I would love to have a fancy hardwood barn and dollhouse for the kids to play with. But they are expensive! I think I made a smart decision to recycle some boxes from Costco, fashion a good working barn from them and gesso it for the kids. One morning soon, we’ll get around to “decorating” it. Until then, it’s been getting good use as it is.

Since I can’t have my own Hanoverian gelding, I bought a pretty one at Target. It’s a Schleich and I named it Claus. When the boys ask me to play, I tap it across the rug in a meditative half pass left, then right, then I a collected canter around the rug’s perimeter. Chas will pick up a heifer and follow my little program. Ford picks up the Velociraptor and shrieks, thrusting it through the upstairs doorway, attacking the little brown rabbit.

And there you have it: the farm play “corner,” which actually is sitting atop Chas’ birth quilt, atop the chaise in the living room. But we carry it all over, sometimes outside. See more corners here.