Our First Farmstay Visitors and ....mystery revealed- Just Who Is 'The Little Black Cow!?'

Well, we have just been blessed with having the most beautiful family (Jo, Joe, Noah, Jorji and Rosie) coming  to  stay with us  for our official 'Little Black Cow Farmstay ' opening. This family was given a unique task , to have heaps of fun and give us ideas for improvement as the farm stay develops. You really can't go into any enterprise blindfolded, and  this weekend was a real learning experience . We came out of it feeling enthustiastic , and ready to take on more guests. We know that we are really going to enjoy doing this and this is our calling.

I learnt that if you try and stack too much in the fridge, that David will open the door and the fresh farm eggs carton will fall out of the fridge just when you need eggs for pancakes! David learnt that if you try and build garden beds while farmstay guests are here, a million flies will descend on the area and will not leave no matter how much mulch you put on the garden(not a good look!).So rest assured, those two things will never happen on future farm stay times.It is about laughing at your mistakes and chalking it up to 'a good story' when people in 5 years time ask,'So ....how did you guys start out??'

Seriously though, we learnt more than that. We learnt that we are going to get just as much out of every farmstay visit as the visitors do. To interact with new and interesting people is going to be awesome ...and finding different exciting ways to make the farm appealing to children of all ages is something we can't stop thinking about .

When I think about things that really attracted the kids, it was the simple things that we took for granted and even things that weren't 'part of the farmstay experience' that we had initially designed in our heads.. Who knew that a giant hill of sand that had been delivered for the garden beds would be met with trills of delight from two of our young visitors or that how an electric fence worked would be so fascinating to a clever young man with an incredible memory.If David and I have learnt one thing, it is start to think like a child and sense wonder in the simple things, like collecting hay from a dusty old hay shed that houses interesting links to the past or turning an antique gramaphone on and watching interested little eyes open wide with curiosity.To know that even a baby can connect with nature at such a  young age if something small and fluffy and gentle is placed in her hands....we feel so inspired by the things the children taught us.

One of my favourite memories from our own family point of view was introducing our visitors to 'Sukie ' the original 'little black cow ' that the farmstay is named after. Sukie is a full grown cow now with a baby on the way....but raising this orphan and remarking how much young visitors would like to be feeding a baby calf or patting a big gentle  giant of a cow was part of the farmstay journey .Our children have had birthday parties where feeding the 'poddy ' calf was part of the birthday party activities and always we spent the night talking about how great it felt to have children experiencing those moments on the farm.

Thanks , Sukie...it is very hard to keep going  on a dream , especially when you are tired! When a real 'little black cow ' is always there to remind you to keep to the task at hand, it just keeps you going !!

Therefore it seemed fitting that we should have Sukie as part of our first farmstay experience.Jo and Joe were kind enough to allow me to take photos of this moment. We have decided we will have her up near the house now so that   children can see 'Sukie'  as soon as they arrive.Even more exciting will be the arrival of her new baby.

A big thankyou to  our farm visitors. Stories of your own journey into self suffiency and belief in a  'sense of community' in your area leave us feeling inspired and regenerated in energy and committment.

 Your ideas and encouragement were very much appreciated and we actually went out  today and bought a sandpit for the courtyard area ! It will be ready for the next little 'Rosie' that visits ,just for those little ones who are  too small for the 'big stuff' .
Both Jo and Joe have been incredible in their insight for what works with young kids. Their constructive ideas have really had an impact on us and we are so grateful for their honesty!! If you want to learn more about them just go to the 'Funky Frontyard Farmers' blog and then check out their 'Crop and Swap ' blog.Amazing people!!

We will sit and drink a bottle of Joe's homemade dandelion champagne tonight , toasting to how far we have come and the exciting improvements ahead.But at this moment we are just so very grateful for the new friends we have made due to this journey  , the friends and family that keep encouraging us and are there for us no matter what  , and to the magic of this farm that keeps us centred and believing in what we are doing.