The sun is back! Outside, the temperatures hovered dangerously near freezing at dawn, but bounced back quickly to May levels in the course of the morning. It's a beautiful day at the farmette!
But breakfast is a rather serious affair.
Ed and I are in the thick of a dispute: I have wanted to purchase a sandbox for Snowdrop for a while now. Ed thinks this is the world's dumbest idea.
There's so much for her to explore outside! You don't need to add stuff.
There's so much creative play in a sandbox!
We've been going around this for a while now and I have to say that my lobbying for a sandbox is a scaled down effort, as I originally was ogling a whole playground set on craigslist.
There are play grounds all over this town! (That's Ed again.)
But you always have to get in the car and drive to them. You can't just say to the girl -- want to go out and play for a few minutes?
There's plenty to do here!
There would be more to do if you ever cut back the grass to levels that Snowdrop can navigate! (Lately, he's been on a kick to let the grass grow tall. Really tall. For example, he has yet to cut it at all this year...)
When Ed's friends stopped by yesterday, they were incredulous: you mean you wont build the little girl a sandbox?
He reconsiders, but reluctantly. How big do you want it?
I show him an example of a nice one at Home Depot. Frankly, it's easier just to pick one up there.
Ed agrees. To a tiny one.
But at the last minute, I opt for a slightly bigger one with a play area next to it. Ed sulks.
Still, it's a beautiful day at the farmette!
The cheepers follow me everywhere...
You just have to love this time of the year with your entire soul!
Snowdrop is absolutely ready for an adventure after school!
But I keep our neighborhood walk short. It would be nice to take advantage of the good weather and spend some time exploring spring at the farmette.
Ed is there to greet us as we arrive. Of course, the first glorious thing to show off is the big blooming crab. We're thrilled to hear the hum of bees all around it! (And yes, a beekeeper was to set up a hive for us this spring, but he hasn't done it yet.)
Snowdrop is happy to stay outside. She runs to the barn, feeds the cheepers, discovers an egg...
And now Ed is determined to really get her excited about the simple things around us. Like the pile of wood chips out back.
Snowdrop is much bolder with him than she is with me. This same pile of chips did nothing for her when the chipper dumped it here a month ago. (Want to go up? No!) But now that ahah's treating it as his own Mount Everest, she must take it on as well!
Me, I do what I would have done back in my childhood days at my grandparents's village home in Poland: I make a dandelion wreath.
Well, Snowdrop's head is large, but not that large! It is, nonetheless, a fine necklace.
She and Ed proceed to build houses out of chips. We listen to the birds and the sound of a distant train...
... and even though he says nothing, I know what he is thinking -- you do not need a sandbox!
And I know what I am thinking -- oh, a sandbox would be so fine for her on this beautiful day! Decked with dandelions!
But the little one is oblivious to this unspoken current of opinion. She is joyous. She is as thrilled to be finally outdoors as I am. She is the king of the mountain!
Oh, farmette life! It is so very beautiful! The old farmhouse is our piece of heaven. The flower beds are sumptuous. The porch envisioned and pieced together -- a piece of art! Work here is never ending but so very rewarding.
And then there are the two of us -- so very different, so very stubborn, so full of (often diverging) vision and ideas. But surprisingly (who would have thought?!), so happy. Only perhaps not this morning at breakfast. Love held, but scowls prevailed.
But breakfast is a rather serious affair.
Ed and I are in the thick of a dispute: I have wanted to purchase a sandbox for Snowdrop for a while now. Ed thinks this is the world's dumbest idea.
There's so much for her to explore outside! You don't need to add stuff.
There's so much creative play in a sandbox!
We've been going around this for a while now and I have to say that my lobbying for a sandbox is a scaled down effort, as I originally was ogling a whole playground set on craigslist.
There are play grounds all over this town! (That's Ed again.)
But you always have to get in the car and drive to them. You can't just say to the girl -- want to go out and play for a few minutes?
There's plenty to do here!
There would be more to do if you ever cut back the grass to levels that Snowdrop can navigate! (Lately, he's been on a kick to let the grass grow tall. Really tall. For example, he has yet to cut it at all this year...)
When Ed's friends stopped by yesterday, they were incredulous: you mean you wont build the little girl a sandbox?
He reconsiders, but reluctantly. How big do you want it?
I show him an example of a nice one at Home Depot. Frankly, it's easier just to pick one up there.
Ed agrees. To a tiny one.
But at the last minute, I opt for a slightly bigger one with a play area next to it. Ed sulks.
Still, it's a beautiful day at the farmette!
The cheepers follow me everywhere...
You just have to love this time of the year with your entire soul!
Snowdrop is absolutely ready for an adventure after school!
But I keep our neighborhood walk short. It would be nice to take advantage of the good weather and spend some time exploring spring at the farmette.
Ed is there to greet us as we arrive. Of course, the first glorious thing to show off is the big blooming crab. We're thrilled to hear the hum of bees all around it! (And yes, a beekeeper was to set up a hive for us this spring, but he hasn't done it yet.)
Snowdrop is happy to stay outside. She runs to the barn, feeds the cheepers, discovers an egg...
And now Ed is determined to really get her excited about the simple things around us. Like the pile of wood chips out back.
Snowdrop is much bolder with him than she is with me. This same pile of chips did nothing for her when the chipper dumped it here a month ago. (Want to go up? No!) But now that ahah's treating it as his own Mount Everest, she must take it on as well!
Me, I do what I would have done back in my childhood days at my grandparents's village home in Poland: I make a dandelion wreath.
Well, Snowdrop's head is large, but not that large! It is, nonetheless, a fine necklace.
She and Ed proceed to build houses out of chips. We listen to the birds and the sound of a distant train...
... and even though he says nothing, I know what he is thinking -- you do not need a sandbox!
And I know what I am thinking -- oh, a sandbox would be so fine for her on this beautiful day! Decked with dandelions!
But the little one is oblivious to this unspoken current of opinion. She is joyous. She is as thrilled to be finally outdoors as I am. She is the king of the mountain!
Oh, farmette life! It is so very beautiful! The old farmhouse is our piece of heaven. The flower beds are sumptuous. The porch envisioned and pieced together -- a piece of art! Work here is never ending but so very rewarding.
And then there are the two of us -- so very different, so very stubborn, so full of (often diverging) vision and ideas. But surprisingly (who would have thought?!), so happy. Only perhaps not this morning at breakfast. Love held, but scowls prevailed.
We have a sandbox for our children and I have to admit it was a waste of money and effort. All the kids prefer dinging in my raised beds, in the dirt than in the sand. As far as little playground, I also came to conclusion that they don't last long enough. They are only attractive for little children and they outgrow it quickly. We have a swing between trees on long straps, that can swing really high. That swing has always been a treat for all the kids in the neighborhood. Also tire swings are great and even adults can use it.
ReplyDeleteI sort of agree with you: I love the looks of your swing/hammock and digging in dirt is as good and perhaps better than playing in sand. But I don't have those options! Our soil is either fully planted or covered with thick wood chips. I keep having to redirect Snowdrop -- who is all too eager to dig in my flower beds! "Don't step there!" "no, don't pick that!" And the woodchips -- well, Ed to the contrary, they're just not that kid friendly.
DeleteBut as for playground sets -- it's true. We saved up to buy my girls one when they were little and they hardly used it. Snowdrop loves playgrounds, but she has other opportunities to go to the public ones. I do think she'd like a sandbox... :)
So I'm replying just to be contrary ;)
DeleteThe sandbox was endlessly popular with our boys, and the trick is to rotate the things going on in there. It has to be covered to keep the feral cats from thinking it is a luxury litterbox.
and the best money I ever spent was $1000 (in 1985 dollars) for a big versatile wooden swingset with gymnastics features, playhouse, lookout, slides etc etc. We put it together with some help and some hindrance from the boys. It was in continuous use for many years! (We are not within walking distance of anything else)
I think this may be because we had three boys who loved to play together, and the oldest was a very imaginative guy and a good leader to his little brothers. They grew up to have leadership roles of their own, professionally, so they were learning a lot from him.
Snowdrop, alone at your house, may just be endlessly interested in what YOU are doing! And that can't be wrong, can it? She seems to me a very advanced little 2-year-old.
I do a little bit address these points in today's post. I want Snowdrop to be physically confident. Because I sure was. There are many ways of doing this, but given that she is at this point an only child and given that she spends so much time with a grandma, shouldn't I create more opportunities that are a little outside the box for me?
DeleteOn the other hand, she fell off a play structure at school today, right onto her head! Whoa! Glad it wasn't on my time!
For bad weather we loved a sand tray inside where little worlds can be made (I had one there as a therapist for sandplay options but it's great for play in general - something about sand through fingers and the way the box contains their worlds of toys and natural objects.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I would love that cheepers photo as a Redbubble card?
Done! Find under "spring cheepers." Thanks!
Delete