A flock of wood ducks arrived today and settled in a tree near the south pond. They may be looking for a place to nest, as one of them explored the fat raccoon's hole in that same tree. It is a funny sight to see ducks in a tree. The females are the same color as the bark.
The robins look for food outside our window. They are very puffy and fat. Snow is still here, but only on the north side of each tree at the base.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Music
Making music makes us happy! Pick a ukelele and belt out a song. Any old song. Make it up. Stomp your feet. Grab a drum. Run and jump and hum and sing and run. Stomp your feet. Jump on a trampoline and feel the beat. Squeak, squeak, squeak, it's hard to blow on a recorder, hard to blow it low. Drumsticks slap the edges. The earth bell clicks. Shhh. Silence. Pow! Music. Whoo hoo, sing a song about the day, hooray!
Birds
Spring is definitely coming. The red-wing Blackbirds have taken up residence in the pond. You can see them perched precariously on the reeds. It's a beautiful sight.
Large flocks of blackish birds pass through here regularly. We don't know what they are yet, but are guessing blackbirds, starlings or small crows?
The crows are here of course. Also the pair of red-tailed hawks.
Another large bird flew over the southern ponds today too. It looked like a hawk but had a much smaller tail than the red-tailed hawks. Could it be a vulture? The binoculars will tell the truth.
In the past day we also spotted robins, woodpeckers and an unknown bird flew into (i.e., hit) one of our windows. It did not do us the favor of sticking around for identification, however.
Large flocks of blackish birds pass through here regularly. We don't know what they are yet, but are guessing blackbirds, starlings or small crows?
The crows are here of course. Also the pair of red-tailed hawks.
Another large bird flew over the southern ponds today too. It looked like a hawk but had a much smaller tail than the red-tailed hawks. Could it be a vulture? The binoculars will tell the truth.
In the past day we also spotted robins, woodpeckers and an unknown bird flew into (i.e., hit) one of our windows. It did not do us the favor of sticking around for identification, however.
Questions
Everyday, lots of questions come up while we are working, playing, walking and driving. Some relate quite specifically to our surroundings or current activities. Other questions we've just been pondering for a long time (those usually get asked for several days in a row, or on random days over a few weeks). The answers to these questions often can be easy to understand, but frequently just not very satisfactory. That usually means that we need to keep talking about it and do some more research.
On our blog, we are going to start posting topics that we want to keep thinking about and research later - we will label them as "Questions."
Some questions that we'd like to answer:
Q: How does sound come out of the radio? How do radio waves move through the air? How do they come into the radio?
Q: Does God have eyes? How can God be bigger than us but still inside us? Is God inside a tree?
Q: Who builds the highways? Why do they build highways?
On our blog, we are going to start posting topics that we want to keep thinking about and research later - we will label them as "Questions."
Some questions that we'd like to answer:
Q: How does sound come out of the radio? How do radio waves move through the air? How do they come into the radio?
Q: Does God have eyes? How can God be bigger than us but still inside us? Is God inside a tree?
Q: Who builds the highways? Why do they build highways?
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Nature
Birds
Birds come in different colors and make different sounds. A bluebird has a black beak and a blue face. A red-wing blackbird has a black face and red wings. Many birds have names that suggest how they appear or act. For example, a woodpecker pecks wood, and a catbird sounds like a cat.
How can we look more like birds? Face paint crayons! Let's turn our noses into beaks and draw feathers on our faces. A big towel held behind our back turns into two great big wings that we can flap to fly as we run around.
Birds come in different colors and make different sounds. A bluebird has a black beak and a blue face. A red-wing blackbird has a black face and red wings. Many birds have names that suggest how they appear or act. For example, a woodpecker pecks wood, and a catbird sounds like a cat.
How can we look more like birds? Face paint crayons! Let's turn our noses into beaks and draw feathers on our faces. A big towel held behind our back turns into two great big wings that we can flap to fly as we run around.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Baking
Chocolate Cake
First we got a big bowl. Eggs went in the bowl, and oil, and water. Then we added cake mix. We greased up the pan. We mixed it with a spatula then put it in the pan. Then we put it in the oven.
What happened to the cake while it was in the oven? It got bigger! It's done! We can't eat it right away because it will be hot.
First we got a big bowl. Eggs went in the bowl, and oil, and water. Then we added cake mix. We greased up the pan. We mixed it with a spatula then put it in the pan. Then we put it in the oven.
What happened to the cake while it was in the oven? It got bigger! It's done! We can't eat it right away because it will be hot.
Wild Nature Friends
We have many friends in nature around here. So far we have seen:
• Deer (including bucks and fawns)
• Chipmunks
• Skunk. We knew a little skunk with a broken leg and brave spirit, but we have not seen him much since the snow came.
• Flies. We have not seen any this winter. But probably will soon.
• Red-tailed hawk. The pair of red-tail hawks like to circle the field and look for mice.
• Frogs live in the pond.
• Raccoons.
• Heron. Hopefully he will come back in the spring.
• Coyotes. Coyote footprints show up in the snow. Coyote scat is full of fur.
• Grasshoppers.
• Woolly Bear Caterpillars. We had two named Georgia and Linda. We want more caterpillars.
• Opossum. They play dead so something won't chase them. We saw an opossum on a tree by the trail.
• Squirrel.
• Mice. Field mice like to live in the basement in the winter.
• Shrew.
• CORRECTION! MUSKRATS! What we thought were beavers are Muskrats. [Beaver. It looks like there are beavers in the pond. We see mounds of grass that look like beaver dens. But we have not seen any beavers yet.]
• Woodpeckers. They peck holes in trees. They are looking for insects to eat.
• Mosquitoes. They come in summer and in the fall.
• Birds. Chickadees. Crows. We need to learn more birds, but there are lots of birds around.
• Deer (including bucks and fawns)
• Chipmunks
• Skunk. We knew a little skunk with a broken leg and brave spirit, but we have not seen him much since the snow came.
• Flies. We have not seen any this winter. But probably will soon.
• Red-tailed hawk. The pair of red-tail hawks like to circle the field and look for mice.
• Frogs live in the pond.
• Raccoons.
• Heron. Hopefully he will come back in the spring.
• Coyotes. Coyote footprints show up in the snow. Coyote scat is full of fur.
• Grasshoppers.
• Woolly Bear Caterpillars. We had two named Georgia and Linda. We want more caterpillars.
• Opossum. They play dead so something won't chase them. We saw an opossum on a tree by the trail.
• Squirrel.
• Mice. Field mice like to live in the basement in the winter.
• Shrew.
• CORRECTION! MUSKRATS! What we thought were beavers are Muskrats. [Beaver. It looks like there are beavers in the pond. We see mounds of grass that look like beaver dens. But we have not seen any beavers yet.]
• Woodpeckers. They peck holes in trees. They are looking for insects to eat.
• Mosquitoes. They come in summer and in the fall.
• Birds. Chickadees. Crows. We need to learn more birds, but there are lots of birds around.
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