Each new year is a surprise to us.  We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence…..the voice of nature is always encouraging.  Henry David Thoureau

Green spaces may enable children to think more clearly and cope more effectively with life stress……   Nancy Wells

Nature Observations for the last weekend in April, 2013

*David caught frogs, and they cried
*The whole family went on a walk through our woods-saw 2 snakes and a beaver! flowers.  Seth lost his boots in the stream.  Skunk cabbage, frog eggs
*Seth climbed a tree for the first time
*David and E went fishing
*violets
*Snickers chased a bumble bee
*Parker caught and ate a big tadpole
*Rich and I hiked 2.3 miles on our date night, saw a snake, vernal pool, a lookout point, mountail laurel (not in bloom yet)
*Sarah watered the garden
*the peas are up
*David collected worms
*the peach tree is in bloom
*We had a picnic-saw hawks flying overhead
*Grace, Sarah, and I watched a colony of ants for a long time
*E and David only go barefoot
*Ethan saw the channel catfish in the pond and got excited

We have some pine trees around the pond and Seth (age four) climbed up in one for the first time.  I was proud, and wasn’t worried.  Ethan, David, and I sat on the grass beneath and kept an eye on him.  David, however, was very concerned.  When Seth decided to descend, David got up.  “I can’t take this anymore.  MOM!  He’s gonna fall!”  He ran off, not able to watch.  Ethan got in the tree to help his little brother.  All was well.

Ethan and Parker the dog.  HIS dog.

Snickers our one and only cat (but we are getting 2 kittens soon, from the contractor who is working on our kitchen!)

I filled up this watering can over and over so that Sarah could water the flowers.   She liked it very much and even talked to the flowers while she gave them a drink.

I asked Rich about taking the children on a walk through the woods and he was willing, so the nine of us got ready and went up into the woods by our house.  Little tender leaves are starting to grow on the trees and bushes.

We went to the beaver pond.  We were all thrilled that we got to see a beaver swimming in the water.  (I couldn’t get a picture of it though)

The beaver pond is shallow and the frogs are numerous.  The boys had a good time wading in and catching them, especially David.  He and Ethan went barefoot on our walk, which made it easy to come and go from the water.

Caleb, our snake lover, had a thrill.  While he was sitting, hot, upon this fallen down tree, Rich spotted a snake in the water right next to him.

David rushed right over to try and catch it but he wasn’t quite brave enough.  It got away.

See it? 

I found a patch of marsh marigold growing by the stream.

David found an old set of mushrooms, they puff smoke when you squeeze them.

A wildflower that I recognize from my childhood.  We had these growing in the woods by our house.

Exploring the stream.  The big boys collected interesting rocks from it. 

The kids like to pull these hard mushrooms/fungi from the trees to carve pictures on them.

These pretty white flowers were everywhere.

pretty moss

David and Ethan continued up to the swamp and found lots of frog eggs.

muddy knees

This moss was dry and felt like wool. 

By the end of the weekend, Dave had a sunburn and he had caught a cooler full of fish (with Ethan) out of our pond.

Sarah’s little hiking sandals.

Rich, repairing the fishing poles.

Little Sarah saw so many interesting things this weekend.  We were all good and tired from all the fresh air.

And now, for a special treat for your viewing pleasure.  Did you know that sometimes a frog will cry pitifully as a defense mechanism if you catch them?  They open their mouths right up and make the saddest noise.  We got it on video.  (Don’t worry, no one got hurt, and the frogs are always treated kindly and put back in the ponds after the boys are done with them)

 The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.  John Muir, age 74

Nature is the chart of God, marking out all His attributes.  anonymous 

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

The temperature climbed to the 60’s yesterday and 10 year old David, who is sprouting long arms and legs these days, walked into the icy pond and grabbed the first turtle of the season.  In the above photo, his hand and my hand are holding it steady for a quick snapshot.  The poor creature was frightened and stayed hidden in his hard shell.

The children put him down and still he did not come out and walk.  The dog was tense with interest.

“What are you thinking about, Dave?”  I asked, noticing the expression on his face as he stood and looked at his catch.

“I’m wondering if it was worth it.”  He said, feeling the freezing cold wetness of his shorts.

I assured him it surely was worth it, after all, catching turtles is on his list of “what makes David happy”!

(And sad will be this mama’s heart when a spring comes and goes without a turtle caught and excitedly brought to me.)

Sarah Joy did some digging, showing me yet another sign of spring, time to start the gardens!

While I was at Jekyll Island last week, my husband drained most of the water from this pond (we have two of them), re-shaped and scraped the edges, and built a dock.  The older boys helped him as much as they could, between school and sports.  Rich labored away, even using an entire cold night to get the project done.  He pumped water from the nearby stream to refill the pond and now we are waiting for it to settle and clear. 

I came home to discover that Rich had found it necessary to “dispatch” our rooster, George.  I very much liked to hear him crow throughout the day, but I am relieved that we can now come and go from the chicken coop without worrying that George will hurt us.  One day last week, when Rich was busy caring for the flock, George snuck around and attacked him.  Unfortunately for George, he picked on the wrong person that time, and soon found himself senseless and deader than a doornail.  *sigh* So sad.  It was bound to happen one of these days and Rich was horrified to think of what the rooster would have done to Seth or Sarah.

The hen house is a now gentler place, but still not quiet, with all the girls gabbing and squawking constantly.

Today, Seth, Sarah, and I spent the whole morning outdoors (with trips inside now and then for drinks and snacks). 

The temperature reached 70 degrees before lunchtime.

The daffodils have been trying to come up for months now and I rejoiced to see the first bloom just this morning.

The children were right with me, so I brought them close to show them.  Seth said this one had paper on it:

I thought it was very observant of him. 

I made the mistake of asking Seth and Sarah which way they wanted to go, “up the road or down the road.”  She chose up, he chose down.

We decided to go down, and then back up.  Seth walked the whole way in bare feet.

The hornet nest that was hanging in a tree by the stream came down, along with the branch it was formed to.  I walked carefully down to pick it up and found a spider.  I told Seth to look but he looked the other way and said, “I don’t want to look!”  I didn’t really want to look either.

She wanted to take her baby on our walk, so I took one of my thin scarves from the closet and wrapped her around with it. 

Sarah is extremely motherly and almost swooned with contentment to carry her baby this way.

(In the above picture, she is being motherly toward a small pinecone.  She didn’t put it down again until she had found a second one, which she explained was “it’s mother”.)

We walked through the woods to the open field and Seth did all his soccer moves.

Sarah sat and watched her brother, then ran around, did a somersault, and never once lost her baby.

After a gloriously fine morning, they were happy to go to their beds to take a nap.

I hung up my (now spiderless) nature find.

And then I went back outside to a blanket with my lunch and my current quick-but oh so delightful- read.

I made chicken salad this morning and it was the best recipe I have tried.  The chicken was marinated in white wine for a day, then baked in the same wine.  It added such a good flavor.  Then I added halved grapes, a small can of mandarin oranges, toasted almonds, and chopped celery.  The dressing was half a cup of sour cream and half a cup of mayonnaise, with a good amount of salt and pepper. 

The other dish is a new broccoli salad recipe from the same cookbook, made with a cooked dressing.

“The snow was soon gone again, and spring really came, with the singing of meadow larks and the sweetness of violets and new grass as all the prairie turned a beautiful soft green.  Laura put Rose in a clothesbasket with her tiny sunbonnet on her head and set the basket nearby while she and Manly planted the garden.”  ~The First Four Years, page 79

I was on my way to bed last night when I happened to peek out the door and saw a stunning sky.  I pulled on socks and shoes and took my tripod outside to take a few pictures.  The moon was extremely bright, and with the clouds passing by, it was breathtaking. 

I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name
forevermore. Psalm 36:5

The sun was shining all day yesterday and so, when Seth and Sarah were napping, I pulled on my tall rubber boots and walked down to the stream.

Any bright and fresh spring day puts the wandering spirit within me….it feels so good to get outside in God’s big world, and soak it in.

Wherever thou art, and whatever thou lookest upon, thou art in God’s workshop, 
where every wheel is turned by his hand. Everything is not God, but God is in everything, and nothing worketh,
or even existeth, except by his present power and might.  CH Spurgeon

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Revelation 4:11

“The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”  Psalm 145:9

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”  Anne Frank

go outside and when you get home, write down everything you gratefully felt, heard, and noticed 

outdoorminded

The Lord loves you not to-day, Christian, because of anything you are doing, or being, or saying, or thinking, but he loves you still, because his great heart is full of 
love, and it runneth over to you.  CH Spurgeon

“I have long believed that the way to know a spiritual sense is to know it in our real life.  I think the best way to understand about God and peace is to know about peace in our everyday lives.”  ~Fred Rogers (one of my heroes).

Yesterday afternoon here at home, the light faded fast.  By 3:30 in the afternoon, the house was quite dim.  The overhead lights were off (because I love a dark house sometimes) and Grace did her homework on the couch to the glowing of the Christmas tree.

(dark cookies on the kitchen counter)

As for me, I was being pulled outside….and told the children I was going for a little walk.  They understand me and didn’t even look up to watch me go out the door.

I was in a cloud of light fog.  The air was cool and damp, good to breath into my lungs.

I stood and looked at the pond.  It was so pretty with water on top of ice.  Parker the dog enjoyed his cold drink from the edge.

I didn’t do it yesterday, but sometimes I taste the water droplets at the ends of branches, especially pine.  I imagine it must be the freshest, earthy, water.

Sarah lifts up her hand to touch the drops.  But I was alone on this walk.

One thing I love about stepping out to enjoy nature is that instantly the sounds of the house vanish into the sounds of the outdoors.  I love hearing the wind and birds, the water rushing. 

Sometimes make conversational remarks out loud to myself like a nut.

Sometimes I pray.

I almost always have my camera around my neck.  (I never know what I might see)

Bubbles on the stream.

The stream was swollen and rushing…..full of fast, cold water. 

The bank down is rather steep in some spots and I wonder how I will manage when I am elderly.  I’ll need steps and a walking stick, so I can forever visit my stream. 

On the wet days the hens drink water from puddles. 

I love the pose from the hen on the left; almost like she’s in the middle of a rap-song.

I went back home and peeked through the window.  Grace saw me and came to stand by me. 

Jacob is still sick, but no longer throwing up.  All he wants to do is sleep-sleep-sleep.

Ethan stayed home from school today, too.  His stomach is fine but he has a cough and a bad headache, weakness, and chills.  However, he is feeling better enough now to shower and dress and PUT HIS SHEETS AND BLANKETS IN THE WASH ALL BY HIMSELF!  (because, he didn’t want to sleep in a bed of germs tonight, he explained). 

Caleb also coughed all night and stayed home today. 

Seth has had enough energy for ALL OF US.  Thank goodness he still takes a nap.  I had him bundled up earlier, and running around the pond.

Sarah Joy is pale today and talking funny like maybe she has a sore throat.

I made a pot of playdough for the children and one of my favorite memories of the morning was when Caleb, Seth, and I were all stirring it at the same time.  They each picked out a color (blue, blue, and pink) and I sprinkled some glitter into their dough. 

I made egg sandwiches for lunch; I needed to USE UP EGGS!  A wonderful feeling to have them again.

I made one and a half quarts of homemade french dressing.  I have chicken roasting in the oven for a big pot of chicken noodle soup for later.  (cures colds)

I sat by sleeping Jacob and read my Mr Rogers quote book.  I love him and all he said and did; the message of kindness he showed toward everyone, especially children.   Here is one more good thought:

“Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.  There have been so many stories about the lack of courtesy, the impatience of today’s world, road rage and even restaurant rage.  Sometimes, all it takes is one kind word to nourish another person.  Think of the ripple effect that can be created when we nourish someone.  One kind empathetic word has a wonderful way of turning into many.”

I like you, friends!  Hope you have a warm and mindful day.

“You are special, just the way you are” (F.R.)

Play Dough Recipe:

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”.  Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

(from this blog)

Five out of five children at my house were disappointed that there was school today; they were hoping for a snowday.

As you can see, the bus still came on schedule.

The view from my porch took my breath away.  Sarah and I stood and gazed and said, “It’s so beautiful!”

I thought of God, and the abundant, indulgent, generous, overflowing loveliness of His creation.

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

Matt Redman, from his soul-stirring song “10,000 Reasons”

Have a blessed day, my friends!  Seth, Sarah, and I are going to get ready for our Bible Study this morning.  I can’t wait.

I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds,
or watching their peculiar habits,
or delineating them in the best way I could.  ~the talented and inspiring, John James Audubon

We have been busy here at the homeplace, battening down the hatches.  The lawn and porch has been cleared of anything that might blow away in 60 mile an hour winds, and this morning Rich is going to the store to stock up on essentials, or rather, one big essential for us, which is milk.  School has been cancelled for two days, however, as a homeschooling family in prior years, we will be “doing school” regardless.  Rich is home with us, as his office has called to advise employees to work from home.  All this done in the name of preparation, for hurricane Sandy. 

There has been a lot of action at the bird feeders lately.  I wonder if the “storm brewing” atmosphere is making the tiny birds extra hungry.

 We first noticed an unusual number of Pine Siskins.  On a typical day, we may get a couple of them….but for days we had a flock.

 I think these are purple finches.

 We also have had a lot of mourning doves.  We love these gentle, slow walking birds with the blue eye liner.  They make me laugh the way they waddle down the bank to the feeders.  Grace saw a line of them sitting on the peak of the garage roof.

 Lots of friendly chickadees come, and this bird with the spot of red is a Hairy Woodpecker.

 These beautiful birds were excitingly new visitors for us.  I believe they are Evening Grosbeaks.

Nuthatch, I love their upside-down ways.

 The very lovely blue, but gluttonous Blue Jay.

 I put a couple small pumpkins on the ground under the feeders, to add more color and interest to my pictures.  I wonder if the birds appreciate the fall decor, just for them?

We have also seen cardinals, juncoes, titmice, and sparrows.

 We had about 10 mourning doves visiting at one time.  They kept Davy and me busy counting.

And then, after the rest of us had walked away from the window, little Sarah saw a SQUIRREL.  To our knowledge, this is the first squirrel to ever visit.  In fact, “we have no squirrels” is one of the children’s favorite nature laments.  So, this was a big treat for us.  We watched it eat seed from it’s handy, small paws and admired it’s luxurious tail.