Autumn Wood's Ramble

I was visiting with my sister's family at Macgregor last weekend.  Glad we took the time for a walk in the nature trail along the river.  I love the area.  It reminds me of the woods and the river of my childhood.  (now this makes me sound ancient!)

Following are pictures I took along the way.  They are all Blackberry pictures; and with the help of picnik boosted to the gorgeous colours we really got to enjoy!

White Mud River

Ha!  Yes, this pic was boosted, but lovely none-the-less.

 Another view of the river.

 Fallen leaves on the ground.

More.

The groomed path through the woods.  I would have liked to take the path less walked; through the woods, carving my own way.  But I guess this way, everything else is left undisturbed. 

I have been told that this portion of the walk is still native grasslands -- impressive if so!

 And these two pics are originals -- I didn't change the colouring.  The fungi covered logs were so beautiful as is.

Moss covered log -- if it inspires you, then maybe this will also.

I should like to try something of the sort. 

http://veerle.duoh.com/modernhomedesign/article/moss_carpet_for_your_bathroom

I should like to try something of the sort. 

Wordless Wednesday

Card-making

I managed to do a bit of crafting last evening.  Wanted to try some new stamps, and since yesterday was world card-making day (bet you didn't know!!) there were challenges everywhere.  Stamp TV had one on creating mini note-cards so I used those dimensions for my cards.  I needed to get thank-you notes done anyway, so it was fun to do them with a challenge.  

I liked working with this size and will definitely use it again.

Week-end

I have had two full days!  Yesterday was really busy and I accomplished a lot.  I did some fall-cleaning, washed windows, picked late herbs (chickweed and calendula) before it's too late, and did odd-jobs around the house.  

Today we did the Terry Fox run for cancer -- almost 10 km and I am done for!  We had a great day for the run, the weather was great; sun was shining, and the fall scenery was gorgeous.  What a nice way to get out and actually see the area.  Walking with friends and seeing everyone participate adds to the experience.  Enjoy the pics!  (blackberry only)  

We live in pot-hole country as you can see.  The sloughs add variety to our landscape.  

The following area is protected nesting habitat by Ducks Unlimited.  It is not accessible from April to August and after that only on foot.  (as the sign says!)

An abandoned homestead -- what a lovely setting!

We did not get beautiful fall colours this year.  The leaves wilted and fell off on most trees.  The outstanding coloured trees are rare.

There was a tractor and trailer for children and anyone else who wanted a bit of a lift; and a drink and snack offered half-way through was welcome.

What a great way to spend a fine Sunday afternoon!  Have a nice next week!

Elizabeth Gaskell -- author

Click on the above link to join a blog hop on Elizabeth Gaskell, author of North and South, and Wives and Daughters.  Read about her works and life.  Also find links to various resources on the web.

Now if only I had time to spare to really delve into these links.  I should like that -- but no...I have a new SMARTboard to get to know and a visit from the independent school director early next week!

New Books

New books in the classroom!  I brought them in, put them down, and the kids were there.  They enjoy going through them as much as I like going through the tables at the Rotary book sale in Brandon.  There was a great variety of books this year.

I liked how the two boys were so into the non-fiction book on building bird houses.  Even the girls kept coming closer for a look!  One kindergartener found a spot under the table near the books to browse and 'read'.  The book-loving readers found one they liked and drew back to a quieter place with it.

I used to go through the books and pull out the good read-alouds.  Not anymore.  They now pick and read the books themselves if they see it before I read it to them -- otherwise they will not.  So I get better mileage out of them this way!

Hi all!

Well I'm still in a back-to-school mode, and from past experiences this will be going on for a few more weeks.  I settle in when the kids do.  Once routines have been established and we have all fallen into our daily schedule, the school day becomes easier for us all.

I have 10 students again this year from k-3.  We started our year with a general theme on ladybugs.  In math, we have done math facts, odd and even numbers with them, and forward and backward counting.  Next week we will be doing doubles, doubles plus 1 and 2 and hopefully at some time also cover the subtraction strategies that go with them.

I also have an activity set with ladybugs which comes from Spectrum Math.  I got it last year and mislaid pieces of it so I couldn't use it.  That is actually what brought on my theme.  I found the missing pieces when doing the big clean up and planning began.

We now have a ladybug farm in our class which is interesting to watch, even for me.  Still, I can't wait to set the poor critters free.  Though I might be convinced to keep them and see if they actually hibernate.

This site has among other great math activities, a set themed around ladybugs.

http://www.mathwire.com/themes/themelb.html

I found this glyph activity there.

Of course there's always Eric Carle's The Grouchy Ladybug, which I used to introduce the theme.  It gives a good intro to ladybugs and aphids.  Interestingly after searching for some ladybugs for a few days, it was the students who found many on aphid infested Canada thistle.

Other then school, I have been busy gathering herbs for tea and for winter projects.  Hopefully I will still be able to gather chickweed for salves and more stinging nettle for our tea supply.

Seen from left to right, ground ivy, yarrow, anise hyssop, and field mint.  Except for the ground ivy which is taking over the grass in our backyard, these are picked in the fields.

Close up view of the anise hyssop.

Flower gardening is just about over for the year.  I pulled out the annuals yesterday.  After a few mild frosts they aren't too pretty.  Other than bulbs to dig out to over-winter and  pots to clean up, we are done with the yard for this year.  These are probably the only showy plants left;

Joe Pye weed which is always gorgeous,

and a white dahlia, new for this year and so pretty.