Point Lobos; The Other Carmel

When I think of Carmel I think fancy shops and spendy real estate. This is the reason the real estate is so spendy: Natural, Breath-taking Beauty. The boys and I went with our homeschool group to Point Lobos a couple Fridays ago. It's a natural reserve located an hour and fifteen minutes south of us, in Carmel. Wow. It was a spectacular day weather-wise, and we were so happy to be in such a beautiful location with wonderful docents and abundant natural wonders. We saw an otter and seal sunning themselves side by side, apparently this is highly unusual, the seals usually chase away the otters. This is also an historically significant place for the Native American Ohlone population, with evidence of centuries of use and civilization long before the Europeans arrived. There is an abundance of poison oak here - the Ohlone people can eat it like salad and it has no ill effects on them!

If you live nearby I highly recommend a visit. It's easy hiking if you've got really little kids and there is a lot to observe and learn. There is so much to see, we just scratched the surface with the tour we went on. Bring your camera, sunscreen and lunch! It's worth the drive.

{this moment}

a friday ritual: a single moment to savor and share.

inspired by soulemama.com

::Grateful::

I am grateful for:
:: campfires in the backyard
:: friends and family
:: the woods
:: building things
:: bright blue eyes
:: dark brown eyes
:: the united laughter of brothers
:: new music
:: whoopie pies!
:: beach pebbles

Makers Meet: Paper Making

For our first Makers Meet about three Fridays ago we made paper. We had been expecting three families and ended up with one - thankfully. It was a lot to prepare for and the containers I had for the pulp turned out to be not big enough, so we just had one pulp container going. It was a rainy day so we were inside the studio and the sun wasn't available to dry our papers - we used a toaster oven. We put seeds into some of it, made balls with some to create beads (or blow dart ammunition in my house). We got the lovely green and blue colors by adding the "grass" from our Easter baskets to newspaper. All and all I thought it was a fun day of creating for me, and after our guests left even Coleman gave paper making a shot! He came in and out of the studio to talk and observe, and after seeing the results wanted to give it a try. Max had absolutely no desire to give it a shot, maybe next time.

To make paper at home all you need is a blender, scrap paper, water, a rectangular plastic bucket, a picture frame with a screen stretched onto it. You probably have all these things already - I got a roll of screen at the hardware store for $6.00 and some dollar store frames. This is a good project for outside because it can be messy. I used this YouTube video for a refresher course for myself, it's pretty straight forward. You should give it a try!

Tweet Tweet: Band-tailed Pigeon Rescue!

One Thursday morning on our way to school Max and I found a Band-tailed Pigeon. A Sharp-shinned Hawk (we think) was on top of it as we drove down the road. The hawk flew away as we drove near and the pigeon walked under our stopped car. What to do? I was driving away, thinking nature would take its course...but Max had other ideas. Specifically a Rescue - we just couldn't leave it there, he said. We parked the car, took our shoes off, rolled our pants up - because it had walked through a deep puddle and crawled under some thorn branches trying to find protection, or a place to heal or die - who knows?

When I got home I put the pigeon in a box to heal up to be released at some point. Chris kept an eye on her for a while in his office. After a rest, some chicken scratch and minimal fuss she just flew away. Back in the direction of the Forest of Nisene Marks, near Medicine Buddha she went.

Bird things in our area:
Santa Cruz Bird Club
Birding Adventures in Santa Cruz