Outdoor Hour #2: Using Your Words

So it's only been three years since we last participated in the Outdoor Hour Challenges...but we finally got our behinds in gear and put some purpose in our stroll.

We were delayed, first by dawdling over lessons, then by our very first teleclass participation.  My closed shoes are nowhere to be found (logically) so we didn't go into the back woods because mama don't play that habitat in flip-flops.  We strolled across the front yard, up the old driveway, and down the street to the stop sign before heading back home.

Of course in the shoe-hunt mayhem I forgot to bring along a camera to take pics of the things we spied: the wildflowers at the abandoned house across the street, a couple of black beetles, a carolina wolf spider, and a couple roadkill insects.  The boys also found a couple of dried out earthworms that made enough of an impression to journal about.  The vultures are back, but with the trees still leafed it's difficult to determine the quantity.

Shortly after we returned inside we spied a vulture walking across the front yard--they're a lot bigger up close than they seem to be in the treetops!

The boys' auditory observations included the wind rustling the leaves, crickets and other noisy insects, and little dogs barking inside a neighbor's house.

The Arrival of Spring

It was noticeable a few weeks ago when my allergies started up, but it's been visibly noticeable the last couple weeks.  Those ghastly Bradford Pears are blooming, and will be stinking it up soon.  Our maples have little red tufts on them.  The bulbs have sprouted their leaves; daffodils elsewhere are in full-bloom.  The peepers have returned.  Last week I spied the first small grasshopper.  Tuesday night, while burning a brush pile, we spied a possom finding quite the buffet on the back slope.  We also heard a pack of coyotes in the distance.  Later a couple of amphibians started a short chorus at the creek, to be taken up by another group farther off in the woods.  DH followed a rabbit around the yard for a bit as well.  Oh, and we have our first two gnats/fruit flies of the season in the house.  *grumble*

The maple at the head of the old driveway.  Can no longer recall
if it is a Red Maple or a Silver Maple.  We need to restart our tree
study of the property...



Turkey-tails on a log that's been waiting patiently to be cut into rounds.



Yeah, I don't remember what this tree was either...might be one of the
tulip poplars, or a horse chestnut....

Water Wheel Build

[placeholder for a post that will hopefully happen one of these days]

Mowing Down

Due to rain, a broken drive belt, then a broken deck belt, and DH getting sick last weekend, our yard didn't get mowed for at least 3wks.  Fortunately, it was mowed last night!

We found a large white capped mushroom over in the side yard.  I took some pictures but they're on DH's camera (my phone spazzed out).

A small, dark toad was hiding underneath the grill.  The kids and I herded it up to the mound so it was out of harm's way while mowing.  Those pics are on the other camera as well.

When I took some water out to DH he was corraling a baby snake to move it out of the way.  It had snapped at him--his eyes were clouded over so he's preparing to shed soon.  We tucked him underneath the back stoop so he'd be protected.

DH also said the 5-lined skinks were freaking out and instead of hiding up underneath the lip of our vinyl siding were leaping off the brickwork in front of the lawn tractor...except for one tiny juvenille that was maybe two-inches nose to tail--he went in the opposite direction along the bricks.

No pics of the skinks or snake, but when I get a chance to post pics I'll dig out the pic of a snakeling that was flushed out of the grass a few years ago, it's the same markings.