a robyns nest

1/4 million ...

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you are no doubt familiar with some of The Boys' obsessions.  An opportunity arose for him to fully experience one such fascination last night.  It was too good to pass up :)  The Yolo Basin Foundation, an organization local to the Davis/Sacramento area, offers a series of...wait for it...wait for it...... Bat Walks throughout the summer.  I know you were all hoping for something dinosaur related...



The underside of this stretch of highway which runs over a wetland area between Davis and Sacramento, is home to one of the largest colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats in California.  It strikes me as such an interesting melding of humans and nature. 

It is thought that close to 1/4 million bats live here.  You can see the beginnings of the evening hunt as the first few hundred or so bats make their exit near the tree in the above photo.... always the same tree, night after night without fail.

The Boy was duly impressed, although I'm not sure if it was the bats, or the opportunity to ride in the front passenger seat  (less than 5 miles an hour on a dirt road out to the observation site) which left the most significant mark on him ;) . 

neighbours...

We often joke with our neighbours about cutting a chunk out of the fence and putting a gate in; thus giving both our families easier access to each others homes (cuz it takes just sooooo long to walk the 50 feet down the driveway, along the sidewalk and back up the other driveway, lol!).  It is good to have good neighbours :)

There is one thing holding us back though.   The big leafy green monster growing along the top of the fence line has its own agenda.  Like most monsters, it is magical....





Do you see our dilemma?   I guess for now, the gate will have to wait ;)

As a general rule, I don't have a lot of patience for annuals.  They take, take, take...and for what?  A few months of color?  Maybe I'm just too practical.... but if I'm going to grow something, I want to be able to EAT it in the end.

I broke my own rules this summer though, I got sucked in by the  Cosmos.

 

Hey, I mean technically it's not a complete waste of resources, right?  I mean, the bees have been enjoying them.  So in the form of honey, I guess we will eat them in the end ;)

a fairy sighting....




For those who are wondering, I promise we have NOT given The Boy away.   If you know of a way to convince said child NOT to run every time he sees the camera, we'd love to hear about it :)

" We want to regain responsibility, to actually share the mantle of responsibility with our children, for not only their education but also their lives. Learning at home is not just about learning to read or write. It is not just about learning how to add two numbers together or knowing why a whale is not a fish. It is about learning to live, to interact, to be a part of a community that is comprised not just of children doing children things, but also of people doing people things. Not being labeled and thereby limited—as a student in a particular grade, as a jockor a nerd, or even merely as a child—is part of what homeschooling has to offer. "

- Quote by Jeffrey S. Cramer -- A Different Education

escaping the heat.....

109 degrees outside....what better way to pass the day away, than to drive an hour to San Francisco?  So MUCH to do, and (most importantly, as far as I'm concerned) it was 25 degrees cooler.  Ahhhhh..... relief.



A visit to the Aquarium of the Bay was in order.  One walk-through turned into two....once just wasn't enough I guess ;)  It was magical for all of us.... the first time for both kids to see many sea creatures live and in person...until now, sharks and jellyfish of this size existed only in books (and very vividly in their minds! ).



That look of complete wonder and pure amazement on their faces is hard to beat.

 

weekend...

For comparison, check out this pic of the corn from 1 month ago.... um, wow.  I swear, that's the same Boy hiding in there!

And, what else are you supposed to do when it's 107 degrees outside (other than hide INside)....

owl puke*...
*thank you, Charlene for setting me straight!!

It is well over 100 degrees here today....definitely a good day to stay inside and pull apart some owl pellets.  We are fortunate to have a very healthy Barn Owl population around our house.  A good friend has a pair nesting in  one of her trees.  In her words "come on by and grab some pellets!  Our poo is your poo*!"   I tell ya, that's a true friend ;)

I looked around online and found this simple bone identification chart, as well as this site, if you'd like to do something similar, but don't have owls living nearby.



Even the teeny-weeny hands got in on the action.  Our biggest score of the afternoon, by far....



To clean off bits of fur, and um...whatever else was stuck on there (ahem) we put the bones in a 4:1 water/bleach solution.  (Just for a few minutes, or the bones will disintegrate)



There was a brief moment when the kids realized what exactly, an owl pellet is. 

"Oh....it's poo*? "

In that moment, I wasn't sure if I was going to lose them.  In my mind's eye, I could see them running away from the table shrieking "eeeewwwwwww! "

I should have known better, though.  I mean, when you're 5 years old .... what's cooler than poo?

**And now that we know the truth...the whole thing is even cooler!!  Puke scored even bigger points than poo ;)

lemonade....

We are oh, so thankful for lemons this weekend....and for the sweet friend with a lemon tree who was giving these yellow beauties away by the grocery bag full.  I spent the morning zesting and juicing....the results?



A freezer full of lemon juice (portioned into lemonade-making sized servings) and lemon zest.  I had no idea you could freeze the zest, but found a ton of great home preserving info here. 

Perfect.  Lemonade, just in time for summer :)

fabric....

 aka, it's too stinking hot out to knit, so it must be time to sew!!

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that there is fabric covering almost every surface of our house right now.  Fabric in Super Girls room, soon to become curtains.  Fabric draped over my sewing machine, destined to become a sundress.  That fabric hiding the comfy chair in the living room?  A quilt....of course.  Oh!  And let's not forget the fat quarters my sweet (ahem) children have been stacking and re-stacking, in various locations throughout the house.   Those bits have a future as napkins on our dinner table.

Oh, the hippos?  Not entirely sure yet....but they asked if they could come home with me.  How could I refuse?