Planting veges and a windmill ...

Today was quite glorious.

The weather man called it 22 deg c.

We experienced, clear skies, warm sun and ... well ... quite a glorious day.

Pepper, Omkara, Finn and Agnes spent the morning in the vege garden.

We carted some compost, turned the soil, planted lots of seedlings and took heaps of fresh parsley with us.  Yum!

When I asked Pepper and Agnes if they knew how to plant and Pepper said, 'I do,' and she told us step by step, little trowel in hand ...

'You dig a little hole like this ... and you make a little pile of dirt over here ... and you put the little plant in ... and you pat the dirt around.'

Agnes was intent and the two girls planted out a whole section on their own. Pepper teaching Agnes, Agnes learning fast, both checking for each other that things were going well and both feeling oh so proud and happy.



Meanwhile, Omkara and Finn were watering and chatting away, Finn a dab hand in the garden and noticing how many of each thing was growing and he and Omkara getting lost looking at slugs and worms and slaters.

Eventually they got digging and planting too.

The whole patch was alive and happy, both plants and children. 

It was wonderful to share this with them.

... even Patsy the cow wandered by and lay in the grass and enjoyed us ...

We loaded up all the seeding plants and filled a barrow to take off and feed the chooks, goats and pigs ... on the way we saw that the windmill was up and working ...

... and the conversation went like this ...

Pepper .. 'Look, look a windmill.'

Agnes .. 'It's working.'

Omkara .. 'How does that happen?'

'Well,' says Finn, 'Smoke.  It's smoke blowing out of that red thing that makes it work. Can you see that red thing up there, it's got a fire in the middle somewhere making smoke and the smoke is blowing it round.'

Silence for a very steady moment .. all eyes on the red thing and the windmill.

Finn, 'Hmm, I can't see smoke.  I don't think it does work like that. Hmm .. danella, how does it work?'

Me, 'Wind, the wind blows it round.

Finn, "That's why they call it a windmill.'

We then had a great chat about how the tanks were there to catch the rain and the windmill was now there to pump the water to the back paddocks of the farm.  It felt so good to share this gentle technology with the children.

... and our afternoon wound up on the bluestone seat, gently playing in the warm sun in the garden surrounded by the most gorgeous of flowers ...