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Apples-Autumn Series Challenge Day

Autumn came this past weekend to our world and we awoke to sprinkles of rain on the ground. It wasn’t much so we didn’t let it cancel our plans to head up early to the apple orchards to find some apples to sample and use as part of our apple challenge.

Apple Doughnuts
Our traditional autumn outing always starts off with apple cider doughnuts….there are plain, glazed, crumb, and cinnamon spice varieties to enjoy along with your big cup of steaming hot coffee. The crumb doughnuts were the first to be eaten. We were early enough to have a good spot to sit to eat and enjoy the mountain air.

Apples in Bins High Hill Ranch
Then the real business of the day was at hand, choosing a few new kinds of apples to try. We were disappointed that they did not have Honey Crisp to purchase since I had read on several blogs about their wonderful taste. In the end, we settled on Empire, Jonagold, and Mutsu.

Apple Varieties

Empire is a cross between Red delicious and McIntosh.
Jonagold is a cross between a Jonathan and a Golden Delicious.
Mutsu is also known as the Crispin.

Our official taste tests were interrupted when we decided to make the Mutsu apples into a pastry dessert. Mr. B had already created a wonderful dessert a few months ago with some apples and he repeated his recipe for us to enjoy again.

Apples in Bins at High Hill
We compared the sizes, colors, shapes, and tastes of the apples, noting the seed patterns, the skin textures, and the skin thicknesses as we cut and peeled the apples for the pastry and some applesauce.

Granny Smiths in Bins
Some of the apples were so large that they would be a complete meal all by themselves! My dear husband announced that although he enjoyed the new varieties that we picked out, he still loves the Granny Smith for eating the best. Go figure.

This was a delicious challenge for our family and we learned a little more about the different local varieties of apples available for eating and baking.

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An Autumn Tree Observation Extraordinaire

We decided that our autumn study of leaves was going to be incorporated into our annual fall trip to see the colors of the aspens up in the high country of the Sierra Nevada. The trip is about 100 miles round trip from our front door but it goes through magnificent forests, by snow fed lakes, and in view of some of the most breathtaking mountains in existence.

10 2010 Fall Drive to Tahoe (17)
The first leg of the trip goes through the pine forests and we thought our day had come to an end before it really started when we encountered a control burn of the forest floor by the US Forest Service. They clean out the underbrush by setting fires and then controlling the burns. It makes a lot of smoke but we were able to drive down the highway and past the fires onto our destination.

Hwy 88 meadow with color
The second part of the forest is actually in Alpine County and the forests are mixed in with aspen groves to make wonderful color in the fall. You know the minute you hit this part of the habitat because you start to see the yellows, oranges, and golds of the leaves.

Hwy 88 Taking Photos
We have a favorite side road that has the prettiest meadow. Yes, that is my son out there taking just as many photos as I am on this day….it is awesome to share a hobby with your grown up kids.

Aspen Leaves and Trunks
Here you can see the shape of the aspen leaf and the trunk of the tree in all its beauty. I never tire of looking at aspens.

Hwy 88 Trees and Sky
It was fairly cloudy this afternoon but for a few minutes the clouds parted and we had a chance to capture the blue sky in contrast to the bright yellow leaves.

Hope Valley Color
We drove the next leg of the road which leads through a place called Hope Valley. This is “the” place to see fall color in our area. There were many of us lined up on the side of the road to capture the oranges and yellows and golds of the trees on the mountain. Isn’t it dreamy?

Hope Valley round-up
Then as we headed back around to Christmas Valley, we saw this scene. There were some people on horses rounding up a herd of cattle. Stop the car! Yes, we had to take a few photos of this and it was the perfect way to end up this part of drive.

We observed some of the leaves “quaking”. We learned from our field guide that the reason they shake that way is because the stem is flattened near the leaf and so when the wind blows they shake or quake. It sounds sort of like the ocean to me when you hear them quaking and is a nice sound. Here is a link to try: USDA Quaking Aspens.

There was more to this trip but I will save that for another post. We actually went to see the salmon spawning and there were quite a few ducks to observe as well. Stay tuned for a salmon post when that challenge comes up in a few weeks.

I also am going to post a separate entry for our leaf comparisons since this post became rather long. Stay tuned for part two.  We also have picked a new tree in our backyard to observe for a year-long tree study and I will share our fall observations with the leaf post.

Today we will be working on the apple challenge but the horse challenge is still in the works.

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Review: Observing Nature-A Journal Sketching Guide to Discovering Your Natural Environment

Observing Nature – A Journal Sketching Guide to Discovering Your Natural Environment

The moment I printed this plan out and put it into a binder, I knew I was going to like the approach taken to help teach children (and adults) how to tap into their observation skills and translate them into their nature journals. This is a wonderful plan for homeschoolers to use on their own or through a co-op. If you are interested in learning how to help your children learn how to create wonderful nature journal entries…read on!

There are two parts to this review.
Observing Nature Teacher's Manual
Observing Nature-Teacher’s Manual

This 18 page teacher’s manual is very well put together and gives enough detail that you would feel confident to teach a whole group of students about sketching and journaling. The targeted age group is 8 years old and up but I did not feel it was too easy for my high school age boys.

Here is a link to the Course Objectives and example of a completed journal page.

Valuable aspects of the Teacher’s Manual:

  • Directions for gathering and displaying observation trays.
  • Supply checklists.
  • Thorough instructions for teaching the three student projects, see LINK.
  • A class plan with suggested time values if you are going to be teaching this course to a group of students. Also a plan for an assistant if you are so lucky to have one in your co-op. The author suggests teaching the entire workshop in one session but after that you can practice the skills over a period of time.
  • Template to print out for making collection or observation boxes…very handy.
  • $24.95 as a PDF download.

Observing Nature Guide
Observing Nature Student Guide

  • This workbook style guide will work alongside the activities suggested in the teacher’s manual.
  • There are exercises right in the guide that will help your child become better observers and as a result, better at recording their observations in a nature journal. (SAMPLE)
  • There are plenty of examples to view and in the back of the workbook there are reference drawings for plants, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals (SAMPLE) and tracks.
  • My favorite part of the guide is the Question Page. This page gives your child lots of journal prompts to make the nature journal entries come alive with their own words.
  • There are blank journal pages in the guide for your child to use in getting started with their own sketching. We were able to glean some fresh ideas from these pages for our own personal journals.
  • Once you buy the student workbook you can print as many copies as you need for your family or co-op.
  • $24.95 for PDF download.

I would give this plan a big thumbs up as far as value, content, and organization. These may be the plans your family needs to jumpstart your nature journals and/or breathe some fresh air into some nature journals that are becoming ho-hum.

Please note:
I received these ebooks in exchange for a fair and honest review. I only review items I have personally used and would recommend to my readers.  Also, I am not affiliated with Nature Works Press and I will not receive any compensation if you purchase these ebooks. My sole motivation for writing this review is to share another valuable tool with families that might like this sort of guide to use personally or in a co-op setting.

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Garden Update and View from Under the Walnut Tree

Garden after clean up 10 10

The weather has been a little bit cooler in the mornings so we were able to get out and clean up the garden boxes. I pulled the first of my compost from my compost barrel and mixed in the rich black soil as I readied the boxes for a few cooler weather crops….carrots, lettuce, and peas.

There are still plenty of zinnias ready to bloom, herbs growing strong in the sunshine, and the tomato is still forming some small green fruits.

Salvia 2

I was making a list of possible things from our garden that we could study from the Handbook of Nature Study and I realized there are few things blooming that we need to get to before too long.

Our list:
Salvia: Lesson 161
Black-eyed Susans: Lesson 140 and 131
Pansies: Lesson 152 (we are going to do this one again)

Red tipped leaf

My son brought me this leaf that he found in the yard….he thought the red edges were unique. I feel another nature journal entry coming on for us with this pretty leaf as the star.

Walnut Tree 10 10

We also cleaned up under the walnut tree and the view from under the branches is the perfect way to see the autumn sky. Before too long all the leaves will fall and we will have a different sort of clean-up day but we did enjoy this day and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Gardening is like that….you get to feel the satisfaction of a job well done.

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Butterfly Beauty

Butterfly in the tree 2

Over the last few weeks we have seen lots of these beautiful butterflies in our garden.

It is a California Sister or Adelpha californica which is found in oak habitats. These butterflies are not shy and they will flutter right around your head, swooping down to tease you. Today when we were watching another California Sister, a bird tried to fly down and catch it but we learned how *fast* these butterflies can move if they have to!

Our front yard has quite a few butterflies this month since we added several new butterfly attractive plants during our remodel. I will soon share a post with all the updates.

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We are on the Edge of Autumn

Busy Squirrel

Caught in the act of climbing up to the birdfeeder…this squirrel is a permanent resident in our backyard. He and a friend have totally stripped the walnut tree of any nuts.

Walnut Shells

Here is what my sidewalk looks like under the walnut tree…nothing but shells and casings. What a mess! This is the second year in a row that the squirrels have eaten all the nuts.

10 3 10 walking trail Fall Color

There is finally a little color along our regular walking trail and those are clouds in the sky but there was no rain. My daughter Amanda had to take a trip over the Sierra this week and she said that the trees up on the pass are just starting to turn colors…mostly aspens. We may need to take a drive up their next weekend.

10 3 10 walking trail Wild grapes

We saw lots of these wild grapes far up over the walking trail. They look so good and we wondered if they would be sweet or tart. There was no way to reach them since they were far up in the trees where they reach the sunlight. So I will be satisfied with recreating this photo in my nature journal this week since I love the colors of the leaves and grapes and the shape of the leaves is awesome.

Hummingbird at the feeder

One last photo that really isn’t a sign of autumn but I thought it was fun to catch this hummingbird stopping by to sip at our feeder. We have had a bunch of hummingbirds this summer and I even hung another feeder because there was always a fight happening at the two we already had.

Yesterday we worked in the garden and completed the initial fall clean up. There is still some life out there and a few tomatoes and peppers to ripen up. I composted a bit in one box and I will be planting some peas, spinach, and lettuce later today and hopefully we will have another crop before the winter weather hits.

I think we will take a trip to the apple orchard this week if all my boys are recovered from their cold/flu from last week. Nothing like the thoughts of a little apple pie to perk up a sick boy! Of course we will be tasting different varieties of apples as part of the apple challenge….research of course. 🙂

Have a great weekend.

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Trees Do Fall Down in the Woods

Red Shack 10 6 10 (9) Tree Down

Now this could pose a problem…..a big pine tree down across our hiking trail.

Red Shack 10 6 10 (11) Acorns in the trunk

We actually noticed before that this particular tree is *full* of acorn holes where the woodpeckers have made a huge storehouse of acorns in the trunk. We think this is what led to the demise of this big tree. That looks like a fresh acorn inside the hole.

Red Shack 10 6 10 (12) Acorn holes

When it fell, big pieces of the bark came off and exposed all the acorn holes. We climbed up and over to continue our hike. The dog decided to crawl underneath but either way it worked.

Red Shack 10 6 10 (1) Paper Wasp

Further down the trail my son spotted this section of a wasp nest on the trail. These are amazing creations and hard to believe that an insect made this out of their spit and plant fibers. Once again the Handbook of Nature Study helped us to learn a little bit more about the process of building the nest on page 381 (Lesson 95). The whole section is fascinating…here is an excerpt:

“The nest is of paper made of bits of wood which the wasps pull off with their jaws from weather-worn fences or boards. This wood is reduced to pulp by saliva which is secreted from the wasp’s mouth, and is laid on in little layers which can be easily seen by examining the outside of the nest.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 381.

Red Shack 10 6 10 (8) Some sort of gall

We also noticed these puffy growths on the oak branches along the trail. We thought maybe they were some sort of gall. I am still working on figuring out what exactly they are so if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate an email.

It is nice to be out hiking again as the weather is cooling down a bit. My sons have been down off and on this week with a cold/flu. Mr. A said it was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and I know it always makes me feel better too.

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Meet My New Friends-The Goldfinches

Lesser Goldfinch 1

We have had a hard time attracting goldfinches to our yard. We tried thistle feeders before but the goldfinches never came. I decided two weeks ago to try again and this time….they arrived right outside my window!

Lesser Goldfinch 2
I can’t tell you how thrilled we were to see them in the feeder, lined up along the branches, and sitting in the top of the tree. Their bright yellow color is amazing to see flash across the yard and their sweet little song is so beautiful coming in the windows.

Lesser Goldfinch 4
Mr. B came in yesterday with a gift for me.

Lesser Goldfinch feather
He found a goldfinch feather under the feeder and brought it in for me to see. Doesn’t it look as if someone dipped the tip in yellow paint?

This is going in my nature journal! We found the goldfinch in the Handbook of Nature Study and now we are going to read up on them and do some of the suggestions in Lesson 10.

“Goldfinches are seen at their best in late summer or September, when they appear in flocks wherever the thistle seeds are found in abundance.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 57

Hopefully they are here for awhile so we can get our fill of finches.

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Hornworm…..Wow!

Cat watching the hornworm 9 28 10

What is she looking at? We could not figure it out for a day or two. Then….

Hornworm 9 28 10

We took a closer look.

Hornworm measuring 9 28 10

We could not believe the size of this tobacco hornworm.We at first thought it was the tomato hornworm but after investigation decided it is the tobacco hornworm which also eats tomato plants.

The birds ate a few of them and we picked off the rest. I love it when a new and interesting nature study subject comes our way unexpectedly.

I like the way it looks like their little feet are holding onto the branch. My son was fascinated with their mouths. Another great subject for our nature journals.

If you would like to know more about hornworms, you can read in the Handbook of Nature Study in the section on the hummingbird or sphinx moths (Lesson 75).

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OHC Blog Carnival-It’s time For Fall Edition

September was a rather busy month for all of us…either starting a new school year or really getting into the rhythm of a new year. I am so proud of the families that are adding nature study to their normal routine and those that are still faithfully spending time outdoors a little each week discovering things in their own backyard.

Without further ado, here is your carnival of Outdoor Hour Challenges for the month of September 2010.

John_Buxton_Knight Autumn Leaves

Summer #11 Queen Anne’s Lace
Allison from Barefoot in Suburbia shares their study of Queen Anne’s Lace where they found some in their own backyard in various stages of bloom. She also shares photos from her children’s garden.

Tricia shares their extended Queen Anne’s Lace entry along with a wonderful tutorial for capturing its beauty with pastels.  They made some memories as part of this study as well.

Under the Trees Thomas Moran

Summer #12 Raccoons
Angie from Petra School writes about their summer study of raccoons around their lake house. As usual, their journals will make you smile.

Autumn landscape with four trees van gogh

Signs of Autumn Challenge
Phyllis from All Things Beautiful joins the carnival this month with their Last Day of Summer/First Day of Fall nature walk party. Excellent photos!

Angie shares their Signs of Autumn as part of the Fall Scavenger Hunt.  This is a great way to spend some time outdoors this season.

Tricia writes about their Signs of Autumn, sharing their finds in photos. 

Allison found lots to investigate in their own backyard. Read her entry Our Own Backyard. 
 
Lorus shares their signs of autumn from her blog Because of the Children. They were not expecting to find any signs of autumn since they are still experiencing warm weather but they ended up being quite successful! Thanks for sharing your day!

Autumn leaves Millais

Autumn 2010 Series #1: Nature Journals
Edwena from Only One Life writes about their experiences with this challenge. I think she did a great job encouraging her children to get started with their nature journals.

Amy from Peru submits her encouraging post on nature journals from her blog Fisher Academy International. Thanks Amy.

Paula from Belgium shares her daughter’s nature journals as part of this challenge. Her birds are wonderfully recorded safely in her journal. 

Tricia shares their results of this nature journal challenge and their nature journal pages….and of course the flying squirrel babies.

Angie from Petra School and her boys share their wonderful nature journal entry. I love all the ideas they included but most of all the zucchini warrior sculpture!

Girl with a Boat and Geese Morisot

Autumn 2010 Series #2 Geese
Angie starts off our goose challenge with her entry showing their comparisons between the goose and the duck. This is an excellent example of how we can always learn something new about a common subject if we take the time.

Jennifer writes about their wonderful goose study on her blog The Fairy Mum. Their study is a great example of how thorough you can be if your children are willing and interested. Thanks so much for sharing your entry with the carnival! 

Tricia and her family did an in-depth study of geese this week, comparing them to ducks as part of the challenge. They also learned a lot about honking and quacking!

Amy at The Teachable Heart shares their first Autumn Challenge with carnival readers. If you have preschool age children, don’t miss her great ideas for adapting this study!

Monica shares their autumn bird study on her blog Discover Their Gifts. You may be interested in seeing their well-done notebook pages. 

Melissa shares their Nature Study That Almost Wasn’t that led up to their study of geese. She shares a great example of how to complete a Venn Diagram in connection with comparing geese and ducks. Thanks so much for sharing this with the carnival.

Michelle shares their autumn bird study Florida-style with some time observing and journaling The White Ibis. While they were outdoors, they had an unexpected subject come their way and you can read about their soft-sided turtle in this entry What is Lurking Beneath the Water. I love it when interesting things present themselves unexpectedly.

Paula from Belgium shares their goose nature study with carnival readers. She is using the Autumn Series in her part of the  world and adapting the study to fit her local environment. Thanks Paula!

Autumn 2010 Series #3 Horses
Michelle shares their families early study of horses with carnival readers. Check out their entry on her blog Life on My Planet.

Chasing butterflies Berthe Morisot

Butterflies and Other Insects
Jennifer shares how their family studied a katydid up close. Check out her entry on The Fairy Mum.

Allison shares their butterfly entry on her blog Barefoot in Suburbia. Not only is this a great record of their study but it shares their personal story of how butterflies keep a memory alive. Thanks for sharing.

Phyllis shares another nature study from their family, this time the butterfly. Check out her entry on All Things Beautiful

Quinn from Inside The White Picket Fence shares some amazing photos of caterpillars and moths…up close! Don’t miss their entry if you want to be in awe. While you are at it, check out their butterfly entry as well.

Autumno Unknown master

Garden Challenge, Mushrooms, and Bird Challenge
Shirley Ann is enjoying her spring garden in South Africa! She shares her Nature Hour: Garden Flowers with carnival readers.

Casey at Bumpin’ Along the Road Less Traveled shares two entries as part of their on-going bird/chicken study: Wings (scroll down the entry) and Feathers (scroll down the entry).

Karen writes about their mushroom study on her blog Fruit of Her Hands.  Her entry, Autumn Treasures Part 2, has loads of great mushroom photos to view, a spore print activity, and some painting of mushrooms too.

Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be October 31, 2010 and all entries from October are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom