Outdoor Mom's Journal - August 2018

During our outdoor time this week we went....around town a bit. Saw Sandhill Cranes in pastures. They are around - even if we don't see them. Their sound is peculiar and memorable.

We spent time outdoors at the local farmers market. Sophia was asked to play her harp there on August 8th, so she spent a few hours there. I was at the market for about an hour or so, brought Olivia back home, and then returned to the market when Sophia was done.

We enjoyed watching a lot of geese cross the road on August 17th.

On August 21st, Sophia and I took Olivia to target practice. She used my dad's .22 rifle that my brother inherited and let us borrow.

Target practice was held in a mine that no longer is being used. Although the weather was nice, there were a lot of gnats. Thankfully, we had bug spray with DEET...the only spray that repelled these annoying insects away from our faces and heads.

I spent time outside on August 21st checking out the garage that is being built to replace the hobby shed that burned on May 5th.

The clouds on August 21st were beautiful.

The sunset was breathtaking too as it set. The newly-paved roads were slick and wet from the recent rain.

There was a rainbow in the east - a full one. Wish the power lines weren't in the photo, but that's the view from the front of the house.

Another view of the sky shows the southern part of the rainbow and some unusual and colorful clouds under it.

I enjoyed seeing the colorful clouds and their shapes. 

What was particularly interesting for me was seeing clouds that were flat on one side - it is like someone took an eraser and erased the bottom portion of them. 

At the August 22nd farmers market, we spent time outdoors collecting donations for various non-profit organizations as well as making shoes for children in Uganda that used jeans that people no longer wanted.

We traced and cut pieces out of the jeans.

 On August 28th, we spent the evening at the Minnesota State Fair. We walked around outside as well as spent time inside in some of the buildings. Olivia was being judged for her photograph in the 4-H photography project area.

We returned to the Minnesota State Fair on Wednesday, August 29th. Outside the Eco-Education building are face cutouts by plants they represent.

Both the girls were good sports and stood by them.

Olivia and I watched a parade at the State Fair while Sophia was being judged for her illustrated presentation.

Afterwards, we found some new sculptures. This one was by one of the historical buildings.

I really like this photo of Olivia by the cow.

While we were waiting for Sophia's judging session to start for the craft project area in the 4-H building, we all tried our hands at target practice. Olivia had the top score, then Sophia, and then me.

When we were done, we went on the giant Ferris wheel. The timing was perfect with the setting sun.

We had an amazing view from the top.

By  the time we were done, the lights on the Ferris wheel were more visible.

The most inspiring thing we experienced was...seeing the hibiscus tree blooming. There are three different plants that are braided together, so the tree is colorful and beautiful in full bloom.

The blooms last about a day...two if we're lucky. Yet, there seems to always be at least one flower on the tree. 

We were a bit concerned early on when the leaves kept yellowing and falling off. It looked rather dismal with few leaves; and we questioned whether it would survive.

So, we bought a moisture reader and found out that we were overwatering the plant. It needs to be within a 1-2 reading. When we have the soil in that range, the plant does very well.

Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…how wildfires and the smoke in the west and north can affect the way the sun looks in Minnesota. 

It amazes me that the entire sky and sun can be completely changed by the smoke several states away (or even in another country).

In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting...we are getting some tomatoes and herbs from our garden. I'm thinking that the raised beds - or perhaps my growing skills - are resulting in meager harvests in terms of produce. I may not go through the trouble next year of planting vegetables.

The flowers are doing well, however. This is one of the blooms on the hibiscus tree.

This is a pink rose that is very fragrant.

I added nature journal pages about...nothing yet for August. However, I do want to learn more about hail. We had a hail storm here on Sunday, August 26th. There were dime- and quarter-size hail that pummeled everything for quite a while.

The hail made almost musical sounds as it hit the propane tank. The size of the hail and force that it the tank made the sounds different.

I am reading...I finished reading all the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazines. It's nice to get caught up with reading them. Each issue is packed with beautiful photographs and interesting information.

I am dreaming about…a time when I can go outside and not have to deal with gnats, mosquitoes, or horseflies. 

A photo I would like to share...these flowers have a pretty combination of orange and pink.

They are growing next to moss roses which have equally as pretty and delicate colors. 


Thank you to Barb the Outdoor Hour Challenge for the idea of doing an Outdoor Mom's Journal.

Hobbies that Begin with "F" - Blogging from A to Z Challenge

During the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I will be focusing on hobbies that I have introduced to my daughters to through their childhood and teen years. Some were done as part of homeschooling, while others were areas that we explored because we were interested in the subject or activity. These are hobbies that anyone of any age could try as well.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

These are some of the hobbies that the girls have been introduced to during their childhood and teen years: falconry, felting, fencing, firearms, fishing, and flower arranging.

Falconry

We were having lunch with friends one day at the Scandia Café. When we left to go to our car, there was a gentleman who had a falcon in the back of his car.

September 13, 2012

He shared with us about the hobby of falconry, and let the girls touch the falcon. It was interesting learning about falconry - something that we don't see each day.

Felting

Sophia and Olivia began felting when they were 7 and 5 years old respectively. There are two types of felting - wet-felting and needle-felting. I taught them how to do needle-felting because it was something they could do wherever they were and they wouldn't get wet in the process.

For her second project, Olivia made a heart with different colors of wool. She used the barbed needles for needle-felting well, and didn't poke her fingers with the needles once. She was proud of her project.

January 25, 2008

For Easter one year, I taught the girls and their friends who were in a home economics class I taught at the homeschool co-op how to make needle-felted eggs.

They chose from a variety of colors of wool, and then used the barbed needles to attach the wool to the Styrofoam egg shapes.

 

March 30, 2009

The girls were so focused while they worked.

March 30, 2009

They did a base color and then added colorful wool embellishments to their felted Easter eggs.

April 6, 2009

They also made toys - like felted balls - that they could use for decoration and/or play.

December 3, 2009

Fencing

The girls did fencing on February 18, 2016, at the Minnesota Sword Club in Minneapolis. They had never done fencing before so it was a good introduction to the sport and hobby.

There was gear that they had to wear to cover their bodies and heads.

They practiced different positions and stances; and had fun fencing.

It was a fun way to spend a cold winter day in Minnesota.

Firearms

The girls' first introduction to guns was at an educational program held at Fort Snelling. These men are showing the type of guns that would have been used during WWII.

September 14, 2007

We were traveling throughout the New England States and visited a store that had guns on display. As we were looking at them, we realized that they were about as long as Olivia was tall.

September 9, 2011

One November 23, 2013, we went to the Minnesota Waldorf School for the holiday fair. The girls wanted to play a game with riffles that had foam bullets. 

The goal was to aim at the knights on the castle and hit them.

It was something that they don't normally do, yet they had a lot of fun trying to aim at the targets.

In 2018, Olivia is studying to get a license to use a gun so she can do trap shooting. She is going through firearms safety training during March and April; and will have a field day test on April 28th.

Her uncle (my brother) is loaning her two guns so she can get comfortable with them before the field day test.

So, on Easter (April 1, 2018), Olivia learned the proper way to hold a rifle and to stand as she takes aim.

Her younger cousin, who enjoys target practice, showed her how to load and unload a gun.

The one pictured above belonged to my dad, so there's a special connection there. Olivia said she preferred my dad's gun and would most likely use that one for her field day test.

Fishing

The girls learned about fish and their parts at a youth program at Interstate State Park in 2012. They did fish painting (using rubber fish) and learned about fishing.

June 15, 2012

On June 7, 2014, the girls and I stayed at Wild River State Park and did the I Can! Camp program. One of the activities offered during the camping stay was learning how to fish.

We did some fishing off a bridge in the park overlooking a river.

They learn to cast and how to bait a hook.

They didn't catch anything at that location, so we changed spots to the St. Croix River and the boat launch there.

It was a relaxing way to spend the day.

Flower Arranging

In 2013, we did a lesson about etiquette. The girls set the table using the good China dishes and silverware; and created flower arrangements.

April 4, 2013

We used a bouquet from the store and they made several smaller floral arrangements.

April 4, 2013

On May 9, 2015, we brought floral arrangements to the nursing home and decorated the tables in the different living areas.

It was Mother's Day weekend, so the tables looked nice for family visits.

We visited with some of the residents and their families while we were there.

We brought flowers also for people who were special to us and made a point of visiting each time we were there.

Often, when we go the farmers market, we will get a bouquet of flowers to bring home to create many smaller vases of flowers. These brighten up our home and lift our spirits.