The long coronation weekend started early for our children when we marked the national event on Friday morning. The scene was set with the union flag, and a throne and crown waiting for the monarch. The children were so respectful and responsive to the sound of the national anthem.
The crown did not fit any of our children. Clearly, it was not intended for them. So they made crowns of their own to wear for celebration.
At the other end of the month, we had a Czech visitor to share a maypole. Children chose a coloured ribbon with which to decorate the wreath. There was the rehearsing of the names of colours in Czech before the pole was erected.
At ten in the evening, all was well. By dawn, something was very wrong. The first sight on approaching the chicken run was one of the residents slumped on the ladder up to the hutch. All was silent, which did not bode well.
Two chickens had gone missing entirely and another was found dead, apparently having been dragged under the damaged chicken wire.
So the four brown chickens had all been killed. The identity of the preditor is in doubt. Perhaps it was a badger, or a polecat, or more likely a fox.
The chicken run fence needs to be strengthened, and the children must have it all explained appropriately.
We already had three or four new chickens on the way. They had been intended to supplement, not replace, the brown ones. Meanwhile, Rosie, the white chicken, continues in her old agae.
Larry lost his life last week. Because it was half term, it was not possible to have a burial service with the children. Instead, they heard the story of a rabbit who came to us in 2019, before we were at Tarly Pit, named Liszie, because we thought we had two girl bunnies. We soon noticed the mistake, and so Larry was named. He also had to go to the vet to avoid Annie having lots of baby bunnies.
In 2020, poor Larry was attacked by a rat, and one of his eyes was badly injured. He was back to the vet again and eventually recovered. That eye was always a weakness, and sometimes children noticed that “Larry’s eye is bad today.”
At Easter 2021, Larry and Annie Rabbit were stolen from the site. Through Facebook, they were traced and returned. See https://mrnoahs
They had endured a harrowing time, and Larry was particularly anxious as a result.
A week ago, Larry’s eye looked poorly and very soon he was found still warm but dead. He was buried on the north boundary of our field, and the children prepared a pot of bulbs to mark the place.
One of the best portraits we have of Larry was taken only a few weeks ago.
We were inspected by OFSTED in January, as recorded in an earlier blog post. Now the report has arrived by email. It is gratifying to be judged ‘Outstanding’, but there is so much more than could be observed on one cold winter’s day.
The inspector missed most of the normal activities on the plat because we sought the warmth of the sunshine on the field.
Then there are the log stepping stones in the woods which are so good for the development of balance, strength and awareness of the body. But we hadn’t constructed it in time.
And there has been the processing and spreading of compost – all that potential knowledge of the world.
This activity deserves a blog post in its own right.
Never mind, we are grateful that the inspector liked what could be seen on the day in question. Well done, staff! Thank you, parents for your generous support, and all those who pray for us.
After a very wet late Autumn, there was mud wherever we walked. It is all very well for the reptiles …
But something had to be done, and the children have been in on the act. Here we record two useful projects that they have enjoyed.
The entrance to the farmyard, where Rosie Chicken lives, was a quagmire. So a small number of bricks were laid in a prepared rectangle, and pebbles were used for a surface.
More recently, in January, a muddy puddle was developing at the main entrance to the plat. The children filled the hole with dirt and then laid a plastic grid on it so we hope to have grass protected and penetrating in the spring.
The challenge of mud seems endless, so there will probably be more projects to come.
Monday, the rain fell, and the temperature was freezing. It was all a bit of a challenge, but the children coped wonderfully. They are not afraid of being outdoors. The rest of the week, every day was cold, with children arriving on site in minus degrees centigrade.
On Wednesday, we had the dreaded phone call from an OFSTED inspector to say that we were to have an inspection on Thursday. It would be the first full inspection since we moved to Tarly Pit.
We were blessed that day with sunshine and a fire that lit so easily. Between the two we were kept warm on a day when the temperature ranged from -2 to +6 degrees centigrade. All went very well and we were so grateful.
Most memorable will be the boy who was squealing from a tree he had attempted to climb, with another already on a favoured perch. We all assumed that the fuss was a dispute about rights to that branch, until the distraught lad demanded, “Get me down!” It then became apparent that the problem was nothing to do with territory. Unseen even standing immediately in front of him, the boy had caught his hood on a broken branch and could not move an inch. It could only happen in view of an inspector.
All went well. The tree climber was rescued, and the day ended happily. The children went home; the inspector offered feed-back; the staff felt proud.
On Friday, we were doing it all over again, but only under the gaze of heaven.
We were indebted to the Cranbrook Congregational Church for the kind permission to have the Nativity Service in the beautiful Cranbrook High Street building.
The children, who had no opportunity to rehearse in the church, were amazingly confident and sang out their Christmas praises.
Then came the weather.
We coped with a sharp drop in temperature after the super mild Autumn. There is nothing like collecting sticks and the sight of the flames to warm the heart.
That was followed by the snow.
No director’s car was parked; 5 mph was an impossible speed; the gate was frozen fast against all comers.
And then the thaw and the torrential rain.
Overnight, the carpet of white that had lain for the entire week vanished. The track and car park were flooded. Water poured off the field above our site. The waterfalls flowed through the woods.
Let’s leave that behind us, and remember the happy event of the Nativity. Here is a posy for the leading lady.
In our second year at Tarly Pit, it seemed as if we had sorted many of the teething troubles and had taken off. Of course, we benefited from the country having come through Covid. And so we were able to put on sports day and the end of school year celebration with a graduation ceremony.
Reaching the finishing lineThe scene set for graduatesAnd they received their awards
Parents mounted a fundraiser which generaated enough for the purchase of four super wheelbarrows.
As ever, children were rising to the physical challenges of over, under and through.
Crops were ripe for harvesting. Garlic and onions were lifted, and tomatoes ripened faster than in years.
There was evidence of children’s enthusiasm for literacy, including what might be labelled graffiti.
But eventually, it was time for just one more hug before farewell for the last time.
Now the silence until September when everything begins again.
