Last Saturday, when I was over at my daughter's, I took my youngest granddaughter out for a few hours, to allow her mum a few hours of peace with the poorly older one. As it was raining quite heavily, we went to a local garden centre, a huge place full of many things to entertain and delight a three year old. It had trolleys designed as cars that the child could 'drive', so we had an entertaining time walking up and down the aisles with one of those. Once that palled, we explored the tropical fish section and were both hugely amused by the fancy goldfish. They had such funny faces. There was aisle after aisle of statues, ornaments and toys for kids, dogs and cats, as well as all the actual plants. M was deeply interested in the stone chips used for mulch on some of the big pots. They came in different colours and varied shapes and she very carefully selected one and then proceeded to carry it round in her fist for the rest of the visit.
Outside in the car park there were a couple of vintage steam vehicles with lots of moving wheels, shiny pistons and a very loud steam whistle! The colourful one in my photo appeared to have been brought from Australia, according to its paintwork.
(Thank you all for the lovely comments yesterday.)
Don't you just wish that we adults could view the world through those innocent eyes once again. When I worked with young people with learning difficulties I spent many a wet afternoon in the local garden centre. Small watering cans and plant pots make excellent bathtime toys!
ReplyDeleteBecause of their huge crowd attraction many replica steam traction engines have been produced.
ReplyDeleteSuch a distinctive looking machine!
ReplyDeleteWhether it runs or not, it's got a nifty paint job!
ReplyDelete