{this moment}

Following SouleMama's inspiration :
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

CHANGES

We went to collect eggs in our tiny pond for our aquarium, to observe them as we do each year, but could not find any at all.  We usually see numerous egg masses throughout the clear water.

The area looks very different this spring. The water has always been clear for the past five years but it has changed.

This year it is covered in algae.

Why did this change come about?

Are there eggs still there but hidden by the algae?

 Is there less life in the tiny pond this year? 

  We learned about eutrophication this week in my Earth School, in our watershed study.  


Eutrophication ( yoo-tro-fi-kay-shun) is a process whereby water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. This enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and can cause other organisms to die.

Is this what happened to the tiny pond? 
Is it because of the heavy rains our area experiences this spring? The rains in which the path from the barn to the woodlands became a river !
Did that *river* carry excess nutrients (nitrogen) from the barn area to the tiny pond ?

The children and I have a real life dilemma to solve and to figure out what measures we can take to help the pond life.

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

                  ~ smitten ~                      

(Feel free to join in One Word Wednesday. Just leave a comment with your link.)

BAAAAA

Mary had a little lamb,

 its fleece was white as snow . . . 

 Children love most anything to do with animals, but I think lambs and sheep hold a special place in their hearts, precious and gentle beings that they are.
 Look for a farm, festival or event  near you that features Sheep and Sheep shearing this spring 

  Children love to watch the shearing and know that it doesn't hurt the sheep, rather it's "getting a haircut" and being rid of the heavy coat for the warmer months ahead. Many places offer activities for children, or do your own at home with wool from the sheep. What farmer would pass up giving a child a chance to know about the journey of wool into clothing and items of warmth and craft.

Children love to wash the wool themselves, even the very young are quite capable.


                                                   Dipping . . . 

 and swishing

 

                                                                  and squeezing 

                                                         The water gets very dirty  . . . 

but so worth it in the end. . .

as the clean white wool dries in the sun 

  Four books that we LOVE and are read to the children, especially each year at sheep shearing time, are :

Children can also learn to card the wool, spin it, and use it in natural crafts.  Carding is a calming activity for children.  Stay tuned for more activities .

happy day!

LET NATURE IN

  Enamored with Nature my entire life, it came as no surprise that my love deepened when we moved to twelve glorious acres. We did what we could previously, living on a tiny lot off the center of town, with bird feeders and birdbaths, compost piles and raised bed gardens, and many nature activities like catching fireflies, watching butterflies emerge, making ant and worm homes and more.


 We always had a Nature Table that was filled to the brim with collections and natural objects of our desire. We began to run out of room and needed to rotate the collections.

 One of the first tasks on my agenda ,when we moved to our new house, was to re-purpose a glass curio cabinet to use in addition to a nature table. Creative Recycling! 

It looked like this picture except with solid wood shelves not glass. Although looking at this makes me think glass would be wonderful and allow us to see underneath each specimen just by looking in.

   I painted the inside back a light green , just a hint of natural color so as not to upstage the beauty of the collections themselves, and soon the cabinet was filled to the brim with Nature....and a quote or two. 
  
 Friends came to visit and said  "Oh I brought something for your nature cabinet", and we would add it to the menagerie with delight.
  
 You can see a yellow plastic egg on the bottom shelf and while the plastic egg is not *natural*, the creature who bit through it trying to get at the treat inside that was left undiscovered after an egg hunt, was. It is a reminder of the day that all children love and always ask about.

The cabinet allows us to keep a great many items and to see them easily through the glass, and most of all, everything stays dust free. And it's easy to take something out to hold by just opening the door.
Here is just a sampling of the contents:

 "In all things of Nature there is something of the marvelous"  

~Aristotle

WORDS

*WORDS*. . . 

 my weekly posting of a poem, a quote and a passage from literature.

mother and child (1905), gustav klimt

Be mindful!
 

Husband the earth. Protect
her from greed and violence. Build
humbly, plant trees, grow flowers and clothe her
with dignity. Respect all her creatures. Honour her
natural laws and the universe which cradles her.
Above all, heartily worship the Source of All that is.

This world needs secret heroes! Be brave, speak the truth,
heal the sick, make peace. Be strong, serve patiently, love
generously, live simply. Enjoy fellowship, eat and drink modestly,
celebrate the festivals. Breathe deeply, sing and make music,
walk often, cycle and recycle. Be thrifty, prefer cashflow to
possession, give good measure. Let your work be your prayer.

Put on the whole armour of light! Unearth the beauty in
everything. Inhale the Spirit of Goodness. Kindle kindness,
especially toward yourself, embracing the sweet
silence of your own soul. Fear nothing. Accept
what you are and — while you have
breath — give thanks.

~John Rogers

Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women's opportunities, not to limit them. The self-esteem that has been found in new pursuits can also be found in mothering.          ~Elaine Heffner

"If you are a parent who feels he has little nature lore at his disposal there is still much you can do for your child. With him, wherever you are and whatever your resources, you can still look up at the sky - its dawn and twilight beauties, its moving clouds, its stars by night. You can listen to the wind, whether it blows with majestic voice through a forest or sings a many-voiced chorus around the eaves of your house or the corners of your apartment building, and in listening, you can gain magical release for your thoughts. You can still feel the rain on your face and think of its long journey, its many transmutations, from sea to air to earth. Even if you are a city dweller, you can find some place, perhaps a park or a golf course, where you can observe the mysterious migrations of the birds and the changing seasons. And with your child you can ponder the mystery of a growing seed, even if it be only one planted in a pot of earth in the kitchen window. "

~From THE SENSE OF WONDER by Rachel Carson 

WEAVE WITH NATURE

Every season has its gifts to offer us and it is fun to explore, collect what we see, and make a Nature Weaving to adorn our room or porch.

First, find a forked stick, large or small, which should not be hard to do in any wooded area.

Get some yarn, twine, rope or hemp cord and tie one end to the stick.

You can use any color you want. We tend to keep colors somewhat neutral, or nature-y, and let the *finds* be the focal point. And sometimes we will use yellow or green yarn depending upon our mood.


Wrap the yarn back and forth, doubling it around each side to keep it taut. Tie it at the top when finished.

twine

                                                                           yarn
Go exploring and collect nature items and weave them through the twine. We like to start with grasses or a dried flower with a long stem and weave in and out. The more you weave in and out, the more taut it becomes and will easily *hold* objects like acorns and pinecones.

                                    A pretty decoration for the porch, don't you think?

or for inside on the wall

                                                                  ( from Autumn 2009)

We LOVE to make them to showcase our glorious finds from Nature. We have a big one leaning against the wall in the corner of the kitchen with a vacated wasp nest on a Beech tree branch.

Perhaps YOU will want to make a Nature Weaving!

 Please share if you do, we would love to see it!

happy day!

SUNDAY STROLL

I awoke to a symphony this morning, as beautiful birdsong filled the air.

I purposely keep my bedrooms curtains on a tension rod and hang them lower on the windows so my eyes can first see Nature upon awakening.

There is a delight to each season, from birds in the trees, to the varied colors of Autumn, to the way the snow clings to the branches.


This morning, in addition to birdsong, I heard branches breaking and crackling just beyond the pines. A family of deer were making their way through the woodlands stopping to eat delectables along the way.
It was one of those moments when I needed to be still and appreciate the moment, to take in their beauty without running off to get the camera and hoping to get a shot before they disappeared.

I was inspired to start my Sunday Stroll earlier this morning even before horses were fed. Nature was calling me.

Creatures were everywhere . . .

even the hens and ducks, who weren't locked in their houses, had survived the night .. thank goodness!

New life was springing forth everywhere I looked. . . 

         

               

         

              

May your day be happy 

and may you make discoveries that fill your heart with JOY.