Our Journey into Nature

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 7/21 -7/27/08

• 7/21/2008
  The heat here is extremely hot. You could probably fry eggs and bacon on the street. No kidding! The poor little birds and squirrels must be in hiding.
• *************************** I plan on getting a water bowl for them this month. I love to see the birds play in the water bath dishes. I do't even see any squirrels outs playing tag with one another.
• *************************** Oh, how I miss my garden, my pumpkins would be growing so beautifully right now. Hopefully next year?

Little Red Squirrel, you are too cute!

The red squirrel is a small squirrel with reddish to reddish-gray fur on top and a white or cream underside. It has white around its eyes. Its tail is not as long or bushy as the tail of other tree squirrels. In the summer, the red squirrel may have a black stripe on its sides. Its curved front claws and powerful hind legs make it a very good climber and jumper!

The red squirrel eats a wide-variety of foods including insects, seeds, bark, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and pine seeds or cones. Sometimes it eats insects, young birds, mice and rabbits. A large part of its diet is made up of pine seeds.

In the fall, it will cut green pine cones from trees and store them in the ground. It also stores nuts and seeds in piles or middens under logs, at the base of trees and underground. It doesn't always find or eat all of the seeds and nuts it has stored. Because of this, the red squirrel fills an important niche in spreading seeds in the forest.

The red squirrel may migrate short distances when food supplies are low. The red squirrel also drinks tree sap from maple trees. It bites a tree until the sap flows out and returns to drink it after the water in the sap has evaporated.

Mating season is in the late winter. About a month after mating, the female will have a litter of between three to seven babies. The babies are weaned after seven or eight weeks and will leave their mother when they are about 18 weeks old. In warmer climates, the red squirrel may mate in the late winter and in mid-summer.

The red squirrel is most active in the early morning and the late afternoon. It is a solitary animal,  except for mothers and their young. The red squirrel makes its nests in a variety of places including hollows in the ground, in tree hollows, logs or crotches in trees. The red squirrel is very vocal and chatters, growls and screeches.

Information found on ~  http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/Redsquirrel.htm

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 7/7-7/13-08

7/7/2008

Today is not quite humid, but the breeze could be better.  The squirrels are out playing and chasing eachother around the trees.

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I have some box planting, weeding and mulching to accomplish today. Hopefully when I get out there the sun will not be so hot and Mr. Wind will send me a breeze here and there to keep me cooled off.

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 6/30-7/6-08

• 7/2/2008
  Today is quite a pleasant day. The birds are chirpping and the squirrels are chasing eachother around the trees. I love to watch them, they seem to have so much fun. It reminds me of when I was little and you would play catch.
  
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  Today is going to be a grand day! We were invited to a Homemade Icrecream Celebration at my husbands, bosses home. So tonight we are enjoying Fresh Homemade Icrecream. I will be sure to savor some for you as well.
• 6/30/2008
  Oh, what a lovely day we have today. The wind is breezy, we have lots of over head shading from the Lord. Lots of little creatures out today; the squirrels, the american robins, and I am still trying to figure out what the species of one of these birds are. Also, my lovely dove is doing beautifully in her nest. I can't to see her little ones hatch.

A Prayer from St. Francis of Assisi

"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you…you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore… always seek to praise God" ~St. Francis of AssisiI have always been drawn to prayers. To me they are the essence of the heart.  I like this prayer because St. Francis did not worship creation, but worship his creator through creation.  He was a saint who had a great concern for God's creatures and took care of them.  I always tell my little Hannah, she reminds me of St. Francis of Assisi, this is why we call her, "Little Francis."  Hannah adores animals and has such a huge heart for them.  Whatever she is reading I assure you it has to do with animals. She says to me, "One day I hope to be a veterinarian so I can make all the animals feel better and live happy lives."  She truly has a heart for God creatures, that's  our "Little Francis"

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 6/23-6/29-08

6/26/2008

The weather was quite humid today. pregnancy and heat, DO NOT MIX!  I haven't seen many critters. Although I do see what I believe to be the same squirrel at my feeder tree.  The birds are very few around here.

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I wish that we lived on a farm, I am praying for that!  I was able to get out and finish all my flower planting for now.  I was rather tired today.  I believe the heat has made me lathargic.

6/23/2008

Oh, it was such a lovely day today. The weather was warm, and the breeze....very pleasant. It seems like the night rain we had has given us a cooler day.
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I was able to hang up some feeders, as well as a hummingbird feeder.  I planted about 6 plants outside in my planters and I was able to transfer my basil into the pot hanging over my kitchen sink. I just absolutely love sweet basil, oh and when the wind blows that smell throughout my kitchen, it's like an Italian kitchen!

Oh, what a treasure!

Dear Friends, I had to show you this treasure. It was published in 1927 and it is very well written. I love it, it is even divided into seasons as well.

Isn't it great! I wished I could let you see it up close and skim through it.  It's is wonderfully laid out. It will definitely be apart of our science curriculum.

Tina

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 6/16-6/22-08

6/20/2008 @ 10:00am

Today, is not a very sunny day, s a little on the cloudy side. I am figuring out that my beautiful dove is still in the process of building her nest in my planter. I wake up to many sticks on my porch that have fallen down in her effort to build a cozy home for her little ones. For now I will leave them there. I really do not want to disturb her efforts.

6/18/2008 @ 11:02pm

Oh friends, the moon was just smashing.  It was bright and as if I could reach up and grab it.  My little earlybird just enjoyed himself.  He even took his little pad and drew the moon, with a face of course.  You could really see the face in the moon tonight. Well, goodnight moon. Most importantly good-night Lord, thank you for all of Your marvelous creations.

6/18/2008 @ 10:45am

Oh, it is such a lovely day, even a nice cool breeze. Beautiful!  I went out to get my mail this morning and heard the sounds of a dove. I would say that it is a Mourning Dove.

Their sound so much reminds me of an owl. Not only that, but when I looked around to find the dove, it seems it has taken up residence in my hanging flower basket.  Well, I suppose I will not be using it this year for my needs. I can't evict her, their so pretty and peaceful. Besides they say that any time you have doves making nest near your homes is a sign of love. Who can argue that.

We also have another dove, I believe the exact same dove for the past 2 years, making a nest in the window seal, above our back door, in the laundry room?  We are surrounded by beautiful doves.

6/16/2008

Oh, the air was quite humid today. I didn't see much animal life this morning? I was in the er with kidney stones, yeah me. But, I have enjoyed being home and enjoying the warm, yet pleasant night air. Maybe tomorrow I will sneak out early to fill the bird feeders? Oh, those birds just love fresh seeds.

Save the Squirrels!

This is a real cute video at first, until.... I really like squirrels so please get your shocks checked!!! Enjoy the video.

http://www.monroesavethesquirrels.com/videos_m.asp?pagename=video_m

Whispers of my Life ~ Week 6/9-6/15-08

6/13/08

Today it was very humid. I decided to take my 5 year old son on a nature drive in the country. He absolutely loved it. He kept remarking about all the land and flowers. He truly enjoy nature. We pray to find a farm soon.

6/11/08

Today, it was very hot and humid! The squirrels are always cute and active out my kitchen window. I want to put up bird feeders, but being creative is the key. Those cute little critters will find their way to the birds feed I am sure.