We're On The Map!

There's a map at the beginning of the book "My Brother Sam is Dead" by Collier and Collier and it shows all the significant places in the novel. We looked and then did a double take to find we live on this map! All of these places are within walking distance of our new house!

We think it's cool that we settled right in the middle of a place with such interesting history. But, truthfully, the same could probably be said about anywhere. If you have the right perspective and information,  any place could be exceedingly interesting, I am sure.

Nevertheless, we are excited to be learning new things that will help us better appreciate our new home in Redding.

I did finish the novel yesterday and it was, in total, very depressing.  But it shows the complicated nature of war and the ethics and morality behind the way real people really acted.

Note: I would not read it to my younger children, four and seven, but my oldest, who is twelve, is ready for this sort of thinking and I will definitely have her choose an issue that she thinks is interesting from the book and write an essay about it.  

Feather Identification #53 Wild Turkeys

We've deduced that the two barred feathers we have found in our yard are both from wild turkeys.

It was a bit of a let-down to find out they were from turkeys.  I won't even lie.

We see hawk-like birds perching on our trees, and soaring around almost everyday, so we were hopeful that these feathers belonged to them and would help us identify them.  But we will just have to work to get a better look at those birds through our binoculars, so as to find out what they are.

To identify these feathers, we used The Feather Atlas on The U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Website.

It looks like one of the feathers is a primary wing feather from a female. Note: This feather looks absolutely perfect for a quill.  Now I can't help but wonder about quills, and quill-making, etc.

And the other is a tail feather, probably from a male.

Further, secondary evidence that these feathers belong to turkeys and not another bird:

our neighbor says whole flocks of wild turkeys will come and stay on the property

and the range map of the wild turkey puts them squarely in our new neck of the woods. (Or is it the other way around and we are in their neck of the woods now?)

and Dwayne and I heard the same bird call you can hear at the link above one night as they moved through the woods next to our house.  Turkeys make quite a ruckus between rustling dry leaves and gobbling.

#53 Wild Turkeys

More Exploring, More Curiosity

If it's sunny and anywhere over forty degrees, we usually end up on a nature walk.

We noticed these bright red berries today.  We didn't see any berries yesterday, though we were on the same path, looking at the same vine.  This confirms to me that it's good to come to the same trails again and again even if you think you've seen it all.  What is this vine is called?

The girls discovered magnificent ice cycles forming on the surface of puddles.  The girls took off their gloves, scooped them up gently, and held them up to admire the designs. But only very briefly, because the heat from our fingers made them melt fast. How does ice form on the surface of water?

These interesting seed pods looked somewhat like miniature thistles to me. I went to touch one and this many of them ended up on my glove. So, naturally, I went to pull them right off, but they just kept ahold. They only broke off in pieces, exploding tiny seeds all over my gloves. Now I wonder what these tenacious little things are called.

  

Exploring Putnam Park

We took the short drive to the other side of Putnam Park and took a walk over there.

In the photo above, you can see the two rows of stones piles that go on for a hundred yards or more. Each pile represents where a hearth of a soldiers' barrack once stood.

This hearth is standing where a captain's quarters used to be.  Avril made us all laugh when she stood inside the fireplace and yelled, "Diagon Alley!"  (Harry Potter fans will get it.)

We marveled at all the massive rocks and moss. The rock formation above is said to have a cave. But since it is a tad icy, we decided not to climb and explore for it.

This rock looks precarious from this angle, but the other side is massive and quite flat, so it isn't going anywhere.  We keep an eye out quartz crystals forming on the surface of the rocks. This one was the largest we've seen so far, bigger than a quarter.

We have so many questions! All the time spent in nature is making us interested in many new things. We'd like to learn how to:

better identify rocks and crystals, trees, plants, and various berries.
how to make an outdoor hearth.
how to build an outdoor oven.

And we definitely want to know more and more about the history of this particular area!

Old Habits, New Library Cards

It had been weeks since we had been to the library, since our last visit was about two weeks before our move, and then we didn't have time to visit our new library until a few weeks had passed in our new home.  

The girls started missing the library and asking about it within a week of the move. They expressed anxiety about finding a new library and had been eager to go.  Apparently, my desire to make them love the library by simply taking them consistently for over a year is working just as I planned.  

We got our new cards and a stack of books that we really struggled to carry out, because I forgot our library bags back at the new house.  Forgetting things like bags and cell phones are a regular occurrence now that I am in a new space. I still haven't figured out the best place is to keep everything. I have three floors now, so where should I best put my phone? And we park in the garage now, but often use the front and back doors, too, so where should we best keep our coats and mittens? Incidents like forgetting the bags reveal to me just how much I subconciously depended on repetition and muscle memory in my old space. For instance, I am constantly slamming into the floor at the bottom of the stairs here, because I expect there to be one more step before the bottom. The old house must have had one more step, and after ten years, I am finding in difficult to retrain my brain and body in all these seemingly little, but altogether significant ways.  

My book choices are shown in the photo above.  I happened upon a book about Audubon, who is of new interest to me, since I am bird-watching and nature-journaling again.  And I got a novel called "My Brother Sam is Dead" by Collier and Collier, recommended to me by another Redding resident who we met fortuitously while taking our first walk in our nearby Putnam Park. Apparently, this book is set in and around Redding, and will help me better understand the history of this area and the treasures that we been planted in the midst of.  

Preserving Artwork

With three girls who all like to draw and paint and craft, we have collected a lot of finished artwork over the years and I am certain there is more to come.

I do actually throw most of their artwork away. Gasp!  I do this simply because it would be impossible to contain it all in my home and still function. So I keep only what I really like, or what the girls really seem to like. Yet we still have so much!

I found these Tjena boxes at Ikea, big enough to hold almost everything the girls have ever made and kept. Even the larger sheets of paper can be stored in here. Those just can't be stored flat. They have to be folded over gently, so they don't crease, and then the lid will still go on top. These boxes come with tags that stick to the side, so I do also have each girl's name on each box, so it's easy for me to remember whose box is whose.

I have a few poster sized paintings that won't fit in these boxes and that I can't part with for reason or another, so those still have to be rolled, held with a rubber band, and stored in a corner of the closet.  But it is nice to have some place where most of the keepsakes can go.

Minestrone

Minestrone

1 large white onion, chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

3 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced

1 zucchini, quartered and sliced

1/2 head of green cabbage, finely sliced

2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes with juice

1 15oz cans of chick peas with juice

1 15oz can light red kidney beans with juice

1 15oz can cannellini beans

four cups of homemade chicken broth

water

1 Tbs Italian Seasoning

1 Tbs Basil

1 tsp Tarragon

1 tsp Marjoram

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp ground thyme

1/2 tsp sage

kosher salt and cracked pepper

Optional:

Chopped or shredded chicken

12 oz small shells

shredded asiago type cheese to go on top

Throw all of this into a big pot together and simmer it until the vegetables are soft. 

My friend Wendy gave me a batch of minestrone when we moved and I just loved it.  The broth was perfection itself. So I asked her for the recipe and then adapted it, because I can't actually follow a recipe to save my life.  

I added a few ingredients, changed some proportions, and even took out the pasta altogether. What you see above is what I came up with. 

I left "pasta" in the recipe, because minestrone has it, traditionally. And note that the cayenne makes the broth a tad spicy, so that could be another optional ingredient. 

But I really like all that flavor!    

Enjoy!