Two different birds, very different nests.




Our neighborhood is very mature with towering trees and mature shrubs and bushes. That of course attracts all kinds of birds. Here are two examples of what likes to nest in our garden.

This Robin's nest was abandoned by the parents. It was built by our deck under the eaves of the roof over our porch. This Mama thought we were too loud and abandoned the nest. Unlike the Robins who built a nest in a decorative wreath on a friend's front entrance door and didn't mind people coming in all day and night. After my children and I admired and studied the nest we donated it to another homeschooling family with the request that they pass it on to the next homeschooling family after they were done. The four young birds that never were still had plenty of admirers.

 


This is a Cardinal's nest slapped together in our honeysuckle shrub.  I removed it after the young were gone and the nest had been abandoned.


The difference in the construction of these two nests is remarkable. The Robin's nest is a tightly woven, sturdy structure, glued together with mud and lovingly padded with soft grasses inside. The Cardinal's nest is barely hanging on. Slapped together with twigs, some plastic and a few dry leaves the nest  looks as though it couldn't withstand much more than a gentle breeze. Yet, both birds successfully raise their young every year.

Garden Friends

A beautiful visitor to our garden a few days ago.

One Word - Yuck!

This is a screenshot of weather.com from our location. 

Introducing my stinkers.

May I Share our Garden with You?

As much as I'd love to take credit for this beauty, I cannot. This is mostly the creation of my husband, who despite a busy schedule, and out of sheer stubborness, maintains this garden every year. Much of the plants are perennials and I mostly participate by watering and pulling weeds and dead heading. Oh, and collecting Japanese Beetles and drowning them in a diabolical frenzy. Enjoy!



The chainlink fence to the left will be replaced with a wooden privacy fence by our neighbors due to their aggressive dog.  Archie, our airedale will be heartbroken as he adores Gina, the noisy mutt.



Rabbits love this lilly. One year they ate it down to the stem, flowers, leaves and all.

We have a huge, old deck. While a great feature of the backyard, it takes a lot of maintenance. My pressure washer is my best friend! No, wait, that would be my dishwasher. Or is it my washing machine. Actually, it's my coffee maker.

Yup, my gardener husband has to have the dangerous variety of plants too. These cacti have formidable thorns.

Between our front, back and side yard we have approximately 20 different varieties of hostas.

This arrangement never fails to impress. The coleus is the filler and thriller. Potato vine is the spiller and will eventually reach all the way to the bottom. We over winter our many varieties of coleus in our family room.

Some African daisy sort of thing flanked by stingless nettles.

In the background are my tomatoes, jalapenos and green pepper plants. I wish there was space for more.

Phonics Friends

One of my favorite early reader resources is a series called 'Phonics Friends' published by 'The Child's World'. The beginner version is called 'Alphabet Friends' but is based on the same principle. The cost is unfortunately prohibitive and simply not something I can image a family purchasing outright. Rather, I would recommend that you check with your local library to see if they have either version. 
          In 'Phonics Friends' children are familiarized with the various sounds a particular letter makes.  We read 'Umberto's Summer Day, The Sound of Short U' today. The book is laid out in a simple, easily understood, format. The first page is an introductory page which can be read by the parent or educator to the child. This page introduces the child to the letter and phonics feature or sound highlighted in that issue. Concluding the book is a page with word lists including the words the child read in the book.  The sentences are easy to understand and a child will feel quite accomplished after reading one of these books. There are photographs on the left page and the right page features two to three sentences. Even an early reader can easily read and comprehend the short, illustrated stories within these books. Each sentence is reasonably short and contains at least one repetition of the phonics sound featured in the book.


My son (who will be six years old in August) loves these books and chooses them over and over again at our local library. He can read the books by himself with minimal assistance. I am a big believer in teaching children to read via phonics, adding high frequency word recognition only once phonics has been mastered.  If I had to rate this series I would quite possibly give it a five out of five stars.

Boredom Busters?

If you are a parent you are guaranteed to have heard the whine: 'Mom, I'm booooored.'
What should we do? Many parents pack their children's days full with activities even during summer. Kids go to all sorts of camps and activities in the hope of staving off the summer doldrums. I on the other hand, will try to have a healthy balance between activities and carefully cultivated boredom.

'Huh?'
.................................

Here is what usually happens:


'Mom, I am bored.'

'Mmmmmm.'

'What shall I do?'

'How about playing with your cars, or coloring?'

'I don't feel like it.'

'Ok, how about....'

..............Well, you probably know how this goes on. I keep coming up with other ideas and they all are summarily rejected.

Then...

'Can I watch some TVeeeeeeee?'

'Nope.'

'Can I go on the computer?'

'Nope.'

'Can I play with the DS?'

'Nope.'

'But I am so booooored....'

'Too bad.'

The victim of my callousness slinks off to brood on the unfairness of it all.  As he ascends the stairs to his room I may hear some stomping. Sort of his way of telling me that he isn't impressed with me at all.

I could say I sigh but I normally just grin.

And eventually my son, my youngest, does come up with something to entertain himself.

Unless, ....

                      .....he gets hold of his dad, in which case the conversation usually lasts only 2 minutes (at the utmost) and ends with the beeping sounds of the TV being turned on.

Pushover.

Wienie.

Marshmallow.

And here comes the 'when I grew up' yarn.

Yawn.

I had to haul water from an icy river after chopping wood for an hour and then I walked many miles to school. Upon coming home I had to milk the cows, swap the deck....
Seriously, even Tom Sawyer didn't have to do that. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

But in all honesty,  I think I had a better childhood than my kids. We didn't have countless TV shows clamoring for our attention. There were no videogames. And personal PCs didn't exist either.

Uh-uh. I think I just dated myself.

We played outside all day long. And read books. And then acted out the stories. We rode our bikes everywhere (without helmets) and swam in the local  pond. Of course I grew up in a small village in Germany and these things were not only perfectly safe but also normal.  Would I let my daughter ride her bike alone to her friend who lives a few blocks away? Heck no!  Sad. Isn't it. 

Let's bring this conversation back to the word.

Boredom.  B-O-R-E-D-O-M. BOOOOORRRREDOM.

Boredom forces the mind to stop spinning. It forces a child's mind to relax for a little while and step back. Boredom comes in stages.

Stage one: The realization that the current activity has become less than satisfying.

Stage two: You keep doing the activity because you are hoping it'll become fun again.

Stage three: You give up the activity and maybe try something else with similar results.

Stage four: You realize that you are bored.

Stage five: You sit in your room and drool on yourself. After a while you attempt to fill that mental space with something else. If you are a teenager you may fall asleep. Or you pick up the phone to find someone to talk to. Eventually you'll start doing things which may or may not be stupid or dangerous and realize you are not bored anymore.  If the bored child is not a teen he or she will go on the prowl to find something to fill that mental space.

Hello, it echoes in here, someone fill me up.

Don't.

Let them fill it up themselves. Just provide the raw materials.

When nothing comes to fill up the space the child will eventually come up with something creative to fill the space. 

Boredom encourages thinking. It encourages creativity. But only if we allow the child to fill the space herself.  To fill the space without our input of activities and especially without the use of electronic baby sitters. Give them options. At their disposal have Legos, crafts, art, books, discovery in the backyard, train the pet stupid tricks. Etc. It can't be spoon-fed entertainment as that defeats the purpose, the children have to use their brains to come up with something. 

Allow your child to experience and deal with boredom. He or she will become a much safer teen. Teenagers who never learned to manage boredom will be far more likely to engage in risky behaviour just to stop feeling that way.  Teach them from young on to be creative. Yes, it may be that your young child will come into the kitchen and say he wants to cook or bake or borrow pots and pans to make a percussion set up for 'music'. And when they do, don't you dare say 'No', if you can at all help it. Be creative with them and hand them a spoon.