eagle in snow

everyday gift: a majestic visitor in a snow storm

fungus fascination

it was a hot afternoon and i was walking the path next to the creek. the shade felt good. all around me were the dark greens of the trees and brush, the black earth underfoot, and the tall dark brown trunks of the trees, with dappled sunlight peeking through the leaves. and then, across the creek, i saw an explosion of color. orange.

an old fallen tree slanted down the steep bank and dipped into the water below. it hosted a beautiful colony of lichen in full bloom, so bright and unexpected that it took my breath away. i hiked back to the house to get the camera.

i had to overcome mud, thorns, poison ivy, and mosquitoes, but i managed to get in a good position on the other side of the creek to photograph the phenomenon. i am so glad i went to the trouble, because a week later, when i returned to sight, the lichen had faded. it was not nearly as stunning as it had been.

God gives beauty and color in such unexpected places. watch for it!

everyday gift: unexpected color

the hope of a spring yet to come

autumn's overnight frost has ushered in the end of summer.

what was once green and lush, now turns brown and brittle.

the milkweed pods look like death shrouds,

but as it splits open it reveals something quite opposite of death;

a hundred seeds spill out with wings that will carry them on the wind.

seeds that carry the hope of new life and a spring yet to come.

everyday gift: beauty in a milkweed pod

jack-in-the-pulpit

we have a nice patch of jack-in-the-pulpits

in our woods along our path.

a jack-in-the-pulpit pushing up from its winter resting place

some flowers have deep purple markings inside. these are the seed making flowers. the pale green flowers only produce pollen which the insects carry to the other flowers. in the fall a spike of scarlet seeds will form. i have seen this before, not knowing what it was. i will be looking for them come october.

everyday gift: another wildflower for my nature almanac :o)

happy mother's day!

everyday gift: a mother's love

a morning walk

since the weather has turned warmer, i have been taking a morning walk through our woods, even on a morning like today with a light rain falling. it is amazing how fast spring changes things from day to day. the flowers blooming yesterday are gone, but others have jumped up to replace them. i have found beauty at every turn, and not just in the wildflowers. i wish you could be with me to hike on our paths. until then, i will share my walk with you in pictures.

S discovered "raccoon tree" last year. we now pay him a visit every time we pass by. i am sure he wonders why we must wake him from his comfortable nap!

this tree fungus remind me of a sunrise. the colors and lines are so beautiful.

i enjoyed listening to this wild turkey this morning! he was making quite a racket gobbling to his girl friends. mark has seen a few turkeys around, but this is the first one that i have spotted. mark put a baby monitor out on the deck so we can listen to the birds sing (or gobble, as the case may be) in the morning when it is still too cool to open the windows.

how's that for re-purposing the baby monitor! *smile*

such diversity and uniqueness in nature!

at first glance the woods seem dreary and brown, but i found such beauty there this morning.
these oak leaves look as if they have been dipped in bronze.

watch your step!

i love the perfect geometry in this little snail.

the morning drizzle left sparkling jewels on the clover.

everyday gift: seeing God's perfect creativity and beauty in nature

easter reflections

on the floor of the woods, everything is brown. the leaves that fell in the autumn are covering the black earth, crumbling and returning to the soil. fallen branches are decaying...
...but out of this death, a shoot springs up. a single green leaf wraps around a stem, almost like a shroud, but instead of holding a corpse, it holds new life, a single white bud. it makes me think of the shroud of Jesus, wrapped around his crucified body, but instead of keeping death, it brought forth new life when He was raised on easter! praise God for his resurrection power that raised the Son from the dead and can breathe new life into a sinner's heart, like mine.

...just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:4b

Bloodroot

Sanguinaria candadensis

everyday gift: new life springing up in a dead heart because of Jesus

snow trillium

the other night we went crunching through the blanket of leaves in the woods. mark was planting B's christmas tree (she insisted on having a LIVE tree in her room at christmas in protest to our new artificial tree. her dad was a softy and bought her the tree. and now it is planted on the edge of the woods. i hope it makes it, but it is not looking too good right now). anyway, i tagged along and was looking for birds and critters when i noticed little patches of white flowers blooming...

i recognized the three leaf and petal pattern as trillium, but it was not the prairie trillium that i have commonly seen. that plant has a brownish red flower, is much taller, and blooms later in spring.

excited by my sighting, i did some google research. i found the best information on the illinois wildflower website. there i learned that its latin name is trillium nivale and it is commonly called snow trillium because it blooms so early in the spring when there is often still snow on the ground. according to the distribution map, it does not even grow in our county or the surrounding counties; other places in illinois it is uncommon. it is considered an "indicator species of high quality upland woods." i was pleased to read this about our little woodland home. :o)

everyday gift: a discovery

mark's trail cam

we have all been enjoying mark's trail cam! it gives us the chance to see the more elusive creatures that call our woods home. the deer are not hard to spot at dusk around here, but those bucks are very suspicious of people and keep hidden.
we have a running list of animals we have seen:
deer (does and bucks), fox, raccoon, rabbit, neighbor's dog...

mark and B hiking out to pick up the trail cam.
they are the wildest animals we have captured on film to date. :o)

mark has his eye on this buck.
he is torn between enjoying his presence in our woods,
and wanting him as a hunter's prize.

here is a little red fox.

we have seen his tracks and found his deserted den,
but he keeps himself out of sight.
i do hope he stays away from my chicken coop!


a few other nature highlights from past few months...

this winter we have enjoyed watching eagles soar over our farm.
this is the best of my attempts to photograph them.
i need a bigger lens and a tripod to get a better shot.

tracks in the snow...skunk, i think

coon tracks

everyday gift: our little woodland creatures

got mud?

ah, yes. all signs of spring are welcome, even if it is mud.
and, boy, have we got MUD!

i can't wait to get that grass planted!

two pheasant roosters strolling along the treeline.
i took this picture from the deck, they are a little too far away for my camera.
but we were so excited to see them that i wanted to include this picture.

an interesting fungus amongus in the wet leaves.

the path through the trees opens up into a clearing. the boys are tossing a football around and i am trying hard to capture the moment in a photograph, but they are moving too fast.

time is moving too fast. i remember the day each of them was born as if it were yesterday. and now they are big, and confident, and exploring their worlds, and becoming more independent everyday.
*sigh* if only i really could capture these moments.

out for a little hike, trying to walk off the cabin fever we've had for the past few months and soak in the warmer temperatures. the breeze has the feel of spring. the birds can feel it, too, and they are announcing spring's arrival from the tree tops! we saw a dozen robins the other day and a blue bird. it is time to clean out the bird houses and make way for the new nests.

this is a ramp that the guys put up on a hill for sledding. now that the snow is gone we have discovered that it has become a busy little community!

underneath we found some little baby mice.
better way out here in the field than my kitchen!

everyday gift: a family walk after dinner

stopping by woods...

flocked trees

whose woods are these,

i think know,

his house is in the village though.

he will not see me stopping here

to watch his woods fill up with snow...

a view of the snowy landscape

on the heels of a long Christmas break from school, the kids got another day off last week because of snow. although i am already wishing for spring, i can not help but marvel in this winter wonderland. i love how quiet it is after the snowfall, the trees all trimmed in white, the pastures unmarked by footprints.

"you go first." "no, you go." "i'm not goin' out there!"

what are ya? chicken?!

a view of the back from the creek

the pasture gate

our little junco friend.

he comes frequently to our feeder along with his many friends.

everyday gift: a walk in the snow