Hiking at 2 Feet Above Sea Level in South Jacksonville Florida

 

If you are driving south on I-95 and want a short hike close to the Interstate, Julington-Durbin Preserve is a great stop.  Exit 335 will take you to gas, food, lodging and a 1 mile trip through a diverse look at inland natural Florida.

Start out in a Stand of planted pine forest, a common site all over the Central and Northern portion of the state.

 

 Pines, cedars and wildflowers line an open portion of the trail.

 "1 Day I Will ... "

 

 

Halfway down the trail, the environment changes.  No more sand and only a few pines.

 

 

The Wetlands in the second mile are full of different but still facinating. 

 

 

 

On one day we were searching for fungi.

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn't resist photos of the yellow, lavendars, butterflies and other insects. 

Many were too fast for our camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 These white flowers smelled so very sweet, there was endlessly perfumed air.

 

 

 

 

A walk worth taking, even wtih little legs.

 

The walk, is a 2 mile round trip from the parking area to the creek and back. 

 

Trail Map for Julington - Durbin Preserve

 

 

Little Women Second Year Gardening

April's Gardening in Fall.

Although much of the lesson draws from springtime themes and garden plants, we are choosing to complete it during the first of a few cooler months in our area.  Not everyone may reguard the mid to upper 80's as cool, but it seems cooler than April will. 

Piety is the Virtue ...  patiently, consistency tending the garden would be a lovely expression to show reverence to the Lord, a reflection of our Lady's gracious manners.

What a boy takes pictures of ....

The clouds because they looked amazing from a hill.

A cattle water station because there was mud.

The rusted chain just looked so old.

Looking back at where he had been.

Looking at how he made the earth look different just by being here.

Bluets at Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The tiniest packages sparkle at 6,643 feet above sea level at Clingmans Dome...

 The dandelion shows off the perky yellow centers of the bluets as well as their petite size.

Bluet Confetti amid the rocks, moss and lichen.

...

and then you turn around for a long distance view to Fontana Lake and up to the next ridge.

 You will of course note that we did not make it far

from the parking lot. 

The hour walk would have put us halfway up at closing.

Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Nantahala National Forest NC

First off, Joyce Kilmer was not a woman.  Joyce Kilmer is actually "Alfred Joyce Kilmer" who died while serving in World War I.  He is known as a soldier and poet. 

"The text stated below is the original written by Kilmer.

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree."

Wikipedia

The Kilmer-Slickrock Wildreness contains the largest tract of old growth forest east of the Mississippi River.

It was well worth the 2 mile hike to see the rare old growth cove hardwoods at the memorial. 

From the tallest of the Tulip poplars to the tiny partridgeberries on the forest floor, every direction held beauty, but no poems to compete with "Trees".

Mountain Laurel in Brasstown North Carolina Mountains

 When we first arrived in North Carolina, the buds were getting ready to pop open, the children thought they looked like popped balloons. These first three are only a few of many showers of blossoms over the Brasstown Creek at The Brasstown Creek House.

 White Moutain Laurel at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard, North Carolina

 Pink Moutain Laurel at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard, North Carolina

Brasstown Creek House - Visiting Western North Carolina

thebrasstowncreekhouse.com

Loved this vacation home.  It was fantastic, simple, clean open floor plan with wood floors and plenty of closets and cabinets.  The setting is wonderful, with the creek right outside the three sets of french doors, tumbling over rocks you can see between beech, rhododendrons and mountain laurel.  The doors are great for blocking out the creek if you don't want to hear it too! 

For miles you can amble along paths through pasture, hemlock woods or along two different creeks. Here's one of the pastures filled with buttercups. 

The true treasure in staying at the Brasstown Creek House were the hosts. 

You must be very careful not to jump into buying a house next door, not for this gorgeous scenery,

but to simply be able to visit more

with the owners, Bass and Sandra Hyatt. 

Pictures don't do it justice, and the feeling of welcome is complete.

We spent time visiting the John Campbell Folk School, walking the Chatuge Lake and Dam, Ducktown Copper Mine and traveling a bit afar.

St Augustine Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program this Summer

Maritime History and Sailing

Children will learn all the wonders of maritime history combined with the art of sailing. Safety, weather, wind directions, navigation, maritime communication, boat styles and rigging, marine ecology, as well as the “how’s and how not to’s for safe sailing.

Weekly Sessions from June 11^th – August 6^th

Ages 6 – 10

9:00 am –3:00 pm

$195 includes Associate Yacht Club membership for week attending

^{Registration: Friday, May 18th & 25th4:00 – 6:00 pm * Saturday,June 2nd9:00 – 11:00 am * Online anytime}

^{St Augustine Yacht Club,, 442 Ocean Vista Drive (across from the Lighthouse)}

^{Contact us:904-687-4625 * www.sayc2000.com * jrsailing@sayc2000.com}

Have a great day!

Wendy Thomson

Certified US Sailing Instructor

904-687-4625

We can't control the direction of the wind, but we can adjust the sails...

Times Tales Deluxe

We have been doing fairly well with multiplication and division, but I think that with math ... More is More!  So, when I cam across the Times Tales at our local thrift store (or "The Addiction" as my best friend calls it) I couldn't help but try it!

We sat at a local taco bar and all three kids got to do the program, as promised, in an hour. And they Liked It!

Little Caterpillars Curled in a Leaf

They roll themselves in the edge of the bean leaves, all tucked in, munching away.

They are almost too cute to pick off. 

I said almost ... hasta la vista, babies.

(By the way, can you see that lucious Florida soil clinging to the leaf?)

Multiplication for Active Little Bodies

We found that we sometimes got confused about the order of steps in longer multiplication problems. It wasn't the numbers that confused them, but the pattern of solving it.  So, we picked our sidewalk chalk and I made a numberless problem on the concrete.  The kids then hopped the pattern when I told them where to go.   Here's what it looked like.

 The colors are a little difficult to see, but they coordinate with the answer.

Not every adult that saw this was impressed, but they aren't teaching this to my bouncy children.

Blooming in Northeast Florida today

First the Roses .... finally roses that I can not kill.  

 These are mostly Knockout (c) or (tm) or something.

The other are Simplicity pink (c) (tm) .... so why no heritage varieties? Because mine died.

The last of the amarillis are still stunning.

This is a Betony flower spike that shot up through the amarylis.

Bush Bean Blossom

Pea Flower

Tomato