'Boro Wild...Water Habitats

Our local nature center's program today was about different things you can find in different types of water habitats (ie, ponds, rivers, lakes, ect.).

We hiked down to the Stones River, which also runs about 30 yards from our front door, to see what we could find.
We saw lots of minnows. The kids enjoyed trying to catch them.


We saw lots of snails.


We saw a craw fish.


I hope there are programs like these in the area we are moving to. They have been a great resource for us.

Fall Creek Falls, TN

This past week we went camping with some friends in their 32 ft. motor home. You can read about it here on my other blog. I took a lot of great pictures and wanted to share some more of them here.

Bird Habitat

I have been wanting to create a bird habitat in our yard for quite some time. It's no secret that I love birds and enjoy watching them and listening to them. We have had bird feeders stocked with seed and get many visitors. It's hard to set it up the way I would like since we live in an apartment and don't have an outdoor space to call our own. However, I have tried and this is what we have...


We've staged it outside the boy's window so we could view them without disturbing them. The feeders hanging from the fence are ones the boys made. We stock our feeder with sunflower seeds to attract my favorite bird, the Cardinal. The blue tray on the ground is our bird bath. The red bag full of stuff hanging from the feeder is full of material birds can use in the construction of their nests. Barb at Heart of Harmony posted this idea on her site. I would like to set up some bird houses, but since we are moving, I would have to take them with me and I would hate to do that to the birds.

Oh, and I have to share a success story with you. As I mentioned, we get a lot of visitors to our feeder. For the past week, I have been trying to photograph two house finches, a male and a female, who feast together every morning. I finally got them!

Family Hike

Last Sunday, after it had rained, we slipped on our hiking boots, pack some snacks, and headed to the local park. We had the trail all to ourselves, with the exception of many millipedes.


No hike is complete without Dad telling a story of some sort. The boys requested a retelling of one of Frodo and Sam's adventures from The Lord of The Rings. Complete with voices, I might add...and he is good at them!

Once we came near the river we had to stop and take a break.

Here is my real life Indiana Jones...


And here is me...

Oh, and we found a Gnome Home and what appears to be a Gnome Cathedral!


If you look closely, and use your imagination, you will notice the arched doorway they entered through. Unfortunately, due to the roof collapsing, it is no longer used.

'Boro Wild...Attracting Wildlife to Your Yard

Our local nature center's 'Boro Wild program last Thursday was about attracting wildlife to your yard. This topic is of great interest to me because I enjoy watching wildlife and particularly enjoy having it in my own comfortable surroundings. Someday when I have a yard to call my own, I hope to have several different "habitats" to attract animals.

This week they talked about attracting toads. Toads are great to have around especially if you have a garden. They eat bugs that are harmful to your plants. They need to have a shady spot to hang out during the day to keep them cool, as well as a source of water they are able to soak in. So, the boys (and their friends) made "toad abodes".



During our hike, the instructor shared some really good advice that I wanted to pass on. We like to turn over rocks and look under logs for insects and animals. She mentioned that when rolling over a log to check for living things, to always roll it towards you and make sure that no one is on the other side. That way if there is a snake or another harmful animal, it will have a way to escape and not attack you out of fear. I had never thought of that and am very glad to have that advice. As much as I love snakes, I still want to keep my distance just in case.


Once we got home we set to work establishing our toad habitat. We found a nice shady spot under a bush, propped one side of the abodes on a rock so the toads could get in, and set out a large enough source of water so they could soak.

We don't have any residents yet, but we are hopeful.