Turtle Rescue

The girls and I had to stop and help this little snapping turtle make it to the other side of the road. He wasn't too happy letting off his stinky smell and trying to snap at me. However, after a few minutes in the grass he lumbered into the woods.

Autumn Leaves Garland

This simple craft is a beautiful addition to your nature table or just to bring a little of the autumn colors inside.

You'll need:

• felt in autumn colors - red, yellow, orange, brown (we really love wool felt)
• embroidery floss in similar colors
• leaf templates - maple, oak, dogwood (we used clip art images)
• pins
• fabric scissors
• embroidery needle

First, pin the template to the felt and carefully cut out the leaf. Make as many leaves as you would like. We cut out 12 leaves., three of each shape and color.

Next select a coordinating color of embroidery floss and stitch the veins of the leaf.

When all the leaves have been embroidered tie them to a length of embroidery floss or yarn appropriate for the size of your leaves.


Hang your leaf garland and enjoy.

Looking for more crafty ideas? Hop on over to Crafty Friday and Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday to see what everyone else is up to.

Happy Autumn

I love autumn! It is my favorite season. The air turns crisp. The reds, oranges, yellows and brown explode across the mountains. The apples are sweet. The wood stove smells so lovely. The woods are full of activity as the little animals prepare for the long winter around the corner.

This first day of autumn we all set out early in the morning. Off to collect items for our nature table. The dew was heavy on the grass and the air had a slight chill. Everyone grabbed a sweater, wool of course. Oh how I love sweater weather.

Baskets in hand, we headed out. The leaves rustling under our feet. The search was on.

The first acorn found! It didn't take long to fill our baskets with acorns, pinecones, leaves and small twigs. A bowl full of acorns and a few pinecones now adorn our autumn nature table. I wonder what the next treasure will be.

The girls and I enjoyed making the fall leaves garland. I'll post a tutorial soon.

So good to be back. Many thanks to all of you contacted me during our absence and for your prayers. Life is getting back to normal, or at least normal for us.

Wishes

This space has been quiet for a week. Wow! It has been a while since I have taken such a break, but this is just what the family needed. Of course we didn't take a break from life. We have been very busy. So busy I don't even have pictures to share. I did remember to grab the little point and shoot the other evening as we headed out the door for a walk. And I am glad I did.

There aren't' many dandelions left so Rebekah was extremely excited when she found this "wishes" as she calls them. She held it up for everybody to see before she made her wishes and started to blow.

A deep breath . . .

And then she blew, and blew, and blew. It was so cute to watch her little cheeks puff and puff. She didn't get discouraged when the seeds wouldn't take flight.

Instead she asked for a little sisterly help

And they all made wishes together.

Hoping all your summer wishes are coming true.

Maine Wildlife Park

Today we headed off to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. We were scheduled to have a class on Owls and Owl Pellets. Well, most of you know our love for birds so Owls were right up our alley. Sarah was so excited to see some real owls. She wasn't sure about dissecting an owl pellet, but she would give it a try.

We arrived to a parking lot full, I mean full, of school buses and cars. I was actually worried that the rest of our group wouldn't find parking spaces. There were 50 homeschool students signed up for the class! Luckily everyone made it.

The class was great! The instructor really interacted with the kids on their level. She showed us many species of owls native to Maine. We also learned about the different habitats owls live in as well as their unique adaptations. She did a wonderful job explaining what owl pellets are and put every one's mind at ease about dissecting one.

Sarah started off timidly with a tooth pick, trying to break apart the pellet and find all the small bones. Everyone received a couple of owl pellets from the owls kept at the Wildlife Park. The owls at the park are fed mice so we knew what we were looking for. There was even a sheet to match the bones you found in order to identify them. Sometimes you might find bones from an unlucky chipmunk that wondered into the owl enclosure. No such luck for us.

By the end, Sarah was really into it sorting through everything with her fingers. It was cool to find all the tiny bones, especially a skull and the bottom jaw. The bottom jaw is cool because you can pull the tooth out of the jaw. It's as if it grows. This enables the mice to "grow" more tooth as it wears down during his life.

Everyone busy at work.

Logan and Rebekah really liked the mounted owls. Rebekah was quite confused that they were real, not stuffed animals, yet they didn't move or hoot. Try explaining to a 3yo why someone would stuff real animals. You can imagine the questions. How did it die? What's it stuffed with? What happened to the insides? Can I sleep with it?

Luckily she got bored with stuffed owls and found a cool tree to play in instead.

After class we had a picnic lunch and then we were off to explore the park and see all the animals that call the Wildlife Park home.

Of course we started with the bird area. Sarah had to see those "real" owls. Unfortunately, it was hard to photograph the animals due to the fencing. This albino peacock was really splendid. So even though the fence is annoying, I thought I would share. There were lots of chipmunk running in and out of the peacock enclosure. And if they got to close to a male peacock they would show their beautiful feathers for us.

The turtle pond was a big hit with everyone. No annoying fenced enclosure here. We could see the turtle, lots of turtles, really well. These three guys were catching some rays on this log. When we walked along the pond we were surprised to see a tiny turtle sitting on the log in front of them. This little guy wasn't much bigger than a silver dollar. Really cool.

The woodchucks posed for us. They look so cute until you see their teeth, and then I'm not so sure I would want to snuggle with one of these fellows.

Rebekah loved the moose. I think she would have stayed there all day. Funny, thing is we see these at home quite often. I guess it is the familiarity.

This game in the fox hut had everyone wanting to play. It was great to watch the big ones help the little ones figure out where all the pieces went. Logan wants one for her birthday. She told me here mom could make one with a million eighty pieces. You guys better get busy.

We saved the deer park for last. Rebekah couldn't wait to feed the deer. She was so careful not to spill her corn, not even one piece. Of course when we got to the fence, she wasn't able to throw it far enough, but she still had a great time.

The bunch of us feeding the deer.

A long but great day. I think their faces say it all. Tons of fun! Thanks to Christy for setting this up and thanks for the Jeddrey's for joining us.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Amanda, aka Soule Mama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

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In gratitude this week for:

• adult friends of my children - multi-generational relationships are so important
• opportunities to explore the beautiful and amazing world God created for us
• a husband who works so hard to provide for his family
• children who continue to amaze and teach me

Wishing all of you a glorious weekend!

Violets, Violets Everywhere

A violet by a mossy stone,

Half hidden from the eye,

Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

William Wordsworth

There have been an abundance of violets this year. The yards and meadows have been full of them. Down the road there is a place where one would think a blanket woven of the finest violet yarn has been spread ready for a picnic. And it has not only been in the world around us that violets have been abundant. It seems everywhere I look I am seeing violet. Many of my favorite blogs to visit have been sharing wonderful sounding recipes using violets. I just knew we had to try a few before these beautiful flowers are gone. So off we went after dinner to pick violets. It was chilly but a wonderful time searching for these little beauties. Of course everyone had to try one. I had to limit it to one, or we never would have made it home with any to turn into these wonderful creations.

Violet Jam - Soule Mama

Violet Syrup - herban lifestyle

Violet Cooler - 5 Orange Potatoes

Violet Lemonade - 5 Orange Potatoes

Candied Violets - Henriette's Herbal Homepage

Violet Ice Cubes - Ceres Secrets

And of course violets are beautiful on top of cakes and cupcakes!

Do you have any ideas for using violets in the kitchen? I would love to hear them. The girls and I have had so much fun with these recipes. And from what I understand violets are good for you as well. Lots of vitamin C in these little beauties.

Spring Nature Table

We changed over our Nature Cubbie to reflect the changes we are seeing outside. We chose a blue silk as the sky has been quite blue lately. We are all anxiously waiting for the green.

There is a felted nest with three blue robin's eggs. Our yard is full of robins. We are hoping that one chooses to build its nest in one of our trees so we can watch.

Mother Earth is my first 3D needle felted piece. She was so much fun to make. Hannah and I are planning to make a bunch of little animals next.

Rebekah added the pink bunny.

Sarah added the shells and driftwood from our trip to the ocean.

I'm sure the girls will be adding and taking away all spring. I love to see their interpretation of the season.

I'm sharing our Nature Cubbie over at The Magic Onion's Friday's Nature Table. Stop by and see what others are up to.

April Showers

Thanks to the Great Outdoor Challenge we headed outside even in the rain. It was damp. It was chilly. But the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and to my surprise so did I.

The spring flowers are just starting to show themselves. Beside the forsythia we spotted crocus, daffodils, and scilla. I just love all the fresh spring colors. So much life, happiness, and joy is those colors after the long grey winter.

Exploring the puddles was every one's favorite activity. I'm not sure what they think they found but it entertained them for quite a while.

Hope all of you were able to get out and explore today.

We're linking this to this week's Friday's Nature Table over at The Magic Onions. Stop by and see what others have been up to.

Get Out and Explore!

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were joining 5 Orange Potatoes' Children and Nature Awareness Challenge aka The Great Outdoor Challenge. So we set out today to explore the neighborhood. The weather was a little cool and overcast.
Right around the corner we discovered this patch of little blue flowers. I would love to know what they are. Any guesses?

Of course we had to jump in ALL the puddles we found.

And for our horse lover we had to visit the horses we spotted along out walk.

By the time we got home the temperature had climbed to about 78! Incredible for April in the White Mountains. So we brought our lunch outside and then chased the chickens around for a while. I was even able to hang a load of laundry out to dry.

It was fabulous to get outside and explore. We collected a few flowers, rocks and nuts along the way. They have found their way to our spring nature table. We are looking forward to our next outdoor adventure.

Spring is here!

There was a surprise waiting to greet us when we picked up our milk at the farm this week. A calf had been born on Friday! Her name is spring! Isn't she adorable?

Bekah would love to have cows of her own. Her mama would too. Unfortunately we don't have the room. So the next best thing is to visit them weekly at the farm on milk pick up days.

After a while Spring had had enough and bounded away. Hopefully the spring weather we have been having wont follow suit.

Fort Williams Park - Cape Elizabeth Maine

Our first trip to the coast this year! It was our first visit to Portland Head at Fort Williams State Park. I love light houses. The history is so rich, so alive, so American. The Portland Head Lighthouse was first lit January 10, 1791. The keepers house was occupied until 1989 when the lighthouse was finally automated. Now it is a fabulous park and museum.

The girls had such a wonderful time exploring the rocky shore. Bekah was thrilled with the shells and drift would she found.

Exploring with friends.

A little one not to sure about the approaching waves.

So much to see in all the little tiny pools.

A little bird watching. Sarah was pointing out all the different shore birds to Bekah. There were tons of gulls and eider ducks. They were lots of fun to watch.

Where will we head next? Which path will we take? Not knowing what lies a head is much of the fun. So with a tanks of gas, a picnic lunch, and the desire to explore we will head out again soon. Hope you'll stop back again to share our adventures. We will be having lots of them this months as we take part in 5 Orange Potatoes Children and Nature Awareness Month Challenge.