Becoming a wild family
When I first started this blog years ago, I had decided to document our adventures in becoming WILD! first blog post
Wild as in being outside.
Wild as in loving to learn about nature.
Wild as in being barefoot
and climbing trees
and getting muddy
and catching bugs and toads!
Wild as in having an untamed heart that loves being in nature!
I’ve done a poor job in staying updated on my blog.
Life starts to get hectic and before you know it, half a year has gone by!!
(Where does the time go??)
To catch up on the summer so far, here are some of the WILD things we have done…
Foraged for cattails – the kids helped peel them and even ate a bite of the roasted root!
Completed a very successful swim team season! Go Barracudas!!
Went fishing a few times
The boys joined a juggling club and a unicycle club
We’ve taken up skateboarding (except for Simone who likes to rollerblade).
Got my first sport’s injury! A sprained wrist 😖 (yes, from falling off the skateboard)
We adopted a ferrel cat’s kitten! His name is T’Challa (after Black Panther)
Simone and I went hammock camping!
What I have truly missed is documenting our adventures!
It’s so neat to look back on life as told through pictures and my narrative!
Thank you for reading my blog and joining us in our adventures.
I’m looking forward to continue our journey in becoming A WILD FAMILY!!
Vintage Spice rack turned tincture rack
I got the cutest vintage spice rack yesterday from the Salvation Army!
The front glass panel was broken so Josh removed it for me.
The adorable glass bottles, though, are in perfect condition! I washed each bottle and placed a chalk board label around their middles.
So- now the spice rack was ready to become a tincture rack.
Tincture: alcohol (vodka 80 proof) infused with herbs for medicinal purposes
I had made three different tinctures last summer, put them in the pantry, and promptly forgot about them! 😂
…which is okay since tinctures have a shelf-life of 5 years!
I needed to strain the herbs out of the tinctures, so I used my loose leaf tea pot!
This was super easy… I just poured the tincture into the teapot and then I poured it right into the little bottles!
I wrote the name of the herb used to make the tincture in chalk on the label.
Ta-Da!!
Now I just need to hang this beautiful tincture rack!
Oh and I need to make more tinctures 😀
I’ve got my eyes open at thrift stores to find more spice racks! I would love a wall of assorted vintage racks filled with a variety of beneficial tinctures!
Speaking of benefits- let me tell you about the three tinctures I made.
- Tinctures can be taken under the tongue
- (1 dropper/1 teaspoon for adults)
- (1/2 dropper/1/2 teaspoon for children)
- Tinctures can be made into a tea
- (2 droppers/2 teaspoons into 8 oz of water)
Tinctures for anxiety, upset-tummies, relaxation, nervousness, sleepiness, cough and cold relief, and energy act quickly for fast results!
MINT – soothe upset tummies, antibacterial – great for mouthwash, energy booster, anxiety and depression lifter, head-ache relief, immune booster, breath freshener…
CAT-MINT – sleep aid, calms anxiety, digestive aid, eases menstrual cramps, soothes coughs and congestion
SAGE – eases nervousness, works as a deodorant from the inside out, aids in digestion, antiseptic for sores and insect bites,
Not just dreaming about my garden….
Yesterday I was dreaming and scheming about my herb garden 🌿
I was taking notes while my kids were at kid’s ministry at church.
Today… I got to work weeding and improving my herb garden in the back yard!
Last year I planted a ton of perennial plants and encircled them with rocks. So today, I weeded around the circles.
I also wanted to have have a permanent solution to these dang weeds- so I covered the ground with black trash bags!
…Just wait till tomorrow when I put straw everywhere… it’s going to look amazing and be ready for a fantastic spring and summer ☀️!!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Eddie built me a garden box for spinach!!
And Simone cleaned the chicken coop!
Hooray for warm weather ❤️☀️🌱
Homemade bird feeder
Yesterday was a beautiful day!
60 degrees in January!!
And Eddie spent the day building in the backyard! He was sawing and drilling…
Today he he hung up his handy-work!!
He built me a bigger bird feeder!! 😍😍
He was very happy to see six birds eating from his feeder at once!!!
Eagle watching… and an up close and personal owl!
We went to an official eagle watching event today at Fort Bellefontaine.
They had a telescope set up directed at both a mature bald eagle and a juvenile eagle. 🦅
The eagles were across the river about a mile away… so there was no way I could get a picture!
<<<<<<<<<<<<
❤️❤️
We did see a beautiful owl up close!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
My heat was so excited to see this beautiful owl!!!
At first there was confusion about the type of owl. A ranger told me it was a snowy owl- how cool would that be… but it’s a barred owl. The park had brought in a snowy owl guest and the ranger didn’t realize I had seen a wild owl and had assumed I was talking about the guest of honor!!!
I missed seeing the snowy owl somehow- he was in a tent we didn’t go to- but that’s ok- I love seeing animals in the wild!!! 🦉
Walking on ice
Hurray for 50 degree weather!!!
Simone was away at a Girl Scout field trip (and she forgot to wear her vest, you know- the one I sewed all her patches on 😆) so I took the boys and Daisy to the park! ☀️
The boys claim their dreams came true today… because the pond was so frozen, they got to walk in it! Apparently, this is something they have always wanted to do!
And of course- I couldn’t resist going out on the ice (notice I was more cautious and didn’t venture far from the shore 😉)
They boys are so sweet- on the way back they were talking about how much Simone would want to walk on the ice and that we should come back…. ❤️
Taking better bird pictures
I was given some great advice after my Northern Flicker post…
Place my camera-phone up to the binoculars to take better close-up pictures!
I have to say I skeptical because it seemed like such an easy solution and yet I didn’t think I was creative enough to figure out how to make it work! Silly, I know! How can something be both easy and hard at the same time!?
Well- I decided to give it a try and it works! It really is as simple as putting the camera up to the binocular eye-piece. But it is hard because you have to have a steady hand and lots of patience!
Regular picture zoomed into the bird feeder at a female cardinal…
Pictures through the binoculars…
😃❤️😃🌳❤️😃🌳🌲
This is so amazing!!! I plan on practicing during these cold days – we are practically home bound due to illnesses! I’m even going to have the kids practice taking pictures this way!
👓👓👓👓👓👓👓
A tip of my own for binocular-users that wear glasses 🤓- put your glasses on a chain so you can drop them safely and quickly off your face with one hand while grabbing for your binoculars with the other hand!!
You can get them at the dollar store!!
So fancy… LOL 😂
Girl Scout vest
This may not seem like a big deal to some people… but I had put off sewing Simone’s badges on her vest for 1 1/2 years! 😮
Talk about procrastination!!
My new year’s resolution for 2018 is to do things that I find hard.
For some reason, the Girl Scout vest intimidated me!
I was worried I would do it all-wrong…
…but, I decided now was the time- with Cookie Booths coming up!
So, I pulled out the vest and asked for help! I was confused about badge and patch placement – yes there is a difference between the two!
After I pinned everything in it’s proper place, I bought invisible thread and sat down with my trusty sewing machine!
1 1/2 hours later – ALL DONE! 💕
💕💕💕
I love bling on my jean jacket… (this picture is a bit old- my hair is longer and I have more pins)
The point is now I want to sew cool patches onto my jacket and be all hip and cool like Simone!
I know different parks and museums have patches and maybe when I see a special bird I can get a patch to represent it!
… oh the possibilities! I realize this may make me an even bigger nerd- but hey- at least I’ll be a nerd with style! 😉
Northern Flicker
I think my favorite bird is the Northern Flicker- which is a large woodpecker! And today he keeps gracing us with his presence!
I first saw him in the neighbor’s tree- he looked huge silhouetted against the blue sky and the leafless tree! (See him at the top.)
Then… he flew to our magnolia tree out front!
I tried all morning to get a picture of him at the feeder- but he is fast!
We have simple suet feeder- but it does wonders attracting the woodpeckers!
We also have both hairy and downy woodpeckers come! That’s a downy on the left of the feeder..
Today we actually had one of each come to the feeder at the same time which showed the difference between these similar birds!
Downy woodpeckers are smaller and fluffier with smaller beaks. Hairy woodpeckers are bigger with longer beaks.
I’ve also decided that winter is the best time to bird watch! Birds flock to the feeders because it’s an easy meal… and in between their bites, they fly into trees which are bare! I hope you take a moment today to really look outside and see the beautiful birds wintering in your neighborhood!!
edit**** I got a picture and a video of the northern Flicker!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
….and a red-headed woodpecker just came for a visit too!!
🌳❤️🌳❤️🌳❤️🌳❤️
🌳❤️🌳❤️🌳❤️🌳
🔥 yes- I’m holding fire
Today we had a Dangerous Boys’ Meeting and we had a volunteer come and do science experiments!
Don’t know what a Dangerous Boy Meeting is? Check out this post…
The meeting was great! We ended with a fire experiment where we all got to hold a fireball in our hand! How cool is that??!!
Yeah- I was pretty excited to be holding a fireball!
Yes- I’m back on my blog ❤️😃❤️😃
What we’ve been doing since I last posted…
I took ASL (American Sign Language) classes at the community college and got two A’s! School is the main reason I strayed from my beloved blog. It was a huge commitment and involved a lot of my time. I absolutely loved going to class and learning a new language! I’m not taking classes through the college this semester (which is why I’m back on here) but I will be taking ASL classes at my church 🙂
The kids got haircuts! Wow- they look different!
We went to 6 Flags… and decided we’d never do Fright Fest again.
We had a blast at Halloween 🎃 👻 and ate too much candy!
Eddie broke his arm doing 1-handed -handstand push-ups!
… And we had a merry Christmas 🎄
Becoming a Wild Family 