Thursday Home School Workshop…sadly, when the weather turns colder, the attendance drops off.  It was a brisk day, but not that cold in the sunshine, so we headed down to the labyrinth cove to see what we could see!  We were greeted by the Canada geese as they were also sunning the cove.

We discovered some fishing line that was carelessly left by a fisherman.  Too many times, I have seen ducks and geese tangled in fishing line resulting in much pain and suffering.  We rolled it up to take back to the Gathering Room to discard in the trash.

We noticed several nests in the trees.  The leaves are almost all gone now, and the bare limbs and blue sky revealed the homes of squirrels, birds, and of course, the hornet’s nest! It is still dancing in the wind and hanging by a tiny thread.

They also found the seeds of a Tulip Poplar tree.  The boys thought that the middle part of the bloom looked like swords for Lego men, and they also decided that they would work as talons for the eagle project, too! We noticed the different bark on the trees, and we tried to identify the tree from the bark.  We agreed that the leaves made identifying them much easier!

We walked back to the log cabin for a game of checkers. We didn’t even notice the chill!

Back at the Gathering Room, we resumed our eagle project.  With a Paper Mache base, we added feathers, and they decided to hunt for a tree branch to have him perched.  We will need to add eyes (probably acorns) and attach the feet, but he should be complete next week!  One of the homeschoolers is writing a report about birds of prey, and we will be completing the project in the next 2 weeks.

A time to have our lunch, and then a time to share a “Cabin Path Field Guide” that one of the families have been working on since the beginning of this school year.  It included pictures of wildflowers, trees, animals, and animal tracks that they have seen. It also contained a leaf collection, and other things that they found interesting. It is a wonderful journal of The Cabin Path!

Winter is here, but nature continues to share in all seasons. I’m glad for the faithful few who wrap up and get outside...even if it is a little chilly!

I think that they agreed, too!