Spring is finally here!
I’ve talked before about what this season means to me and how I associate it with new beginnings and this year is no different. We didn’t have any big plans this year – other than eating chocolate! – so when Easter rolled round (pun intended, sorry!) we decided to celebrate by heading back to Brooks Farm for the morning.
Last year we saw some baby goats and were a little disappointed not to see any lambs… Well this year we were blessed! We saw four little lambs and we learned that the cow is pregnant and her calf is due in June… So we will be back in June (if not before!) to meet the new arrival.
We talked a bit about babies and whether we would see any piglets this year (Mushroom loves the pigs and we enjoyed watching them grow last summer) but we were regularly interrupted by a screaming peacock.
Mushroom asked why he was screaming and, with the help of one of the farm volunteers, I explained that he was screaming at his reflection as he thought it was another male peacock and he wanted to be the only man! A little later, we were looking at the herb garden, followed round by the peahen, who was making a bit of noise herself. Mushroom said she was probably “telling Mr Peacock to stop shouting”. We talked a bit about peacocks and peahens and how and why they look different before wandering over to see the rabbits, most of whom were… er, a little busy! Before Mushroom could ask any questions about this we were blessed with beautiful distraction…
Fed up with screaming at the ‘competition’, the peacock flew across to a prime location (within the hen’s gaze) to strutt his stuff. Mushroom was impressed with the flying, saying “Look Mummy!” but when he opened his feathers and turned to show them off he was dumbstruck. After a few minutes he whispered “He is so beautiful.”
He really is, isn’t he?
After looking all around the farm one more time, saying hello to the ducks and goats and stopping for some ice cream from the farm cafe, we headed out to play in the adventure playground, which is built to make the most of the natural surroundings.
So, we had chocolate eggs, ice cream and sweets for Easter but for Mushroom, ‘Mr Peacock’ opening his feathers was his real Easter treat!
I am linking this post up to Coombe Mill‘s Country Kids . Click on the image below to find out more.
We so need a new Peacock, ours came off the worst from a tussle with a fox last year and Mrs Peahen is so lonely without him. It made me smile his fighting off his reflection! What a lovely looking day and I’m glad you got to see the lambs this year. Thank you for sharing on Country Kids.
Sorry to hear about your Peacock! Yes, it made us laugh too once we knew what he was shouting about. We were lucky with the weather, and the lambs, this year!