and out-of-house activities comes out to be the same as he recommends. This isn't about a formula but a balance, about living with margin. I am anxious to hear what he has to say in this series which is a follow up to the book.
Meantime, it has been a warm weekend spent outside. There is a nice semi meatless lenten paleo menu on board for the week. (not the contradiction in terms you might think ; )) We are ready to jump back in to another ordinary day.
Starry Sky Journal 