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Posted on December 28, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Journal Project – December 2017

Weekly Nature Journal Project

December 2017

Here we are at the end of the year! I’m so pleased that my nature journal is filled up with a year full of memories because of my challenge to myself in January to complete a page a week. I honestly didn’t think I could keep that goal because of my history of dropping the ball when it came to my personal nature journal. But, with determination and increasing awareness of how following up my outdoor week with a nature journal could bring such joy, I was able to stay motivated!

It also helped that sharing my pages on my Instagram account and then here on my blog kept me accountable. I knew that many of you were following my progress. If I slipped up and didn’t get a page done in time for my Wednesday morning Instagram post, I would pull out the art supplies and get busy so that I could post a page, maybe later than planned but always done by the end of the week.

Inspired by other’s posts on Instagram, I generated my “bestnine” image showing the top nine posts for 2017 on my Instagram account. Four of my top nine are of my nature journal which makes me happy. I am hoping to continue to inspire and encourage nature journaling into 2018. I have a new project that I’ll be working on, something a little less conventional and more structured.

Here’s my new nature journal inspiration, Nature Observer: A Guided Journal. I found this pre-made journal at the bookstore and immediately decided it was my project for 2018. I’ll be sharing more about it soon, along with a peek inside. You can look at it over at Amazon if you’re curious now.

Here are my December nature journal pages for your viewing pleasure…and inspiration.

This page was actually completed in November but not in time to include in last month’s post. We found something interesting growing on a willow during a walk along the river. Turns out it was an insect gall that looked like a tiny rose. Fascinating!

I used a Winter Fun study grid from a newsletter in my archives to give us some winter nature study inspiration. I’m still working on this one and will have it all filled in by the end of the month.

Project Feederwatch is a weekly activity that keeps me focused on the birds that come to visit my feeders. I wanted to create a page that kept track of all the species of birds we see and the number of birds that we see at one time as part of this activity. Over the coming years, these statistics will help me see patterns in the comings and goings of our Central Oregon bird friends.

Marking time by the season is a simple idea for a nature journal page. Taking time to notice the day with all your senses helps make more of an impression. Plus, I decided long ago that every page doesn’t have to have a sketch or be pretty. If I’m in the mood to record words and word pictures, then that’s what I do!

I hope that there are nature journal pages to be completed in your journal this month. Even if you just get one page in before the year ends, that’s one more memory saved for the future.

Don’t forget that I’m 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

We’ll be starting on the Winter Wednesday series the first week in January. If you would like to follow along, make sure you have subscribed to my blog to receive the Outdoor Hour Challenges in your inbox each Friday. If you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you’ll find the Winter Wednesday ebook in your library. The ebook contains all of the custom notebooking pages for each challenge.

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Dec. 2017 Mini Challenge

Outdoor Hour Challenge

December Mini Challenge Revisited 2017

From the Archives

This week the Outdoor Hour Challenge couldn’t be simpler!

First, read some of the introductory pages in the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher and reminder to you as the nature study guide in your family. Then, spend your outdoor time making observations about your December outdoor world. Lastly, print the December World notebook page found in this challenge and complete it with your children.

Keep it simple and enjoy a few minutes in the fresh air.

Find the download link in the original challenge: December Mini Challenge.

Starting in January 2018, we’ll be using the Winter Wednesday ebook from the Handbook of Nature Study archives. This ebook is available in the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership option. I’ll be posting the series here on the blog on Fridays but if you wish to have the compete series ahead of time and have access to the corresponding custom notebooking pages, you might think about purchasing a membership.

You can see all of the ebooks available by clicking the graphic above. This includes 20 ebooks, 76 archived newsletters, and over 75 other printable notebook pages and activities.

Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom – December 2017

Outdoor Mom December 2017

During our outdoor time this month we went….

You could say we have become obsessed with stalking the beavers in our river. It become obsessive when it involved an actual kayak adventure on the freezing river in freezing temperatures. So far, we have only found signs of beaver activity and no actual live animals. We are not giving up and will continue once the river freezes and the snows come…we are hoping it will make tracking the signs easier. (This may be a naïve expectation but I guess we will find out as the season unfolds.)

The most inspiring thing we experienced was….

Project Feederwatch, as usual, makes me happy. Happy to count birds and happy to slow down enough to accurately identify and count the visitors. My family will attest to the fact that I get excited like a child when I spot a new bird in the feeder. This month I spotted a Pygmy nuthatch! This was added to my life list and was happy it appeared on a bird count day.

I am reading…..

I am devouring several good books right now and this one is nature study related, There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather by Linda Akeson McGurk. (edited to add an affiliate link)The gist of the book is that the author’s growing up years in Scandinavia taught her that getting outdoors in the cold of winter is a challenge but so restorative to both children and adults. It has renewed my determination to keep going with my Outdoor Hour Challenges as inspiration for getting outside in inclement weather. Sidenote: Coincidentally, my daughter and I both checked this book out from the library at the same time, her in New York and me in Oregon.

Black Butte — Photo Credit: My son Mr. B

Photo I want to share…

My boys have embraced the outdoor life here in Central Oregon. My youngest has hiked to many peaks and mountain tops in the past few months. He shares his adventures through his amazing images. This one is from the top of Black Butte.

Could there be any better way to make this Outdoor Mom’s heart soar than to see her children getting out and exploring the beauty and solitude of nature?

So as the year winds down, I am looking back over my nature goals for 2017. Once again I am feeling quite successful in some of the goals and a bit of a failure in others. I’m not beating myself up over this because 2017 has been a huge leap of faith in my life as we moved from California to Oregon and tried to find a new normal. Goals I made at the beginning of the year had no way to reflect the amazing opportunities that arose over the following twelve months. I will be posting a nature goal recap soon that will contain my reflections on the year that has been 2017.

Do you want a sneak peek into my new nature journal project for 2018? I found this at a bookstore in Bend a few months ago. Immediately, I knew it was my project for 2018! Look for more information on this soon here on my blog.

Edit to add an affiliate link: Nature Observer.

2017 Outdoor Mom Entries –Just in case you missed one!

January – Rain and Rain and Snow

February – More rain and trying to be outdoors anyway

March – Hawaii vacation trip

April – Wildflower time

May – First Oregon Entry (with elk!)

June – First Central Oregon Summer

July (so big I broke it into 3 parts): Part 1 Backyard and Part 2 Wildlife and Part 3 Travels

(seemed to have missed a month somehow)

September – wildfire smoke and my boys come home

October – Autumn travels and high desert gardening

November – Walking to the river every day

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….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
One last image…

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Autumn Trout and Salmon

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Trout and Salmon Study

From the Archives and the Autumn Ebook

The last time we studied salmon we were in California and we lived very near a creek where the kokanee salmon spawned every autumn. We had such a tremendous experience and reading back over the entry I remember the excitement of the day spent with my boys.

You can read it here: Salmon Circle of Life.

I know that many of you won’t have direct access to salmon or trout, but the best part of any nature study is the time you spend with your children outside.

Take the time this week to read about the trout in the Handbook of Nature Study and then get outdoors for some fresh air with your children. Visit a stream, visit a fish hatchery, or get creative!

You can also use this free resource here on the Handbook of Nature Study.

Print and use the Fish Copywork notebook page

I hope you’re enjoying the autumn series of Outdoor Hour Challenges posted here on Fridays. Please note that all of the challenges along with corresponding notebook pages are available to Ultimate Naturalist Members at the Handbook of Nature Study.

You can see all of the ebooks available by clicking the graphic above. This includes 20 ebooks, 76 archived newsletters, and over 75 other printable notebook pages and activities.

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Autumn Pine Cone Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Autumn Pine Cone Study

From the Archives and from the Autumn ebook

Continuing our use of comparisons, take your fifteen minutes outdoors this week to either find two different cones to compare or to compare a tree with cones to a tree that does not have cones.

These simple suggestions will get you started with your Outdoor Hour Challenge time and the idea is simple enough for all family members to participate.

Click the link to the archive challenge and see more suggestions for both observations and a nature journal follow up page. If you have access to the Autumn 2010 ebook, there is a notebook page for you to use after your outdoor time.

This is a challenge I am personally looking forward to completing in my new habitat. There are many cones to investigate!

Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Our Central Oregon November World

November World – Central Oregon High Desert

We’ve only lived here in Central Oregon since May so we haven’t experienced all of the seasons yet. The November World Outdoor Hour Challenge suggested comparing the things we see this week with another season. I guess that means I would need to compare my November habitat to that of summertime. We had such a glorious summer season with lots of time spent outdoors so this should be fairly easy.

The river behind our house runs year round but there is a small slough that was filled up with water in May and almost dried up in mid-summer. Right now it has lots of water and at times is covered in a sheet of ice. When we moved in last May, we could pull our kayaks out to this slough and make it out to the main river, but by the end of June it was landlocked again. We’ve been keeping track of the amount of water as it rises higher with the rains and snow.

The green grasses of early summer are all gone, either from the cattle grazing or from it turning brown in the freezing temperatures. There are small patches of yellow-gold, tall grass still showing in areas and we read that this is what the winter elk will be eating because it will be sticking up out of the snow. I am anxious to see if the elk come back….they left in late spring when the deer showed up.

Most of the trees in our area are evergreens so they look pretty much the same as in the summer. There are lots of cones on the ground and the squirrels have been very busy gathering them up. We will have up to five gray squirrels in our yard at a time scurrying around under the feeders and up in the trees.

The river willows are all barren but are still very pretty with their reddish-orange colored twigs. The leaves are gone but there are buds forming with the spring time leaves sleeping inside.

The beavers are cutting the willow limbs and dragging them down to the river. We’ve been trying to find where they are taking all of the willows but have been unsuccessful. We think it may be easier to spot their activity once the snow is blanketing the ground and we can see tracks or other signs of their movements. I am thoroughly enjoying the investigating of the beavers…it’s a bit like finding treasure when we see some tracks or cut willows.

The Canada goose are back on the river. We often see up to 12 at a time as they float in the eddy near our house. I’m not sure if they will be winter residents or not. You know I will be watching! (The image above is my best attempt at sneaking up on the geese and getting a photo.)

All in all, November has been a really good month for being outdoors for our family. There were some cold, snowy days but we are finding that even on a snowy day, if you bundle up right, getting outside is a refreshing experience and makes my attitude more positive.

If you want to follow along with the next series of Winter Outdoor Hour Challenges, we will be starting them up again in January. Make sure to subscribe to my blog and you will receive a new Outdoor Hour Challenge right in your inbox every Friday. There is no commitment to do every one. Winter can be a hard time to keep nature study going with your family but I guarantee you if you get them outside, even for fifteen minutes once a week, you will see the benefit in better attitudes (including yours!) Click the link above for more information on the nature study plans for the complete year using the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

You can subscribe to my blog here: Handbook of Nature Study Email Subscription

Use the discount code Nature5 to receive $5 off your Ultimate Naturalist Membership!

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Barb — 1 Comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Autumn Seasonal Weather

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Autumn Weather Observations 2017

From the Archives and from the Autumn ebook

If you’ve been following along with the Autumn Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, you have been using comparisons to learn more about the topics. This week is no exception. Here are some of the ideas for using comparisons to learn about your seasonal weather.

Compare a sunny day and a rainy day by looking at the temperature, clouds, and wind speed or direction.
Compare weather on the same day by making observations both in the morning and then later in the afternoon or evening.
Compare your autumn landscape to what you remember about the summer or winter or spring.

Make sure to click over to the original challenge for more observation ideas. If you have the Autumn ebook, you will find several notebooking pages to use for this challenge.

Even if you just take 15 minutes to go outside and check the weather and have a breath of fresh air, you can feel successful with this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Use the discount code NATURE5 to receive $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

December Planning Page and Member’s Printables

December 2017 Nature Planning Page-Print out your own copy here!

Now that there is no longer a newsletter with a planning page, I decided that I am creating a printable page for you to use instead. Keep track of the month’s Outdoor Hour Challenge topics, be inspired to create a nature journal page, jot down notes for future study, and use the list of archived suggestions to go deeper into a particular topic.

Download your copy here: December 2017 Nature study Planner Page

New printables are now posted in the Member’s library!

Members have access to two brand new printable notebook pages.

Squirrel Watch Activity: Use the ideas on the page to take a fun look at squirrels. There is also a place for you to draw a squirrel.
Know Your Own Backyard – Window Observations: This time of year it can be a challenge to get outdoors. Use this page to record your window nature observations.

Print a complete list of printables available to Members for easy reference: Printables for Members

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Nature Journal Project – November 2017

Weekly Nature Journal Project

November 2017

As I prepared to write this entry, I took a few moments to reflect on how much I have come to look forward to the time I can spend in my nature journal each week. It doesn’t feel like a chore but rather an extension of how I’m growing as a person, an Oregonian, and a naturalist. The outdoor time comes first, the observations and questions come second, and then keeping a record of what I have discovered comes with ease.

It’s always easier to make a nature journal page if I have something I’m excited about capturing on paper.

Here are my nature ramblings from the month of November.

I’m often mesmerized by the landscape scene out my back window. It is ever changing, even from minute to minute. The clouds, the water, the sky, the birds, the plants, the light…always something to marvel at as I stand, many times distracted from chores, at my picture window. I tried to use watercolors to make a record of a certain day and I love the way it turned out.

Recaps are some of my favorite pages in my journal. It gives me the freedom to include a lot of different random thoughts all on one page.

This page illustrates the “whole to parts” idea for a nature journal. Instead of just including a sketch of the whole subject, you add smaller sketches of interesting parts. On this page, I drew the seed head and the roots. Now I have a better appreciation for the grasses that grow out behind my house and their importance to the habitat and the wildlife that frequent there.

After researching the beaver, I wanted to make a page to highlight the things I learned and appreciated about this truly amazing mammal. I can look for signs of our beavers as we walk along the river and feel a connection because I have a deeper understanding of how they behave and live. I really hope we find their lodge and perhaps even spy them at some point in the future.

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

Join us for the autumn season series of Outdoor Hour Challenges using the ideas in the Autumn 2010 ebook.

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – November World 2017

Outdoor Hour Challenge

November World Observations 2017

From the Archives and the Autumn 2010 ebook

Before the whole month of November slips away, let’s make time to observe what nature is doing at this time of year. Start off by completing the reading of pages 1 and 2 in the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher. Take a few minutes to think about how keeping a regular nature study period each week has benefited your family. Ask your children what they have learned so far this autumn season about the birds, insects, and plants in your neighborhood. This may give you encouragement to keep participating in the Outdoor Hour Challenge as the weather turns colder and wetter.

Use the ideas in this challenge to get outside and find something of interest to note about your November World. Complete the notebook page in the ebook, from the linked challenge, or create a page in your own blank journal.

November is such a month of change and transition…don’t miss getting outside to view it for yourselves!

Use the discount code Nature5 to receive $5 off your Ultimate Naturalist Membership!

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!