"On fine days when it is warm enough to sit out with wraps, why should not tea and breakfast, everything but a hot dinner, be served out of doors? For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." ~ Charlotte Mason Vol. 1 pg. 43
For this week's Green Hour Challenge it was time to get outside to dine! When the weather is good, our covered deck is our favorite place for family meals. We are out there as often as possible.
We have had several days of purely beautiful weather and have found ourselves dining outside several times. Today we stopped to take some time to listen and observe nature afterward but quickly realized the sound of the bulldozer, digging a new house foundation next door, drowned all out! But because of the beautiful weather this week, we've had lots and lots of opportunities to be in nature; and we have deeply benefited from it.
Stratocumulus Clouds (photo taken from our deck)
We took the focus a bit off of birds this week and placed it it two other areas: clouds and wildflowers. We are working through a unit study on clouds for school, and wildflowers just seemed to present themselves in the line of interest this week. If you are interested in reading about our cloud studies you can click HERE. I've typed up a "Cloud Identification" form that we've been using almost every day, if you're interested, click HERE.
We had been noticing on recent walks that we consistently saw one particular type of wildflower in the woods behind us. So after gathering a small bunch up, we set about to identify them.
We consulted our Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky field guide, but nothing seemed to match. So, next we found a site on the internet that was very helpful: Wildflowers of Kentucky. We loved how they had them broken down by months that they flower. It made it very easy to find our beautiful flower, Spring Beauty. We thought it was so COOL to find out that they have an edible tuber that resembles a small potato and has a chestnut-like taste. Native Americans and colonists used them for food.
I've been experimenting with different settings on my camera, and took a closeup of a Spring Beauty that we found today that has 10 petals versus the normal 5. Does anyone know if this is common for that to happen? It was beautiful! We've pressed it to put in our journals. If I've inserted this photo right, you should be able to click it to enlarge. Once you click on it, hit "full size" to see it larger. Can you see the delicate pink anthers? So pretty.
We also finished up and picked a spot to hang our Nature Prints in Clay.
I have plans this summer to turn this area of our schoolroom into a spot for a nature table.
Tomorrow we will do a journal entry for our adventures this week and also have fun with some great cloud art studies. Oh, and we've also been having some Dandelion fun too. I'll be posting about that in a seperate entry soon.
Join the nature adventure fun at The Heart of Harmony!
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Posted by Anonymous 
Apr. 24, 2008 - Great entry
Anyway, I am glad that you are having such nice weather. We are still cool and it even rained this week.
Congrats on identifying the wildflower...don't you love that feeling. It is as if you are discovering a treasure for the first time and it now has a name.
Thank you so much for your entry, your participation, your kind words, and your enthusiasm.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom