Full Circle

What We Did This Summer, part 2

Two County Fairs



Walk right past the water gun squirt games and ring toss, past the spinning wheels and bumper cars and all the other Midway rides and you get to my favorite part of a county fair - the animal barns!





Oh, but if you want to stop by one of those little mini-donut vendors on the way out and get some piping hot cinnamon-sugar donuts or ones dipped in chocolate, I won't stop you ;)

Parades

This is our hometown July 4th parade. We always sit in the same spot and wave to people we know. We like the parade and go to it for the nostalgia more than anything. They used to throw candy and squirt us with water, but they're not allowed to anymore :( Not as much fun as it used to be.



Ketchum's Wagon Days parade is always held on the Labor Day weekend. No motorized vehicles are allowed, so it's basically a HORSE parade - which we love! This year the Budweiser Clydesdales were one of the entries - the horses are magnificent, but I love the dog, too. After the parade, the Clydesdales and wagon were set up for viewing so we could see them up-close and ask questions. These special horses must be some of the most pampered in the world! Riding in air-conditioned trailers and stopping at top-knotch ranches to spend the night, ten horses are rotated regularly through the eight-horse hitch to ensure each horse gets some time off.




Field Trips

We had the opportunity to visit a local dairy farm.



The experience was an eye-opener! We learned each cow is milked every 8 hours, 'round the clock, and gives 11 gallons of milk a day. We also visited the cheese factory where all the milk from this farm was sent to. We were surprised to find out it's the "largest barrel cheese producing plant in the world"!

While I can appreciate the high level of efficiency and the quantity produced from these factories, it still made me sad to see how the cows live and sacrifice so we can have our milk and cheese. Their life spans are shortened to just 3-4 years, mothers and babies are separated shortly after birth, female calves are raised to live the same life as their mother and male babies are either killed or sold for veal. I respect everyone's right to choose their diet, but, after our visit, we had a few in the family convert to soy products ;)

What We Did This Summer, part 1

Wildflowers

I spent the early part of the season trying to collect photos of all the wildflowers in our area. I managed to identify a little over fifty of them. Here are a few of my favorites...


Swamp Black Gooseberry


Wild Peony


Sugar Bowl


Horse Mint


Ballhead Waterleaf


Meadow Rue

Geocaching

The adventure of geocaching! I'd read about it a few times and seen other bloggers enjoying it and figured it was time for our family to give it a try. We found several caches over the summer and next year we want to make a few of our own.





Out and About

We went on lots of hikes (this one at Fox Creek)...


made some nature-art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy...


looked for mountain goats...


went to the lake...






and found fun almost everywhere... (even in a patch of sand!)

On the Mushroom Trail

We were off on another treasure hunt yesterday. This time, however, we were looking for mushrooms. The Wood River Land Trust hosted a Mushroom Walk at the river preserve where mushroom expert Kathy Richmond explained how to identify edible and non-edible mushrooms. Morel hunting is a hot topic around here this time of year and we wanted to learn some tips from those-in-the-know! The woods near the river are damp with recent rain and the leaf-covered floor is thick and spongy. Just the right environment for young mushrooms.

After Kathy's talk, we headed down the trail...



But, we knew we had to forge our way into "the jungle" if we really wanted to find anything. Boy, it wasn't easy! Fallen trees and tangles of branches, but we persevered ;)





Of course, I got a little side-tracked with all the loveliness...







Ah hah! There's one! No name for this one. I found several mushrooms, not any morels however. I think this area is pretty picked over, we were told to come back in about two weeks for a whole new crop.



Cassi saw this one growing on a fallen log. We found out later it's an Oyster mushroom. She also found the only morel out of all of us.



I love this photo of my husband and a few of the kids ahead on the trail.



Little Brother forging ahead on his own. His competence in the woods has really improved since last year. (I think he does amazingly well for the limited vision he has.)



We all had so much fun and can't wait to do it again. We were told that the next year after a fire is typically an abundant year for mushrooms, so we're looking forward to driving a little north and trying again in the burn area.

I Can't Help It... More Rocks

It's addictive, I tell you, ADDICTIVE! We've been back to the same spot on the river several times now, always coming home with a bag full of rocks. But as soon as we've dumped it out and gone through our treasures, all I can think of is "I wanna go back!" Rock-hunting may be the poor man's treasure hunt, but it's still an obsessive quest. Especially when you look down in the dirt and find a dark, tomato-red stone looking up at you....



My heart jumped when I saw it! I feel pretty confident it's
red jasper...



Idaho is nicknamed The Gem State because it has such a large variety of gemstones. According to this source, "Idaho has seventy-two kinds of gem stones. This is more than any other state, and second only to Africa in the rest of the world." That statement really adds more fuel to the rock-hunting fire, if you know what I mean ;)

A little research on the internet shows red jasper to be a strong protection gemstone which sends out calming vibrations and absorbs any negativity, and it's good for balancing energy in the body - I can always use that. It feels so incredible that the earth offers up such amazing bits of itself. Whether it's micro-striped, crystal-embedded, heart-shaped or tomato red, each rock is truly unique and a wonderful lesson on the magic of Mother Nature.

Patterns

The kids brought home bones and flowers and such, I brought home some of nature's patterns to play with...

black and white stripes and zebra swirls



vertical ocher shades and flowing organic circles



I'm trying to copy these in my sketch book for practice.

A Sunday Afternoon

I marked the calendar today. Our first day getting out, rock hunting, rock throwing, sitting and enjoying the sun and the reflections of the water as it bubbled past. The elements fell into alignment this afternoon, warm, sunny and only a slight breeze, so we jumped into the car and drove to one of the nearby rivers for some casual exploring.



It's all still pretty bare, hardly any signs of green shoots coming up and only the faint sound of birds, but the sun was shining and it was WARM and it felt like a celebration.



We looked for items to bring home and draw in our Nature Journals. Little Brother found an animal bone, Middle Brother brought home a dried flower, Big Brother found a beautiful twisted branched and Sister brought home a leaf that reminds me of Lamb's Ear.



And, of course, we found rocks, lots of rocks. Looking for rocks with white lines through them...



looking for ones to make the colors of the rainbow...



and looking for heart-shapes...



Yellow-branched shrubs lined the highest parts of the riverbed, making a stark contrast with the otherwise drab surroundings.



The kids found sticks that became swords or guns or simply for dragging through the sand.



We heard some geese overhead and I managed to get a quick shot...



Faces were beginning to feel rosy and our rock bag was getting too heavy to carry so it meant time to go home. But, I felt content, knowing we're done with winter and that we have many rock-hunting river days ahead of us!

A Stitching Time

We had a nice break from our regular routine and went with our little homeschool group for another docent tour at one of the local galleries. This one was called The Seditious Stitch. The artists in the show seek to demonstrate that fiber arts, usually relegated to domestic and decorative craft, can be on par with modernist painting and sculpture.



Pieces above and below by artist Sheila Hicks



Work by Stephen Sollins...



Artist Hildur Bjarnadottir stitched "moss" on this tablecloth...



Sitting in the middle of "Lost in the Tall Grass: Sunday" by local artist Stephanie Marvel...



Sister trying her hand at weaving...



Our docent had a small activity for the kids afterwards - gluing a variety of yarn, in any inspired pattern, to a piece of black construction paper. The kids enjoyed the tour and it was nice for me to be able to sit back and let someone else be in charge for a bit ;) I enjoyed being a "bystander" and observing the kids in a different setting. I was able to concentrate on picture-taking and absorb all the creativity on display. Very relaxing and a good outing for all of us!

Snow Days, Gray Days, Blue Days

We've had so much snow this year, more than the usual amount. In the middle of the yard, it measures over four feet with drifts and piles easily twice that high. It's meant a lot of shoveling and snowblowing and ice chipping. When the kids hear it's supposed to snow again, they just groan, knowing more snow=more work. We aren't big skiers or snowboarders, although we do go occasionally. We're more likely to grab our ice skates and head to the nearby outdoor rink or hike down a snowy trail. We've had some overcast, gray, "here comes the snow" days...



and some bright, sunny blue days...



The photos above show ski trails that are groomed in a hay field for Nordic skiers (and their dog pals).

Reflections

Golden Picnic

Initiated by a request from my daughter that we do something outside and my own desire to take some fall foliage photographs, we decided to go on a hot chocolate picnic. Dad came with us and we headed out one of the canyons to see what we could find. Sage and dry grass covered most of the mountains, but there were pockets of color from aspens and maples dotting the hillsides. We drove up a dirt road, then hiked a ways until we were surrounded in yellow.How is it that the colors can really be so bright and beautiful it almost hurts your eyes? It seems to be Mother Nature's last big hurrah before her long, achromatic winter's sleep.