Life With The Crew

A Slight Shift

Only almost the middle of August, but there were definitely more than a couple of red leaves on the forest floor.  Definitely enough to draw notice and think, hmm, in a couple of weeks both the ground and I will be wearing more than we what we are today.  The mornings will be chillier, although the days will continue to be warm.  After a hot dry spell, today was a wonderful breath of relief, a just right morning in the woods by the lake.  

As we do most of the time, we had the woods to ourselves, and they were abnormally quiet today.  Wood Pewees, a couple of Rufous-sided Towhees, a Downy woodpecker, and bush birdies that I couldn't identify.  I only just discovered that the call that I've been hearing in the woods, the song that has been driving me crazy because I heard it constantly yet never saw the singer, is the Wood Pewee.  My husband used the power of technology, using the Merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  I now walk through the woods a little more peacefully because I'm not racking my brain trying to figure out what I'm hearing.  We all have something that drives us crazy - sitting in traffic, people that drive too slow, people who don't pick up their dog's poop, that unidentified bird in the woods (actually all of those things raise my stress level...)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Spring Musings

Little round balls the size of marbles, what do you hold inside?

I hold a gem, a little round ball as black as obsidian.

After a while I burst and I am a tadpole!

Soon I will lose my tail and grow legs and I will be a frog and have eggs of my own!

~P, age 9

Is Spring a thing you can see?  I saw a Wood frog hop away from me.

Is Spring a thing you can hear?  I heard the Robin singing with cheer.

Is Spring a thing you can feel?  I touched a slimy slug and it made me squeal!

Spring is near, Spring is here! I'm glad it comes back every year.

~Katie, age whatever

 

It's Starting

 The brown and yellow fields are just starting to get a haze of green if you look at them in the right light.  Along the streams and drainage ditches, the green is already solid.  It is always amazing how quickly it shoots up, snow one day, photosynthesis in progress the next!  

Sorry for the awful quality of the frog photo, but it was the first sighting!  We also spotted the first turtle in the same pond, slowly swimming down on the muddy bottom.  The nature center where we do a lot of our exploring created three new ponds last Fall.  They are beside a stream and near the large lake.  The ponds are shallow and allow water to flow from one into the next.  Already the ponds are filled with tadpoles and perhaps the turtle we saw over-wintered there.  Amazing how quickly nature can make itself at home if we provide the right conditions.  Build it and they will come!  The photo above shows the work of beavers.  The small stream flowed directly into the lake, but in the middle of the photo, you can see the line of the beaver dam.  The stream has been backing up behind it and the bridge we normally cross only had an inch of clearance yesterday!

I feel that my wanderings in the woods over the past month have been tinged with an almost feeling of guilt.  I read the news and look at the photographs in the mornings and feel such a sadness for the people of Ukraine.  That less than a month ago they were living their lives just like I was - waking up in a warm house, tending to their children's needs, getting ready for school and work, caring for pets.  Now, I am waking up under blue skies, the Earth waking up and showing signs of rebirth, new life, while they are hiding in concrete bunkers fearing for their lives or struggling in a foreign country and not knowing if they will ever return home.  So, I tell myself while I cannot do anything to directly make their lives better, I can be thankful for mine.  So, we head out to enjoy the world around us.

Also in order to feel that I am doing something to help, my daughter and I came up with the idea to hold a raffle drawing.  Her embroidery skills have been improving, so she decided to embroider a small hoop with a big message.  For $5, you get one "ticket in the hat".  We are accepting donations until Saturday morning, 3/19.  We will be sending them through Google.org's matching campaign for Ukraine relief efforts, so your $5 magically becomes $10.  Donations can be sent via PayPal:  [email protected]  Photos can be seen on my Life With the Crew FB page (scroll to bottom of page for link).  For some reason, I could not upload photos from my phone today.

 

 

 

 

A Winter's Day

A Winter's day, perhaps the last real one, as the temps sound like they'll be a little more mild in the coming month of March.  And judging by the large flocks of robins we've been seeing, Spring is definitely on the way.  On this gray snowy day, we spotted a Brown Creeper busily looking for lunch on a Tulip Poplar and two Bald Eagles swirling around each other in the overcast sky.  With snowflakes lazily drifting down, we slipped our way over the ice through the field and wood.

With the upheaval in the world today, people's lives being threatened and destroyed by greed and power, I do not take these moments for granted.  These moments of peace and calmness with my daughter.  We admire the world around us, ask questions, notice details, and soak up the quiet.  And hope that some of it sticks with us as we go about our days.

February Beginnings

February started with the slight tease of Spring, and after frigid single digits, I felt guilty still feeling cold at "just freezing".  But then the rain changed to ice and the season meter was pushed firmly back to "Winter".  

I'm okay with that.  There are still audiobooks to listen to ("King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry), books to read (The  Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson), and knitting projects.  My sidekick has been knitting a pink blanket for her kitten.  She first tried knitting when she was 8, which is an age that I had heard kids could pick it up.  She learned the knitting motion and was able to make several small squares, but only this winter (age 9), did it really click.  She has been knitting for an hour a day and asked to learn how to purl also.  I love seeing her sitting by the fire, listening to an audio, and knitting away on this blanket for her beloved Tiny Tim.  (And he had better appreciate all the hours and love she is putting into it!)

We have been hearing Great Horned owls calling in the early evening, as early as 6pm.  In Winters past, I have heard them in the middle of the night while my daughter was sleeping, so it was nice to be able to share it with her now.  This is the time period when they are choosing mates, so I've often heard one voice calling and then another answer from farther away.  I'm so glad that even in the suburbs, wildlife has figured out how to thrive around us.

On the knitting front, this wonderfully soft wool shawl with a lace pattern along the bottom is listed in my shop.  I just LOVE the color and would like it to find a home so I am not tempted to wear it!

In the Deep Midwinter

While the dark days of December may seem like the height of Winter, we're only approaching midwinter now.  Luckily the bitter dark nights are offset by the slightly less frigid days of bright sunshine, its strong rays calling to us to come outside and play despite the coldness we know is there waiting.  And because the lure of that golden sun on crisp white snow is strong and because one can only knit so much before her finger joints start to ache and because a wild child is always easier to deal with after she has breathed fresh air into her lungs and mind - we venture out.

One of our favorite places, icy cold and quiet in January, with just the chattering Chickadees and the moaning ice to keep us company.  Lake side cattails serve as a winter replacement for milk weed pods.  Beauty is all around, all the time.

 

 

Bad Day to be a Duck

We woke to an icy world today.  The frigid temps had warmed enough overnight for some of the snow to melt and then the rains came and everything was enrobed in ice.  Very pretty; pretty deadly.  Any surface that had partially melted is now super slick ice.  The ducks are NOT happy.  I spread wood shavings in their yard, but if they pick up too much speed, they slip and slide on their amply padded chests.  They could stay in their dry hut, but apparently there are still too many things to see and do on a day like this.  Gotta love their determination.

On the birding front, the feeder and suet block have been receiving a lot of action during these cold days.  If you're interested, this is a list of the birds that we have seen since Jan 1.  If not stated otherwise, they were sighted in our backyard in the suburbs.  Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Cardinal (M&F), Mourning Dove pair, White Breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, House Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Junco, American Robin, Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, Goldfinch, Red-Tailed Hawk, Tundra Swan (adult and juvenile at local wetlands), Coopers or Sharp Shinned Hawk (difficult to tell apart), Turkey Vulture, Pigeons (farmland), Mallard, Kestrel (on telephone wire near farmland).

 

Happy For What We Get

Just a couple of snow day photos.  This is our first "real" snow of the season even though it is barely 3 inches.  In a Winter that has been insanely warm so far, we'll be happy for what we get (those of us that enjoy the white stuff that is.)

The Quiet Time

Now that the holiday season is over, the quiet time has begun.  And the cold has set in (at least a little bit).  It is the season of texture, not color.  

And so I guess it is fitting that my latest knitting project is of the same color palette.

We are starting our listening year off with the classic "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" on audiobook.  I remember that I read it in high school, but I didn't remember how good it is.  Always love to find a new story to share with my daughter and I love historical fictions!

Hope It Will Be A Good One

I don't get too sentimental or excited about the coming of the New Year.  I'm too practical for that I guess.  One year is done, another year begins, and if we're lucky, we'll be here to see the one after that.  Good and bad things happen in each year and hopefully there is much more of the former.  So I'll keep trying to remember to focus on what is important and to appreciate the wonders in the world around us.  The not so little babe and I had a great walk today, on this last day of 2021.  It was quiet, moody, and misty in the woods, everything saturated with rain and color.

The weather has been way too warm for this time of year, with rain and 50's instead of freezing and snow.  It makes the ducks happy, but not so much myself when I'm squelching through the muck.  However, this morning was heavy with fog and when the sun started to break through, it bathed the backyard in a beautiful hue.  I spied spiderwebs visible in the moist air and tried to capture their beauty while the ducks searched for breakfast.

Many wishes to you for a Happy New Year.  We always hope it will be a good one.