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Nature Journal Pages – April Examples

Note: I found this entry in my drafts! I have been so busy over the past six weeks as we sold our house in California, purchased a house in Oregon, moved all our belongings, and tried to keep from getting to stressed out. It isn’t surprising then that a few things slipped through the cracks.

Here is my April nature journal entry for your enjoyment.

 

Weekly Nature Journal Project

April 2017

This month my nature journal is full of flowers. My world has been filled with flowers so it only makes sense that this is what made its way into my heart and then onto my journal pages. The first part of the month we were in Oregon, then back to California, then back to Oregon again. This pattern will be happening for the next few months while we transition our life to our new home.

Spring in Oregon nature journal @handbookofnaturestudy

Central Oregon is just starting to move from winter into spring, so it was fun to create a second spring page noting my observations in contrast to my previous California spring page.  I featured the crocus we saw and used a bright springy background of yellow for my journaling.

Mustard entry @handbookofnaturestudy

The first wildflower we studied from the new Wildflower Set #1 is the subject of the next page in my journal. We saw mustard all up and down the state of California.

April dogwood entry @handbookofnaturestudy

This is the second page in my year-long study of the dogwood tree. I think this is my favorite page of the month! I so enjoyed making careful and up close observations of this pretty flower…or rather flowers and bracts. The creamy color and delicate pink tinge may just make this my favorite flowering tree.

Purple chinese houses nature journal @handbookofnaturestudy

I think this is my first two page spread of the year. I wanted to sketch this flower and include a photo so it made sense to make it two pages facing each other. I included a list of the other flowers we found on this particular hike. It’s always nice to have a record to compare from year to year.

As we get ready to make our move to Oregon, I’m getting very sentimental about my home and garden here in California. Each day I try to make more mental notes of the sights and sounds. It’s comforting to know that many of those memories are tucked safely away in my journals. I packed my older nature journals into a box yesterday and was grateful for the time I have spent digging deeper into learning about my neighborhood’s flora and fauna. I also packed my children’s nature journals alongside mine in the box. I inherited those journals from them as they left home. You can be sure they will be treasured keepsakes of the 30 years we have lived here on Hilltop Drive.

From a hilltop to a riverbank….maybe next month you will see my new habitat make an appearance in my nature journal!

 

Instagram OutdoorHourChallenge
Don’t forget that I am sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here: Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge. And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal

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Outdoor Hour Challenge – Poppy and Buttercup Wildflower Study

Poppies and Buttercups @handbookofnaturestudyOutdoor Hour Challenge

Poppy and Buttercup Wildflower Study

From the Archives and in the More Nature Study – Spring ebook

We are going to go on a search for poppies and buttercups this week! In my world, this is prime time for both of these wildflowers. In fact, I have some blooming right in my front yard!

Join me using the ideas from the archive post linked above or you can download the More Nature Study –Spring ebook if you are an Ultimate Naturalist Library member.

You may with to create a poppy nature journal entry using the idea I shared in this post from the past: Nature Journal Tutorial.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

 

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Outdoor Hour Challenge- Yarrow Wildflower Study

Yarrow Wildflower Study @handbookofnaturestudy

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Yarrow Wildflower Study

Wildflower Set #1

 

Inside Preparation:

Yarrow is a plant that most of us will regularly see alongside our hiking and walking trails. In addition, many garden nurseries have cultivated varieties of the yarrow plants if you are not successful in finding one in a more natural setting.

  • ¨ Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium )You may wish to check the range of this particular plant on USDA.
  • ¨ You may wish to view and download this fact sheet about the common yarrow: USDA Yarrow.
  • ¨ The yarrow plant is the host plant for the Painted Lady butterfly so make sure to look for this pretty insect when you find some yarrow.
  • ¨ Bloom time is usually April to September. Yarrow grows in full sun or part shade in dry habitats.
  • ¨ Aster Family: check out this page with an informative video.

Outdoor Hour Time:

  • ¨ Yarrow is found just about everywhere in the United States. Look for it in dry sunny spots starting in April. We see it alongside most of our hiking trails and is easy to spot because it is usually about 3 feet tall. If you find a patch to observe in person, use the observation suggestions on the following page to make a careful study of this beautiful flower.

Follow-Up Activity:

Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the yarrow flower and the aster family.

  • ¨ Create a notebook page for the yarrow.
  • ¨ Start an aster family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
  • ¨ Advanced study: Learn the medicinal uses of yarrow. Here is a link to use: Herb Wisdom.

The Yarrow Plant Attracts the following Butterflies:

Banded Hairstreak,  Lorquin AdmiralWest Coast Lady,

American CopperRed-banded Hairstreak,

 

 

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

 

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Outdoor Mom’s Nature Goal Update- First Quarter 2017

2017 Nature Study Goals @handbookofnaturestudy

Nature Study Goals 2017 – 1st Quarter Update

  • Create monthly entries for my Outdoor Mom experiences as I share our nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge, our travel experiences, and any of my family’s nature adventures. This was accomplished. You can read my entries here: January, February, and March.
  • Focus on my nature journal and create at least one page weekly. I have kept this up! I am most proud of accomplishing this goal.
  • Post images of my nature journal pages on Instagram each week. If you follow me on Instagram, you get to see a new nature journal page every Wednesday.
  • Read and review 6 nature journal related books. Oops! I really need to get myself organized for this goal. I just ordered my first book from Amazon so look for a review soon.

Have you created your own nature study goals this year? How are you doing?

I will update you when I finish the second quarter!

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Outdoor Hour Challenge – Purple Chinese Houses

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge Purple Chinese Houses @handbookofnaturestudy

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Purple Chinese Houses Wildflower Study
Wildflower Set #1

Inside Preparation:

There are 20 species of Chinese houses, most found in California. Their common name suggests the look of a Chinese pagoda.

  • ¨ Purple Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla) Look to see the range on USDA.
  • ¨ Sticky Chinese Houses (Collinsia tinctoria) Look to the range on USDA.

Outdoor Hour Time:

Look in sandy soil on shaded flats or slopes.

  • ¨ Usual bloom time is March to June. In my experience, these showy flowers are found in large patches on sunny slopes along the trail.
  • ¨ You may wish to look for the Checkerspot butterfly since this flower is a host plant for this insect.

Follow-Up Activity:

Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the Purple Chinese House flower and the figwort family.

  • ¨ Create a notebook page for the Purple Chinese house flower.
  • ¨ Start a figwort family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

 

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Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – May 2017 Beach and Fish

HNS Newsletter Cover May 2017

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

May 2017 Beach and Fish

 

Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.

The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. Members should have received their link already.

If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.

If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.

Handbook of Nature Study Subscribe Now

If you need to subscribe:

  • You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
  • Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link for the current month’s newsletter.

This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of May so be sure to download it before 5/31/17.

Remember! All of the archived and current newsletters are available as part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library…every level!

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter March 2017

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:

  • This month the theme of the newsletter goes along with the Ambleside Online theme of fish.  I expanded on that theme to include beach nature study ideas.
  • There is a Nature Study Planning Page for May with lots of great ideas related to the monthly theme.
  • Don’t miss reading this article by contributor Jamie Worley from See Jamie Blog
  • Printable: Fish Grid Study

Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.

Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

This new ebook is found in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships.

Ultimate Naturalist Library Benefits by Level June 2016

As a special promo, you can use the discount code WILDFLOWER5 for $5 off the Ultimate Naturalist Membership.

Handbook of Nature Study Ultimate Naturalist Membership

 

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Outdoor Hour Challenge – Spring Wildflowers

Outdoor Hour Challenge Spring Dandelion Study @handbookofnaturestudy

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Wildflowers- Dandelions

From the archives and the Spring Nature Study ebook.

This week is going to be fabulous! We are going to be on a dandelion hunt with our children. This cheerful flower has so much to teach us as we look at the leaves, the flower shape, and the seeds. You can find these little beauties everywhere now that spring is bursting out all around us.

Dandelion+Nature+Study+@handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.jpg

Use the ideas in this week’s challenge to dig into the Handbook of Nature Study lesson on dandelions. Create a record of your observations in your nature journal.

You can see our family’s dandelion study here: Dandelion Morning.

You can also give this challenge a try: Dandelion and Wildflower Photo Hunt

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

 

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Renee’s Garden Seeds 2017

 

Renees Garden Seeds @handbookofnaturestudy

Renee’s Garden Seeds
2017

When the package arrives each spring from Renee’s Garden, I get a little thrill! Seeing that envelope in my mailbox reminds me that garden time is just around the corner. I ordered my seeds before I knew we would sell our house so a few of the selections may not grow so well in my new climate zone.

Renees Seed Packets

I will be sharing my seeds with friends instead. This way I can still see how they perform and I won’t be sad that the seeds are going to waste.

Renees Garden Seeds 2017 @handbookofnaturestudy

 

Here is what I ordered this year (free from Renee’s in return for my sharing our results).

Old Favorites:

Pixie Sunshine Container Zinnias

Astia Container Zucchini

Classic Slenderette Bush Beans

Chocolate Cherry Sunflowers

Van Gogh Sunflowers

Baby Belle Mini Snack Peppers

Watercolor Silks Container Dahlias

Snow Sonata White Cosmos

Heirloom Chocolate Daisy

New to Me:

Bee Heaven Container Salvia

Pepperbox Poppy Heirloom Herbs

Summer Splash Marigolds

My current garden is in climate zone 8A and my new climate zone is 5A. Big difference!

“According to our data, you have a very, very short growing season.”

The National Gardening Association

Yep, 53 days for a growing season is very short! We will not be trying to grow things like tomatoes or peppers unless we create a greenhouse sometime in the future. I am told there is a very nice Farmer’s Market in our new area that I can visit to get loads of fresh veggies. I think that is a much better strategy for 2017.

garden renees sunflower august 2016 (5)

I will look at creating a new garden as a challenge. If you have any experience with growing a vegetable garden with a really short growing season, I would love to hear your comments.

 Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

Join us for this new series of wildflower nature study challenges. Wildflower Nature Study Set #1.

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Outdoor Hour Challenge – Shooting Star

Outdoor Hour Challenge Shooting Stars @handbookofnaturestudy

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Shooting Star Wildflower Study

From the Wildflower Nature Study Set #1

 

Inside Preparation:

¨ Look up and read about this beautiful showy flower in preparation for your outdoor time. Make sure to share images of the flower with your children so they know what they are hunting for. Look for shooting stars any time between April and August depending on the variety you have in your local area.

¨ The flowers look like rockets atop a long erect stalk growing from a basal cluster of leaves.

¨ Few-Flowered Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum) See the range: USDA.

¨ Alpine Shooting Star (Dodecatheon alpinum) See the range: USDA.

¨ Sierra Shooting Star (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) See the range: USDA.

¨ Eastern Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia) See the range: USDA.

¨ You may wish to watch most of this video that features shooting stars: Shooting Stars.

 

Outdoor Hour Time:

Look in sunny grasslands and shady woods.

¨ The shooting star’s unique dart shape and coloring should make it easy to identify. Look for a rosette of leaves at the base, a smooth stem, and then a cluster (or umbel) of flowers at the top.

 

Follow-Up Activity:

Note: Ebook users can find custom notebook pages to use for the shooting star flower and the primrose family.

  • Create a notebook page for the shooting star and be sure to include a sketch with the flower parts clearly labeled. Record the date and location of your shooting star for future reference.
  • Start a primrose family notebook page. Keep a running list over time of the flowers you observe and/or study in this plant family.
  • Advanced study: Learn how the Shooting star flower is pollinated. Also, sketch the life cycle of the plant in your nature journal.
  • Advanced study: The genus name dodecatheon means “twelve gods”. Research to find out why they chose this genus name.

 

 

Outdoor Hour Challenge Wildflower Set 1 Ebook

How do you get the new Wildflower Nature Study ebook?

Members of the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey levels have access to the new ebook in their library. You need to click the “Members Area” button at the top of the website, sign into your account, and the ebook is there to download and save for your family to use when desired. If you don’t have a membership yet, I am offering a $5 off discount code that will be good towards your Ultimate Naturalist membership.

Discount Code: Wildflower5

 

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Outdoor Mom – April 2017

 

Outdoor Mom April 2017

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

April 2017

The past month has been a month of wildflowers. Coming out of the wettest winter in our memory, we are so grateful for the green sprouting grass and the pops of springtime color.

Spring House Yard

It has been a time of yard work as well. We listed our house on the market so that meant a whole yard tidy and sprucing up. I weeded and weeded until my hands were sore and I still didn’t get them all.

Point Mugu HIke Wildflowers 1

Last week we flew to Southern California to meet up with my son who was out from New York to be in a friend’s wedding. What did we do with our time together? We hiked of course! I realized we could take advantage of the “super bloom” of wildflowers and using Instagram search, we found a place near where my son was staying to visit for a long afternoon hike in the hills.

Point Mugu HIke Wildflowers 2

Point Mugu was a perfect place to hike right along Hwy 1 on the coastline of California. You start at the day use parking lot and head up the hill on the fire road. Masses of wildflowers covered the hillside!

Point Mugu HIke Wildflowers 3

We could identify many of the flowers and the others I have images of to use with a field guide. I quizzed my son about flower names and he remembered quite a few which made my Outdoor Mom heart happy. Don’t be fooled…they are paying attention even when they don’t act like it.

I have been struggling with keeping up with my nature journal but I am determined to keep my page a week goal. Look for my nature journal entry later this month or follow me on Instagram for my Wednesday nature journal posts.

Oregon river

Many of you have heard by now that we sold our house in California and we will be moving next month to Central Oregon. I am so excited to start learning about my new habitat along the Little Deschutes River. I am going to try to keep up my posting routine here on the Handbook of Nature Study so hopefully you will not notice much difference here on the blog except for the topics I will be covering in my nature journal.

 

 

 

How Do You Join?

Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.

  • During our outdoor time this week we went….
  • The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
  • Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
  • In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting….
  • I added nature journal pages about….
  • I am reading…
  • I am dreaming about…
  • A photo I would like to share…