Nature Study at the Huntington Gardens

We recently visited the Huntington Library to see the Gutenberg Bible and were pleasantly surprised to find grounds covered with fascinating gardens.  
The first garden we happened upon were the rose gardens.   The R in E-R stands for these:


 
She took lots of pictures of roses when we visited Gardens of the World in October, but afterwards when looking at the pictures, we had no way of identifying the roses.  This time she made sure to take a picture of the name plates after taking pictures of each type of rose.   She is excited to put her rose pictures together into a calendar to share with relatives this Christmas.
We happened upon this beautiful tree with those unusual flowers.



Such a pretty little tree—I think I could easily find a spot for it in our back yard.  

Next we visited the Cloud Forest Exhibit.   Not being too familiar with cloud forests, we didn’t expect to walk right into a cloud! 

 
Throughout the exhibit were cards that opened up showing what the inside of the plants looked like.   We were than able to find those plants and look at them up close. 

Right inside the pitcher plant were several insects in various stages of digestion. 


E-R also found a butterwort plant with several small gnats stuck on its leaves.                               

Texture was everywhere—both rigid and soft, smooth and fuzzy.  

We enjoyed learning about cloud forest and the plants that grow there, but most of all we enjoyed spending time together!

This post is linked up to Anna-Marie’s Field Trip Blog Hop.

Be sure to hop on over and be inspired by all the wonderful field trip ideas!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

 

New Shoes

 

Art Activity

Check out this ingenious art project from our Atelier Art program. 

Egyptian Art is known for its black outlines.   To produce that black outline in this project, first pencil in your design on a large piece of black construction paper.   Next outline that design with white school glue.

After letting the glue dry overnight,

I-E used chalk to fill in each space.  

She than blended the chalk to completely fill in each space. 

E-R used pastels and had great results as well. 

Completed project! 

This was a new technique for us and we were quite pleased with the results. 

What new art projects have you tried out lately?

  

Thanksgiving

 

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection

Tomorrow I will celebrate Thanksgiving with extended family, friends, and strangers. Most likely our feast will start tonight as we finish cooking,  meander through Thursday, and end sometime on Friday.   There will be no formal table set, instead we will browse the buffet filling our plates several times throughout each day and sit where ever there is room-inside or out.   My plates will hold turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potato, gravy, and pumpkin pie as well as lumpia, pancit, ham, turducken, tamales, and candy pie.

It won’t have the Normal Rockwell vibe so many associate with Thanksgiving.   There will not be a formal table set, instead I will eat off of paper plates and sit in a folding chair that sinks into the damp ground  in a slightly catawampus way..  The table will have  a plastic tablecloth, and the person I sit next to could be a distant cousin-in-law or a complete stranger to me.   By the time the prayer is said, many will have already eaten, and many more will have not yet arrived. . 

As I sit outside eating my Mexican, Cajun, Filipino, American mix of food, I’ll take some time to think of the first Thanksgiving, of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians eating outdoors,and of the mix of English style foods and Wampanoag style foods.    I’ll think of the Pilgrims sitting next to strangers that didn’t share a common language, eating mostly  foods that were new to them, but thankful for having any food  to help them survive in their new world.   I’ll think of the Wampanoag Indians willing to embrace a new people, willing to share their knowledge and their foods to a people so different than themselves.

I’ll think of Abraham Lincoln who felt our nation as a whole needed to sit down together and be thankful.   I’ll think of those who have served overseas on Thanksgiving, and of those who ration and do without on a regular basis, but are still thankful for the blessings they do have.    I’ll think of the blessings I enjoy and those who showed me how to be grateful for those blessings.

So this Thanksgiving let’s remember it is not whether or not we eat turkey or gravy that is important, but rather the spirit that we eat it in.   

Week 10

This about sums up our week! 

We had lots planned.

We didn’t follow the plan. 

We kinda took it easy.

We read lots of books, watched lots of educational DVDS, followed some bunny trails, and built a windmill or two. 

And that’s all, folks!