Isn't she gorgeous?

[raxacorricofallapatorius]

Spent the day building a fort with the kids. I think I've mentioned before that hubby's parents live in a houseboat on a dike, and own a huge strip of polderland alongside the "ark" where they raise Shetland ponies. A polder is the flat, depressed land in between the dikes. Usually it's used as grazing land for cattle and sheep. Anyway, the polder is divided into large rectangles, with small canals or "sloots" being the dividers. The sloot dividing the in-law's land from their neighbor's is wider at one end than at the other, and in the middle of this larger area is a small island approximately 20 meters long and about 3 meters wide. It's covered in trees and bushes, but in the middle it's fairly flat and empty save for grass.



When hubby was a kid, he and the other polder kids spent summers building huts and treehouses on that little island, but no one has been on there in at least 20 years when all the old garbage was cleared off of it. All that remains is a long knotted rope hanging from the largest tree, just perfect for swinging out over the water.

So that's where we started building. We brought old wood and some tools, and put in a makeshift foundation and a floor made of old bookshelves. FIL has some old carpeting he says we can use, so we'll put that in next time when we put up a roof of some kind.

The kids had a blast, helping cart wood and tools over the wood plank "bridge," and clearing the area of dead branches. Not to mention the rope swing. :c) We had bets going on which one of us was going to be the first to fall in the water, and hubby won; Marissa, head in the clouds, missed her footing on the bridge and went into the cold, greenish water with the oozey black mud. She was not pleased. Frankly, neither was I, because that mud smells nasty, and is a PITA to get out of your clothes.

We finally broke for the day around 4:00 p.m., at which point we sat down to a nice barbecue and some ice cream.











Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. ;c)

ETA: PHOTOS!

Comments

[amber-dragon-64.livejournal.com]

Love that tree pic... it looks like a ballet dancer or a cheerleader or something...

Sounds like a great way to spend a Sunday, which my parents had done stuff like that with me when i was a kid... :-)

[flisleshnitz.livejournal.com]

totally gorgeous!

Love the pics, thanks for sharing them, feeling evy over here!

[catsplay.livejournal.com]

A nice Sunday indeed - those are the days that make memories! Your family is just lovely.

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Ooohhh that's lovely. Ponies! I'm so envious! Pat one for me next time, won't you? :D The fort sounds wonderful too :D

[deeindiana.livejournal.com]

Question: Does the "say summat" on your comment line mean "say something"? Just curious.

This sounds like a lovely way for the family to spend a Sunday! I adore the second photo! I'd love to be there snapping photos of the "flying child"!

[torenheksje.livejournal.com]

Answer: yep. :c) "Summat" is Yorkshire slang for "something," or "something like that." I have a friend who lives there that says it all the time, and I picked it up from her.