Taking The Challenge - Upper Level Fall Color Work

October 11, 2011 - Our Collection of Leaves

Our timing is not perfect on this Fall Color challenge. The weather is autumn-like with cooler nights, rain (actually lots of rain), and sunny afternoons but the majority of the leaves have not changed color and are still hanging on the trees.

Observing closely we did note some red on the edges.

You can see our trees are still mostly green with a few of the leaves tinged in red. There are just a handful of leaves on the ground and probably only because we have had five inches of rain in the last week.

The trees are still full of leaves.

Walking in the afternoon is a favorite activity now that the temperatures have dropped so today we went out with the express intent of looking for some color. As always, with added focus, we were able to observe some colorful leaves, gathering a few to bring home to look at closely and then enjoy on our nature table. Of course, we had fun trying to match the leaf with the color from our pencil box.

I think we ended up with a great variety of leaves.

I decided to make color chart in my journal with the official names from the Prismacolor pencils noted just for fun. My favorite leaves were the pistache leaves with their bright orange, red, and yellow.....dare I say vermillion, crimson, and chrome yellow to be more exact?

Watercolor pencils on the left and regular colored pencils on the right...

Mr. B did not complete a notebook page or a journal page for this challenge yet. He wants to wait until we have more colorful leaves to gather and he may use a camera to capture the beauty for me and his journal. I think I will find some frames to use and we will perhaps do this leaf project. 



Never wanting to miss out on the fall fun, Miss Cocoa jumped up on the railing as I took these photos. This cat is a great hunter, although she mostly does "catch and release". In fact, last week she brought a live mouse into the house and dropped it at my feet. Oh yeah, I moved really fast to capture that rodent and put it right back outside. This time of year she also likes to climb up into the tree and watch the birds at the feeder. Silly cat.

I just realized I didn't post an entry with our fall drive photos from last weekend. We went out into a neighboring county, taking in the beauty of the time of year in the vineyard regions. I will try to get those posted sometime soon because it was a really fun day.



As always, keep your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries rolling in for the end of the month carnival. I already have quite a few fantastic entries but there is plenty of room for everyone!

Spring Giveaway: Sharing Your Observations

This has been a great experience for me to read all the different comments sharing how spring looks in your area and when you truly know it is spring! Before I announce the winner of Weather Lapbook from Hearts and Trees, I would love to share a list of some of the signs of true spring shared in comments from readers. I want to thank everyone who left a comment sharing your springtime goodness. We will have to do this again in another season because I enjoyed it so much!

Flowering Bulbs

• I am in SW Virginia and in this area, it's the forsythia, the grape hyacinths, the violets, and the wind!!! 
• Here in the boondocks of Quebec, it's when you can see the crocuses pushing through the last snow....
• When I see the crocus come up that usually means spring to me....
• Here in Oregon you know it is spring by the clumps of yellow all around from daffodils

Changes in Trees

• ...Southern middle Tennessee - we know that spring has sprung when the Bradford pear trees turn white as snow with blooms...
• We know Spring is on the way in the Carolinas when the Bradford Pear trees bloom white all over town...
• We know its spring here (Vancouver BC) when the cherry blossoms bloom.
• In south Louisiana, it's the pecan trees! They say you can't fool the pecan trees, they won't get leaves until after the last frost.

Green Grass

• The grass has greened up, the streams are bulging and sap season is over. 
• Spring for me is the day after the first thunderstorm when the grass begins to turn green.

Return of Migratory Birds

• This year, the signs of spring were the birds. Even though nothing else seemed to want to wake up, the birds came and started to sing.
• The kids love it when the robins start coming back to the yard.
• When the birds that fly south for the winter come back.
• When the geese start to fly north again I know that the weather is getting nicer and we are (most likely) done with snow.

Rain and Mud!

• Rain boots and mud tracks through the kitchen!  
• At our house in Rochester, NY, we know it's spring by the reappearance of tracks.
• Spring? Means Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain, with a chance of Rain.

Flowering Bushes

• We know that Spring is on its way when the Daffodils, Red Buds, and Dogwoods bloom.
• We are on the Gulf Coast and spring here is always heralded by the blooming of azaleas!!! 
• Hanging wisteria.
• Ah Spring. Our spring actually happens when the lilac blooms

Spring Babies

• The baby chicks and turkey poults arrived and our first baby goats of the season hit the ground.

The winner of the Weather Lapbook is...

Casey from Bumpin' Along The Road Less Traveled. 

I would love for you all to hope over to Casey's blog and see her beautiful images in this recent entry: Evening. You will feel like you have taken a trip to springtime. Lilacs! Wow! Wish I had some of those blooming in my yard right now! Thanks Casey for all your hard work on your blog and hope your family enjoys your Weather Lapbook.

Sewing project, art print and projects, handicrafts, and a lapbook!

I also encourage all to pop over the Hearts and Trees and see Amanda's latest art, handicraft, and nature study kit for spring. She did a great job pulling lots of interesting things together this time around!

Salt Study Lapbook PDF available

My daughter Amanda has made her Salt Study Lapbook PDF available as a separate download this week. Please pop over to her blog to read all about it. This is a perfect addition to last week's Salt Study for the Outdoor Hour Challenge for families that want to go deeper into a study of salt and its properties.

Hearts and Trees Art, Nature, and Handicraft Kit Giveaway

The Hearts and Trees Kit goes to..................SeaStar.

I know she is going to enjoy this kit with her kids and I look forward to hearing more about their experiences with the various projects. Keep us posted over at Sea Star Academy! (You must pop over and see her new little baby girl Molly.)

If you entered the giveaway, didn't win, but would still like to order a kit, Amanda will include a special thank you gift for your special efforts in entering the giveaway.

Amanda will be including an extra art print along with the corresponding PDF notebook page for you to study with your children. Please make a note in your Paypal order in the comments section letting her know you entered the giveaway and would like the extra free gift.

Thank you all for your continued support of the Outdoor Hour Challenges and Hearts and Trees seasonal kits.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Don't Miss a Great Opportunity!

My daughter is running a special offer for the month of May on her Hearts and Trees Spring Handicraft, Nature, and Art Kits!

If you purchase a kit, you will be able to pick one of her PDF notebook page sets for FREE! There are two art sets and two nature lapbook PDFs to choose from.

Here is the link:
Hearts and Trees Spring Kit Special Offer

I want to thank everyone who has supported Hearts and Trees over the past few years. Amanda is getting ready to graduate from college in a few weeks and she is standing at the crossroads. She will more than likely keep putting the kits together at least for the next few seasons while she is hunting for a job that fits her schedule and needs.

If you haven't yet checked out her kits or her notebook page sets, I encourage you to do so now while you have this special offer available.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Hearts and Trees Spring Kit is Ready for Pre-Order!

It is that time again and my daughter over at Hearts and Trees has her handicraft, art, and nature study kit ready for Spring 2009!

She has put together some really great projects and I helped with the file folder/lapbook project on the frog life cycle! It is going to make some children really happy! There are too many things included in the kit to list them all here so you must go over to her blog to read all about what you will get this time around.

Something new she did for this kit was to include instructions and ideas for pulling together a frog-themed event at the end including activities, food ideas, and more!

You must HOP over to her blog to read more about her kit!
Hearts and Trees Spring Kit 2009

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Wilson Bentley: Snowflake Man

Recently I have become acquainted with a man who seems like a kindred spirit. He lived a long time ago but I think we both share a fascination with nature, snowflakes in particular. He had a mother that encouraged him in his interests and gave him a great gift. May we all give our children this same gift....one of helping to feed their passions.

Here is a YouTube video with Bentley's own words and story. I invite you to watch this short video.


This is another video you may enjoy watching too.You will have to click over to YouTube to watch this one. I have not watched all the videos that come up after this one so please preview any other videos that may pop up.
Masters of Photography: Wilson Snowflake Bentley

Here is a picture book you may wish to look for at your library and a coloring book that would be fun to work in on a long winter's afternoon.


Edit to add: My daughter on her blog, Hearts and Trees, shared a short video on how to catch snowflakes last year. Here is your link:
Snow Day Science

Hearts and Trees Winter Kits:Ready for Pre-ordering

It is that time again....my daughter Amanda over at Hearts and Trees has pulled together her Winter Handicraft, Art, and Nature Kit for you to pre-order!

She writes:
In all there are 3 handicraft projects, 3 notebooking pages, an art print with corresponding drawing project, a complete lapbook and a nature journal focusing on mammals in this kit!

I helped her put together the lapbook pages on mammals which would be a great addition to your nature study time. I think families are going to love the handmade mittens.

She usually sells out of kits fairly fast so if you are thinking you might have some time over the winter to fit in these great art projects, now is the time to act.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Catch Up Week for the Outdoor Hour Challenge and Giant Sequoias Again

There will be no new Outdoor Hour Challenge this week but your family can take the opportunity to pick a challenge from the last few weeks to complete and post about.

How about the Seasonal Tree Observation in Challenge #36 or the Weather Observations in either Challenge #39 or #40?

These are some of the easier challenges that are great to complete during autumn so when we get to winter and spring you can compare the changes if any.

If you didn't complete the first five challenges, why not pick one of those to work on this week?

Your family can look down the list of challenges in the right sidebar of the Handbook of Nature Study blog to choose one that fits your area and needs.

We will be starting a short flowerless plants study next week, December 5th. I have already started collecting photos of flowerless plants in our area and I am amazed how many we have found so far.

Here is one fungus we saw today on a hike.

Can you see how it grew up with the leaves on top? Really interesting! I took so many more photos to share but I will wait until the flowerless plant challenges. Suspense is always a good thing.

Here are a few more shots from today for you too enjoy.

We were still looking for clouds...look at that sky and the few puffy clouds.

Later in the afternoon, the clouds came in and made it a little cool under the sequoias. These trees are so tall and we always have fun trying to capture them in a photo.

This photo my son took and I think it really shows how tall these giants are.

How about this giant sugar pine cone? The hike we took had a mix of all kinds of trees....pines, sequoias, and lots of deciduous trees too.

How can you help but become refreshed both physically and spiritually after a hike where the trees tower over you and there are interesting things around every corner if you take the time to look for them?

Have a great weekend.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Aspen Trees in the Fall-Salmon-And a Bear

What a wonderful afternoon drive we had yesterday! The fall colors were popping out all around us and we were pointing out the car windows, totally amazed at the colorful show we could see as we drove along.

The aspens were glorious and the sun even made a brief showing in the late afternoon.


Walking along the path under the aspens, I remembered why I love this variety of tree.


Here is our regular stretch of beach at the lake. We indulged in a picnic dinner of roast chicken and salad and then realized that we were all alone at the beach for the first time ever. It was quiet except for the Stellar's jays.


The three boys were erecting driftwood and rock sculptures while the rest of us took a walk out onto the dock. The sun was beginning to set and we very reluctantly started back to the car.

Earlier in the afternoon, we also went to see the Kokanee salmon spawning in the creek and these signs were something new in the last few weeks. Apparently there are three mama bears with cubs in this area and they are feasting on salmon during the spawning period. (This photo is for the benefit of Brittney who is not happy about the thought of bear encounters.)


While we were observing the salmon in the creek....a bear was spotted on the opposite side of the water. The bear was totally and completely uninterested in us humans and she went about its business of eating and foraging around in the bushes. We did get a really great view of the bear and I was too busy watching her to take a photo. I do not have a very good zoom on my little camera so it would probably not have turned out very well anyway. Take my word for it, this was not a scary encounter at all. There were a lot of salmon to occupy the bear and a lot of water inbetween us. We watched for a few minutes and then hiked along the path.

There is nothing mentioned in the Handbook of Nature Study about the salmon but I was surprised to find a section on goldfish. I read over the observation suggestions and they were quite good so we will be including a study of our goldfish when the weather is too yucky to go outside. There is always some way to fit nature study in if you are diligent. :)


We found a lot of interesting feathers on this hike. I love this polka dotted one the best. I am guessing it is a woodpecker feather but I am not sure.

"The color of feathers and often their shape make some birds more beautiful; while in others, the color of the feathers serves to protect them from the observation of their enemies."
Handbook of Nature Study, pages 31-32 about feathers as ornaments

What a great day for a family drive, hike, and picnic.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Outdoor Hour Challenge #35: Tree Focus -Apple

What a perfect time of year to be completing a study of apple trees! The apple tree was the fourth most popular tree in the tree poll that I took before we started our tree study and that surprised me for some reason. We do not have an apple tree in our yard...we did in the past but the deer really got most of the apples and it was shading our garden so we took it out a number of years ago.

We are going to take a trip to a nearby apple orchard and complete our challenge there and I encourage you to seek out an opportunity to observe an apple tree up close for this study. Maybe your neighbor has a tree that you can look at or you have an orchard near your home that you could take few minutes to drive by and enjoy.

Even if you just purchase some apples and enjoy that experience you will have been successful in completing this challenge.

Just a word of caution: Let this study of apple trees unfold during your nature study time. Resist the urge to turn this into a huge unit study on apples. The most important thing to keep in mind if you are trying to stay with the spirit of the Handbook of Nature Study is to have a short period of outdoor time with a few ideas for observation in mind.

Outdoor Hour Challenge #35
Focus on Trees-Apple

1. Read pages 661-670 in the Handbook of Nature Study to learn about the apple tree and apples. Pay special attention to page 664 where Lesson 182 outlines the study of an apple tree.

“A visit to a large, well-grown orchard in spring or autumn will aid in making this work interesting. Any apple tree near at hand may be used for the lesson.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 664

If you do not have access to an apple tree, you can use your nature study time this week to study apples using the suggestions on pages 667-670. These pages give lots of great information about apples and how to observe them in your nature study.

2. Spend 15 to 20 minutes outdoors this week with your children in your own yard or on your own street. This week you will have two suggested activities.

*If you have an apple tree of any variety in your yard or on your street, use the ideas from the lesson on page 664 to guide your observation of the apple tree.

*If you do not have an apple tree to observe or you have an additional time period for nature study, choose another variety of tree to observe. Pay special attention to the leaves and collect a few to observe indoors after your outdoor time.

3. After your outdoor time, spend a few minutes talking with your child about any trees you observed. Complete any of the suggested activities from the Handbook of Nature Study if you observed an apple tree. Ask if your child has any questions that they would like to research over the next week. Make note of anything they are interested in learning more about and then look it up in the index of the Handbook of Nature Study. Read more about it if it is covered in the book or check your local library if you need additional information.

4. Make sure to give time and the opportunity for a nature journal entry. You could use the suggested activity and sketch an apple from your tree, making special observation of the shape of your apple. You also could cut your apple in half and sketch what it looks like inside. If you would like to complete a notebook page, see the link below to choose one for your child’s journal. A nature journal entry can be as simple as a sketch, a label, and a date. See challenges 2 and 3 for alternatives to drawing in your nature journal. Press any leaves you collected this week and add them to your nature journal later on.

5. If you identified a tree this week, add it to your list of trees in the front or back of your nature journal. You can also use the Running List notebook page from the link below. Make a note indicating whether it is an evergreen or a deciduous tree.

6. Post an entry on your blog sharing your experiences and then come back to the Outdoor Hour Challenge post and add your blog link to Mr. Linky. All the challenges are listed on the sidebar of the Handbook of Nature Study blog.

If you would like to print out this challenge, here is your link.
Outdoor Hour Challenge #35 Apple Tree (all the tree challenges in one document)


Barb-Harmony Art Mom



Thanks to Tina at Jetihoja Academy we have beautiful notebook pages to go along with our challenges. Please follow the link below to a list of the notebook pages available for you to use for any of the challenges or any other nature study that you complete each week.
Outdoor Hour Challenge Notebooking pages
Thanks Tina!

Visiting Maple Tree Country: Outdoor Hour Challenge #34

Our Outdoor Hours this week were spent along the northern California Coast and southern Oregon coast. Our first stop was camping at Humboldt Redwoods (great place for camping) where most of the tallest trees in the world live. We saw ancient redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) towering overhead.

These trees are so tall and grow so densely that the forest floor is dark and quiet. It is quite the experience to hike along the trail and silently observe these magnificent trees up close.

The forest seemed to have its own atmosphere in and among the trees. The mist in some areas was high up in the canopy of the redwoods and it was dripping down on our heads as we hiked underneath.

In some parts of the redwood forest, it seemed as if the light never penetrated down to the floor and there were mushrooms and moss growing everywhere. It was like stepping back in time.

Mixed in among these forest giants are Big leaf maples. This time of year they are a brilliant yellow and orange and the leaves are *large*. My tree book says that the leaves are between 16 and 24 inches long.

Here is a leaf I saw on the ground that shows how big they are in real life.

"It is its autumn transfiguration which has made people observant of the maple's beauty; yellow, orange, crimson, and scarlet foliage makes these trees gorgeous when October comes."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 628

This leaf was on a tree in Ashland, Oregon in Lithia Park. The trees in the park were just turning colors as we walked through last weekend.

It was really cold and the air had a bite to it. We bundled up and enjoyed the walk.

After this trip along the Pacific coast, I have thought a lot about our dependence on wood from trees. We passed many areas in the forest where it had been clear cut, leaving nothing left standing to speak of. There were many, many lumber mills and great stacks of both logs and lumber.

Here is a stack of logs that we passed in the town of Eureka, CA. You cannot even imagine how tall and long these piles of logs are but this gives you an idea. It is a big reminder how useful certain trees are in our every day life. Look around you at this very moment and you will no doubt see lots of things made from wood.

I know that trees are a renewal resource but it does make you stop and think when you see so many areas clear-cut and then the piles of logs sitting at the mills. It truly is a balancing act….the love of the forest and the love of wood products.

Just a some thoughts as we travel along on this trip.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Land of the Oaks and Pines: Outdoor Hour Challenge #32

We live in an area where the predominant trees are oaks and pines. Pines usually are taller than the oaks so it is easy to pick them out of the landscape. We can stand on our back deck and see dozens of pines and oaks. We have identified a few of them by name but we still have some trees to work on getting to know. The tall pine in the photo above we identified as a Gray pine or Digger pine. Pinus sabiniana. It is native to our area.

Pines are usually identified by looking at the needles. This particular pine has needles in bundles of three. The needles are a gray-green color and are about 7-14 inches in length.

Here is a cone that we found under the tree. Our field guide says, "They are brown, long-stalked, uneven-based, and equipped with strong, downward-pointing, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thorns. "

Of interest to me, the seeds were once an important food of Native American. They also ate the buds and soft green cones from this pine. Of course, squirrels love the seeds too.

"The appearance of the unripe cone is another convincing evidence that mathematics is the basis of the beautiful. The pattern of the overlapping scales is intricate and yet regular-to appreciate it one needs to try to sketch it....The shape of the scales of the cone is another distinguishing characteristic of the pine, and sketching the outside of the scales from several different species of pine cones will develop the pupils' powers of observation..."
The Handbook of Nature Study, page 672

It sounds like the basis of another day's nature study to me. I will gather a few different cones and have them on hand.


This photo is my attempt to show you how the color of the needles on this pine are a gray-green color and not the dark green of some of the other pines we have in our area.

Now for a pine tree story. This pine is a Monterey pine and is not native to our area. They do grow naturally along the coast of California but we live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. The previous owners of our home must have planted it in the yard and we have watched it grow in the last twenty years to a towering height over our property.

Earlier this year we cut down this huge Monterey pine. It had grown too close to our propane tank and out over the whole lawn. Its roots were pushing up the sidewalk and we were afraid it would soon get into the water pipe we have running from the front to the back of the property. It had to come down.

Here is a photo of the men in the tree as they limbed the branches and lowered them down. Some of the branches were as big as tree trunks. This was a mighty big tree. I could hardly watch the workers as the scurried up and down the tree trunk and then way out onto the limbs to cut sections off. Note the sweet gum tree in the foreground and how it has no leaves but the pine is still green.

Here is the trunk all neatly cut into chunks. We had a friend who took the wood and is drying it to use in their woodstove. We never liked pine to burn but some people love the heat it gives off. This was the perfect opportunity to observe the trees rings up close.

Here is a close up photo of the sap seeping out from the downed tree trunk. It was very sticky. I know from personal experience. :)


The other interesting thing to note about the pine was the thickness of the bark. The pattern of the edge was so pretty.

Here are some cones that came from the tree. I shared this photo before but it really shows how the cone opens up as it matures to allow the seeds to be exposed.

It was sad to watch the tree be cut down but now that it has been some months we can see the difference in the surrounding trees. They have ample sunlight now and they are filling out their branches. One oak in particular seems to have really benefited from the pine removal. Our lawn is so much greener now that it isn't constantly covered in needles.

We will be observing more pines as the focus continues but I thought we could share our special tree cutting down story in this entry.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom