Gentle rain ...

Eden, Mika, Cassius, Archie, Lola and Francesca spent hours today playing in light drizzle ... it was only in the afternoon that it started to feel a bit cold ... so it was quite lovely to be in this gentleness today ... still and quiet and lush ... and we all got cosy before this with guinea pig cuddles all round ...

If there was a creature to be found ... Cassius was our man ... slugs and snails, spiders and worms ... they all showed their heads when he was around and he was deft at getting them on a stick or showing them to us all.  Right from the start of the day, I could see he had a way with each creature he encountered, from  the most gentle and tender of approaches with Possum the guinea pig ... to a stick with a spider dangling that he held like a master, for all to see ...

Eden and Mika were totally delighted to be both at the farm and together ... they are both very funny in the sweetest of ways.   Mika was looking at me with her brown eyes like a pond you could fall right into and I said, 'Look at you brown eyed princess.'  She quickly replied, 'Pink eyed princess'  ... and all day ... all things ... were pink ... now that's what I call seeing the world through rose coloured glasses.

Eden had the cutest picture with him that he'd drawn before coming, paper in one hand, pen in the other, he wandered roung looking like an artist in residence or man on a mission ... until eventually it was ok for the paper and pen to go away for a while so his hands were free to play.

Francesca found a goose egg in the duck house this morning.  It was huge and she stumbled and dropped it, then turned to show me a very cracked though somehow still intact egg.  This is never a problem as the pigs LOVE a raw egg ... it's quite the piggy treat and Greta who has piglets coming was happy with her gift ...

Having Lola along was like being with a walking history book ... and I mean that in the best of ways, she has so much history with things down here at the farm that she and I were able to banter about this through the day ... which we both really enjoyed.   

... and Archie was ... well, Archie, huggable, affable, funny, loving and really good company.   He also thought I was a pretty good singer while I made up songs about everyone ... what started as a moment turned into a string of requests ... each child wanting to hear, their name and their song ... Archie loved this and found it really funny as I made them all up on the spot. 

The dynamic between the children was gorgeous ... all day long ... it took no time to warm up and we walked and climbed hills, visited gardens, played in the sand, picnicked in the barn and by the afternoon we pretty well had the whole farm just to ourselves.  Songs were sung, games were played, new friendships had formed and everyone headed for home, filled up, feeling good about themselves and having loved the time together ... mm..mmm ... life doesn't get much better than that.