World Farm Animals Day

Today is World Farm Animals Day, so I invited Carole Lombard - and her animals - to spend the day in my blog.

This day was created in memory of Ghandi because he respected and treated animals kindly. It was also established to raise awareness for the suffering of animals in some farms.

Did You Ever Visit A Farm?
My first memory of a farm was actually my grandfather's. He lived in a farmhouse that had a large field with streams and beautiful trees. Even though he wasn't a farmer, he loved to be surrounded by farm animals and took care of them as if they were his family. He had cows, goats, chicken and peacocks.

My grandfather cherished his peacocks. He loved them so much that they'd be the first he saw when he woke and last before he went to bed. He would talk to them too and I used to think they really understood eachother. I still do.

I really loved that house because my siblings and I had so much fun there. We used to chase frogs, feed animals, ride the swings, jump over streams and play adventures. The only thing we weren't allowed to do, was to swim in the pool. It looked scary anyway hehe.

In that house, I used to love having tea with my grandmother and listen to stories that my aunts would tell or just sit in the living room with the whole family.

There were so many things we used to do that didn't involve technology and we really had fun, the way fun should be felt. It is one of the things that makes me want to have a farmhouse because other than loving the feeling of waking up to animals, I want my children to experience the true essence of being a child.

Growing up we did have a farm of our own that we used to visit in the weekends. There were mostly goats and later on there were even donkeys - don't ask why.
In our own garden we had chicken and we fed them everyday before we went to school. The chickens were supposed to have been sent to our farm but I don't remember that ever happening.

My father was known to do unexpected things and one time we woke up to two fauns. They were so beautiful but they were terrified of us, so they only stayed for a few days before they were taken to the farm.

I used to love our farm because it had swimming pools - that we could use hehe - and despite not having any frogs to chase, we could really have adventures because our farmhouse wasn't our home, so it felt like we were on holiday, somewhere far.

We spent more time with our parents there too, which was something we all treasured. Sometimes our parents would invite our relatives or friends of the family to join us in the farm for the weekend.

Back then, that was how people had a good time. Now I feel I'd have to make an effort to look like I'm having a good time around people, so I can't imagine spending a weekend with other people I don't live with hehehe actually I can't imagine even spending it with the people I live with...that's the shameful truth.

What Are Your Favourite Farm Animals?
Horses, sheeps and chickens.

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To celebrate today, why not take your children to a farm and teach them how to treat animals kindly, or if you have your own farm, you can invite the neighbourhood to visit and feed the animals while having a small picnic.

You can also visit your local library and have your children pick out books about farm animals. If you have older children, then they could research about their favourite animal and share it with the family.

Here's a short story from my favourite children's book, The Animal Fair by Alice and Martin Provensen, titled "The Reformed Fox":

OR you could do the easiest thing and just post a picture of one of your favourite classic stars with farm animals hehe