I’m trying to keep up my nature journal page a week goal and some weeks it is not easy. This time of year I am spending lots of time outdoors both having adventures and working in the yard. I struggle to make myself sit down and actually pull out the nature journal. But once I have it out, I am eager to make a page. Discipline!
This was actually done on the last day of May but it didn’t make the May blog entry. I created this as a follow up for the Poppies and Buttercups Outdoor Hour Challenge. We have plenty of buttercups in our backyard to observe so this was part of my learning more about the things we have right outside our back door. I am a huge fan of learning as much as you can about your local area’s plants and animals. Since moving, I have a lot to learn!
As part of my on-going self-education, I am learning about plants according to their plant family. I created a page for the pea family this month and listed the outstanding features of plants in this family as well as a list of plants I have seen in the past and want to look for in the future.
Wildflowers seem to be a focus for me right now as I explore my new habitat. Three flowers made it into the journal this week: Silverleaf phacelia, Meadow forget-me-not, and Rosy pussytoes. They are all so pretty in real life.
I keep a spiral notebook with pretty much daily notes that record anything I observe of interest. This month I decided to put the highlights from those notes on a recap page in my actual nature journal, first crating colored boxes for some visual appeal.
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
Please note that I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com. I have used these pages with my own family over many years. They are truly a simple way to get those nature journal pages done!
It was a mad rush at the end of April and the beginning of May to get our house packed up and ready to move 450 miles north to our new Oregon river house. I made time to purposefully enjoy our California yard those last few days. It was important to me to write some last thoughts about the amazing front yard habitat we had built to encourage wildlife even in our small little space.
This is the two page spread I completed to put those memories in my nature journal.
We had four days of being homeless and we spent those days at La Pine State Park camping. It was a fun family time that made the page special as I recorded some of the highlights of those few days together at the Deschutes River.
At last we were in the new house! The house feature that stops everyone in their tracks is the rather large window looking from the family room out to the river… the view! It was a perfect first Oregon river house page.
There are many birds to observe and learn about in our new place. The first bird to make it in my nature journal is the tree swallow. It has quickly become a new favorite bird as it swoops and glides right by my windows in search of flying insects to eat. I have been caught just standing and watching the swallows when I should have been doing something else but I can’t help it. They are so beautiful and graceful.
I love keeping my memories in my nature journal.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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!
I’m closing in on the end of the first quarter of 2017 which is a great time to take stock of how well I am meeting my nature goals for 2017.
My very ambitious goal of completing a nature journal page a week is going splendidly, partly because I have done some interesting things to journal about and partly because I am motivated to keep it going. There is great joy in looking back and viewing the completed pages.
I think I am onto something here.
The first two pages featured topics from my Hawaiian vacation with my family.
This page was done while sitting at the beach. I created a record of some of our more noteworthy things observed in the ocean…sea turtles and humpback whales!
We had such a wonderful experience at Greenwell Coffee Farm that I made that the subject of another Hawaiian inspired page. I love Kona coffee and getting to see the process from blossom to ‘cuppa joe’ was perfect.
Our family loves to see the spring green of the California buckeye leaves at this time of the year. It really does mean spring has arrived when the buckeyes start leafing out along our roads and trails. I want to keep up my observations of this common shrub for a complete year. Look for more pages to come!
Sigh…the first day of spring! No time for a long hike so I squeezed in a little walk to note the changes happening in my own yard and neighborhood. I tried to include my sense of smell, hearing, and sight to have a full first day of spring experience.
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
Here is your nature journal tip for the month which is taken from an entry I wrote a long time ago entitled, “Drawing and Your Nature Journal”.
If you want your drawing skills to improve, you must practice.
Gulp. That is a tough one for most of us. I did not come from an artistic background so giving myself permission to try to learn to draw or paint or do anything artistic took a big shove from my husband. He encouraged me take a drawing class at the college. This was so far out of my comfort zone but I really wanted to learn how to draw past stick figures. It took time and effort. My suggestion for people who are striving to do a better job in sketching is to go to your library and go to the children’s section first and check out “how to draw” books and use them alongside your children. I checked one out on how to draw insects and one on how to draw birds and then found some nature sketching books to try. These experiences with the book open in front of you and your sketching from the step by step instructions will eventually spill over into your nature journal.
There is no magic formula but your success is equal to the effort you are willing to put into it.
Weekly Nature Journal Project 2017 Month of February
I know that I set the bar rather high when I decided to create a nature journal page every week as part of my nature goals for 2017. I have never attempted anything like this before except for my monthly nature journal project and that was a stretch. Imagine how surprised I am that carving out the time and energy to make a weekly entry has so far, not been too much!
I find that I am thinking about what kind of page I want to create as I go about my outdoor time…looking for meaningful ideas that bring joy not only to the process but in the finished product. I am still journaling inside and not in the fresh air because of the weather, but I am hoping soon to be able to pack up my supplies and hit the trail for some en plein air journaling.
I hope that my pages inspire and encourage you this month.
February is always a month of counting birds not only for Project Feederwatch but for the Great Backyard Bird Count. I always love a good list so it is no surprise that one of my pages is a list of February birds. I also included a comparison of the crow and raven for my own self education. I many times see one or the other flying in my neighborhood and this research will help cement the field marks to look for in identifying one or the other.
My backyard has a violet patch of every increasing size. They seem to pop up in the funniest places, even in the back lawn. When the air is warm, their scent is heavy and sweet. I was reading online about violets and came across an interesting tidbit that explains something fascinating about the violet’s fragrance. I thought it was worthy of a journal page.
I created another backyard inspired page that features our sequoia tree. It really started with finding a sequoia cone on my back deck that prompted me to do a little research about the cones and seeds. Taking time to carefully observe something like the cone, led me to learn so much more about something that I see every day and can become commonplace. A sequoia should be anything but commonplace with its amazing size and resilience.
I have a fondness for monthly recap sorts of pages in my journal where I can note little items of interest that come up during the month. It gives me a place to practice my doodling as well.
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
Need some help getting started with your own journal?
I shared awhile back some tips for moms who wanted to get started with their own nature journals, but felt they didn’t have the necessary skills. Listed below are three points I wanted to share again in the hope that they will encourage you to get started this month with your nature journal.
1. Keep it simple and don’t be afraid to get started.
A blank page can intimidate even the most seasoned journal-keeper. Work through your fear of failure by starting small and keeping it simple. Be a good role model. If you have children and you are encouraging them to keep a nature journal, you can empathize with their feelings of inadequacy. Be brave and your children will look to your example and be more confident about their own journals.
2. Use a variety of ideas…find something that works for you.
You are not required to sketch. Try something else. Keep a list, include a photo, copy a poem or some facts…just get started. Don’t wait. You may someday feel like sketching or water coloring in your journal but it’s not a requirement. There are no rules for nature journals. Use color and a few well-placed decorations to make your journal more personalized if you feel inclined.
3. A journal can be a private place of joy.
Remind yourself that your journal is a personal keepsake and a record of your thoughts and experiences. You do not need to share it with anyone…in real life or on the internet. If it makes you happy, that is all that counts.
My February entry is a little early this month because I am anticipating a week with my daughter where we will be going unplugged for the most part. I will share my early February activities and thoughts in the hope that it will inspire you to get out and have your own Outdoor Mom time. Don’t miss the prompts at the bottom of the post for some ideas to get you started if you want to write up your own journal or share something in a comment here at the end of this entry.
During our outdoor time this month we went….
We have made time for only one formal hike because of the weather. It has been all over the place as far as rain, snow, ice, and wind. What a ride! My husband takes a daily hike and he invited me to accompany him early one morning last week during the middle of our wettest week in a very long time. We actually had over 17 inches of rain in less than a week. He loaned me some rain gear and it kept me dry as we hiked down a familiar trail to the river. It is usually a loop trail but on this day about a third of the trail was under almost flood stage water. The power of water always impresses me and this day was no different. The photo above shows my husband on the trail’s end. I captured the event in my nature journal.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
We had one snow even where we received about an inch and a half overnight. The snow stuck around all morning and it happened to be a Project Feederwatch day so I was periodically looking out at our feeders.
About 9 AM I noticed a small hawk resting on the block wall to the side of our feeder area. He had his back to us so I tried to use the binoculars to spy his features. I didn’t want to spook him so I stayed fairly still as I observed. I was able to snap a few images that helped me identify him as a sharp-shinned hawk. It was an awesome sight and very rare to see a hawk in our yard.
I added nature journal pages about….
In living up to my goal to create a nature journal page each week, I have been working diligently on my journal.
>>>Winter Backyard Study (from the January 2017 newsletter), Nature Goals 2017 – made an official record of my goals, focused mainly on my journal, Sharp-shinned Hawk sighting, Rain Day at the American River<<<<
I am dreaming about…
An up-coming trip where I will put my feet in warm sand.
A photo I would like to share…
We have had a downy woodpecker visit our suet feeder just about every day this week. He is a welcome visitor!
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.
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…
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printables which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
Look for me on Instagram if you want to follow my outdoor experiences in photos. Use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge or #OHCnaturejournal and I will stop by and see what you are up to on your Instagram account.
Nature Study Goals 2017 – Let me inspire you to create your own goals!
I am at a point in my life that I am simplifying and decluttering my home, my thinking, and my lifestyle. I’m embracing these changes as I see the space both physically and mentally it provides for new opportunities and experiences. I have thought long and hard about how this relates to what I do here on my blogand with the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
Things here on the blog will go on pretty much as before except for perhaps fewer posts in months where we are traveling. I will still be creating a monthly newsletteras a companion to the weekly Outdoor Hour Challenges. There will still be printablesand activities added to the Member’s Library.
Big News Here at the Outdoor Hour Challenge
The biggest development here, and the real reason I want to simplify my blog work, is a new wildflower ebook in the works. I will expound on that very soon here on the blog but you can anticipate the first set of wildflower challenges (all new) to start posting in April.
But for me personally, 2017 is going to be a year that I focus on my personal nature journal. Most of my goals will be centered on creating a more meaningful and thorough record of my nature study experiences. (Especially after reading and being inspired by The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling.)
You are welcome to join me as I pull from ideas that are in my archives, from internet sources like Pinterest, and from the books I have on my nature reference shelf. I will of course be sharing some of my work here on the blog but you may consider following me on Instagram since that is my social media outlet of choice and lends itself to the visual nature of a nature journal.
Nature Study Goals 2017 – Focus on My Nature Journal
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.
Focus on my nature journal and create at least one page weekly. This is a BIG commitment on my part but I think it is a goal I can reach with continued focus and inspiration. I have created a chart for the front of my nature journal that has page ideas for me to use so that I get a variety of pages over the year’s time.
Post images of my nature journal pages on Instagram each week.
Read and review 6 nature journal related books. I will need inspiration to keep me going. I haven’t had a chance to gather 6 books together yet but I will be sure to share them both on Instagram and here on my blog ASAP.
I always love to read your goals so leave me a comment with your goals or a link to your blog if you post an entry there.
Are you interested in creating your own nature goals? Here is a free printable for you to use as you brainstorm the goal and the steps to meeting that goal.
Just recently I shared my thoughts on nature study versus science in this entry: Nature Study or Science. I invite you to read that entry first and then return to this entry.
Meaningful nature study is something that all parents can offer to their children. Here are some simple tips to help you get started or perhaps refresh your normal routine.
Tips for Meaningful Nature Study
Place the child directly in contact with nature. This means get outside! Use some time each week to go with your child outside and find something interesting to look at and experience together.
Direct contact is a must. Look in your own backyard or neighborhood for subjects you can observe in person, not something you read about in a book. Real objects are the basis for real learning. Some of these objects will be appropriate to gather and place on a nature table in your home. (See my favorite nature table ideas here on my Pinterest board: Nature Display.)
If you give a nature lesson, have in mind a clear objective for that lesson. Do you need to follow up on interest found during your outdoor time? Make sure to relate the follow up information to the outdoor experience for maximum benefits.
Ideas for Follow Up to Your Nature Study Time
An oral narration- Talk about what you saw and experienced together. Here are some additional ideas: Using Your Words.
A written narration and/or a drawing- Create a memory of the experience or subject. There are lots of ideas for nature journals here on my page: Nature Journals.
“Adults should realize that the most valuable thing children can learn is what they discover themselves about the world they live in.” Charlotte Mason, volume 1 page 61
Don’t miss this month’s newsletter! If you haven’t already subscribed to this blog and would like to receive every post in your inbox and each month’s newsletter with practical tips and nature study encouragement, you can subscribe by clicking THIS LINK or below.
Sign Up Here for the Handbook of Nature Study Monthly Newsletter.
This Outdoor Mom had a fantastic end of the summer! This post features our second Oregon trip of the year and lots of kayaking adventures. Technically, the Oregon trip was at the very end of August but after my August Outdoor Mom’s post so I want to include it here because it was a fantastic trip. I will be dedicating a complete post in October to the many Oregon State Parks we visited on this latest trip. It was a perfect trip!
We spent four days in the Bend/La Pine, Oregon area. It was a heat wave for them and most of the lakes and rivers were super busy with so many people swimming, using stand up paddleboards, rafts, and kayaks. I was really glad we had our kayak and we made the most of the time out on the water. We are in the middle of training our Labrador to ride along with us and she is quickly getting the hang of jumping in and enjoying the ride. The image above was taken in the Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon along the Deschutes River. It was a perfect night for a walk along the banks of the river and for sitting at an outdoor patio for dinner. We read in a brochure that Bend, Oregon is the most dog friendly town in the U.S. We believe it!
I think this is first photo I have shared where you can see our awesome tandem kayak (Old Town Loon 160T). We LOVE it! Both my husband and I are tall and there is enough room for our legs and the 70 pound Labrador. The image above shows us launching at Sparks Lake on the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway. It is a large shallow lake within view of many of the area’s signature mountains: Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, Broken Top.
This collage of images is from our stay in Newport, Oregon. We found an amazing spot to kayak just south of town at Beaver Creek (Brian Booth State Park). First we paddled up the creek and saw some interesting birds: Belted kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Turkey vulture, and several different ducks. Then we paddled back down the creek and all the way to the ocean! What a day!
This is the South Falls at Silver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon. We had three days of hiking in this amazing place! There are actually TEN waterfalls that you can hike in a loop. This one was our favorite because you could actually hike behind the waterfall…look at the image carefully and you can see the trail. You can be sure I will be sharing more about this destination in my October Oregon State Parks entry.
I did fit in some nature journaling on this trip. I learned some interesting things about the heron and I actually heard the loudsound it made as we paddled too close to one and it flew off. Loud! It surprised me. I will be sharing a bit more about my nature journals in an up-coming post.
A little closer to home, my sunflowers bloomed! I looked out the window one morning and discovered this beauty. I love the sunflower time of the year and look forward to it each summer. This is one of the sunflowers from Renees Garden Seeds. So perfectly perfect.
We did some hiking closer to home when my two New Yorkers were home for a visit. We camped at Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe in California. It was perfect weather and the hiking was filled with wonderful autumn air and sunshine. This is Fallen Leaf Lake on a crisp September morning. We all took turns taking the kayak out for a spin on the water to take in the high Sierra views.
The last place on our travel list this month was to Yosemite National Park. We hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome with our children and they posed at the top for this amazing photo. It captures so much of what our family is about as we adventure in the big outdoors together. It was a day of laughter, refreshing vistas, and friendship. I tried to soak in the family time since it is hard to gather us all in one place anymore. We end up outside when we do get a chance to spend time together….habit? necessity? mutual love for God’s creation? I think it is a little of all of those things.
I hope you enjoyed my entry this month and if you want to play along, there are instructions at the bottom of this post.
If you missed my August and September nature study entries, here are the links:
Snail Observations at the Tidepools:We had a fantastic time hunting, observing, and learning about marine snails in response to the August newsletter topic. This is one of my favorite blog entries of the year!
Insect Nature Study -Potpourri: We had several opportunities to observe insect homes up close. We even identified something new to us!
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.
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…
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printablse which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
