Down by the Stream 04/27/2010
 So we're finally getting down to the little stream I was telling you about in our back woods...this is not a 'creek' by the way. We've been duly informed (by our friend, Joe) that you're only allowed to say 'creek' in TX...and I'll add 'crick' in Kansas for all you Midwesterners....'cause that's how all my relatives say it. However, it's a 'brook' or 'stream' up here...and best not forget that. So down by the stream (: D) we go...           The apple cups (& saucers) I found a set of recently at a thrift store....perfect for woodland excursions! And next we'll venture over to the west side of the property to see the big beaver lodge. Stay tuned! : D  High Time For an Explore 04/20/2010
 This is our 40 acres of land in rural Maine. Above is the rustic fence hubby built this winter. Waaaaaay down back there are the woods. No underbrush yet. No bugs. YET. That's where I'm going...and you're coming, too! So c'mon!  As you can see... I've been ramblin' and taking photos... and videos...and I've been left behind... Hey! Heeeeyyy!  You...yeah, you.... with the pink and green and black and red smiley papoose on your back...  Whew! Thank you! Don't tell anybody... but I already feel a blister comin' on...  And now we found the others. They've been down here awhile... And they don't care about blisters...   Just slimy stuff in their crocks. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. This is the little stream...not there yet. Sorry. Back to the Peter Rabbit Tree... Don't you fret, we're gettin' to the stream...next time! (It's all loading as we speak) To be continued! : D Our Woods 04/02/2010
 Another beautiful morning! It's not raining anyway! We went for a hike down through our woods at the back of our land yesterday afternoon. It's so important for the children...for all of us as a family...to be spending time down in those woods. And right now in early Spring is perfect...no undergrowth and NO BUGS! I feel it's very important for us to be familiarizing ourselves with the nature of those wild woods...the sounds, the terrain, the land marks, where the sun rises and sets, what it looks like at different times of the year...how each season unfolds. There's much to learn and explore down there! I don't want to view it from purely a 'survival' standpoint either...although that's important. I think the 'survival only' focus can too easily miss the 'loving & living' aspect of the place. And it's the latter that makes the difference. Mt. Desert Island 02/11/2010
 A couple of weeks ago we decided to take a 'detour' to Mt. Desert Island. It's quiet and remote and essentially uninhabited this time of year. In other words, our kind of place! We stopped at Sand Beach and climbed up a path that led to an overlook on the cliff in the background. The temp was around 8 degrees F ...no idea what the windchill was...but the view out over the ocean was worth every minute of frozen faces, feet, and hands!       My son and I decided to ford this stream by jumping it. He fared better than I did. The sand gave way just as I leaped and...well...you get the idea. My hip found the rocks...my foot found the water...but I'll take a giant purple bruise to a refreshing arctic bath any day!  Up the path to an overlook...    A woodpecker's hole in a hollowed out tree...  A gorgeous maze of granite rock...boulders... weathered smooth on the beach   Young Andrew was thrilled to be following the map into all these new locations...and especially thrilled to find so many signs and roads dedicated to bikes. His dream is to make bike routes...just like roads...with exits, and exit ramps, and signage...the whole deal!  A lovely house we passed as we wandered the roads circling the island...I adore this pale green with red and white trim...   And the beautiful old Inn overlooking the ocean in Bar Harbor... but our favorite part was wandering the frozen icicle and snow encrusted beauty of beach and cliffs.  Foraging Fiddleheads 05/17/2009
 Does this look like fiddlehead foraging attire?? Well, I'll tell ya somethin'...those prairie women knew what they were up to when they designed these bonnets! They keep the black flies off better than most hats do with their wide bill over the face and ruffle over the neck in the back. I was wishing I had one myself!  Families in the past held fiddlehead locations as closely held information. If you were to ask an old-timer in Maine where he found his fiddleheads, he'd probably say something like..."the woods".....and that, most likely, would be ALL he'd say!  Well, as coincidence might have it, 'our woods' seem to be a fiddlehead-growin' paradise! My husband has found the 'spots' and we've loaded up bags of these little plants...   The 'fiddlehead'...don't ask me how it got its name....I can guess...and so can you...which would be kinda fun!...is the early unfurled part of a particular type of fern. This is what they look like...   And, yes, I do definitely recommend machetes and babydolls...and perhaps a prairie bonnet and pantaloons.... for the best success in foraging fiddleheads. You can opt out on these crucial necessities if you want to....but just don't blame me if you have a tough time with your fiddlehead foraging... I warned you.... just ignore me if you want.... however I'm no longer responsible...   So go have some fun foraging! You might just hit the fiddlehead jackpot sweepstakes in an area near you!! I'll tell ya how we've prepared 'em tomorrow. Now get to gathering!! : D  Sun and Ski 01/10/2009
 We've had a couple of beautiful sunshine days...even though the temps are pretty chilly! These are our lovely birches...they're as beautiful in the winter as they are in the summer!  I do believe birches are my absolute favorite tree...Anne of Green Gables is correct in her assessment of birch trees...as always!     And the little ski bunnies have taken to the slopes! Yippee!! They've been waiting for this moment! They were bringing up snow and skis even in the summer... yep, as if they could possibly want snow in the gorgeous summertime!!     I've decided to give up my ski pants and go to wool! I shrunk down some woolen pants that are wonderfully warm...as long as I have long-johns underneath...otherwise I can't take the itch! And we're also stocked up with some great thick wool socks. I'm sold on wool for winter! Gortex has its place...but so does wool!! : )  And this little snow bunny didn't want to try her skis yet...but she DID want her ski boots on! Actually, I can totally understand...ski boots are as difficult to get used to as skis are...something I don't always think about!!  And here we go for a nice nature walk...or nature ski...    I love these lavender tones in the snow. The glaciers and water in Canada all have tints of turquoise...everything here in Maine has lavender in it...interesting! Have you ever noticed that..??    I'm enjoying our sunshine...we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow. It'll be nice to watch the feathery flakes fall again...and I'll update you on my indoor projects soon! Enjoy a beautiful weekend!! : D  A Bundle Up Day 10/18/2008
 Beautiful but brisk...quite brisk...I might add...could be the legend for today! That wind goes right through! The sunshine and crunching leaves under your feet...little ones all bundled up in bulky sweaters, mittens, and scarves...acorns falling amidst swirling leaves....bare branches beginning their winter slumber....wispy, waning seed pods fuzzy and fluttering....make braving the briskness all the more rewarding and wonderful!    So bundle up good...or at least heat up that coffee or tea....and come along with us as we revisit one of our favorite nature walks, Manson Park...and see if you can tell how much the foliage has changed over the past few weeks!  Scarf....walking stick...  basket for collecting....ummm, anything interesting....OK, let's go!!     Over the bridge and through the woods to the train tracks we go...   Just not enough leaves around here to choose from, huh!     I guess it's a good thing my camera ran out of batteries! I could've kept this up all day long!  Newburgh Falls 10/12/2008
 This week Teresa and I got motivated by all this great sunshine we're having and ventured out to the woods twice this week. The second trip, we joined up with some moms from her church homeschool group to explore Newburgh Falls. 
  Now up the falls to the BIG boulders! Notice how the water coming over the falls has a lavender tint to it? It really did, too! I'm so glad my camera was able to catch that!!  Careful stream crossing...funny how they all do it the same way!     Traversing the falls requires balance, determination, wet cuffs,....and very cold feet! 
  When you look down we see lots of cushy, spongey moss...   Lots of hungry tummies!  We passed this small bridge on the way in...and decided to explore it further on our way back...  Catching falling leaves in mid-air descent! Oh to be 4 again!!  These paths are wide enough for some great horseback riding, too! The other two moms grew up near here...riding horses along these trails, spending summers splashing and swimming in the falls...and just storing up some cherished childhood memories! Can you imagine having this as your own backyard...???  The small bridge closer up...  And just look at this carpet of fallen leaves!   And let's just look up again...don't ever forget to look up!   If you're thoroughly entranced and refuse to stop all this nature bliss, then please see my full slideshow of this incredibly idyllic place.  Autumn Nature Walk 10/04/2008
 The Fall day was glorious so Jennifer and I decided to glory in it by taking the children to a nearby park over in Pittsfield that wends next to the river (yes, there are rivers everywhere up here...and I can never remember their names...much less how to spell them!) and over an old suspended bridge that is an adventure in itself! Come along with us...you're gonna LOVE this walk!    Yeah, the bridge is a little shifty...and a little long...which translates into a little spooky for wee ones! But he braved it just fine!       I took like 10 of these shots of the children...of course who can decide which one's the best...??? Not me!  The late summer, early fall wildflowers are still full of bloom...     As we meandered back through the woods, I spotted this moss covered log. Aren't the greens simply surreal? How do you capture that kind of color?    After we crossed back over the bridge, we found this fuzzy, very white caterpillar crossing our path. The fuzzy ones are usually moth caterpillars. As you can see, we need to bone up on our nature study because I cannot tell you what type of moth it becomes. But we will find out! Isn't he exotic..??  In this little puddle-pond was a cute medium-sized frog. We thought that she would scare the thing by poking it with the grass stalk. Boy were we wrong! That little frog attacked and bit at that grass with a vengeance! It was NOT gonna give up its perch...no way!  Hard to see, but that's its big mouth chompin' down on that grass! Feisty frog!  Now they're off...to the playground! A Meadow Romp 08/20/2008
 See that thin little line mowed in the grass there? You'll hopefully see it better in the next photos. These are the fields behind our log home site where the woods continue to slope on down to the marshy lake below. I mowed a path to the back in an effort to make the back of our land a little more user-friendly and accessible. As long as you have a nice breeze and bug spray, you're pretty much set! We only had the breeze and didn't bother with the bug spray, yet we were undaunted...and the sunshine made up for it all! This was Monday and we decided to go back in search of some ripened blackberries!    And here's the fork in the road....one path goes over to that side over there...  Doesn't it look inviting? Isn't it just begging you..."come follow me...come see where I go!"  We followed the one to the other side where we had spied some low vines near the edge of the woods with lots of berries--easy to get to! There was also a fallen down rock fence back in there that I wanted to inspect a little closer.  There they go...first come...first serve!!  Hmmm....now where was that spot...??? It was right in here somewhere! We did manage to find it again and scarf down a few black ones but most of them are still on the green and red side--not quite there yet. But we'll be back! We see blackberry cobbler and buckets of blackberries just calling our names! And I'm thinkin' that rock fence has lots of future potential, too! |  Spring Forth!
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