Backyard

{this moment} - A Friday ritual began by Amanda at Soule Mama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment you want to pause, savor and remember.

Have a lovely weekend ~ Kimara and Michelle

After several days (or was it weeks?) of miserable heat and humidity that was making everyone cranky, the weather broke and we are now free to enjoy being outdoors again. We've spent hours outside in the last few days making up for lost time. Although Pixie loves being outside, she can't go long without her art supplies. This often includes water colors at the picnic table, sidewalk chalk on the front porch and now since my grandma's move and we have piles of packing paper she has added to the mix soy egg crayons on the driveway. She has been very busy coloring on a large scale and we now have many, many, many colorful sheets of paper that will make wonderful wrapping paper for all of our upcoming fall birthdays.

This summer we have discovered a fun new hobby... Letterboxing or as my kids call it... Treasure Hunting.

What is Letterboxing? It is a fun hobby that combines hiking, clues/maps and stamp collecting. You follow the clue to find a box. Inside the box you will find a special stamp and a notebook in a waterproof container. You stamp your notebook with the found stamp and the Letterbox notebook with your signature stamp, then you re-hide the box. This is a great way to encourage kids to hike! The first time out my little ones did a 3 mile hike and wanted to keep going for the next box.

What do you need to get started... just a journal for collecting stamps, a signature stamp to leave your mark (homemade or store bought), an ink pad and pen, possibly a compass and a clue map. I also keep sunblock, bug spray and a water bottle in our pack.

To find lettingboxing hunts in your area log on to Atlas Quest. Choose a hunt that is active (been found recently) and has in fact been found before. Some letterboxes are not maintained well and it is very discouraging if you can't find the box, especially the first time out.

I have printed out a bunch of hunts in our area and we leave our letterboxing kit in the car. It has become a fun spur of the moment, afternoon activity for us. We have not created our own signature stamps... yet. We will sometime soon but I was anxious to get started so we grabbed what we already had and set off on an adventure.

Have any of you tried letterboxing yet? Our favorite find so far was found in a small, old cemetery. It was a very cool fairy stamp.

Today I spent an entirely exhausting but wonderfully fulfilling day in the gardens. Michelle's family came over to "Help Gammy". Seven year old Bug learned to prune a small crab apple tree. Five year old Fairy showed her might as she hauled bags of mulch. And three year old Pixie impressed us all as she shoveled pea gravel into the wheelbarrow with "Othy". (Othy... their name for Tim, as in Timothy... Tim Othy... Othy. Cute, right?) Anyway... At one point Fairy came over and asked, "What's that plant called?" Over the winter some of the plant markers got shifted or the growing spring plants covered our painted rocks that bear their names. Together we went through the garden we were working on to make sure all the name rocks were visible and by the correct plant. By each plant, Fairy used her budding reading skills to try to decipher the names. There were lovely names like Foam Flower, Coral Bells, and Porcupine Grass. For the rest of the day, each time she passed a plant, she'd look at the rock and proudly say the plant's name. It reminded of this blog I had written for One Generation to Another May 20, 2008. I hope you enjoy it!  

Tim: (Getting into the car after popping into Kroger to pick up some milk.) Peggy said there are tornado warnings.

Me: (More perplexed by the name Peggy then the impeding doom, I rack my brain trying to figure out who Peggy is. Coming up blank…) Who the heck is Peggy?

Tim: The cashier.

Me: How do you know her?

Tim: I just told you she was the check out clerk.

Me: Do you know her from somewhere else?

Tim: No.

Me: Then how do you know her name?

Tim: It was on her badge.

Me: Then why use her name like it means something to me?

Tim: Because it’s her name.

Me: You’re very odd.

This gives you some kind of understanding of the riveting conversions Tim and I have! Having said that…to me a name is personal…the use of one’s name implies intimacy. To Tim it simply conveys friendliness. Truth be told, people respond surprisingly well to him. I’m the kind of person whose dander flies with the first sign of confrontation. Tim becomes all smiles…and uses people’s names. Actually, this is a tried and true marketing strategy. Next time you get a telemarketing phone call notice how they utilize your name thus suggesting friendship and closeness. It’s much harder to turn down “Bob” when he keeps calling you “Kathy” than a nameless voice calling you ma’am or sir. (Unless, of course, your name isn’t Kathy!)

Anyway, names are powerful and the use of names does provide us with a sense of ownership, intimacy and responsibility. Right now I’m reading a very interesting book titled Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. I’m only a quarter of the way into the book but being a true believer that the average American child does not spend nearly enough “exploratory” time outside, I found the phrase Nature-Deficit Disorder to be intriguing. The author shares a conversation with naturalist and educator Elaine Brooks. She believes that people are unlikely to value things they cannot name. “One of my students told me that every time she learns the name of a plant, she feels as if she is meeting someone new. Giving a name to something is a way of knowing it.”

If we want our children to become intimately involved with their environment, the best way to do that is to “properly” introduce them to nature. Start in your backyard. Instead of talking about “the birds” use their names. (If you don’t know them get yourself a backyard bird book like Backyard Birds (Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists) by Jonathan Latimer or Birds, Nests & Eggs (Take-Along Guides) by Mel Boring. Start a bird watching journal. What about the trees and plants in your yard? What insects populate your yard? Helping your children discover the diversity in their own yard and learning to identify many of them by name might be the single greatest thing you can do to help your child become ecologically responsible. Names lead to intimacy…intimacy leads to caring…caring leads to action.

The other day we were at The Metro Park. We are so lucky to have this 5,000 acre park just 4 miles from the house. We went to see the egrets nesting and after hiking down to the long expansion bridge on one of the lakes, we pulled out our binoculars and watched the beautiful birds. I was with my daughter and her children. Along with the egrets we saw blue herons, a nesting swan, a northern water snake, a family of snapping turtles sunning on a log, and scores of red winged blackbirds. I enjoyed listening to my 5 year old grandson talk about his surroundings. He kept asking for the name of everything he saw. He already knows most of the local birds by name but his thirst for information is infinite. While listening to him it was apparent that he felt a sense of intimacy with the creatures and plants around him…you might say he’s becoming one with nature. To him nature is not something foreign “out there”. It is something personal, that he is involved with, and knows by name!

Over the years we have often gone one step further and have actually give proper names to things. My daughter named the weeping cherry she gave me one Mother’s Day, Julie. The boys named the matching dogwoods Barkley and Bob. My daughter's children name their squirrels. Now, I’m willing to bet the farm that they aren’t always identifying the same squirrel…but it doesn’t matter! What matters is they feel a connection to the animals in their backyard!

We take the time to get to know the names of a people we deal with regularly. We learn the name of streets we frequent. We remember the names of delicious dishes at favorite restaurants, and we can list by name the television shows we watch every week. Learning names makes is easier to talk about things accurately. It also suggests a level of involvement. So, the next time you’re in the great outdoors with your children, take the time to meet some new friends…friends you can call by name!

It's summer. Ever since I was a child summer equalled excessive reading! My tastes in reading ran the gamut of literary genres, BUT the one commonality amongst all my summer books I read was my ability to chose them for myself. These were not books selected by my teachers, although I often read books that would have pleased them, nor did they need to be books off anyone's reading list. The freedom was exhilarating! As an adult I can now chose any book I want to read at anytime, HOWEVER, there is something so sweet and self indulgent about a summer read. We take books to the beach, on vacation, and out to the hammock under the trees. I have many nooks and crannies where I can be found reading on a summer's afternoon. As a parent I enjoyed sharing summer reading with my children, and now, as a Gammy, with my grandbabies.

The picture above is a special area in our green belt at the back of our property. We refer to this area as our Serenity Garden, for obvious reasons. Although the bench is cement and does not have back support, it is still a wonderful spot to read for a while, especially if reading short stories or poetry.

And although summer reading is indulgent and fun, having a special bookmark accompany you on your literary journey just makes it that much more enjoyable! Today I'm sharing a pattern for a sweet little mouse bookmark, donning a very long and useful tail. This bookmark could easily be made by even young children if you glued it together instead of sewing it together and you could use paper instead of felt. Directions and patterns for the Mouse Bookmark can be found HERE or in our FREE Pattern Section. Enjoy!

BTW... Do you have a favorite animal you would like a bookmark pattern for? If so, leave a comment and we'll pick at least one other animal to turn into a bookmark! 

Here is a sweet little mouse bookmark with a long and useful tail! This one is made out of felt and sewn, but if you're doing the project with young children, you can glue the felt pieces together or use card stock or construction paper. Whichever way you make him, I'm sure you'll find he'll fast become an indispensable friend!

Materials:
felt
embroidery floss
yarn
black glass seed beads (optional)
pattern

1] Make copy of pattern.

2] Cut out materials as follows:
2 body pieces in gray or tan felt
2 ears in pink
3 pieces of yarn 24" long (I used 2 tan and 1 pink)

3] Transfer face markings and embroider face as follows:
Nose: satin stitch using 3 strands floss
Eyes: French knot using 3 strands of floss (optional: instead of French knot add 2 black seed beads)

4] Using pattern as a guide place the 2 ears on the mouse. Using 2 strands of floss, attach to mouse using a running stitch.

5] To make the tail, knot the 3 pieces of yarn together 1” from an end. Braid the 3 pieces until you are 6” from the end. Knot the tail close to the end of the braiding section. Cut the extra yarn leaving 1” beyond the knot.


6] Position the tale on the back of the front body piece. Place it so 1/2" of the braid will be inside the mouse. Tack it in place being careful not to go all the way through the felt.( If you are using paper, glue it in place and let it dry before proceeding.)

7] Pin the mouse together with wrong sides touching. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, attach the 2 pieces using a running stitch.

8] Knot the end of 6 strands of black floss leaving a 2" tail. Referring to the pattern for placement, slide the needle between the front and back section of the mouse. Make a small knot on the other side of the nose. Clip the whiskers so they are 1/2" long.


9] Find a book you want to read, and slip your little mouse's tail in the book to mark your place!

 

Note about patterns: We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. We offer preemptive apologies for any mistakes that may be made. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible!

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It's summertime. Time to head outside and find a shady patch of grass to stretch out on. It's also a great time to grab your crafting supplies and "while away the hours" drawing birds and butterflies, clouds and clover. Although I like the roll-up colored pencil holders, I personally am too impatient to take the pencils in and out of their snug little niches. If you look at my own crafting table, pencils and pens, rulers and scissors, are all sticking out of containers making easy access and storage. 

So, I wanted to create a very simple, but organized, take-along craft basket that was sturdy, easy to use, and earthy. I began by finding a cute basket at Joann's. I was looking for a small basket, that was sturdy and deep enough to stop crafting supplies from spilling out if being carried by a wee one. I only buy baskets when they are 50% off, and I got this beauty for $4.00. I was pleased!

To make the pencil holders, I hit my toilet paper roll stash, slathered them with crafting glue, and wrapped twine around them. For a more detailed and pictorial view of wrapping the pencil holders, check out our tutorial HERE. After the toilet paper rolls were dried, I threaded the twine into a yarn needle, and simply tied them to the side of the basket.

Now, load the craft basket up with your favorite supplies, and hit the great out-of-doors. Enjoy!  

Beginning tomorrow I will be "off" for the next 2 weeks. Tim is on vacation and we are excited about spending the next couple of weeks AT HOME. Now, this may not be exotic, but we are so looking forward to it. We are locking up the cell phones (mostly) and using the net for pleasure, not work (mostly). We plan to do some relaxing in the gardens, see a couple of movies, and track down a couple of new organic farms in the area. We will both be in the gardens, but Tim plans to devote most of his time to working on our kitchen renovating. We are about a year and a half into the project, and oh, I'd say about 1/3 of the way done. He assures me, given this time at home, he plans to get another 1/3 done. Very exciting stuff!

As for me... I have been gnawing at the bit to get my sewing room and adjacent attic closet under control. If all goes well I plan to share my work space with our readers after the break. Although I will not be blogging at Wee Folk Art, I will be active on Wee Folk Garden. Since that blog is primarily meant to be a record keeping device for our garden, I'm hoping I'll have lots to blog about. So, if you're into that kind of thing, and find yourself missing me, hehe, stop on by!

Michelle will be at the helm here. We have the Sew, Mama, Sew May Giveaway coming up on the 27th that she'll be running, and she tells me she is using this time to give Wee Folk Art a bit of a face lift. I also think she has a couple other things to share. And although I won't be blogging, we will both be checking emails and comments for questions. So, I hope everyone has a lovely holiday weekend (for our State friends) and I look forward to returning refreshed and rejuvenated in a couple of weeks. Stay safe all, and I'll see everyone back here soon!

There's this "thing" out there. Before you have a child, you should have a dog for a couple of years. If you can take care of it and manage not to do anything irreversibly stupid, chances are you're ready for a kid. Some logic here, I suppose! Well, I didn't do dogs, I did plants, but same premise... sort of. But when I was in college, my plants were my babies. It started innocently enough. I moved into my first dorm room with a James Taylor album in one hand and a little pilea cadierei, better known as an aluminum plant, in the other. As the year went on, I kept picking up new plants. Back then I could literally spend hours picking out a single plant. God love him for putting up with me, but that's how my boyfriend and I often spent Saturday evenings! And I bought tiny plants, that was all the I could afford. But with excessive care and nurturing, they grew and flourished, and by the time I graduated I had over 40 plants that I schlepped around with me. Kids would be a breeze!

Not only did I meet my plants' nutritional needs, making home brewed concoctions for them, I also believed in nurturing their souls. I stroked them and played music for them. I monitored their sun intake, rotating them throughout the day. I made sure I didn't show favoritism. I also dressed them. I made macrame hangers and an assortment of pots. One of my favorite pots was a patchwork pot similar to the one above. Although not fashionable amongst my friends, I was already a crafter. I was making afghans and quilts in college. I always had a scrap box and one day I got this scathingly brilliant idea to make a patchwork pot out of the fabric orts I had been squirreling away.

I did a few things wrong with the first few patchwork pots I made. First, I didn't seal the terracotta pots, and after watering the plants a few times, the water began to seep through the pot discoloring the fabric and finally causing it to separate from the pot. Then, I wrapped the cloth over the top rim and a couple of inches into the pot. Another mistake since the fabric was touching the dirt and always damp, and the moisture leeched up the fabric, discoloring it. Finally, I had allowed the pot to sit on a dish, thus keeping the fabric on the bottom of the plant always damp. I started growing mold... not the look I was going after!

But after some tweaks and modifications, I got to a design that was beautiful and mostly functional! They are easy and lots of fun the make, and with a little help, even young children can make them. Bug, Fairy and Pixie will be making them for a Mother's Day gift. Watch for their pots sometime in the next few days. In the mean time, if you'd like to make your own Patchwork Pot, check out the directions in the Free Open Pattern section or here. Enjoy!

It was a great weekend in the garden. Tim helped turn my doodles into reality. (I use the word helped liberally... he did the lion's share of the work!) Anyway, I am beyond thrilled with the wall flower and window boxes he made. (Tim is now referring to our house as Whoville. I rather like that!) Over the next couple of weeks we will have tutorials for them over at Wee Folk Garden. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, check it out! I will make the flower into a 6" x 6" block before the week is out, too. In the meantime... I'm out in the gardens. Blogging here will be much slower for the next few weeks as the garden gets established. Hope everyone is enjoying the weather... especially us Midwesterners and everyone else in northern climates who are without our gardens for much of the year!