With a moo, moo here . . .

It is Richard's last day off work today so we went to Hoar Park farm. There is a small holding with farm animals set up for small children, not quite as young as Tilly though! She enjoyed Brighton and all it had to offer so much that we thought we'd take her to see something else.

I've always taken it for granted that everyone has been to farms when they are little, I remember one school trip a goat ate the back of my school uniform dress! But I was never more shocked when working at Creative Partnerships and my colleague Ann (very intelligent woman with two children) and I went to a conference venue at a nature reserve. Ann, 30, shrieked as we arrived as a peacock shrilled it's tune, she had never heard the noise before. We continued to walk up to the barn past pens of animals. She asked what they were, there was a pig, a goat, some chickens and ducks. She stood back looking both horrified and disgusted at the animals in front of her. She said she'd never seen them for real before. I was absolutely astonished, I know that we were in urban Birmingham but come on. She had two children, so I guess if she had never seen them before then neither would they.

Anyway, we took Tilly to Hoar Park farm and we walked around seeing goats, pigs, cows, ducks, peacocks and lots of chickens. I walked around with her in her WilkiNet on my chest and I made all the noises of each of the animals. I've always done this anyway - tried to talk to them and now I have the perfect excuse to do it loudly as I have a child to educate!