Restoration Place

Botanical Field Press ~ Rediscovery

Another discovery of a packed-away-for-two-years friend: our botanical field press. What joy to have it again and to put it to use!

But it was an odd feeling to find the flowers we pressed those two years ago still between the cardboard leaves:

We added our new finds from our hike at the Ma and Pa Trail today. There many wildflowers in bloom right now, and it's only going to get better as summer progresses. (Already just a little wilted and flattened by the trip home):

 

Tulip poplar leaf--the biggest we've ever seen:

 

And now--what to do with our lovely pressed flowers and leaves? I'm open to ideas!

Slowing Down to See the Light

The last few days have brought me to a new kind of quiet. The fullness of our home education schedule simmered down at the end of May, the delight and near frenzy to enjoy summer in June has slowed, and now it's July and there's a different feel. A quiet, a settling.

I'm pushing away from all those hastily scribbled thoughts and to-do lists highlighted with red circles (about all the good things to do these short, summer months ~smile~) and seeing the light around me...

    

July begins quietly and full of light.

Travel Journals

I love Anna at Pleasant View Schoolhouse's family travel journals. They're simple, creative, and capture her family's unique perspective throughout their travels.

My family isn't planning to travel anytime soon, but I'm stashing away this idea in preparation for future trips.

I'm also going to adapt her idea for my family's local excursions. I think the children would really enjoy having a family journal to record their experiences of our doings. Though I blog about most of our outings (especially the nature ones ;-)...ahem!), a physical note book would provide a means for everyone to contribute with drawings, rubber stamping, notes, and odds ands ends collected along the way.

Has your family created travel journals or a local outings type of scrapbook or journal? Any ideas I should think about as I begin? I'm not a creative or scrapbooky-type of person, so I would welcome your insights as I begin!

Trapdoor Spider

We've discovered a little creature living by our back steps: a Trapdoor Spider:

Doesn't she look intimidating? She's about the size of a nickel. I'm not sure why she was sitting still amidst dog fur on the step, but she gave us time to take her picture and then gently capture her for closer observation (still with the dog fur, lol!):

 

The Trapdoor spider digs a tunnel in the soil and creates a door hinged with its silk to cover the opening. It then waits behind the door for prey to pass by. It then grabs the prey and drags it down into the tunnel:

Note: The pen and ink illustration is from my much loved copy of Our Wonder World: A Library of Knowledge; Volume Three: The Nature Book, copyright 1914, 1918. It's edited by Dallas Lore Sharp, a notable American nature essayist at the turn of the 19th century. I intend to own all of his nature books one day.

Firefly Nights

The fireflies (or lightning bugs) are emerging and flashing in the thousands in our neighborhood. The children are having a fantastic time collecting them in their jars, keeping them overnight in their bedrooms, and releasing them in morning.

We tapped holes with a nail into the lids of the jars so the insects would have plenty of air:

 

 

We've been reading books about fireflies, coloring pictures of them, learning about their anatomy, but mostly just enjoying their quiet flashing in the night.