Dino land, puppet shows and birthday time for Ali ...

Kari's gangs latest visits, down at the farm ...

Wednesday 28th July saw the return straight back into dino land from the last weeks play. The group came together and immediately found their way into the imaginary play that had so captivated them earlier.

Even though there was variation in the group (Ella was with us rather than Ali) it didn't matter at all. Ella threw herself in with much gusto and found her role as the 'dino-mermaid egg collector' easily.

Luke went back to his dino house and began the big job of putting all logs that had made his home back into the very same place that they had been when he was playing there last.....a job he needed help with.

Lucky there were willing hands!

The imaginary play continued through the day. After lunch Lola, Natalie, Monique and Ella put on a puppet show for us .....there was some singing of very funny songs and some greatly entertaining performances. It took alot to set the stage right but it was all worth it in the end and very much part of the fun!

Wednesday 4th August was pretty wet but pretty gorgeous out in the beauty of the farm.......and finding the dry spots when the rain came!

We all had our gumboots on today which was great for muddy play....Lola found a great boat while exploring the veggie patches and everyone discussed the best place for it to be launched.

They explored the whole area and decided on a puddle!...it was a short voyage and it was discovered that the boat didn't really float well but no one was disappointed..it had been enough to be a part of the game together ...

It was Ali's birthday on Saturday and she brought some treats for us all to share! Happy birthday Ali......we all sang and celebrated and shared together!

Farm 28.07.10 and 04.08.10k

Making fires and photos of cubby huts

We lit the fire on wednesday, Finn, Omkara, Pepper and I ...

First things first, we headed up to the shed with a wheelbarrow to find some kindling.  The guys working there chopped us a huge pile of wood.  This was loaded up in the barrow and taken back to the barn...

Have a look at our fire and woodstacking adventure.  It was a big hit with everyone who walked into the barn when we got finally got it going!

When we sat by the fire for a bit to eat, Omakra decided a snooze would be good.  He snuggled in with us and filled himself up with how good that felt ...

We also walked to the convent and visited c3, the art gallery.  They had some fantastic pictures of abandoned cubbies in there. 

You can find out all about the photos and the man who took them, Daniel Armstrong, here ...  Abandoned Cubby Huts and Artistis statement

There was a great installation with a giant squid sleeping bag that we were allowed to climb into ...

If you want to find out more, take a look here ... c3 contemporary art-space

We all can't wait until next week to see Harvey and Agnes back with us too.

farm 04.08.10

A moments beauty ...

... in the bush

... in the garden

Changing landscapes ...

Last wednesday saw Finn, Omkara and Pepper spend the day at the farm and in our travels we had the most unexpected of things happen.

In the afternoon, we walked up through the convent gardens and out the back towards the bike path heading for 'Our Special Tree', a little clump of Ash tree-lings that have been part of our world for years.

All of a sudden Finn calls, 'Look, look Da-nilla' and there before us were stumps on the ground where 'Our Special Tree' had once stood.

We were all instantly in shock.

What had happened ... who did this ... and ... where had it gone?

A thousand worlds of imaginative play had disappeared and we didn't know why.

This little clump of trees had grown in such a way that it provided the most sacred of places for imagination to unfold. 

In the warmer months alive and green, you could enter into an area, surrounded through the way the tree had grown, with 'rooms' or pockets of space that became many things.

... ... a home, a pirate ship, a space ship, a zoo, fairyland, nests, homebase for world and space travel, a magnificnet kitchen full of busy hands creating meals ... ... world after world had opened up in that space through the childrens imagination and love.

In the cooler months we'd see the leaves disappear and the whole space become spindly and wiley looking and more open sparce play would take shape.  Somewhere to meet and decide what to play outside the space.

One much loved clump of Ash trees ...

I couldn't answer any of the children's questions about what, who  and why.  I could only be with them, feeling the shock, hearing the questions and seeing before my eyes the scar that was there for us all where once our imaginal world had thrived. We would walk this path now and remember, we would walk this path and miss.  We may even walk this path and wish, that just for a day 'Our Special Tree' was there again. I promised the children I would find out before we saw each other again, just what had happened. On our way back to the farm, we noticed that this wasn't the only tree to have disappeared.  There was also a tiny wayward apple tree just outside the convent grounds that we loved and often took a moments rest at.  It was good for hiding in, shading under, resting near and we'd see the fruit come and go and take with us any apples that had dropped to feed the horses or to just to treasure and play with. On returning to the farm, I found out that no one at the farm knew either what had happened to the trees ... I later rang the council, to keep my promise to find out what had happened.   I found out that part of the city's treescaping involves removing from time to time any self seeding or weed plant growing close to the Yarra River to protect our water ways and native species.  The biological ecology of the trees being removed made sense .. .. .. and yet the ecology of the heart and spirit of the community were the part of the picture and awareness that we were feeling. From our view of the world, no one knew why or how or who, it just happened. I shared, from my perspective in my call with the council, what that tree has meant in the lives of the children I know and also what I know that tree means to many other children and their families who walk that path.  It has been a source of sustenance, wonder and magic in all our lives and the importance of talking with people about even small changes like that to their landscape is something that matters. Next week, I will tell the children what I know and will see them grow in awareness too.  Harvey will be with us and soon Agnes back from Norway (we all miss her and really look forward to that), so we'll be re-telling our story and getting used to our changed landscape. What we all have that will never change are the imprints in our hearts of the worlds that we all knew through that little clump of Ash trees. Omkara resting and cosy earlier in the day ... Finn ... Peppercorn drinking from a fairy pool ... ... droplets of rain that have gathered in a nasturium life like a ball of liquid silver ...

Poo Bear, something flying in the air and a magnificent horse ...

A plane flew overhead today and a conversation between Dakota and Winston ensued.

Dakota looked up and excitedly said, 'Look, it's a ana-plane'

Winston, 'No, it's not.'

Dakota stood her ground, 'Yes it is.'

Winston, 'No, I know what it is.'

Dakota as if pre-empting, 'It's NOT a hela-copter.'

A quiet moment...

Dakota, 'It's a ana-plane.'

Winston, 'It's not, it's a hair-a-plane.'

At another point in the day, watching Jo the pony and Pierre the calf, Winston, Milana and Dakota were determined to encourage them across the paddock they were in to where we stood watching.

Dakota and Winston called, 'Pierre, Pierre'  No response and so they continued with Milana watching and joining in calling, 'Poo-bear, poo-bear.'  

She watched the others some more and tilted her head to one side as if realising she hadn't quite got it right and then joins in again and calls, 'Pee-bear, pee-bear.'

Very cute indeed.

Milana also had her first real guinea pig cuddle.  Every week she comes along, very excited about seeing them, insists I get her one and as soon as it's close tells me, 'No, no,' with her hands up in front as if to say, '...I don't know what to do when it's this close.'

This week she took too it like she'd done it a thousand times before...

We encountered the most magnificent black horse in the menage during the afternoon.  Winston was awestruck as he was quite magnificent, big, shiny and black. 

Winston asked Liz who was training him a million questions and patted him and talked to him.

The crowning glory of this moment for was when he asked Liz the horses name. 

His eyes large and bright and smile wrapped right across his face when he registered what he had heard.

Winston Teddy Hall found out the horses name is Teddy!

farm29.08.10