Aah..hh some sunshine ..

How blessed we were with the sunshine today.

I (Carly) even got the sunscreen out! Very exciting the prospect of some warmer days to enjoy at the farm.

Early in the day, we got presented with a map that luke had made in the morning, the map was of the farm.

It had all of us on it and all the animals too. This map set our day up as it led Lola, Ali Samson and I on adventures and we couldn't get lost ... ... after all, we had our trusty map!

The day was rich with friendship, the children all played together so well. I really saw the love they have for one another and how trusting they are of me, really listening to what I had to say and taking me in.

I was also really able to sit back and watch as all the kids played games that changed quite rapidly from being dinosaurs, to being cows, then dogs  ... ... all just organically unfolding, but without any fuss, so not much need for me to intervene.

It's really great to see how much they grow and change week to week.

We also had a treat today ... 

It is Lukes birthday on Saturday, so Vicki made some gluten free cup cakes for us to all share (which I'm sure Monique would have loved, but she was still not well this week. We missed her being there .. )

We sang happy birthday and chomped on the really yummy cupcake after our lunch.

Thanks Vicki!

What a great adition to our sunny fun filled day at the farm ...

farm 29.09.10c

... and here we all are last week at play ...

From Collages 22.09.10c

How old is old .. ?

Christian, Saava, Imogen, George, Matilda and Omkara spent the day together at the farm .. ..

.. .. and it really was a wonderful day.

At one point, Christian told me his, 'Great, great, great, great grandmother was ninety-nine and having a birthday soon.'

I didn't worry too much that all those greats meant amazingly young mums in the family line... ...instead I asked if it was mum or dad's family.

Christian told me his fathers, mothers, mother. 

So we got down to one great before grandmother and he went on to tell me she was going to get a special letter or certificate.

I told him that was true, she would get a telegram from the Queen for her birthday as that is what happens to everyone living in Australia when they turn 100.

Christian seemed pretty happy that I knew about this as we talked about how that was a long life and really worth celebrating.

A while later he asked me, 'What if you lived to a thousand or something?'

I told him that I'd never heard of anyone living that long and I couldn't imagine it happening as it would be so very old.

He persisted, 'Yeah, but what would happen?'

I said again, 'I couldn't imagine .. ', quietly thinking of the signs of aging carried onwards for 1000 years (phew, that would take a body to it's limit and beyond)  and  asked Christian what did he think .. ?

He replied matter of factly, 'Well you'd have to at least get another certificate!'

... and I got it, if 100 gets you a 'certificate', 1000 is way older, could it possibly get you something better .. ? 

Very curious and enterprising little mind inside that boy ..

... before and after that moment we covered much ground and had a huge amount of fun and adventure.  The dynamic between the children was pretty extraordinary all day.  Lots of interest in each other and willingness to find out about each other and shifting dynamic of play ... ... eveyone together, then older and younger, then siblings and not and then girls and boys, evey arrangement possible happened throughout the day quite naturally and with ease and grace.

Why not see it all in the slide show at this point of each and all of the chidlren ...



We cooed over baby lambs and chased the baby goats, we watched the peacock dancing and listened to his call. We walked in the drizzle and sheltered in the barn.  We climbed trees and played cubbies and fed horses ...

 ... and played hide and seek in three different spots on the farm.

One game happened down the back in the 'Witches Garden', our little bit of scared ground where hardly another soul comes.  Not a bad place to play, though we did find each other quickly.

We then played near the big Oak Tree.  There we found most lush green grass of all where you good just flop to the ground and be hidden from sight.  Pretty good.



The best place of all was in the vege garden.  It is like one giant enormous maze and with all the different little patches and the way it's set up, it is oh so easy to hide and stay low and move on when you hear the seeker coming.

We also climbed an enormous hill with a walking path to the bottom that makes the best slide of all.

... come on Georgie, your turn to come up and we know you can do it ...

and he did with a smile!

This was an adventure for Christian, Saava, Immi and Omkara who all relished the challenge of getting to the top.

For Matilda it was an awsome challenge which she tried again and again.  She clambered up behind the older children and when the going got tough called out, 'Hey wait for me, I'm not berry strong you know.'  I kept telling her how brave she was and that was all she needed to hear to keep on going and enjoy the ride down, even if looking a little timid about it at times ...



For George it was a curiosity to try and then he had the most fun with me at the bottom watching everyone head up and them slide and tumble their way down ...

... and the gentler aspect of our day looked a bit like this ...

From Collages

... and if you want a peek at how rich and full our day really was, treat yourself ... ... roll your mouse over the photo below, click and take a large slow slide show tour with us all ... it really was a wonderful day ...

farm27.09.10

No place better for a birthday ...

Have a look at this gorgeous little crew all at the farm to celebrate Daisy May's third birthday ...


 Dawn, Sienna, Magnus, George, Daisy and Immi ...

Lessons from a little slug ...

Friday morn was very gentle for Carly's little gang.

It started with just Frieda, Gabriella and Mac together.  The two girls had a moment to rest into one another's company.

Together with Mac they said hello to the baby lambs and along came Darcy to join them.

Gabriella was really asking all her friends if they would like to come to the sand pit with her (the horse corral) .. .. using beautiful manners and being very caring with her very personal manner .. .. she found out that, 'Yes!', they would all love to join her.

We actually never made it to the sand pit.  Instead we spent some time on the seats near the cafe .. .. under the trees.

Gabriella found a strip of plastic from a straw that had a slug in it.  She gathered everyone around to investigate.  They were all very interest and spen quite some time looking and asking question like, 'Carly, what is it?'  'Carly, can I eat it?'  'Carly, can I touch it?' 'Carly, can I squash it?' 'Carly, can you eat it?' 

I hung in there, (giggling to myself) and giving full answer and explanation.

Yes...no...why or why not and then we put little sluggy on a rock and put the plastic in the bin.

The rest of the day was different to other weeks as we spent much of our time with Danella and her gang. 

This was an organic unfoldment that was really good for us all.

Lots of moments with the children finding new friends and learning new ways to interact. 

The beautiful thing out of this was Frieda and Dawn absolutley loving each others company.  They had a real feeling for each other and real understanding and enjoyment.

There were many harmonious moments of different mixes of children and also many simple moments of one on one play that worked well.

It was wonderful to observe and see all the children in a new light through this.

It was also a great addition to our day and time seemed to just vanish...

Hmm...is that Frieda dancing with Dawn and holding onto Mac ...

Dawn wrapping herself round Mac ... big wrap lots of gentle ...

Magnus ...

There is no one quite like Magnus ...

Today as we walked in to play with the lambs, he dragged his feet through the ankle length grass, gave a little 'humph' and announced, 'Dis grass bit long. Need someone mow it short.'

He's looks like an angel, has a heart of gold and sounds in moments like this little old grandpa annoyed with life's business not being taken care of.

Later in the morning, he was being super gorgeous with all and saw me take a photo and asked to see it.  This became, 'What about my eye?', 'Now da udder one' and on I went in his delight and this is what I caught ...

From Collages

Last word ... ... about the photo at the top of the collage where Magnus has his little thumb up ... ... ... he'd not long before scraped his thumb some on a tree ... ... tiniest little mark and he came to me for some  tlc.

I rubbed in the green oil (a naturopathic oil of steeped garden herbs that cures all manner of ills and woes for us) and Magnus kept on playing with his thumb stuck out, checking all the time to make sure the green oil was still there and his thumb was ok.

When the photos got going, he wanted to show his sore thumb and twisted his hand this way and that way all the while with his eye on the tiny dot of a scratch knowing that I wasn't going to see it until he got it in the right place.

Finally he realised he was showing it and got really happy that he figured out how to show his scratch. 

I had a laugh as all I could see was an inadvertant yet beaming little mister thumbs up.

Hello Cosmos ...

Our newest little farmer on thursday mornings is Cosmos.

What a dear little boy.

He took meeting us all and being at the farm very much in his stride.  Knowing the farm already may have helped, it's familiar ground and he obviously loves the place.

He also was very happy to join the little band of angels who play on thursday mornings, Dakota, Ava, Milana and Farrah and they happy for him to be with us too ...

Busy boy with Dakota near by ..



... you found me!



I've become superfluous ...

I guess I could also have called this entry 'Mastering the artform' ... ... either way, this is what happened.

It's school holidays at the farm and that means, lots of people.

Today, Omkara, Finn, Harvey, Pepper and I made our way around the farm for hours avoiding the crowds, having fun and eventually way down in the stable paddock, in a quiet corner near the river, the children all really dropped into the zone together.

They were happy, really enjoying playing together and on top of a couple of small stands for the horse arena which were upside down and off the ground and perfect for a vehicle .. .. all were on a journey to go camping.

Out of the blue, Pepper piped up and said, "Excuse me danella, we don't need you anymore."

To which Finn soon added, "Excuse me... ...and we don't need you to listen to us."

Followed by Pepper again with, " ... and we don't need you to look at us either."

Rounded up with agreement from Harvey and Omkara, 'Yeah, we don't.. ..it's true we don't'

I laughed and for a moment caught myself thinking, 'I wonder what they are wanting to get up to ..' .. then knew I trusted them enough to say, 'O.K.,' and to just move to the side and slightly behind their play and to stare off into the distance with my head turned... ...knowing that with no eye contact happening and being out of view, it would be almost as if I wasn't there ...

... and that was that ...

I wasn't needed ...

... their play continued in the most ordinary of ways and later as I considered this some more, it seemed to me that the children  so trusted our process of being together that they recognised when they'd achieved real harmony and being together for themselves and were just caring to let me know... ...'Hey the stuff you're here for, we don't need it, we've got there ourselves!'

Extraordinary wisdom when you think of it ...

As I'd 'not listened' and 'not watched' and 'not been needed' ... ... I'd notice the childrens manners had been impeccable, their interest in each other genuine, their willingness to express themselves and listen to each other strong, their play creative and spirited and the harmony and love between them true and deep.

It was really true, they didn't need me and I didn't mind at all ...

... and of course there was holiday tuesday ...

Well guess what?  Remember all that time ago last thursday when we said goodbye to Willow ..  ?  Well she came back, just for the day, along with her brother Ryder and three new friends for a day at the farm .. Ilan, Isabel and Aki ..

.. and we covered lots of ground together and got to see much about the farm that is special ..

We visited my vege patch for a look and a wander and grabbed some asian greens going to seed to feed the chooks and goats with ...

Willow and Isabel had lots of giggles .. wandering along hand in hand and Isabel reaching out to have both hands from time to time which meant stopping for a little jiggle and a dance and of course .. lots of giggles ..

We chatted with the goats many times through out the day ..

.. snoozed in a tree :) ..

.. looked for bugs and found worms and slugs ..

.. visited baby sheep, shooed lots of chickens, watched the ducks, patted the cats, saw all the horses with some kids lucky enough to spend time with them, met Tiny Sal and Dora, the two gorgeous belted galoway cows ..

.. and for the first time ever were serenaded by some accordain musci courtesy of Ilan, which turned into a spontaneous gig between Ryder and Ilan .. Ryder on 'keyboard' and Ilan doing 'percussion ..

.. for more peeks at what we did on the day ..



Who came along on holiday monday ..?

Ruby and Bo, Masouda and Meemee, Soul and Omkara ... ... quite the gang!

We started off in with the goats.  A good place to warm up and get to know each other ...

... and it wasn't long before we had some, 'Eww what's that?' moments... ... it was Poo of course and there is always plenty of that round the farm and plenty mileage in that type of conversation with a group of kids ... look at these guys all checking where they are standing ...



Bo ..

Ruby ..

Masouda ..

Meemee ..

Soul and  Omkara ..

Our day was one long meander and loads of fun ...

From cow milking to chicken shooing, watching peacocks dance and guinea pig cuddles, tree climbing and cubby playing and the most gorgeous end to the day on the hill down by the river. 

All old timers know that hill is called 'The Rolling Hill' and why .. ? .. because it's a great hill to roll on, gentle slope, soft green grass, fenced at the bottom so we don't end up IN the river ... and roll and tumble and laugh we all did.

Bo was like a little rocket, Masouda long and lean, Soul and Ruby found a way to do it in tandem and Omkara laughed heaps at this and Meemee ... she had her turns right in amongst it all.



... all watching the cow milking, right before we each had turns ourselves ...



Found a scarecrows hat ...

The clown or jester often looms large in moments on a friday morn, as it lives large inside the children along on that day and they really love it in each other.

As we all sat on a blanket by the fire, talking and simply enjoying being together, Daisy at one point got up, walked behind me and said, 'Yook at me Doo-aya.' 

Here's what I saw ... ...

A little while later, Magnus said, 'Hey look at me now ...'

... and then the girls noticed my reading glasses case had fallen out of my bag ...

... Daisy looking to show Dawn ...

Dawn looking at me and Daisy to show her 'glasses look'...

... and then it was my turn and Dawn announced, 'Danell-er, you look like a shop assistant girl ... '

Magnus had also just returned from a holiday on Hamilton Island.  I asked him about it and having grown up in queensland and knowing the Whitsunday area some, I was thinking of the beaches and the warmth and how it all feels and asked, 'Did you have a swim in the ocean Magnus?'

He gave a little grandpa grumble, 'Huhh ..uh, NO, they don't have ocean there, only sea.'

Magnus with Immi the guinea pig ...

Now that's a good feed of grass for a guinea pig !

... and where was George whilst all the fun was happening ... ?

... well cuddling guinea pigs too and mostly enjoying laughing at all the fun that was happening!

It wasn't only the children, the peacocks were funny too ...

 

In the early morning we had the magnificent spectacle of this male dancing for his mate.  Bowing and shimmy-ing and and shaking his little tail feather ...

... and near by was a younger male, shall we call him a teenager.  He too shook his tail feather ... for the chickens ...

... and for a brief moment in time it may well have looked like he was doing well as the chickens gathered in number ...

... most likely though, that was to do with the food thrown down for them as past experience has shown, when in the mood, male peacocks dance for anything with two legs and feathers and the chickens don't bat an eyelid or even notice ...