Wellington walks in the mud

We went for a walk yesterday afternoon; a squelchy, muddy walk. The rain held off and we went in search of horses. I grew up opposite horse fields and with a passion for riding so it’s an afternoon activity that I enjoy as much as ‘T’. We got to the first horse field which was completley empty – it was sweet to watch ‘T’ calling ‘D-orsch’ over and over to an empty field! We walked in our wellies to the next field and there were no horses there either, though ‘T’ enjoyed the walk, stopping to look at feathers, berries and make squelching noises with her boots.

Finally we found a horse and said hello and fed him some grass. I love these afternoons with my girl xx

Outside play-kitchen

The runner beans have gone, our rabbit, Mavis ate most of them as ‘T’ was so delighted to pick them all by herself and run to feed them to our rabbit. In place of the beans I have made a little area for ‘T’ to play in where she can make mess and play with no restrictions of having to be careful not to spill anything!

I’ve used an old bedside cabinet which we used to have by our bed, I found in in a charity shop years ago though it’s been in the shed for quite some time. I also found a little coffee table – just the right size, it was really cheap at another charity shop and after a varnish and drying out in the sunshine they are both ready for play.

Some old enamel ware donated by my Mum, some conkers, pine cones, acorns, petals, lavender, sticks and leaves that ‘T’ and I have collected over the summer, sand from the sand-pit and wood shavings (kindly donated by Mavis!) It’s so good to watch ‘T’ play for so long, sorting, moving, pouring, mixing, arranging and re-arranging all of her utensils. I’d love to know what she’s thinking as she potters around looking very busy.

I think we’ll spend many an afternoon out here, no matter what the weather is, we have waterproofs and snowsuits ready for that!

Collecting sticks

I’ve come accross some really inspirational outdoor play areas through pinterest lately and I’ve been inspired to make an outside area for little ‘T’ to play in, first of all we’ll have to wait for the runner beans to go over as that’s the area we will use. I have an old Loyd Loom bedside cabinet which I hope to convert into a mini ‘cooker’, I’m going to do some more hunting in charity shops for shapes and baskets and other containers, Grandma has kindly donated some tin pots for sorting and storing, and ‘T’ and I went out yesterday to collect some supplies in nearby woodland.

The aim was to find lots of different things to bring home with us, the she enjoyed the task of looking for sticks and then proudly carrying them to the bag so much that we didn’t get anything else, a nearby combine harvester was on the move and the noise kept grabbing her attention so she was pleased when we found it (apparantly it was a tracrot and not a combine harvester!).