Outdoor Mom
July 2021 – Sweet Summertime
When our warm weather hits, time seems to just fly by fast and furious! It’s as if we know our summer days are precious and in a blink of an eye they’ll be gone. So, we try to pack as many adventures and memories as we can into the July hours.
I wake up early to bird song and I stay outside late watering the garden.
We keep the kayaks all ready to go and our hiking shoes right at the door.
I spend quiet time writing in my nature journal, keeping track of wildflowers, birds, and trails hiked.
Last year when we were all locked down and isolating, I dreamt of our summer days of freedom. This year it has made us appreciate every day we can freely move and travel and be with our kids. We’ve gone on family camping trips, family floating days in the hot sun, family hiking and lots of picnicking. The summer is not over yet, and we have plans for more time spent outdoors together.
Sweet, sweet summer.
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
The flowers have burst out in a riot of color. July is the time for enjoying the bounty of flowers we have that fill the garden. We experimented with reseeding our wildflower beds and expanding the sunflowers this year. In addition, we planted some new shrubs that have potential for berries long into the autumn. When a garden plan goes as expected, it brings such satisfaction. We have been blessed with an abundance of butterflies and hummingbirds this summer in part to our keeping their needs in mind as we picked new plants.
I’ll be writing soon about our Renee’s Garden seeds that are still growing and thriving.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Looking back over the past few months, the most inspiring and fulfilling experience has been the abundance of nests and baby birds that have occurred right in our yard. We had robins, flickers, tree swallows, bluebirds, finches, doves, and chickadees all born within our eyesight. I love watching the birds as they fledge and fly off.
The addition of new nesting boxes really did reap us such happy memories this season. It went by way too fast. It’s been bittersweet to watch the birds take to flight, finding their way towards their next destination.
During our outdoor time, this month we went…
Tidepooling!!! This is one of my favorite outdoor activities. I was able to introduce my daughter-in-law to the joys of searching the shore for something living. She found a hermit crab and the smile she had told me that this girl is a kindred spirit.
I added nature journal pages about…
I sat on the beach several times during our coastal camping trip and sketched and wrote in my nature journal. These precious memories are now down on paper.
You can follow me on Instagram to see more of our outdoor life here in gorgeous Central Oregon.
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
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 month 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…
- One last image…