After the early morning shuffle of getting Papa off to work and Calvin off to school, I returned to my little lovelies at the kitchen table with Gram. Over yogurt and granola, we discussed the direction of the day. They had talk of a movie. Of starting a fire and getting 'cozy.' Of another tournament of Herd Your Horses (heaven help me). But as the sun shone into the kitchen and lit up the glasses of milk and tea on the table, and I saw the ants in the kids pants (so to speak), I firmly declared "out!!! out with us all!!"
And so, we took to the woods. Or "the woods" which is really just about 500 feet from the back of the house. But once back there, between the pastures and next to the half pipe and the zip line, and bordered by rock walls....well, it does feel like 'the woods' indeed. Harper wisely loaded up the wagon with all we could need - a saw, his hatchet, a hammer and some nails. And I, my camera. A lovely day was spent just like that - in and out but mostly out. Continuing to work on the fort that has been a work in progress for a year now. Clearing the path (where the pigs just were) from rocks - just right for making a new fire pit (every fort needs a fire pit), and on and on. We were visited by cats and uninvited (but welcome) goats. When the swing I was convinced to build for Annabel between two trees seemed suddenly and decidedly unsafe, we took a spontaneous turn towards crafty to save the day. A few birch logs strapped to a tree (thanks for the hatchet and rope work, Harper!), and a whole lot of twine tied to each as warp. And then - a little of this and a little of that to fill the loom. Dried leaves, sticks, pieces of sheep fleece found in the pasture, pinecones. As the moods dipped and I sensed hungry bellies and tired kiddos, I watched them each spend a quiet minute at that loom, entranced just for a moment. Ah, yes!
Another sunny autumn day today, it looks to be. I'm eager to see what comes next.
