daffodil lane

Killing birds on New Year's Day

 
Last night we had little friends over to help ring in the new year (while their parents had a little fun out). Sparkling cider was consumed, pots and pans were banged, and Christmas cracker crowns were worn. We tricked them all with the countdown-and-watch-the-ball-drop on the East Coast. They were none the wiser and we had all 5 settled into sleeping bags by 9:15. Even with our shenanigans, Mady and I were up til 2 when their parents arrived to take them home. Fun time, fun times. (Really, it was!)

And now I get to the point of my story... the 11am start to the Resolution Walk at a local lake came quickly after being up well beyond our usual bedtimes. (We should resolve to be more on time in the new year). No matter, we packed up and got out there two hours later, aiming to kill two birds with one stone. We marked off another 2 1/2 miles of our hiking goal, and took some awesome family photos. Exhibit A above, in which we have awkwardly managed a perfect triangle pose (accidentally), and Frank has grown a unicorn horn from his ear. And there are many more where that came from.

Allow me to present them to you (brace yourselves) :

 
 
 
 
{Thanks Mady, we'll definitely use these at our 50th wedding anniversary!}

One of my very-numerous goals this year is to get waaaaayyy better with my camera. I reverted back to auto and flash, both of which produce lousy frustrating photos. I know better. I'm easing in slowly, mostly in AV mode for now, and a new self-imposed rule of NO FLASH! Except I broke the rule when Mady taught me to use it today in AV mode and it actually looked way better. So I guess the NO FLASH (must be all in caps) rule is already out the window. All that to say, here are a few from today that I kinda like: 

 
She always finds treasures when we hike. This frozen ice-pop twig was very cool! She declared herself a Nature Girl while licking it to death as we walked around the lake. It was a nice treat for us, because usually she only declares Nature Girl after pooping in the woods. Lucky us. 

More awesome family shots:

 
 
 
 
{We finally just give up while the auto timer is still snapping. We were laughing too much.}

There was heated disussion as to why we don't consider this a hike, but only a walk. It's in the hiking books and all, but we have never considered it a real hike. Consensus revealed that the many bathrooms, bus stop, and playground clearly makes it not a hike. And you certainly would never pack a survival kit to walk around Lake Padden. But we marked it off our 100 miles chart anyway. We are crazy rule breakers! Ha! (Incidentally, I did unknowingly pack a survival kit on my last trip to see my family in California. SeaTac is now the proud owner of a handy little jack knife and a box of waterproof matches). 

There was snow on the ground and it was 26 degrees. Yikes! We couldn't feel various body parts most of the time. Mady took some photos which might be the cover for my 365-photos project, then I took some of her for her project. Defeats the purpose of taking 365 photos of our own this year, but what can I say, we are rule breakers.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
{It really was a very fun day!}

Thank you for enduring that, and...

 

Foraging in the foothills

 
After Mady grew mushrooms and studied mycology last spring, we've been plannng to explore our local foothills this fall in search of some delicasies. We headed to Damfino Lakes with mushroom guide in hand, and spent a lovely autumn afternoon finding all sorts of specimens. Cute little fairy-ring mushrooms, brick tops, puff balls, and a bunch more.

 
We were up too high in the forest and too early to come across Chantrelles or Bear's Head Tooth that day, but we did find plenty! The plethora of what we found was fascinating, but we played it safe by not eating any of them, after reading a few too many things like this. (Just say no to mushrooms.)

 
 
 
Despite our lack of (100% positively identified) edibles, it was a beautiful hike. Slightly traumatic when Jenson took a tumble down the mountain, but otherwise beautiful!

My 'sister', the mushroom expert, gave us a lovely consolation prize later in the week, and we had a pile of Chantrelle's and Bear's Head Tooth to enjoy. She is pretty fantastic in the food-supplying area, and we benefit with local mushrooms and wild smoked salmon every fall. (I know!) All was not lost on our crazy mushrooms either, and the kids made some awesome spore prints to add to their nature journals. One more reason to love the Pacific Northwest!

Reality

 
We got up early this morning and ventured out for an impressive field trip. We were invited on the Reality (purse seine fishing boat) to come along while they tested out some new equipment in the bay and fished a couple sets.

In the top house Keston and Jenson made notes in their captain's logs, which they made last week for our explorers study. We looked at navigation instruments and charts and watched cormorants perched nearby. I have this exact photo of Mady when she was three, at the captains wheel, when she and I went to Alaska on this boat.  

 
 
 
Keston, the self-proclaimed "nature girl", worked hard to return all the tiny fish to the ocean when they came up in the net. She may have been administering mouth-to-mouth, I'm not sure. There was a lot of blowing.

 
 
 
 
 
We did some marine biology too, and some nature journaling. Don't worry, my little flounder friend was thrown back after the kids sketched. Also, you should know... it may look like I am bravely holding that fish, but there was shrieking involved.

 
 
 
Uncle Lance took them out in the skiff while he worked. I think they were in heaven. Keston signed to me "fun" as they were out there.

 
 
 
 

So, not a bad way to accomplish our history, marine biology, nature journaling and sign language for the day.  Thanks to my family for being willing to trip over us all day. :)

Harvest! {Whatcom Farm Tour}

 
Now that we are seasoned Farm Tour-ers, we decided to check out a couple farms that were new on the route. Surprisingly close to home was a beautiful U-Pick vegetable farm where Jenson and Keston harvested potatoes for the first time. Since our own little gardens were having a fallow year*, they filled up the wicker baskets with all sorts of goodness. Green and yellow beans, carrots, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, and the red potatoes - all picked by them. The farmers were sweet to the them, making it all the more special.

 

 
 
 
Further into the valley, we wandered around Mama's Gardens, went on a hay ride tour, the kids planted radishes, and we took home bunches of delicious produce, herbs, fresh eggs, and handmade soaps. The produce stand (and whole farm) was country-adorable. Like right out of a Martha or Country Living magazine. We plan to make weekly trips during the growing season to get our produce and eggs there from now on. The deal of the day was a 4 pound zucchini for fifty cents. Hello zucchini bread all winter!  The farm is run by four young mamas and their husbands. Between them, they have 16 children ages eight and under. I love the idea of supporting those families rather than supermarkets with jacked up prices on their grapes from Chile. Have you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? This would be the answer to my 100 mile diet!

 
 
 
 
 
We stopped at home to put away the eggs and eat pbj's before heading north to a couple more farms. On the way there, Jenson told me he found three pennies in the garage this morning. He used them to make lucky wishes. The first one he wished for not having to make nature journal pages at the farms, the next was to go to Boxx Berry farms and get his favorite-ever corn on the cob, and the third lucky wish was that he could find his shoes - the reason he went into the garage to begin with. We were all laughing so hard. He got all three wishes, though he was supposed to do one nature journal page, he never got around to it.

So our next stop was Boxx Berry Farm. We all loved the buttery sweet corn on the cob so much last year, it was high on our agenda. It did not disppoint. I am not a five-second rule kind of girl, but when my corn rolled off the holder onto the table, I grabbed it up and ate it anyway. That is saying something if you know me. :) Strawberry sundaes too, a pumpkin to take home for the front door, and a tractor ride...

 
 

Our last tour was another favorite from last year, Heritage Farms. They breed and raise heirloom vegetables and heritage animals. Heritage animals are similar in concept to heirloom veggies - they are the farm animals that are almost extinct, because they just aren't the easiest/heartiest/biggest money makers in the farming industry - therefor  farmers don't have any reason to keep these certain breeds. We saw Navajo churro sheep, "large black" pigs, mule-footed pigs, a bazillion piglets, and Talouse geese. We held chicks and rekindled a friendship with the little boy that lives there whom we met last year. He was intent on selling his chicks to make some money. For $4, he offered to keep the chick at his house, feed and take care of it for us, then have his mother deliver all the eggs to our house. He was quite the business man. I should have taken him up on that offer!

 

 
 
 
For less that $20, we came home with a bounty of nearly-organic produce for the week and a dozen fresh eggs, and sweet memories of a great day! Not to mention, it all counts as school time, thus extending our summer just a bit longer before we begin our regular studies.

 
*Our garden isn't really fallow, it just doesn't exist. We tore the square foot gardens out in the spring (except the box of strawberries) to correct a drainage problem and replant our lawn. We'll be back in business next year, but I am sure we'll still be visiting these amazing farms quite a bit!

{To see our farm tour adventures from last year, go here. I just realized I talked about the same little boy last year, explained heritage animals better, and raved about the corn. It really is that good.  And exactly like last year, Frank stayed home to watch college football - and babysit the dog for us. Hmm. Have you seen Groundhog Day?!}

It's getting a little zoo-ish around here.

 
This is Keston's new bunny, little Elsie. As seems to be our protocol, we picked her up, brought her home, and gave her a bubble bath. She became ten times cuter once she was clean and fluffy. Keston said it was her 'best day ever'.

 
 
 

the out of doors

alternately titled: why I love where I live

Photos from top to bottom..

• Kes and I snuggling after a mini-hike near Lake Samish. Our real hike plan was thwarted by a sandy beach and kids wanting to build dams. The picnic was lovely.
• An early morning on Taylor Dock. Frank and I have been having coffee date walks for the last few weekends. This last weekend was a particularly unusual low tide for that shore, and the many purple starfish were revealed, along with many hungry herons. Peppermint tea for me, brewed drip for Frank, Milkbone for Brodie.
• Last weekend we accomplished Oyster Dome. Now that is a hike! Even Keston did great, though we stopped for more breaks than we might otherwise have. The breathtaking view was worth the six hours of hiking. We were just over Samish Island and could see the quilt-like fields of Skagit. The elevation at the top of the Dome was over 2000 feet. It was quite a climb, having begun at nearly sea level! (Excuse the tongues out sassy photo. We were really tired and Frank was bugging us for cell phone photos. I'm glad he did, it's the only proof that we made it.)  

And we are really looking forward to some exciting plans for this weekend. Involving more water than usual...

A peek into Keston's room...

 
I just spent a few hours sifting through Keston's excess and cleaning her room.  Little girls sure are messy! All her toys are in baskets on a shelf on the opposite wall, it isn't quite as pristine as this shot would lead you to believe.  (Oh well).

The painting behind Keston's bed fits her perfectly. I spotted it at Goodwill a while back and brought it home without a second thought. She loves deer and she is enamored with France and the Eiffel Tower, so the little French girl was fitting. The colors were meant for her room.  The clothes-pin business on the wall has been up since she was a baby, and I just change the scrapbook pages every once in a while. It always has the page with the picture of Keston and her big sister, Caidee (3rd from left, click to enlarge the photo). The nightstand was a find at a local kid's consignment store, and the throw pillow was made by me.  Just how I like it, sweet and simple. Though I admit, this isn't the typical state of her room. :)

Whenever I deep clean a room, I almost always add a little bouquet. In this case, it's a few clippings from my spring garden set on Keston's night stand. Sometimes it's a bunch of daffodils from the supermarket or whatever is running cheap at Trader Joe's. I need motivation to get the big jobs done! 

 
Clockwise, starting from left: coral bells (Heuchera), ajuga blossoms ('chocolate chips' variety, center), Spanish lavender, purple salvia, coreopsis (yellow), petunias clipped from a hanging basket, and the sweet smelling French White lilac.

Too see what others are tucking into their bouquets, check out one of my favorite blogs, Fimby, and this post. Thanks Renee!

Nature Journaling

Last spring, when we decided to school all three kids at home, I stumbled upon a great book, Pocketful of Pinecones, and fell in love! (If you haven't read it and have any inclination to homeschool, you should! It is a sweet fiction book, but so instructional at the same time. A great jumping point, I thought.) Nature Journaling was hugely the focus of this book, as well as this family's days. On our first day of school this fall, we began our journals.

I made the journals using chipboard (sturdy craft cardboard) covered in scrapbooking paper, though you could use recycle cereal boxes instead of chipboard for an emphasis on Earth Day coming up!. They are Mod-Podged, though you can see the corners are still coming loose after months of use. The covers are 6x9, and held together with office binder rings. The three kids all have unique covers. We like to use watercolor paper, as it is sturdy and often we do add watercolor paintings. With a good cold-pressed paper, it won't ripple much with the watercolors or watercolor pencils. Look for paper pads that are 9x12, so that you can easily yield two pages for your journal from each page in the pad by cutting it in half. After I cut and hole punch them all, I use a clear hole reinforcement on the back to make sure nothing gets ripped out. We keep a stack handy, not in the books, to grab for journaling. When we journal at the beach or on a hike, we just take the page with us rather than the whole book. (Lighter for hikes, and this way the book won't be as likely to get wet or damaged). The binder rings open easily to add pages as we go.

The kids are allowed to journal anything they want. As long as God created it, it is fair game for a nature journal. We have entries of everything from blackberries to Jersey cows, and a ton of birds in between. The girls both love the artistic aspect of it, though Jenson often finds ways around the actual drawing. He makes Venn diagrams and leaf rubbings, but still includes the required (by me!) date, location, and weather. We have liked Darwent watercolor pencils and Darwent technical pencils especially. (I got ours at Michaels using a 50% off coupon for each). Sometimes they use pastels of even just crayons, but I generally try to provide them with good artist-quality supplies. Some entries are super detailed, and the subject researched, sometimes not. I leave it up to them, and it is neat to see what they choose to document.  

A really helpful book is Keeping a Nature Journal. We have had it out from the library recently, and everyone has been busily sketching, (or diagraming), with a vengence.  It explains all the educational benefits of nature journaling too, beyond just science. It is really such a cool subject to do!

Can you figure out who did which entry?

 

I am practicing for when I am elderly

I will be an awesome old lady, and know just how to wear a floppy hat and watch birds from my window. I might keep seeds in my pocket.

A couple months ago we created a backyard bird sanctuary as part of a unit study. We faithfully kept our feeders full and eventually it became like a bird carnival.  It is fascinating to see the different behaviors and habits of each type of bird. The woodpeckers are skittish and stick around only long enough to eat. The black caps are just the opposite, and will hang out whether the cat is beneath them or kids are screaming on the trampoline. We've pretty much trained the Stellars' to come when we feed them, and watch them carry their prize away to their nests. At one point today, we had 11 different types of birds in the yard.  Here are some in our yard that we see all the time...

{Stellar's Jay}

{Mr. Hairy Woodpecker} 

{And his lovely wife. Notice no red on her head.}

{Finally, we attracted a stubborn female Amerian goldfinch. Looking forward to the brightly colored males.}

Updated! She's definitely not a goldfinch, but rather a Pine Siskin. We were led astray by the mean lady at the bird store that informed us ONLY goldfinches were eat our thistle. We have decided she is just wrong, and this is a siskin.

 

{A perrenial visitor, happy to eat anything, a black-capped chickadee.}

 

{And a chestnut-backed chickadee.}

 

{A robin, nest gathering.}

 

{Not to be confused with a spotted Towhee!}

 

{Last but not least, Northern Flickers, another type of woodpecker}

Beautiful Bellingham

In the last two weeks, we've been to Larrabee at low tide, and found hundreds of sea stars, a few sea cucumbers and red sea squirts. :: We've been to Whatcom Falls to see if the ducks we visit regularly had any ducklings following behind. (They didn't, but we spotted a Common Goldeneye duck.) ::We have hiked to Fragrance Lake and ate a picninc on the water's edge. We spotted red-headed woodpeckers three times on the way down the mountain. :: We explored the new trails by our house, nature journaled, and left fairy houses for others to find. :: I love how much there is to do around here, and all for free!  







 
Last weekend I took Jenson to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (Super funny).  Waiting in line behind us, I overheard a dad saying how there was "just nothing to do in this town". I bit my tongue.