My Wildflower Watch Begins

When I first started blogging several years ago, many of my posts were nature related. And many of my posts were exclusively about the wildflowers the children and I discovered on our little forty acre homestead and the surrounding areas. At that time, my oldest was very involved in putting together a wildflower notebook for 4H and to enter in the county fair.
I can remember one day loading the kids in the van and we drove from one end of our county to the other just looking for and gathering wildflower cuttings. It took us all day, but we had great fun. We've also learned a lot about how the Native Americans and early pioneers used many of these plants for food and medicinal uses. We learned to look close and identify many by their leaves or how many petals the paticular flower had. The website we use primarily for identification is Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses  as we live in north central Oklahoma. Although, there are other websites that have been helpful as well as books.
And so this is my introduction to a series of posts that I will be doing throughout the wildflower growing season. I promise there will be a few that you've never seen or noticed before as I discovered for myself. One of my favorites and more subtle, as it is a low-growing, trailing plant is, Ratany. It blooms in late spring and early summer. I took this photo of it a couple of years ago.

Actually, I have many favorites and to be quite honest I was a bit surprised in the beginning of this learning experience to learn that there are so many different kinds of wildflowers.
And so my trek to spot the wildflowers begins. As busy as things have gotten around here of late, it's gonna be nice to carve out some time to stop and smell the roses!
Blessings, Julie

U.S. Civil War Re-enactment: Battle of Round Mountain 2012

Two years ago our family participated in an event held annually in Yale, Oklahoma at Jim Thorpe park.

The Battle Of Round Mountain Civil War Re-enactment




The actual re-enactment of the battle takes place Saturday and Sunday afternoon while the Friday before is open for school-aged kids to come tour the encampment.





Saturday night there is a ball with authentic U.S. Civil War era-style music.





After several dances, my hoop broke.



If you'd like more information on this fun and educational event, go here.

Also, if you have the time and would like to read a little bit more about our experience, I blogged about it here at my old blog.

I hope your week has gotten off to a great start...I'm cleaning house to prepare for a geography co-op.
And it feels a bit like one step forward and two back!

Blessings, Julie

I Love This!

I took this New Year's Eve evening.
And I haven't played with it at all...really.
Oklahoma sunsets are unique, addictive, and inspirational...and....
I'm so glad I've got them right out my back door!
Blessings, Julie

Take A Hike! Part 1

Yesterday, after lunch, the kids and I took a hike down to the lake.
It had been awhile since we had all been down there together...and it's always an adventure!



On the way, we stopped at the edge of a pond that borders our property and picked up freshwater shells.
I think these beautiful creations so fascinating and take great satisfaction in knowing that the children enjoy these wonderful finds also!



Before we get to the woods and ravine that lead down to the lake, there is a low area with an outcropping of rock. This is such an interesting place as we often observe a wide variety of animal tracks in the dirt here.
We enter the woods and the kids always make me nervous by walking right up to the edge of the steepest part of the ravine! I have the girls pose beside it and then we walk further along until we get to the place that we can climb down in it.
The ravine is one of my favorite places here at Forty Acre Farm. Many times I come here by myself, my only companions, the dogs.
When it is windy, and it often is here in Oklahoma, I climb down here and walk along the stream bed...quiet, all exept for the wind up in the tops of the trees. But here, sheltered down below there is always a hush, and a wonderful smell of fresh earth...and the faint gurgling of water as it finds its way to the lake...which is just beyond the ravine.

Oklahoma Fall Color: Part 2

A truly bright colored plant that adorns our Oklahoma landscape during the fall months is Smooth Sumac.
This species of sumac is actually found across much of the United States and the variations of red, orange, and...I've even seen fuschia colored leaves...give our countryside and pastures that extra splash of color in our Autumn landscapes.
I personally find that Smooth Sumac is that welcomed bright spot in the Fall foliage comparable even to the flowering Eastern Redbud  in the Spring.
So, if I may ask, what do you enjoy about this particular season?
I've put a poll in the margin out of curiosity. Please participate if you have time.
Fall is a wonderful time to get out and enjoy the beauty of our Lord's creation.
Be refreshed! Julie

Oklahoma Fall Color: Part 1

When my husband and I were first married, we moved to eastern Tennessee.
I was lonely.
Neither one of us had relatives or friends there.
And I was a new mom and VERY hormonal.
Oh, and we were poor...okay not REAL poor like third world country poor, but lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches poor.
Did I mention I was lonely and hormonal???
I'm sure my husband deserves some serious kudos for putting up with me through those lean years and well, visa versa.
We were determined not to go into credit card debt.
And we didn't.
But for all the hardships we perceived, we were surrounded by lush Tennessee beauty.
Eastern Tennessee in the Spring is a Thomas Kinkade painting...breathtaking to say the least.
Dogwoods, Redbuds, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and every imaginable flowering plant carpet the hillsides and forests. For a brief time the kudzu is not as obnoxiously making it's predatorial presence known.
Sometimes, I miss Tennessee's lush plant-life.
But just sometimes.
Because I adore the wide open space we are afforded here.
No kudzu here...yet.
And no hillsides to block the sun's rising and setting, ahhh.
The native grasses are golden right now and the leaves just beginning to change into their Fall wardrobe.
Maybe, I'm just an Oklahoman at heart, but I wouldn't want to be anyplace else but here.
Where ever you may be, I hope you're enjoying our Lord's creation also!
Blessings, Julie