Hope for the Lappinch

Another muddy incident today when two young friends came to play. The muddy walk was described and appreciative grins appeared. Wellies were donned, the stomp up to the ponds was slightly less sploshy as it was colder and the ground had not thawed fully from previous negative temperatures.

Perhaps this led to a false sense of firmness at the mudfield. The boys squelched further than those before them, and stormed the bridge/bank between the ponds. Foolishly they paused to admire the view. The mud gripped tight and refused to let go.

We thought we would let them figure it out – character building and all that. It proved to be a mistake as each wriggle dug them deeper in the quaking clay.

Jonty got out first, by leaning backwards until the suction under his toes gave way. So deep was he embedded that the backs of his calves were supported and he didn’t fall over. With the air pocket gained he managed to lever the rest of his boots out and stagger to a firmer spot.

He tried to pass the information on but the other two didn’t want to risk a sit-down and refused to lean back. Jonty shrugged and left them to it (Note: we need to work on his team spirit!).

In the end I had to go in… aided by stepping stones created from various broken bricks and stones found around the site, plus – crucially – a piece of broken fence wood, I managed to get to the boys with only dipped toes. First child – balanced on the plank in his socks, holding onto my bent back for balance while I strain to pull the wellies out… mission accomplished, just.

Second child, same procedure, but the wellies are in too deep and won’t pull out… I find a thick stick and try to dig but it’s too blunt. Nothing for it – the gloves come off and it’s bare hand digging. The clay is wet, sloppy, grainy and very very cold. After a few minutes of digging, the boots are out, child is restored to firm ground. We made it!! The gloves go back on to frozen digits – they can be washed later. The welly washing puddle has dried up so we pile up the boots for the hose pipe and go inside to get warm!!