Back in August when we were in Australia on the farm, I let the kids do what all farm kids get to do….
Play with Fire!
As a kid I did it and I want to let the kids experience as much of the life I had even though they’re city kids. They love the farm and this trip was no exception.
When I was a kid, my dad always had a box or matches or a lighter in his pocket and all winter long he’d just light up logs that needed burning.There’d be as many as a dozen logs burning around the farm, sometimes for days! We’d make the rounds and tend them to keep the paddocks clean. During the summer months when it was too dangerous to light fires, we’d stack the rubbish deadwood and shrubs in piles all over the farm and when the cooler months came we’d light them up.
If there was one close to the house, we often spent a winter’s evening around it toasting marshmallows and cooking sausages on the bbq plate directly over the fire.
I want these things for my children and so armed with a box of matches each and a pile close to the house I let them at it because I’m an excellent parent 🙂
Yes I gave them the safety talk and I was close by….
This pile had been begging for fire for a while, and positioned  just outside the house yard gate, was perfect for a winter evening by the fire.
A couple of well placed matches and boom! FIRE!
And now for the other fun part, dragging enough wood close to it to feed it through the evening. It’s a great lesson in fire safety and so much fun to drag logs around a paddock and poke a fire.
Those coals are getting to a nice cooking heat… Where’s the bbq plate?
Cleaning up the paddocks is a part of farm life. The cleaner the ground, the more grass can grow to feed the stock. And the less fuel lying around for summer fire risk.
A fun evening spent out under the stars toasting marshmallows and making memories. I think we have a couple of new fire bugs in the family.
Nothing better.