Family Outdoor Life Archives

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Barb — 13 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – November Edition

October was a BIG month for getting outdoors for our family. My husband and I flew across the country to not only see the fall colors of the East Coast but to spend quality family time with three of our children. I realized that all five of us needed to do some exploring out in the fresh air and sunshine. We couldn’t have timed our trip better and this entry will share a few of the highlights as I compose this Outdoor Mom’s Journal for this month.

Above is the first of our autumn strolls. This one at Ramapo Valley County Reservation in Mahwah, New Jersey. Yes, New Jersey. I have one son living not far from this gem of a park and one evening we took a walk around the shore of the small lake there right at the golden time of the day. This is a photo I snapped as we rounded a corner…it was like a tunnel of light. Amazing.

Kent Falls, CT

You have no idea how happy this image makes me. To have five of us together, on the trail, almost perfect (just missing one child).

We hiked along the Appalachian Trail near the Housatonic River and the town of Kent, CT one afternoon. It was like a dream. W

The trail was flat and covered in fallen leaves which were so crunchy under our feet. The trail meanders alongside the river for miles and miles but we didn’t go but maybe a couple miles before we turned around and headed back.

The leaves were so interesting and my husband and daughter wanted a photo with some of the rather large leaves that we found along one portion of the trail.

We were staying at gorgeous Candlewood Lake near Danbury, CT. This was the perfect launching spot for our trip and it was central to everything we wanted to do.

Candlewood Lake in Connecticut created a memory for our family and this little cabin we rented through AirBNB could not have been any better.

Here is a photo I would like to share: Lake Waramaug State Park in Connecticut

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world. I hope you have enjoyed your October nature adventures.

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…

I will be posting my Outdoor Mom’s Journal entry once a month. Look for it during the first week of the month each month.

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Goals 2015 – 3rd Quarter Update

Another quarter has come and gone….a few more of my nature study goals have been met. The summer season is my favorite season for getting outside and exploring but now that autumn has arrived I really need to get busy with the remaining goals on my list. I think this is the beauty of having a goal list since it reminds you of your intentions and keeps them fresh in your mind. I have my goal list in my planning binder and now I have some items penciled in on my calendar.

You can read my original post here: Nature Study Goals 2015

Goals Update

1. Yosemite Photo Project: This was a big fail. I took two trips to Yosemite during this quarter and I did NOT manage to take the book with me that outlined my plans for the project. It is a very good thing that I can roll this over into next year.

2. Visit one new state park: Accomplished this one!!! We visited Sugar Pine Point State Park and had a picnic and did some hiking. I just realized I have never created an entry about this trip…it is now on the schedule for an up-coming post.

3. Visit one new national park: Accomplished during the second quarter – Zion National Park.

4. Visit a bird refuge: This is going to happen in this last quarter of the year so stay tuned!

5. Take one new hike: We have picked a hike and now that it is autumn we will give it a try. (#37 in the book-Codfish Falls on the American River).

6. Read ten nature-related books this year: So far so good with nine books read and one more to go!

7. Rock project: We had plans to work on this one but we had to cancel our trip due to the wildfires here in California.

8. Create one nature journal entry each month: Yes! Using the Once a Month Nature Journal ideas, I have been able to create at least one page a month.

How are your nature study goals coming along for 2015? Do you need to create a list?

You might like to read the Planning Nature Study for the Year post from last month for some ideas to get you started.

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – October Edition

: My September Collage: Beautiful coneflowers from a visit to a botanical garden. My swallow bird study nature journal entry. Smoke from the large and destructive wildfire we experienced here in California. A new variety of apple from our apple farm visit.

Charlotte Mason said, “Some children are born naturalists, but even those who weren’t were born with natural curiosity about the world should be encouraged to observe nature. Most children are influenced by the opinions of those around them and if their parents don’t care about nature, or are disgusted by little creatures, they will pick up that attitude and all the wonders of nature will pass them by.”

I think I was born a naturalist. I know a few fellow naturalists in my real life and I see them here through the lens of my blog. Perhaps you have one in your home.

I try to feed that love of the natural world as much as I can fit it into my busy life….it is a balm and a balance to our very fast-paced, technologically focused world.

Most inspiring this month was my butterfly observations in my own front yard. I spent quite a bit of time sitting quietly waiting for a butterfly to stop flying around and land for a photo. I was rewarded for my effort.
I wondered about how the migrating birds know when to come back. I saw the appearance of my juncos and sparrows. They arrived at our feeders just as we got our first measurable rain since last spring.
I am anticipating and dreaming about a soon to happen trip to Connecticut. We are hoping for fall color and good weather for hiking. Time will tell.

Two photos I want to share!

This is one of my morning glories that I have growing in a pot on my back deck. It is so amazing when it firsts opens up….just like a paper flower! It is truly a glorious flower.

This is something else from a pot on my back deck. Tomato hornworms that completely ate my tomato plant pretty much in a night. I check this plant everyday and somehow missed them until I saw their telltale droppings on the deck around the plant. I left them for the birds to deal with. It’s kind of late in the season to hope that the plant revives but I can always have hope. It is hard to believe that these caterpillars eventually turn into beautiful sphinx moths.

It was a great month….looking forward to finding the autumn gifts in October.

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world. I hope you have enjoyed your August.

How Do You Join?

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…

I will be posting my Outdoor Mom’s Journal entry once a month. Look for it during the first week of the month each month.

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

September Leaf Study – Smoke Tree

“During autumn the attention of the children should be attracted to the leaves by their gorgeous colors. It is well to use this interest to cultivate their knowledge of the forms of leaves of trees; but the teaching of the tree species to the young child should be done quite incidentally and guardedly. If the teacher says to the child bringing a leaf, ‘This is a white-oak leaf,’ the child will soon quite unconsciously learn that leaf by name. Thus, tree study may be begun in the kindergarten or the primary grades.” Anna Botsford-Comstock

The September newsletter was all about trees and a leaf study. I was trying to find a new subject for my study this month and decided upon a fairly new tree I have growing in my front yard. We have not pruned it to be a tree but have let it grow more in the shape of a bush. Our smoke tree provided a wonderful focal point for my leaf study using the suggestions in the newsletter and on the notebook page provided.

Note: If you subscribe to this blog, you will receive each month’s newsletter in an email. If you are interested in access to all the back issues of the newsletter, you can purchase any level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study and those will be available for download. See the Join Us page for more details.

Doing research on this interesting plant, I learned it has numerous common names including mist tree, cloud tree, wig tree, and Jupiter’s beard. I have always liked these trees because they develop this interesting pink “smoke” over the summer months and then the leaves turn a deep reddish purple in the autumn. Our smoke tree has just started to blush with red color on many of the leaves. Soon it will be ablaze with its autumn splendor.

Can you see the hint of red in some of the leaves above? I used the prompt from the newsletter to compare the top and bottom of the leaves. The tops of the leaves are a dark gray green color and the backs are more of a silvery green color. You can feel the veins on the bottom of the leaf but the tops are smooth. Also, you can see the beginnings of the dark little fruits that form on this plant in the fall.

I used the suggestion on the notebook page to smell the leaf and then to crush it and see if that enhances the scent. Yes! I thought the leaf had the fragrance of spicy earth but when I was doing my reading about the smoke tree, I found that it said the crushed leaf smells like orange peel. Once they put that thought in my head I had to agree…orange peels. In the photo above, you can see a few of the dark small seeds mixed in with the pink smoke.

So here is my completed notebook page with all my observations and interesting facts…an a watercolor drawing of the leaf. I may print a photo of the tree and attach it to the back of my notebook page for my journal since I have one that I took that I especially like. My page is now tucked away in my nature journal binder and thinking about it makes me happy.

Using the notebook page, I realized that I need to make the prompt on the next notebook page a little more narrow so if we want to use it as a nature journal topper it will fit in a sketchbook or blank nature journal better. Look for that next month!

Need some additional ideas?

Here is a video I made on how to make a watercolor leaf which is especially good for beginners: Watercolor Leaf on YouTube.

I created another video featuring watercolor crayons that create a beautiful leaf in my nature journal: Watercolor Crayons – Leaf Demonstration.

Here is a link to Hearts and Trees: Fall Nature Study- Things to Do With Leaves (10 things to do with leaves)

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – Early Fall Thoughts

“But he learns naturally at his own pace, never tiring, and slowly learning just what he needs to know about the world around him. And this is exactly what a child should be doing for the first few years. He should be getting familiar with the real things in his own environment. Some day he will read about things he can’t see; how will he conceive of them without the knowledge of common objects in his experience to relate them to? Some day he will reflect, contemplate, reason. What will he have to think about without a file of knowledge collected and stored in his memory?”

Charlotte Mason in Modern English, volume 1 page 66

Renee’s Garden Seeds – Just Look at My Garden!

If you have been following the blog in the past few years, you are aware that Renee’s Garden Seeds has been a sponsor and valued part of my summer gardening experience. Not only have I enjoyed her seeds in my garden, but I have shared seeds with my dad. He has a beautiful garden and each year he tenderly nurtures his vegetables through the hot California summer. This year his pond went dry but he still kept his garden green with his well water.

Here in town I did not have that option…we are on city water and have been restricted not only in the number of days we can water but we were asked to reduce our usage by using less than last year. I took the challenge and created a container garden on my back deck and watered using only a drip system and water that I caught from our shower warm up time that I collected in a five gallon bucket. This garden has brought such joy to me over the summer. I could look out and see the insects buzzing around the blossoms and the hummingbirds stopping by for some nectar.

Hello Mr. Sunflower! So glad you joined us….the bees have spent many hours hovering and gathering at my container sunflowers.

Each morning I would check my plants for something to harvest. It could be a handful of cherry tomatoes, a zucchini to pick, or some herbs to include in my dinner plans.

I would talk to my morning glory vines and coach them to stop growing so tall and to start blooming. The first morning that I looked out my window and saw these gorgeous flowers made all the waiting worth it. They now greet me every morning with a few blue flowers…happy, happy, happy.

The zucchini at the beginning of the season were small but more of a traditional shape. As the summer has worn on, they have started to change into this interesting shape, still tasty and summery on the table at dinner.

Apple Time!

We are looking forward to apple time in the coming weeks. Not only our local orchard but our very own apple tree in our backyard! This is the first year we really have an apple “harvest” on our young tree and it surprises me that even in our drought that we have apples to eat from our own tree. We will be visiting our local apple farm to purchase apples for various treats including applesauce. The taste of autumn around here is apple!

You can do your own apple study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge: Autumn Apples Nature Study.

Join Jami over on An Oregon Cottage for her Tuesday Garden Party!

August was a great month of being outdoors for this nature loving mama. I accomplished one of my nature study goals for the year by visiting a new state park, Sugar Pine Point State Park! I will share that in an up-coming post here on the Handbook of Nature Study. The season is about to change here and that means even more time outside hiking with the cooler temperatures.

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world. I hope you have enjoyed your August.

How Do You Join?

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…

I will be posting my Outdoor Mom’s Journal entry once a month. Look for it during the first week of the month each month.

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

Summer Days Filled With Goodness

It doesn’t get much better than this on a hot summer July day in my neck of the woods. It is times like this that I count my blessings.

We had a glorious day up at the lake….a short last minute idea to go for a hike and then have a picnic dinner. This lake was the bluest I have seen in a very long time….three shades of blue-turquoise, blue-gray, and deep blue.

We hiked a new trail for us and it was surprising that we had it all to ourselves. We had planned to hike from a popular trailhead but there were no parking spots left, which is what happens when you show up at around 2 PM. We decided to park on the highway, walk down the road leading to a closed campground, and then see what adventure would come our way. It was far better than expected!

The trail we found wandered around and out onto a peninsula overlooking Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay. The sun was hot but there was a breeze and in the shade it was comfortable. We sat out at the point for a long time just drinking in the views. There were several birds flying overhead and I could identify the call of the osprey and the song of the chickadee.

After that hike, we drove back down to Taylor Creek and hiked down to the water. This is my favorite little aspen grove and right now it is very green and filled with wildflowers. The cow parsnip is thick and smells fragrant…giving the hike a wonderful smell to remember. The insects were busy working in the flowers…mostly bees.

Play I Spy and you will see the crayfish that was scuttling along the creek bed. The water wasn’t very deep or moving very fast and we actually saw five different crayfish on this trip. They are strange creatures!

Here is another little wild friend that we stopped to watch along the trail. This squirrel (actually a chickaree) actually climbed up the tree with that cone in his mouth and then he sat eating the seeds up on the branch. Adorable!

We saw lots of snow plant on this hike.

And here is a really tall specimen of pine drops!

Here it is up close! So interesting!

Here come the wildflowers! I am trying to positively identify this purple flower.. Rydberg’s penstemon?

One of my favorite flowers! Western sky pilot....so pretty!

Then we found a whole patch of Ranger buttons.…the insects were loving this flower!

Down on the beach it was covered in Hooker’s primrose and lupine….almost unreal how beautiful it was in the fading light. We walked and found a place to sit as the sun was setting…watching the shadows getting longer and longer.

This shows the lupine better….maybe this one will need to get printed out and put up on my wall. I love this place, feels like home. Do you know what I mean? Do you have a place that just feels like it was meant for you?

One last wildflower, this time a pink one, Checkermallow

So ends our most excellent summer day at the lake up in the mountains….sigh. Can’t wait to do it all again sometime!

I managed to create a Five Senses Nature Journal page as part of my Once a Month Nature Journal Project. This is a super simple idea for a quick nature journal page that you and your children can do very easily this month!

Go create your own summer day filled with goodness….enjoy!

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Goals 2015 – 2nd Quarter Update

This has been an amazing quarter for us as far as getting outdoors and exploring!

You can read my original post here: Nature Study Goals 2015

Goals Update

1. Yosemite Photo Project: We have a trip planned to Yosemite next week so I have my list ready to go of photos to take.

2. Visit one new state park: Failed this one again. I picked one to visit over the summer so I am determined to accomplish this goal in the up=coming quarter.

3. Visit one new national park: Zion National Park!!! We also spent four days at the Grand Canyon and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

4. Visit a bird refuge: Fail on this one again.

5. Take one new hike: Still waiting to take a hike from our new guide book.

6. Read ten nature-related books this year: I am keeping up with my schedule and really enjoying the way I had it planned out from the beginning of the year.

7. Rock project: This will be accomplished in July with a trip to visit Devil’s Postpile National Monument. I won’t be able to collect any samples there but we are going to see basalt rocks.

8. Create one nature journal entry each month: I am keeping up with the Once a Month Nature Journal ideas to create at least one page a month.

It is not too late to create some nature study goals of your own. I invite you to download and use this free printable goals planner:

Printable Nature Study Goals Planner

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Wildflower Hike

We have enjoyed a few hikes to the river this month and I thought I would share a glimpse of our wildflowers here in Northern California.

Purple vetch

Purple lupine

Miniature lupine

Just an image of the American River at sunset…serenity!

This one is new to us!!! It is a California peony (Paeonia californica). It was just one plant alongside the path and we almost missed it!

Pretty Faces

White Fairy Lantern

Scotch Broom

I hope you enjoyed seeing my spring wildflowers and now you can go out to find your own! You might want to use the printable photo hunt below to get you started.

Free Printable Wildflower Photo Hunt

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Study Goals 2015- 1st Quarter Update

The first quarter of 2015 has flown by and with it many missed opportunities to work on my goals. Taking time to check in on the progress made towards goals is as important as making the goals. It is a way to stir up some urgency to make concrete plans before the year is completely gone. So, that is where I am this morning as I reflect on what has been achieved and what has not in relation to my Nature Study Goals for 2015.

You can read my original post here: Nature Study Goals 2015

Goals Update

1. Yosemite Photo Project: We took one of the photos during our last visit to Yosemite a few weeks ago. I need to plan better for our next visit in June.

2. Visit one new state park: Nope, not yet.

3. Visit one new national park: We have firm plans and reservations to visit Zion National Park later in the year.

4. Visit a bird refuge: We picked a refuge that is about three hours away and will be visiting in May and then again in November….it is written on my calendar!

5. Take one new hike: Nope, not yet.

6. Read ten nature-related books this year: I have read three and will be started the fourth in April.

7. Rock project: I wrote on my goals sheet the places we will visit to learn about two of the remaining rocks on the list.

8. Create one nature journal entry each month: I am using the Once a Month Nature Journal ideas to create at least one page a month.

9. Rewatch the National Park series on Netflix: Accomplished!!!

It is not too late to create some nature study goals of your own. I invite you to download and use this free printable goals planner:

Printable Nature Study Goals Planner

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Barb — 2 Comments

Early March Garden Colors

Would you like a walk through my garden? We are having an early spring in our area and with that is the bursting forth of colors and leaves of all shapes. I love the garden’s treasures and each time I take a stroll I find something to enjoy. I forced some forsythia blossoms in the house this year but nothing beats the sprays of yellow that decorate the front corner of my yard. The birds love to sit in the top of the limbs and pick out the dried blackberries that share this space in the garden.

I can never remember the name of this shrub that lines the border between my neighbor’s yard and mine. It has these amazing blossoms that attract bees by the dozens. Yes, we have bees even now in the early spring. Bees in this shrub, in the rosemary, and around the opening California lilac!

The side of the house has its usual daffodils, narcissus, and bleeding hearts all making their usual appearance at the beginning of the flower season.

The pittosporum is coming alive and soon it will have its fragrant blossoms to scent the spring air.

My candytuft is full of blossoms and insects. Look closely and you will see an insect poking into the center of a flower cluster. This must be one happy little insect. The flowerbed with this plant is slowly filling in year after year with more and more of this pretty flower.

I am thinking this is a holly hock volunteering to grow in the middle of one of my garden boxes. I don’t remember planting anything in this spot last year because of our drought conditions but it sure is springing up nice and healthy so we will leave it for awhile to see what comes later in the year.

Our day lilies are pushing up their fan-shaped leaves and will soon be shooting up some flower stalks with their pastel colored flowers to come later in the summer. It is like an old friend and I welcome its appearance.

At the end of last summer, I chopped my rose bushes back with a hard pruning. They were so pitiful and ugly then and I decided anything that happened would be better than looking at those scrawny bushes that had not endured the drought very well at all. And look! They are coming back with a pretty shape and even have buds! The way it has made a comeback makes me smile.

Do these leaves look soft and fuzzy to you? In real life they are amazingly soft and this plant is such a great choice for our dry climate. I may just need to plant a few more Jerusalem sages to fill in where other plants have completely died from lack of water. This one just keeps on going!

My wallflowers were very sad at the end of last summer but now look at how many flowers and buds there are to enjoy! I love the little teeth on the leaves and the purpleness of the buds.

The birds have once again come through with some sunflower plantings. I have about six sunflowers all growing in pots on my deck which you know I will be watering through the summer.

The zinnias have self seeded in the pots again this year and I will be adding in a few more as the spring progresses. These are some of my favorite cut flowers for my kitchen table and I hope I end up with a variety of colors to enjoy.

That is a quick tour of the garden….hope it cheers you up and inspires you to start thinking about the up-coming flower season in your part of the world.

Happy garden day!

Are you ready for your spring greens? You may want to do a “spring green” nature journal.

Here is a link to the original entry: Spring Green Nature Journal.

Category: Family Outdoor Life

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – November Edition

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Nature Goals 2015 – 3rd Quarter Update

How are your nature study goals coming along for 2015? Do you need to create a list?

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – October Edition

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

September Leaf Study – Smoke Tree

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – Early Fall Thoughts

Outdoor Mom’s Journal

Summer Days Filled With Goodness

Nature Goals 2015 – 2nd Quarter Update

It is not too late to create some nature study goals of your own. I invite you to download and use this free printable goals planner:

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Wildflower Hike

Nature Study Goals 2015- 1st Quarter Update

It is not too late to create some nature study goals of your own. I invite you to download and use this free printable goals planner:

Early March Garden Colors

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!