Earlybird + mosquito bites = not a good thing ...
At the party yesterday EB received no fewer than three bites around his left eye, which as of this morning he can't open ...
This happens every year and all we can do is apply a cold washcloth to soothe the itch and wait for the swelling to subside.
"No, no Mama - it's a boo-boo."
The poor kid.
We had such a great time yesterday at Bookworm's birthday party! A gray damp morning yielded to a fine afternoon ~ perfect "camping" weather. You'll recognize the faces in this bunch - they're our closest friends AND our coop crew! Bookworm is the first of his friends to turn 11. (Yikes ~ 11!)
Before the party started, we made up the favors: green craft bags filled with camping goodies like flashlights, canteens and emergency blankets ...
Our first activity was making nature print t-shirts, which was a big hit! (Thanks again for the tip, Jennifer!) The kids found bits of nature from our backyard to adorn their hunter green t-shirts ~ as you can see they were very creative! Then we sprayed all around the items lightly with bleach, dunked them in basins of water, and then sent through the washer and dryer.
While dear husband fired up the grilll, the kids engaged in a game of "What Animal am I?" I found this activity in a favorite book of mine called Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell. I used it two years ago when I taught an environmental awareness class at our larger support group's cooperative. The gist of it is, the kids wear a picture of an animal on their backs and must ask for clues from each other to discover their assigned identity. It's a neat lesson in creative thinking and cooperation!
After a supper of hot dogs, potato salad and watermelon, of course there was cake ...
Our local supermarket's bakery makes wonderful cakes - and this one was no exception. The theme as you can see is "Field and Stream" and, as we discovered after the party, the tent even lights up!
Our next "camp" activity was a nature scavenger hunt. Again, I used suggestions from the Cornell book, but threw in a few of my own ... and after much excitement, discovery and discussion, (as well as concerted group effort), all 17 items were found!
"A fungus, a feather, three kinds of seeds? We're on it!"
"Let's check that list one more time to be sure ..."
As evening moved in, our group donned their freshly laundered nature-print t-shirts for this picture ~ fond reminders of a happy afternoon spent outdoors with wonderful friends ...
Happy Birthday Bookworm!
This story began with a second and third look at what I thought was a bit of white fluff stuck in the front bushes. I was checking on the possible relocation of the Bald-faced Hornet's nest when I realized the bit of "fluff" was moving. I called the boys out to see and we could not get over this caterpillar's appearance!
Of course we had to touch him. His response was this:
After a few more pictures he made a hasty retreat into the shrubbery:
A few days later, we went back to the spot where we first encountered him and not only was he still there, but he had a friend! (See the second caterpillar under the leaf?)
And guess what they were doing to those pretty variegated leaves? (Click for a better view.)
We think these caterpillars look like they may become Virginian Tiger Moths, much like a furry white moth we found a while ago in our backyard. The caterpillars pictured at www.BugGuide.net seem to match the ones we found above.
We'll be keeping an eye on this area for cocoons and in the meantime, marking this all down in our nature notebooks. Here are a few caterpillar books we like (and some we'd like to get):
As he is quick to remind me, Bookworm has been officially 11 for a few weeks now ... but he'll celebrate his birthday with
his friends today - at last! Originally, his party (a backyard camping theme) was scheduled for a Saturday last month - but, as is typical for June around here, it got rained out. So we rescheduled for the next available date which was today. And ... not only can everyone make it, there also appears to be NO RAIN in the forecast! Hooray!!
Of course we'll follow up with a post all about it, but please stay tuned for our first bug story later today - first up furry WHITE caterpillars!
Enjoy your day! :)
Here in New England, high summer brings heat, humidity and lots and lots of bugs. Typically, they're not my favorite nature study topic, but the boys are (naturally) very curious about them and I have to admit, I do find them fascinating - at an arm's length at least. :)
I'm determined, though, not to let my squeamishness rub off on them. Especially since we've started finding new varieties we've never noticed - or even heard of - before. It seems not an hour goes by I'm not hailed out to the yard or (heaven forbid) down the hall to the familiar "Mama! Come quick ... and bring the camera!" I know what that call means - it means bugs.
We've amassed quite a collection of bug photos over the past several days that we'd like to share with you all. We tried to fit them all here, but this post became far too long. So what I am going to do is post a series of "bug stories" over the next few days. I hope you'll stay tuned, and I hope you find the bugs as intriguing as we did!
In the meantime, let me share a few of the resources we rely on regularly for insect identification. These three are online:
And, of course we turn to our trusted books when ever in need of information. Since we'll be dealing with bugs for many more weeks, (at least till the first frost of fall), I figured it was time to organize a Bug Book Basket (see photo below). I'm mining this thread at 4Real for more titles to check out at the library, but our basket is already pretty full:
And just to set the stage, here are some pictures we took today while playing in the yard (and admiring the neighbors' fireworks). We have never seen ANYTHING like these bugs before, but they are doing a number on our wildflowers. Some brief research has us thinking they may be a kind of scale insect or mealybug, but any suggestions are most welcome. Please take a look ...
First of all, there are dozens of these tiny creatures all over the purple wildlfowers out back. As you can see, the leaves are riddled with holes. These bugs are about as big as a tic tac and some were even smaller. They seem to have a scaley-crusty top and a soft fringed green body underneath. They move pretty quickly when disturbed!
For more bug stories, please check back all week ... for posts on caterpillars, moths, hornets, dragonflies, ants and more. Oh! And Bookworm promises a review of his new favorite bug book, Smithsonian Bug Hunter! He read half of it to us at dinner tonight!
And we'd love to hear what bugs have been bugging you lately! Just leave us a comment below. :)
Bugs!
I like bugs.
Black bugs,
Green bugs,
Bad bugs,
Mean bugs,
Any kind of bug.
A bug in a rug,
A bug in the grass,
A bug on the side-walk,
A bug in a glass --
I like bugs.
Round bugs,
Shiny bugs,
Fat bugs,
Buggy bugs,
Big bugs,
Lady bugs,
I like bugs.
(by Margaret Wise Brown)
"My country 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing ...
"Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!" (Samuel Francis Smith, 1832)
May you have a happy, safe and blessed 4th of July!
| You Are 63% American |
 Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home. You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you! |
As our family well knows, Bookworm loves to read, so it's no surprise he received many new books for his birthday last month. His summer reading is off to a flying start and here is an overview, according to Bookworm:
"This is the prequel to a book I have read called Redwall. In it, a cruel wildcat named Tsarmina poisons the king so that she may rule the kingdom. A small group of animals bands together to climb Dragon Mountain where they think that their only hope - Boar the Hunter - lives. I think it's a really good book so far!"
(Bookworm also received Mattimeo and Mariel of Redwall, the next two books in the multi-volume Redwall series ...)
Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon: "In this book, twin Djinns John and Phillippa go off to save a very powerful spell book that has been stolen, and instead fall into a trap. John must travel to Babylon in order to save his sister from becoming the next Blue Djinn (which is a bad thing). It was a great book and definitely much better than the first one."
Dragon Rider: "I've read Inkheart (also by Cornelia Funke) and Eragon (another book about dragons) and I really liked both, so I'm pretty certain I'll like this one too!"
Magyk: "We'd never heard of this one before, but Aunt Ami says it's like Harry Potter." (Publishers Weekly agrees, saying: "Fantasy fans on the younger side of Harry Potter will find a good jolt of action, mystery and humor in ... this magyk-filled adventure.")
The City of Ember: "This is a book I once borrowed from the library. It's about a town that is running low on its food supply. It has no sun so it's only light source are a bunch of lamps that are slowly losing their batteries. Ember is otherwise surrounded by darkness so no one can get out. In the book, two children discover a secret way out and try to find a way to help everyone else get out - but will they be able to do it if and when something happens? You'll have to read the book and find out (or read my preview of the sequel below)!"
The People of Sparks: "This is the sequel to City of Ember and it tells us what takes place outside of that city. I'm looking forward to reading it!
We're getting ready for a party tomorrow, but Daddy felt like celebrating a little early, so he whisked the older two off for some ice cream this afternoon (Earlybird was napping; I was cleaning) ...
French vanilla for Crackerjack. Mint chocolate chip for Bookworm ...
And even on an ice cream trip, the boys were able to fit in a little nature study (really, how can you not?):
"This is a sparrow we saw while we were eating our ice cream. It was pecking at some crumbs that had fallen on the ground, and once it actually hopped over and watched me - probably hoping I would drop something! They look exactly the same as our home sparrows, but their actions are extremely different. The ones at home fly off at the slightest sound, but the ones here flock all around you waiting for you to feed them!"
And here's a picture of the dairy cows grazing nearby:
Aahhh ... summer!
"Hot July brings cooling showers, apricots and gillyflowers." Sara Coleridge
Come July, we always look for bright orange daylilies, exploding like fireworks along the roadside. Their fiery appearance coordinates nicely with the heat of high summer, as well as the Fourth of July. While running errands this morning, I passed several patches of orange, and instead of driving right by, I stopped for a moment to, well, smell the daylilies ... :)
"Like a little sailboat in the harbor at eventide, we are becalmed in July. Even the birds seem quieter; all through the day there are periods of deep quiet, a "pervading symphony of peace." We seek the
coolest corners, the easiest tasks. From the fields wafts the scent of new-mown hay, and from somewhere in the distance drifts the sounds of the mowers ...
On the Fourth of July we tug at the bell rope in the barn and put up the flag to wave in the hot breeze, remembering that after John Adams signed the Declaration of Independence on the first American Fourth of July, he wrote his wife Abigail that he hoped Americans would always make this day one of rejoicing and merrymaking. We follow his wishes willingly."
(from The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac, pictured above)
Have a wonderful Fourth of July!!
