The creatures who creep through our yard....

Living in the woods has been such a revelation to me.

I grew up in a very urban environment...but always felt drawn to nature.

I sought out nature...even in the concrete jungle.

Bike trails, creeks, green spaces.

It just never seemed right.

Now that I live in the woods...I revel in all of it.

Last year I snapped an image of the raccoon tracks in our yard.

You can see it's wee fingers so clearly!

These tracks are the same size as a cat's tracks, but with a distinct difference.

These tracks have thumbs.

Can you see them?

Rabbits are frequent visitors to our property.

We saw them the first year, playing and dancing in our garden.

Yes dancing.

If you've ever seen a rabbit mating display...you'd say they were dancing too.

Since we beat back the brush...we see much less of them.

I don't blame them...we took away their cover.  

(We also have loads of birds of prey in the swamp)

I still giggle when I find rabbit tracks in the snow.

To me, these tracks are easy to identify.

They look like two exclamation points side by side.

Another frequent trail found on our property:

Little rodents scurrying about...we have mice, voles and other small things.

The above tracks stumped me.

I had never seen anything like them.

Not true...at first I thought the three fingers looked like enormous chicken tracks.

Was this so sort of swamp monster bird???

Not quite.

I followed these tracks from tree to tree.

I found the end of the trail and then I realized what they were. 

Beavers!

All of the trees it had passed, I had wrapped in chicken wire.

The trail stopped at an area with 5 freshly gnawed off tree stumps.

You can almost see the trail its tail left in the snow...like a kid dragging a sled behind.

Care to take a guess at what this track is?

Here is another look:

This animal usually travels in packs...but I only saw one solitary trail.

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Next time the snow has freshly fallen...take a walk.

Find a trail and follow it.

Imagine what that animal was doing.

Was it walking?  Searching?

Was it racing away from a predator or finding food?

Here are some tracks identification links:

Wild Things Unlimited - for predators

Wildlife Conflicts Information Website - wide variety of canine, feline and rodentia.

Fishing - feed yer face and have fun too!

There are lots of things to love about fishing...

Sunshine, fresh air, free food...

Our family loves to fish...well...Owen is still trying to find his love of it.

Handsome Husband had a week off in September...so of course...

We went fishing!

Fishing is not just a past time or sport for us.

It is also a way we stock our freezer with protein for the winter.

We aren't hunters (yet).

We always had issues with protein...that is...until we got laying chickens.

But that doesn't mean we'll stop fishing...you have to have variety to your diet!

We still ice fish in the winter...but our luck is pretty poor at best.

Probably my favorite part of fishing...is the lunch break!

There is an awesome island in Desert Lake that is perfect for picnics.

We bring stuff from our pantry and fridge.

Veggies from the garden and home made hummus.

Lemony tuna pasta salad with fresh picked peas.

Tostitos chips and home made salsa.

Freshly cut pineapple we won at a birthday party!

From our camping days, Owen calls it Pirate Island!

(loads of great stories happened here)

Even after a lovely lunch break...some people just can't stop fishing...

Isn't it amazing to be able to feed yourself from a hobby???

How many other hobbies can make such a boast?

(ok except for cake decorating...)

There is another benefit to fishing...but I'll reveal that in a later post...

Seriously!  When I reveal this secret....I'll probably be done as a blogger...

No more secrets to share!

Stay tuned...for the super fantastic gardening secret....

Critters we have known....

This year has been a very eventful year!

It is our third summer at our place in the woods.

We have seen some wildlife...but not like this year!!!

So far we have had muskrat (when the water levels were so high!)

We had a porcupine hanging out in my son's favorite climbing tree..one afternoon...

Now we have TURTLES!

Wait, what?

Yup...turtles.

Less than a week after planting our vegetable garden,

We noticed some rather largish holes.

The holes were randomly placed around the garden.

Too big to be a chipmunk or a snake (we have those too).

No footprints to speak of.

It was a mystery!

Ches suspected it might be a raccoon or skunk looking for grubs.

One morning, Ches happened to notice something...

A snapping turtle!

She was laying eggs in the dirt right next to our chicken coop.

When we made room for the coop, it was in an area that was previously 

riddled with sumacs.  Ches painstakingly dug up all of the sumacs and their crazy long

roots.  It left a big ankle-breaking/twisting hole right outside the main door for the coop.

As we tilled the garden, I moved excess soil over to the hole.

Apparently the dirt was deep enough to lay turtle eggs!

We watched her cruise around the garden...maybe looking for her previously

dug holes to lay more eggs...

What critters have you encountered in the quest to grow your own food?

(And how you dealt with the issue...curious minds want to know!)

Sound off below!

All Natural Holiday Decorations

So this year the holiday spirit has hit me a little early.

Not sure if this condition is due to my interest in Pinterest...

Or my shock at the unbelievable balls on Michael's for their pricing.

Not only that, but everything I liked was for interior use only.

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I live in the country.

I am surrounded by inspiration...and craft supplies!

We had a great day with little wind and the air was seasonably cool but comfortable.

I decided to get trimmers in hand and get crafting!!!

I have seen so many lovely pins on Pinterest.

Birch bark, pine cones, twine, twigs and tons of greenery.

It got me all inspired!

All I had to do was pull together the necessary pieces.

We salvaged some galvanized metal maple sap collecting buckets from my 

In Laws dump site years ago (we were lending a hand and cleaning it up)

We use plastic ones now for sap collecting...so the metal ones are for planting and decorating only.

I grabbed some red dogwood from the edges of the yard close to the swamp.

The front yard has a white pine tree with lower limbs hanging.

I helped them out by lessening their load.

The nearby spruce got a trim too.

Lastly I snagged some dead sumac branches and spray painted them gold.

(I had that leftover from Owen's Halloween costume) 

I planted a rock from the herb garden at the bottom 

of each bucket and then started stuffing it with

all of the gathered materials.

Added some sparkly gold ribbon from my Mother in Law's stash,

 propped them up on an old step ladder we inherited...

and BAM!

Instant, free to me, almost all natural, outdoor, seasonally festive decorations!!!

I saved myself about $75.00

and screw you Michael's!!!

I could not be stopped...

I moved inside!

The above simple centerpiece was formed with

stuff I already had!

The glass Susan, the red plate and the white candle

were all somewhere in the house.

I placed some spruce twigs on the glass Susan.

(Keeps the mess off of the tablecloth too)

Then I balanced the candle and plate on the greenery.

Toss around some scented pine cones from my Mother In Law's bin.

BAM!  Centerpiece for virtually free!

The above swag was what started it all.

I gathered some spruce limbs and tied them with hemp yarn from a previous project.

I grabbed the glue gun and started situating

the pine cones and plastic poinsettias from the bin.

I added some sprigs of sparkly golden

ribbons for flare!

BAM!  Wall decor covered for free!!!

I already had the slender glass vessel full of dogwood year round.

All I had to do, in this case, was add sprigs of greenery from the yard and

a bouquet of plastic poinsettias and white flowers for the Mother In Law bin.

BAM!  Repurposed decoration for virtually nothing!!!

Stay tuned for more free, natural and virtually free decorations

for the festive and seasonal in your home!

What have you been making?

A day in the wild...

Let me start by saying that this post has nothing to do with cooking or gardening...so you'll just have to bear with me.

After 7 weeks away in Ottawa, I really had to come to terms with the amount of time I had just spent away from my family and my home.  One of the things I had no idea I was going to miss was just being in nature.  It was such a simple thing that I missed.

The ability to go somewhere without hearing man made noise.

Fortunately, I am able to drive less than 20 min from my home and find such a place.  Even more fortunate am I that I have wonderful family that invites me to share in this place.

I drive the long country road that takes me to this place on a grey day that was threatening rain.

I feel not just that I have escaped from the city, but that I may have been transported back into the times of the settlers.  This may have been my backyard as an early pioneer in these parts.

Paddling around a secluded lake on a day without work.

Its actually the backyard of the hunting camp that is a part of my husband's family.  This day trip was not about hunting though.  It was about reconnecting.  With family, friends and nature.

The hunting camp started with humble beginnings but now features such luxuries as indoor toilets and a tv.

I was excited to get out on the bikes.  I haven't been on an atv run in a long while.  Its a popular past time with my in-laws...so I get to visit with them while exploring a raw and rudged landscape that swings from bold and beautiful to other-worldy and alien.

The familiar trees were oak and sumac.  Amazing that these trees could grow on top of not much more than rock.  The ground cover plants started to take on alien life forms.

Down a pine-needle filled pathway we discovered the gateway

to Scanlon Lake (or as some maps say Sexton Lake). 

The lake was misty and quiet.  Like glass laid in front of the rocks at the shoreline.  I could picture native gatherers crossing this body of water in stealthy canoes.  

We took our lunch break and enjoyed the peaceful quiet.   I could image early settlers fishing in small boats or playing one of the first recorded games of hockey. 

This was a relative of mine back in the early 1900's (picture actually taken in the Tweed area I believe).

I could picture this as my home.  I could be a hunter/gatherer and live in this land.  My mind began to race with the possibilities.  Is there enough in this rocky area to survive?  Our tour pressed on and my eyes were trying to spot the possibilities...

I suddenly wished I had spent the last 7 weeks reading Steve Brill's book call "Identifying & Harvesting Edible & Medicinal Plants in Wild (and not so wild) Places"...as I have no idea what these berries were.  They had a kind of spike on their leaf...so I took the hint and moved on.  It was on the verge of rain all afternoon...so I was glad that I HADN'T brought the book with me.

Mushrooms are another thing I know virtually nothing about...I can spot a puffball and a morel with confidence, but that is where I draw the line.  These white suckers were enormous!  Probably could have made a meal out of each of them....but I was smart enough to take pictures now and do the research later.

One of the great things about this property is the personal history.  There is a monument built to my mother-in-law's parents Chester and Sarah.  It represents a spectacular view of the property and a connection to nature that is being passed down through the generations.  Owen is the next family member in our wee family that has yet to see the monument. 

On the plaque is the phrase "Some people go their whole lives, without seeing anything like this".  A pause to reflect how true that statement really is.

At what felt like the peak of a mountain, the landscape started to feel alien.  The groundcover plants looked like they should have been grown in an aquarium.  The textures of these plants were spectacular!  Spikey stars with bright orange mushrooms erupting from them. 

Like coral but on the surface of a rock! 

Wild strawberries and their runners in action.

Moss that looks like shag carpeting...

Juniper berries by the bucketload...but not quite ripe enough.

Moss that appears to form little higways aross the rocks...

I could imagine pioneer beaver trappers traversing through land like this to make their wages.

The rocks suddenly changed the colour of the landscape!

We could see the rain coming in the distance and decided to head on back to the camp. 

I had one last commune with the landscape before it was time to head back to my home in cottage country.  My mind was filled with thoughts of early settler life, getting back to basics and reading that encyclopedia by Steve Brill.  I vow to know more edible plants the next time I get invited back to the hunting camp.

What do you do to escape the urban sprawl and get back in touch with our natural selves?

On the hunt for Sugar Maples...the beginning of a series...

We spent a magical afternoon in the woods this past weekend.  The weather was pretty crappy out, but after a couple of days inside, I really need to get in touch with nature again.  Fall weather is great, but you get some patches of wet, damp weather that make you want to watch movies all day.

I was determined not to let the wind and rain get the better of us.

The trees were very welcoming.  They provided shelter from the wind and rain.  It's like they wanted us to be there that day.  We came armed with snacks, hot chocolate in a thermos and a book called "The Backyard Homestead" edited by Carleen Madigan.  We borrowed this book from a friend and it has yet to make its way home to its owner.  Its a fantastic book about all the things you can grow and provide for your family on as little as a 1/4 of an acre of land!  There is a chapter in this book about how to tap your own maple syrup.  While we have never done this in the past (or even known anyone who has done it), we thought "why not us?".

Last spring we aided my Hubbie's parents in cleaning up a former dump on their property.  People had just pitched all sorts of lovelies into the woods behind their home.  We took the whole family on clean up day and actually had a blast.  It was like a treasure hunt, a rummage pile, a garbage dump and a historical lesson all wrapped up into one day.  We found everything from a car, appliances, old hub caps and MAPLE SYRUP TAPPING BUCKETS! 

We went hunting for sugar maple trees in these woods this past weekend.  Hubbie and I have talked for years about getting into his parent's woods and marking which trees we could tap.   Since we've never done this before, we were glad to have the book with us as a sort of guide.  It was almost as if the forest wanted us to find the right trees...  

They were already marked!

We marked them again anyhow...just to make sure which ones WE were going to tap.  Over a dozen potential tapping treese were marked that day.

The kids had a blast in the woods.  They too were having some much needed outside time (and it was a lot safer since we'd cleared out a lot of the hazards last year).

The colours on the forest floor were amazing.  The book told us all about the right colour of leaf to look for...so you didn't tap the wrong kind of maple tree.  Pink to orange and then yellow, those were the leaf colours we needed to find for sugar maple trees.  Small leaves in the shape of our Canadian flag leaf...not the jagged edges of the red maple nor the giant leaves of the Norway maple.

Hubbie went up on a hill to mark some more maples.

The boys were very much at home here in the woods. 

They looked like they could have stayed outside all day. 

A look up into the tree tops.  It was beautiful even though it was cloudy.

It was great to let the kids go on their own adventures in the woods.

Even if it was only for a short while before they came running back to Mum.

We'll see how our little experiement turns out this spring.  Stay tuned for follow up posts about this!  This is our first year and we just might not get this right.  Fingers crossed it all works out...but thats what this blog is all about.   Testing those things that books write about.  Passing or failing...but at least trying.  Gaining a better appreciation for things that come all too easily these days.

Doing it together as a family.