a gypsy caravan

apple picking

 

Mom and I took the kids to Eddy's Fruit Farm the other day.  I just love that place.  It is a locally owned family orchard and farm.  The owners are a family from a homeschooling co-op to which we once belonged.  Before going into the orchard, we were given bags for our apples and the command to "eat all you'd like". As you can see, we are good at following directions. :) We ended up picking 60 pounds of apples on our trip.  Today, we spent the day canning applesauce and making pie filling. 

On that note, I miss my chest freezer.  It petered out when we moved last winter and I still haven't replaced it.  So, with no freezer,  we had to can the applesauce rather than freeze it as we usually do.  Canning takes quite a bit longer but was still a fun way to spend the afternoon.  And we'll have some good food put up for the winter months.

 

butterfly house

 

 

   

blueberry days

A friend of mine's mother has a blueberry orchard.  She called the other day to ask if we'd like to come and pick.  We were so excited! Each year we pick raspberries and apples, sometimes strawberries.  We missed strawberry season this year since I could not bend down to pick them. :) Anyhow, we haven't picked blueberries in many years.  She handed us our baskets and said the magical words, "Eat as many as you'd like while you pick." They are so sweet and full of sunshine that even those children who claimed not to like blueberries, went home with full tummies as well as full baskets.

 

 

 

 

 

We made blueberry pancakes for dinner that evening and have had plenty to munch on. We plan to put up some jam this weekend if our little baby hasn't arrived yet.  Still waiting for our little bundle to make her debut.  I'll keep you posted. :)

at the beach

 

 

 

 

hot air balloon festival

A neighboring town holds an annual hot air balloon festival.  It runs for several days with balloon lift offs each morning and evening.  There were about two dozen balloons in all. It is quite breathtaking to watch should you ever have the opportunity.

A Blur of a Weekend

Labor Day weekend is traditionally a busy one for our family because there are many local fairs and parties, (add to that the Air Show) and a myriad of other events one could attend.  This past weekend was also my 20th year high school reunion.  I had decided I was not going to attend until about an hour before the scheduled time.  I ended up going anyhow and had such a fun time.  I laughed out loud quite a bit and saw many old friends.  I always fear social functions but they usually exceed my expectations by quite a bit. 

Anyhow, on Sunday, after a very early Mass,  we made the drive to Mike's parents' house.  Mike's folks live about an hour and a half from us and their county fair is the best around.  We met his family and spent the day roaming the grounds, riding kiddie rides, eating far too much fair food, petting sheep and milking cows with cousins.  Then we did it all again yesterday, only closer to home (at a different fair) and my mother joined us. 

I thought you might like to see some photos.  Sorry I can't share the fair food but I had sweet tea and a steak sandwich (for those of you who were wondering. :)

Tons of fun had by all. We are taking a couple of days to catch up on the house and get things running smoothly again around here.  :)  Have a great day today!

Picking Raspberries and Petting Bumblebees

This morning I took the children to pick raspberries at a local fruit farm.  They had such fun!  We picked loads of berries and have plans to make a raspberry pie and several jars of freezer jam.  The woman who owned the farm told me that raspberry season lasted until the first hard frost, usually early November.  I think we will return again in a couple of weeks as we had such a nice time together.

Christopher sitting on the "Raspberry Throne". 

A funny note about Christopher's time at the farm...
There was a older gentleman picking berries nearby who overheard Christopher and I talking about the large number of bumblebees that were sitting on the berry bushes.  They did not seem active but just sitting on the leaves as though they were asleep.  The man mentioned that the bees were so full that they could not fly until they sat for a while.  He told Christopher that they were so docile, you could pet them.  Chris spent much of the picking time petting the fuzzy bumblebees' backs.  :)

Marsh Nature Study

Here in Northeast Ohio, we are so grateful to have such beautiful, diverse areas to explore.  There are forests, rivers, ponds, dunes, beaches and marshlands within miles of our home, not to mention the Great Lake Erie!  We spent an afternoon this past week at a nearby marshland.  Here are some photos from our visit:

Male Redwinged Blackbird

His mate

Their nest

Another mama on her nest--couldn't get any closer without scaring her away--click to see better

Beaver lodge-he was not out today but we have seen him swimming on other days

Turtles sunning themselves

More turtles and a male Wood Duck. 

Speaking of Wood Ducks, did you know that our small area of Ohio, specifically the North Chagrin reservation is one of the best areas in the world to photography Wood Ducks?  I owe you a better photo than this fellow on the log.  Will try to get a better shot next time. :)  In the meantime, scroll down a bit on this page for a photo of a drake and a hen. 

Jack-in the-pulpit

(Anyone know the name of this flower?)

We also saw quite a few swallows flying over the marshland but they were too quick for my camera. :)

Have a wonderful day!

A Day at the Beach

We have so been looking forward to a day of sunshine and fun.  This morning we traveled to Headlands Beach State Park.  Aside from the beautiful beach, the park is also home to Headlands Dune State Nature Preserve.  You can read more about the dunes here.  There are a large number of birds that make the dunes their home as well as many who migrate through the area.  In the warmer months, monarch butterflies are plentiful in the milkweed.  A wide variety of foliage grows at Headlands such as switchgrass, cocklebur, sand-drop seed and sea rocket.  Cottonwood trees cover the further lying areas near the entrance to the park.

Here are some photos from our day in the sun:

Entering the nature preserve

A view of Mentor Lighthouse from the preserve

The dunes will be green within a month or so. 

After walking a while through the preserve, we finally catch a glimpse of our beautiful Lake Erie.

We spent the day looking for beach glass.

We ended up finding a couple hundred pieces in all--a very nice catch for one morning.  More on beach glass in another post.

Mentor Headlands, along with most Ohio beaches, are not combed and maintained until mid-May, in preparation for  Memorial Day and the start of the Summer season.  Until then, the beaches are covered with driftwood.  Here you can see some large pieces of wood that had washed up from the Winter ice flow. 

The kids had such fun making teepees and lean-tos with the driftwood.

Everything was going well until we heard a little voice say, "Eat beach."

After her initial happiness and pride at swallowing a handful of sand, she soon decided she wanted nothing more to do with the beach so we packed our belongings and headed for home.

We all agreed that this was the nicest day we've had in a long time.  We plan to come back next week. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a beautiful, restful weekend!

Downtown Field Trip

The children and I took the day off from lessons on Friday to take a field trip to the city library. We decided to ride the bus downtown, which was an adventure in itself. My two youngest had never been on a bus and they had a grand time. They were thrilled that public transportation provides no seat belts and that they did not have to sit in car seats!

(Here, I would like to mention that Mary is four and gets dressed "all by herself". Thank you for letting me get that off my chest :)

When my two boys were small, Mike and I shared one car. We lived closer to downtown in the city itself, so the boys and I took the bus quite often when Mike took the car to work. Children seem to think there is something fun about riding a bus, subway or train. Mine really enjoyed it (even though the bus was a little less than clean--public transportation and all) If you know me, you can picture me passing out the handwipes at the end of the trip. LOL!

Anyhow, we met a few other families at the library where we took a guided tour. Our city's library is an enormous place, two large buildings of ten stories or so each. It is third in the nation in size only to New York and Boston.

The boys sprawled out on the floor in the Children's Literature department and read for quite some time.

After leaving the library and our friends, we walked around the downtown square. We stopped at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, inside which contains the names of thousands of Civil War soldiers who fought from our county alone.

Here is a lifesize bronze relief from one of the walls in the monument.

The kids paused for a moment so I could take a picture of them on the monument's steps.

The baby was ready to go home at that point. She fell asleep on the bus in the sling as we rode home. The rest of us ate licorice and sang songs. It was a very fun day!

An Afternoon in the Gardens

We spend a lot of time at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.  They have an year round three story glass house that contains two special exhibits, The Spiny Desert of Madagascar and a Costa Rican Rain Forest complete with thousands of tropical buterflies. 

The children and I love to come there in the winter months when it is cold, grey and dreary in Ohio.  This time of year, the temperature in the glass house matches that of outside, hot and humid.  Traveling through the Spiny Desert, we were encouraged to touch the largest millipede that I have ever laid eyes on. We were all brave enough to touch its hard shelled back, everyone except Grandma who was a bit squeamish.

We took my grandmother to see the butterflies and she had a lovely time.

There is something magical about walking into the glass house and being completely surrrounded by butterflies.  Their bright and glowing colors, coupled with the lush vegetation is enough to bring smiles to the gloomiest faces.  This is the place that began to heal the wounds of Mary terrified of crawling and flying insects this past Spring.  It is the place responsible for turning our family into Lepidopterophiles (butterfly lovers)!

Another wonderful highlight of this family friendly place is the outdoor Children's Garden.  Here is a wonderland of flowers and plants, heaven for a tactile learner!  This garden contains a sundial fountain, vegetable garden, herb garden, tree house, arborvitae maze, fish pond, rock wall with cave, miniature playhouse with sod roof, water pumps for filling dozens of provided watering cans and compost bins for children to learn the composting process. 

Everything is entirely hands on and getting dirty is encouraged.   The children who visit the garden tend its every need, planting the seeds in Spring, weeding and watering in Summer, harvesting the vegetables in Autumn.

We visit this garden during the three seasons that it is open.  The children have come to know and love this place. 

There is a quote by Luther Burbank engraved in the stone outside the garden gate that reads:

"Every child should have mudpies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, animals to pet, hayfields, pinecones, rocks to roll, sand snakes, huckleberries and hornets. Any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of his education." 

I agree wholeheartedly.

Reminiscing a bit…

This week, last year, our family was cruising the Carribbean!  Here are some of the highlights...

Sunset on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

A 500 Year old fort and sugar cane field, St. Kitts, Virgin Islands.  Last growing season was the final season the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) was to grow their staple crop, sugar cane.  The islanders decided they would no longer be growing the crop their ancestors had grown as slaves. 

The colorful roofs of the beautiful, tropical island of Grenada.  Grenada was hit horribly by two hurricanes which caused extensive damage.  The lush island is mainly rainforest and the largest producer of nutmeg in the world as well as many other spices.  It smells like one big gingerbread cookie!

"Aruba--One Happy Island" reads the license plate on Aruban cars.  What a gorgeous, desertlike island with many breathtaking views and interesting rock formations.

Traveling the channels of mangrove trees in La Isle de Margarite, Venezuela where pearls are the primary industry.  I bought a triple strand pearl necklace for $10.  The oysters grow on the submerged branches of the Mangrove trees and are very plentiful.

The People We Meet

We are grateful to live close to a nursing home that is run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. We visit the residents there once a month, after First Friday Mass. This Lenten season, we plan to stop by once a week. It is a lovely place to visit, not at all like the gloomy stereotype of nursing homes. The residents are happy and speak highly of their home. Friendly Sisters in full habit swoosh down the halls.

I think it does our family and the residents a lot of good to see one another. We usually arrive while they are in the cafeteria, eating their lunch. As the children walk through, the residents' eyes light up and they start to motion to me to bring the children over to their table. Many sneak "old people" candy into the kids' hands, you know-- Starlight mints, Werther's, and black licorice. Others tell us about their grandchildren and great grandchildren. The ladies touch the babies and talk about their soft skin, remembering their own babies who are long since grown. The men play peek-a-boo and pull quarters from behind the boys ears.

A few of the residents are World War II veterans. Some are retired priests and nuns. One female resident is 104 years old. All have a story to tell, a life to share. The children bring drawings and talk about what is going on in their lives. This is the "socialization" that I want for my children, to sit and converse with someone who is 80 years your senior and to listen intently to his story, not because you have to but because you want to.

These people teach us that life is worth living, that old age is valuable and joyful. We go there to reach out to the residents, to bring a smile to their faces but we come home with smiles on our own.