Today I discovered this interesting article from National Wildlife Federation magazine called Top Spring Birding Spots. Yes, Spring has sprung –even if Reno is expecting snow tomorrow! Closer to home — We had fun this weekend watching the quail and house finches at the bird feeders. The cottontail bunny family was active, too. The baby is so cute! Kids love to look for birds. They learn so quickly what to look for, too! I have other blogs on this subject. Check here.
This blog is for Sharon! I found a big leathery cactus leaf in the courtyard of our condo building several years ago and stuck it in some dirt to see if it would grow. It did! It is almost as tall as I am. It is just amazing with it’s huge night-only blossoms though! I never knew its name, though, until Sharon identified it for me. Here are some of my July 2009 photos:
That’s a quarter being held next to the blossom!
Here are 3 of them together.
Here’s how the blossoms twist shut:
Here is a list of videos on youtube of this amazing flower.
I’m always game to stick various (live, not dead) leaves and twigs into dirt to see if they’ll grow. I’ve been lucky to start many of my plants that way! It would be a fun “long-term” experiment to involve kids with – it is certainly a lesson in patience and nurturing, too!
Day of the Young Child: FREE DAY
Description: The Museum is free to everyone all day and evening! They are open from 9am-8pm to celebrate Day of the Young Child. This year’s theme is Early Years are Learning Years.
A performance from Puppets with Penny, as well as activities like creating instruments, Storytimes and more round out the day. Partners include Children’s Book Bank, Child Care Resource and Referral of Mult. Col. and OSU. (Ratio of adult to child is 1:5)
Target Corporation has extended Target Free First Friday Nights to opening the Museum from 4pm-8pm every first Friday of the month! Thanks Target!
The Orange County Register has the first articles that I’ve seen this year on the Grunion Run! Samantha Gowan’s blog article was posted on March 11th. Laylan Connelly’s blog article was posted March 29th. Here is a list of California Beaches where you might find the little spawning fish! You can also check out my other blogs for more Grunion information or the http://www.grunion.org site. Play this cute video of 5 year old Emily explaining what a grunion run is! The page has both windows and apple versions.
Sandra Barrera’s article ‘Ecosystems’ prove it’s a small world after all in the 3/28/10 Sunday Long Beach Press-Telegram identifies a good exhibit to take the kids to go see. The exhibit has eight Zones – each one illustrates a different ecological principle. The Ecosystems exhibit just opened on March 25th. Here’s the Press Release. It is at the California Science Center at 700 Exposition Park Drive in Los Angeles and open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. It is suggested to get reservations for the new exhibit ahead of time.
Ecosystems Info: Admission to Ecosystems exhibits is free; however, to provide a quality guest experience, entry will be regulated with advance reservations which can be acquired online, by phone or in person at the Box Office. A service or convenience fee will apply. There will also be a line for those who do not make an advance reservation. Priority entry to Ecosystems will be available with an IMAX ticket purchase or for Science Center members. For details, visit the California Science Center website at www.californiasciencecenter.org or phone (213) 744-2019.
Last time we flew to/from Portland International Airport I thoroughly enjoyed the aerial photography display of Portland by various photographers. I jotted down the websites of two of the photographers whose work I really admired before we had to run to our plane.
The second one is Daniel Root. His on-line http://www.danielrootphotography.com/portfolio.html portfolio is very different from his work on display at the airport in that it is totally people oriented. My favorite photo is in the People portfolio and it is the one of the grandfather and child having great fun on the beach. It is a wonderful portrait! I do wish he would add a portfolio of his airport work as well. Ha! I love googling! I found his blog which has some of his work that was at the airport! Yes! See the rest of his blog here!
Other exhibitors I found by googling:
I found Jon Ferrey’s work on his Facebook page. Here’s the photo gallery of his shots. I especially like the plane shadow and the highway interchange photos.
Here is an article about the exhibit on http://www.pmpnonline.com/portlandphotogalleries.htm – From your toolbar click edit, find and paste in: “The Sky’s the Limit” Aviation Photographs at Portland International Airport – That should get you to the blog about it quickly.
The Sky’s the Limit: Photographs of Aviation, Air Travel and Airports
An exhibition of photographs by regional artists with an aviation theme.
Through July, 2010
Concourse A at Portland International Airport
(Concourse A is beyond security and access is available to ticketed passengers only).
Adventures in Nature! We got a card in the mail announcing this year’s summer camps at the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits and at the Natural History Museum of LA County. The camps are for students entering Kindergarten through 8th grade. Check www.nhm.org/summercamp. Adventures in Nature Summer Day Camp will be offered from July 5, 2010 to August 27, 2010. All classes are full day from 9 am to 3 pm. Registration begins April 1, 2010. To view classes and register please log on to www.nhm.org/register. For more information you may also contact the museum at (213) 763-ED4U (3348).
Each of the eight weeks has a single focus topic of exploration!
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits:
Unearthing LA’s Past
July 5-9 at the La Brea Tar Pits
grades 1-6
Tar Pit Science
July 12-17 at the La Brea Tar Pits
grades 1-6
PELLA — Central College was awarded a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for its newly constructed education, psychology and communication studies building, which opened this past fall. The building received 55 out of 69 possible credits for incorporating environmentally friendly building design and construction practices. Read more by clicking on the news release!!
Today I read my Sunset Magazine from cover to cover. Got on-line to hopefully find the First Person article by Anne Lamott but instead I found the article on Portland’s Chinatown in Spring with all the cherry blossoms blooming: Portland day trip: Old Town Chinatown. Sounds like great fun. I do love Portland.
Portland is very kid and family friendly. This Deliciousbaby link has some good ideas. Our family has enjoyed the Children’s Museum, the Oregon Zoo and Powell’s Book Store. Some other suggestions are on Disney’s family.com site. OregonMom.com is even more plentiful. That should keep you full of ideas for a while!! Have fun!!
We always like to take a walk around our land on the first morning we are back in Reno. Today was no exception. Looks like all the plants made it through the winter. Most are budding out. One daffodil is blooming. The rest are still pushing out leaves and a few buds. We might get snow on Wednesday, so I hope it is only a brief cold front. Here are pictures of some of the wildflowers already blooming in the “wild part” (or native area or non-landscaped area) of our land.
Yellow (I think) Buttercups or Cinquefoil. I think they are Buttercups because they do not have five green sepals under the yellow petals. However, I don’t think the leaves look like either plant. They are very short and close to the ground. They are always the first to bloom in the spring.
The violets are also profusely blooming in large patches and clumps.
The tiny Yarrow get taller in the weeks to come.
See my earlier blog Possible Plethora of Wildflowers from last Spring for a list of flower identification books. We concentrate on ones for the Great Basin and Tahoe area.
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