Mar 14 2022

Identifying Maple Trees by Their Bark and Branches in Winter [updated]

Ferrin Brook Farm

We like to plan out the maple tapping around Valentine’s Day.  For anyone new to sugaring on their land, the first step is knowing which trees are good maples for tapping.  If you did not identify them in the Summer when the iconic maple leaves were easy to spot, don’t fret.  It is absolutely possible to ID the maples on your land in winter so you can make your own syrup.

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Dec 1 2018

DNA and the Beanstalk

Country Inspiration

One thing I miss in our current condo is having a garden. I even miss the fall clean-up. I remember trying to untangle the climbing bean stalks from the poles and trellis I had set up for their growth. The beans stalks grew round and round the poles and each other, then onto anything nearby including the tomatoes. The plants had kept us in fresh green beans almost until first frost. They grew so dramatically high that if I had been able to install a two or three story lattice work they would have climbed to the top. As it was, I had to use a step ladder to pick the topmost.

And all this growth from a few little bean seeds. How did those seeds know to climb when my bush beans didn’t? How did they know they weren’t soy beans? How could they climb so high? My climbing…

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Sep 30 2016

Carrier Pigeon

A fun poem about pigeons.

Violet Nesdoly / poems

carrier-pigeon-illus

Carrier Pigeon

Bird Lady has tossed her breads.
Clay pigeons, come leave your beds
time to stuff stool pigeon heads!

Dockyard pigeons, homing too
from bridge girders and the zoo
Pigeon Forgers, drop by, do!

Pigeon-chested, pigeon-toed
pigeon-heated by the road…
full tums all—that is the goad.

© 2016 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)

Poetry Friday regulars will recognize the Jane Yolen-invented form of this ditty (a septercet: seven syllable lines, three lines to a stanza, any number of stanzas), my attempt to rise to this month’s challenge at Michelle Barnes blog Today’s Little Ditty.

(If you’re curious about what some of these pigeony figures of speech mean, check HERE.)

And now, I’m soon off to Bellingham and Poetry Camp! Hubby and I even did a reconnaissance trip a few weeks ago when I needed some software that was only available south of the border. On…

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Sep 24 2016

Advice from a Tree

trail

Advice from a Tree (R) by Ilan Shamir


Stand Tall and proud
Sink your roots into the earth
Be content with your natural beauty
Go out on a limb
Drink plenty of water
Think long term
Enjoy the view!

 www.yourtruenature.com

 

Front cover of Trees of the Book - Learning from God's Creation

Front cover of Trees of the Book – Learning from God’s Creation

Jul 21 2016

Woodland Therapy?

Trees of the Book – Learning from God’s Creation highlights a couple of the trees mentioned here.

Country Inspiration

A recent article in the Globe and Mail confirms the value of forest therapy. Now,Sugar Maple that’s a value I’ve always treasured, but when I express something similar, folks look at me strangely. I can see in their eyes the query, “Are you some kind of weird woodsy throwback? What about all the mosquitoes? Just tell me where to find the nearest Starbucks.” Ah, but wait.

Cassandra Szklarslo writes about “the forest-bathing movement…which is a cornerstone of preventive health care in Japan.” Forest-bathing?? Weird. The article explains that they’re not talking about bathing in water but “immersing SummerWalkEricDukeoneself in the healing properties of trees.…A walk in the woods can be great for boosting your mood.…A burgeoning group of nature enthusiasts say it can do much more—including strengthen immunity, lower blood pressure, increase focus, and ultimately lower health-care costs if done regularly.”

Data collected in Japan and Korea found that “forest-bathers” had…

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Apr 16 2016

Echoes full of knowing (NPM ’16-Day 14)

Bats are talked about in the Bible in Leviticus 11:13-19 and also Isaiah 2:20. Adam’s Animals offers 6 fascinating facts about the bat on page 14.

Violet Nesdoly / poems

Bats-night Graphic: pixabay.com

Echoes full of knowing

I look a lot like little mouse
little mouse with wings.
At dark leave attic of your house
to hunt for creepy things.

I swoop and swirl, dive and glide
but hardly use my sight,
prefer in dim moon-shade to hide
while scrounging food at night.

I have the rare ability
to somehow find my way
with sound waves and agility,
don’t need the light of day.

Sing little notes so high and fast
you humans cannot hear them.
Know when mosquitoes, moths fly past,
with my sharp teeth I spear them.

My little songs come back to me
in echoes full of knowing.
My ears and brain like eyes, you see
that tell me where I’m going.

© 2016 by Violet Nesdoly (All rights reserved)

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This month at the blog Today’s Little Ditty,  guest poet Marilyn Singer’s challenge is to write…

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Mar 23 2016

Turtle Craft by Janis Cox

Torn Tadeo Turtle by Janis Cox

Torn Tadeo Turtle by Janis Cox

Turtle Craft

Janis Cox is the illustrator of Adam’s Animals – Fun Facts About God’s Creation. She is also an author, watercolour artist, wife, mother and grandma — but most of all she’s a faithful follower of Jesus. She’s been retired from teaching for over 15 years but finds herself back into her passion of working with children.

Janis created the craft in the photo above. Janis writes, “This is a craft that I had my children do at school in art lessons. It is great for dexterity, colour, and placement of objects. This week I am showing you how to make a picture called Torn Tadeo Turtle. Of course this can be extended for any picture.”

Click here to learn step-by-step directions at her blog.