Seasonal Birthday Celebrations

What was happening on the day you were born? Put a new twist on your birthday celebrations by bringing your loved ones or students closer to nature. This will be the greatest gift they receive and remember(economical and green too).

What better way to bring the children you know closer to nature than to have a special area set up with items and objects that represent the time of the year they were born. Each birthday celebration can be as unique as the individual you are celebrating.

Changes occur as the season unfolds. Think about it! Is the beginning of autumn the same as the end of autumn here in New England? NO! The leaves are green at the beginning, then gradually change color and eventually fall off. This is an important lesson to a child who is learning and gathering information about their environment and natural world.

Regardless of where you live though, there are always natural objects and changes that occur. This is what should be focused on and then you create something wonderful for individual you are celebrating.

So, start gathering and collecting and remember, you are on the road to starting something unforgettable. If you need guidance, just write me and I can help you get started. The most important thing is to have fun!

Winter Birthday
This picture includes fresh assorted greens, Winterberry, Poinsettias (poisonous, don't use with little ones), pinecones, birds seen at the feeder and in the woods this may include Chickadees, Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Blue Jays and a Great Horned Owl.

Spring Birthday

This picture includes Pussywillows, Daffodils, Forsythia, Johnny Jump-Ups, Pansy, a Robin, a nest, a baby rabbit, a lamb and a spring fairy.

Autumn Birthday

This picture includes Chrysanthemum, Aster, colored Maple leaves, gourds, apples, mini pumpkins, acorns and an autumn fairy.

Pumpkin Fairy Houses

Nature Shelves

My current nature shelf.

Empty nests, birch bark, empty cocoons and fossils.

Skulls, lichen, empty cocoons and nests.

Snake skins, beetles, Cicada cases, broken eggs, moth and butterfly wings.

My collection of feathers.

Ever since I was a small child, I always had a special place for my collections. I collected feathers, snake skins, butterfly wings, dead bugs, empty nests, cocoons and animal skulls. My nature shelf was the perfect place to store these treasures along with my nature guides and favorite books. This way my parents always knew that these things were sacred to me and should NOT BE THROWN OUT. Help honor your budding naturalist by finding an old shelf that they can repaint and store their treasures. This way you know where to put those objects that you often find in your child's pockets. It's also fun to have a family shelf too. Look how beautiful and interesting they can be!

Happy Birthday, Nature Goddess!

What a wonderful surprise! A female Promethea Moth. On one of those warm summer nights, this gorgeous female Promethea Moth flew to the light at my backdoor. I saw the shadow from inside and raced out to see what Saturniidae moth it could have been. She flew right onto my shoulder. I imagined she must have finished mating and would find a host plant to lay her eggs. The next day I looked under the Lilac, Sassafras, Apple, and Peach tree leaves to see if I could find her eggs. No luck. I will have to wait for winter to look for a cocoon. The story continues though. On my birthday, which was a few days later, I woke up and went outside and there she was listless and lethargic , tattered and ragged. It appeared her life was over and she had fulfilled her duties of laying her eggs. She died a few hours later. I saved her to show the small children I teach. A lovely gift of nature for my birthday. I will treasure her.
If you want to know more about Promethea Moths click on the suggested link.

Fairy Houses

Can you see that little fairy sleeping on her canopy bed? Oops...she must have flown away. Click on photo twice and get a close look. If you would like to learn more about people like me building fairy houses go to the link www.fairyhouses.com

Fairy Furniture

An arbor to the fairy garden.

An arbor and swing in the fairy garden.

A lovely chair for a fairy.

A fine place for biscuits and tea for the fairies.

A soft and cozy bed for a fairy!

I made this furniture about 15 years ago for my college roommate. It inspired her to create many more pieces. I hope it inspires you too!

Click on each picture and enlarge the photo to get a better look.

Somebody's been eating MY tomato plant! UGH!

And that somebody is ... ... ...Look before and you can see them munching away.

OH DEAR!!

Munch! Crunch! Munch!

Why it is I.Your very fat and juicy tomato hornworm caterpillar, who has been crunch munching on your most delicious tomatoes! So sorry, but this is what I love to do! Click on my picture and you can get a close up of me!

Guess who lives in this hole?

Click on picture and look down the hole.
Did you see anything way down there? Well, the answer is the next post down.

Backyard Mammals

Yes! I am the one who lives in that hole! If you click on my picture I will stay still long enough for you to get a close look at me.

If you don't already know, I am an Eastern Chipmunk and rather shy but very spunky! I am a small striped rodent, cousin to the squirrel, and I enjoy a woodland setting. There are eight of us that live in this backyard. We like to run swiftly along the stonewalls and dart in and out of our burrows after we have visited the birdfeeders and berry bushes. We are quite amusing to watch as we hoard seeds and dangle from the blackberry bushes. After collecting such delicious goodies, we race back to our holes and put our collection in our food chambers. We like to be solitary and will often squabble with other chipmunks over food. We are very amusing little creatures! Stop and watch us for awhile! We won't disappoint you.

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

This female hummingbird and one other have been living in and around my yard since May. They have been seen visiting the Weigela, Mountain Laurel, and Honeysuckle shrubs in May and June. Then as summer unfolded it drank nectar from the Honeysuckle Vine, Trumpet Vine and many other flowers. I have had a Hummingbird feeder available as well. I usually change it every two days. The male Ruby-Throated visited the yard about two weeks ago and did his fancy dance for the female. He was way too fast for me to capture on film.

Here is an amazing video, showing a hummer being fed by it's mom while being held in a human hand!

Backyard Birds

There are many birds to be discovered in your own backyard. Go outside and see what you can find. This male Goldfinch was enjoying some Thistle seed at my bird feeder. I don't know why he always sings "potato chip" when he prefers Nyjer/Thistle seed.

Beautiful Backyard Butterflies

Butterflies in the garden. This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail visits me everyday in my backyard, going from flower to flower. It can be quite a challenge capturing it on film. After watching me for days chasing it down for a photo. I think it finally grew tired of me and decided to land on my lilac bush and open its beautiful wings for me to take several shots. Since I was a little girl this has always been a favorite. I'm glad we found each other. Click on word butterflies to go to a great site for our fluttering friends.

Peek-a-boo!

I am a little Flying Squirrel! I like this cozy little house.