Restoration Place

Resource ~ Winter Nature Study

I've just printed out my new Winter Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation e-book created by Barb at Harmony Art Mom and I'm excited about the fresh life it's going to breathe into our winter nature study. Seems like somewhere between January and February I experience that late-winter slump and lose my enthusiasm for nature study. 

 

 
I love how Barb connects winter nature study to music and art. That's not something I would normally take time to do (I'm grateful if I keep up with my meal plan and the laundry!), but I know my children are really going to like the connections.

There are 56 pages full of ideas for January, February, and March in the e-book version I purchased (you can view other versions at her site), more than enough ideas and resources for us to enjoy all winter.

Nature Discovery: Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Katie found a dead (unfortunately) Ruby Crowned Kinglet among the leaves in our yard this weekend--such a thrilling discovery! We have never seen one, and so though we were sad it had died, we were excited to have the opportunity to observe one so closely.

Warning: if you don't like to look at dead birds, click away from here.

 

 

Isn't it beautiful? I placed the tiny bird in a freezer bag and put it in our freezer to preserve it so that we can take it out and observe it more closely when we have time. We'll make a sketch for our nature journals, learn as much as we can about the Ruby Crowned Kinglet, then back into the freezer it will go so that my mom (a true bird lady ~ grin! ~) can see it, too, when she comes for a visit. After that, we'll dispose of it.

Weird, you say? I won't tell you what she's saved in her freezer for us to observe.

I know there are home educators and others among us who wouldn't dare touch a feather, let alone pick it up and bring it into their home. Guess we feather-and-dead-bird-collectors are on the fringe. It's a great place to savor the nature around us.

Hike at Eden Mill

When I feel weary and have lost my joy, I must get out in nature. Yesterday, despite the morning's rain and the sky threatening more, we headed out to Eden Mill for some joy restoration time.

It's been a long few weeks of sickness and stress, and our joy tanks needed some refilling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back home again, the nature treasures we had collected were spread out on top of all my kitchen counter clutter (calendar, decongestant, homeschool log, papers...)

I think that's pretty significant, don't you? I get the message ~grin~.

The Big Fall List

To celebrate the change from summer to autumn we made our Big Fall List yesterday.

It's made with a cardboard box leftover from a new range hood. Jacob took all the staples out and turned it inside out and it was big enough for all four children to write and draw on.

Our list includes lots of typical autumn doings, like going apple picking and drinking hot yummy stuff, but also some of our own unique favorites such as "hawk searching." We know hawks and other birds of prey are easier to see when perched in a tree which has lost its leaves and we're constantly on the watch for them.

What does your Big Fall List include?

Cake & Creek Picnic

It wasn't what you would consider an ideal September day for a cake and creek picnic last week (cool, breezy, overcast and threatening to rain) but it had been far too long since we had packed up a thermos of hot Mighty Leaf vanilla tea, a chocolate cake (bought so that we could leave the house immediately), and nature journaling supplies, and so we went.

It was one of those times when I say to myself: This is what we need to be doing more often, this is what brings freedom and joy, this is the sort of experience that will be imprinted on the children's hearts.

I must ignore the demands of the house, the (in retrospect, minor) frustration over pulling together all the supplies and the cleaning up afterward, and whatever else I allow to get in the way of spending time together like this, and make these special hours happen more often.

Over and over again, I realize so much depends upon me and my attitude, self-discipline, choices, and on and on. Ugh. In my moments of exasperation and tiredness I want to go run and hide, but there are so many life-giving moments, with God's help, in which I can participate and that gives me so much joy.

Creating moments of joy are what it's all about for me lately.

 

Nature Journaling ~ Wood Thrush

I don't remember ever hearing a Wood Thrush before moving to our current wooded location. The bird is is plain in appearance, but its song--oh, you must hear it! Be sure to click on the link above, then click on "typical voice" and listen. It's so very unique and beautiful. I always stop what I'm doing when I hear it, and listen for a few moments.

There is a male wood thrush in our woods right now, singing all day long, though I've read they often sing only in the evening. He doesn't hide from us in the deeper woods, either, as some identification guides suggest. He perches about half-way up on our tall beech trees near the house and grazes on the ground like an American Robin. 

We decided to learn more about the Wood Thrush this morning while he was singing loudly in our back yard.

I read from several of our bird identification guides to the children as they drew, asked questions, and listened to our Wood Thrush.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm really enjoy a new bird identification resource (new to me--thanks Mom!), The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides). It's the orange book, second from the top, in the stack of bird books in the first photo above. I have lots of bird guides, but really like this one for its accessibility for children. We use it almost daily and always take it with us on bird watching nature walks.

This was a great 30 minutes of drawing, chatting, looking at our bird books, and listening to the Wood Thrush just above our heads. What wasn't visible in this post was all the thick, yellow pollen all over the table and chairs which had to cleaned before we could sit down and spread out our supplies; Katie scraped her ankle on the foot of one of the chairs somehow, and screamed; then the boys lost interest the moment they completed their drawings, and ran off to the play set where Ben rammed into Jacob in the tube slide, and Jacob yelled in pain so loudly that the Wood Thrush left and flew away to a different part of the woods. I was self-conscious about neighbors overhearing the yelling (as if they haven't heard it all before). Then, when Maggie was helping to carry supplies back into the house, she tripped on the concrete steps and hurt her leg. Just at that moment, everyone reminded me I had skipped Tuesday Tea yesterday, and expressed how very much they longed for chocolate cake, tea, and reading. It really is a good day. ~smile~.

Baltimore's Conservatory & Botanic Gardens ~ Local Outing

The full name is the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens (HT: Kid Baltimore), and we visited last Friday. It was a very brisk February afternoon, a perfect way to a couple of hours at the end of a week when we really needed to absorb some beautiful atmosphere.

The Conservatory & Botanic gardens were established in 1888. The intriguing Victorian-era buildings are visible from the road. Have you driven to the Maryland Zoo and wondered what those historical buildings were? The arch-roofed building out front is the Palm House, and it is one of the last Victorian conservatories in the world:

There are several houses/rooms, each dedicated to a different habitat: Mediterranean House, Tropical House, Desert House, Orchid Room, and the Palm House. Each is spectacular in its own way. We explored them all, but spent the most time in the Tropical House and the Palm House.

    

  

  

 

We brought along our sketching supplies, knowing there would be an enormous selection of unusual plants to choose from to record in our nature journals:

 

 

    

 

The Orchid Room:

The kind lady who was at the front desk when we first arrived (of course, I forgot to get her name!) gave us a tour of the Orchid house, and explained what made orchids so unusual. We were given a mini-education in orchids, and she even recommended which kind to try to grow ourselves. We were very grateful for the time and personal attention she gave us.

The Palm House:

The children and I oohed and aahed our way through the entire visit. As were were leaving, the children asked when we could come again. Maggie said, "Mom, we could visit every day for a year and still not see everything here!" Yep.

We also couldn't help but think of Miss Rumphius.

Deer Skull ~ Winter Find

I know some of you don't like to look at animal bones. Go ahead and click away from here because this is a big animal bone find! ~smile~

When Karl and his friend were hunting last week, they also looked for "sheds" which are the antlers of male deer (bucks) that fall off this time of the year. His friend found a whole deer skeleton mostly submerged in a marsh and gave this deer skull--with antlers intact--to Karl to give to Jacob. He knows Jacob is an avid animal bone collector, and this is a very special find.

The skull needs to be soaked in bleach before it can be closely examined and added to Jacob's collection.

Winter Tabletop Garden ~ 2 Week Update

It's been a little over two weeks since we created our winter tabletop garden, and we've seen some growth:

The rutabaga is just sprouting and the turnip is bursting with healthy leaves. The rest have yet to show any green:

The cats keep drinking the water out of some of the jars and knocking the vegetables down into the water. ~smile~ We fish the veggies out, poke the toothpicks back in, and refill the water. I plan to move the tabletop garden to south window of the house where they can get more consistent sunlight and warmth.

These Snow Days

We don't get much snow in our part of Maryland, so when it snows and accumulates, we get out in it and have fun. And then we come back inside and have snow ice cream and lots of hot tea, sit by the fire, and read piles of books about winter.