Moths and Butterflies

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Dudes! It’s National Moth Week! We’re treating this week as an opportunity to educate ourselves and others (you!) about the wonderful world of moths. I hope you’ll read along this week and spread the news. National Moth Week is a celebration of one of the most diverse and successful organisms on earth. Scientists estimate there are anywhere from 150,000-500,000 moths on earth. If I could do one thing to celebrate National Moth Week, it would be to trek into the rainforest, set up a white sheet, shine a spotlight on it and watch them flock to it, but unfortunately my rain forest moth-ing dreams must wait. I am going to try to make time to do that aforementioned activity in my backyard though. National Moth Week is a great time to become a citizen scientist and collect data. I might not get a glimpse of an Atlas Moth, but maybe I’ll see a Luna.

Seasoned View: Vol. 16

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Each month we share our Seasoned View. Snapshots of nature and daily life taken by the Seasoned sisters. Find last month’s past months’ here.

Happy Monday! If you live in the States, I hope you had a relaxing holiday weekend and your pups survived the fireworks shows. Did you happen to catch the Women’s World Cup game yesterday?! It was amazing! I remember watching the U.S.A. win against China in 1999. The game was broadcasting right after one of my soccer games and one of the coaches actually brought a bulky T.V. and an antenna so the team could sit and watch the World Cup game. It was so sunny and the glare off the bubble screen was so bad that we were all practically peeing our pants with anticipation during the shootout. I have no idea how my team did that day or even that season, but watching the U.S.A. team defeat China, with my teammates by my side, is certainly a memory I’ll never forget. I’m never one to cheer too loudly or buy team jerseys, but looking back, I do have a lot of memories tied to various sports games. Do you remember where you were during any specific tournaments or Super Bowl games? What stands out in your mind about the celebrations? These little memory exercises are a good reminder that I should gather my friends around more often even if I’m not that invested in one team or another. Sometimes you need a specific event to tie your memories down so they’re not forgotten. Do you find this is the case for you as well? Another more obvious way that I record memories is through photography. Below are some recent nature shots for our July Seasoned View. If you’re down with a dark and moody desktop, download Katie’s spectacular shot of a summer storm; it’s my favorite of the bunch! You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or as phone and tablet wallpapers. Simply click on the download link below each photo and save the image. Enjoy!

Pollinator Week!

June 15, 2015June 18, 2018 by Katie | Leave a comment

Today is the start of pollinator week, and we’re always excited for any reason to talk about the role of different organisms in nature, especially when it comes to the variety of species that we are intimately linked to through our food supply. Did you know that 75% of the food we eat is the direct result of pollination. In the US alone, the value of insect-pollinated crops is over $20 billion. But the benefit of pollinators goes well beyond food crops, as they are essential for preserving the biodiversity of native habitats. When talking pollinators, bees often come to mind, but did you know that butterflies, flies, birds, moths, bats, and other mammals are also pollinators? In fact, around the world there are over 200,000 species of pollinators!

In this post we’ll answer some of the big questions about pollinators, why they’re important, why they’re at risk, and what we can do to help them. Throughout the rest of the week, our posts will be tied to pollinators in one way or another. Check back to see what we’re up to!

Cannon Beach & Haystack Rock – Oregon

June 9, 2015March 27, 2016 by Sarah | 2 Comments

In honor of World Oceans Day (which was celebrated yesterday, but let’s pretend it’s a 365 days a year affair), I wanted to highlight a quaint little coastal town in Oregon known as Cannon Beach. I had the opportunity to visit Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock in 2013 during a cross-country road trip. Even though I only spent a few hours milling about in the shallow tide pools, Cannon Beach was one of my favorite pit stops of the seven week trip. From the town overlooking Cannon Beach, everything appears to be a shade of gray, but once your feet hit the sand you start noticing little pops of colorful sea life all around.

Welcome June

June 3, 2015June 11, 2015 by Katie | Leave a comment

On the first Wednesday of each month we like to pause and take a look at what’s going on in the world around us, with a particular focus on animal activity, farmers’ fields, and environmental holidays.

We finally made it to our favorite season! To be fair, we love them all, but there’s just something special about summer with its ~~warm~~ hot days, bbqs, miles of fresh veggies and fruit (particularly the ripe watermelons), and long nights on the deck. Last week was still a bit chilly up in the mountains, but I’m happy to report that summer has finally arrived! We’re planning our first camping trip as a family of four this weekend, and I’ve gone a little crazy making some homemade bug spray and sunscreen this week, but more on that in another post.

It’s the Season

In researching animal activity for the month of June, this is what we’ve discovered : it’s time to get it on… and if you’re successful in that arena, it’s time to care for those young! We caught these ladybugs in the act last week, and it was around this time last year that we were keeping our eye on the osprey nest with freshly hatched chicks! By now, most migrating animals are in their summer homes (winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere); if they need a nest or den, they’ve built it, and now they’re just looking for a mate and raising the next generation. Want to hear more?

Seasoned View: Vol. 15

June 1, 2015July 5, 2015 by Sarah | 1 Comment

Each month we share our Seasoned View. Snapshots of nature and daily life taken by the Seasoned sisters. Find last month’s past months’ here.

Merry Monday to everyone 🙂 Hope your weekend was whatever you wanted it to be. Mine was the perfect mix of work, rest and play. I saw Mad Max last night in theaters and I was blown away! So good; nonstop action, but not the repetitive kind. My week is shaping up the same way 😉 Have a good one!

You know the deal, simply click on the download link below each photo and save the image. You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or as phone and tablet wallpapers. Enjoy!

Welcome May!

May 7, 2015May 28, 2015 by Katie | Leave a comment

On the first Wednesday, or Thursday!, of every month you will find us checking in with what’s coming up on the calendar and what’s going on outside. You can find last May’s post here.

While April was all about settling into our house, welcoming Luc, and hosting a slew of family visitors, as May arrived, our focus has turned to observing the changes (and visitors!) appearing outside our house. Since the flora and fauna in the Rockies is a bit different than what we’ve been used to on the East Coast, I thought it would be fun to focus this post on the changes taking place in our yard in early May.

Making a Space for Native Bees

April 22, 2015 by Katie | Leave a comment

Happy Earth Day (again)! We’re excited to check in this afternoon with a second post, especially one about making a space for native bees in your backyard!

You may not be aware, but the honey bees that we all know and love for the pollination services and delicious honey are not native to North America. The bees arrived in North America by Europeans in the 17th century, and they are such efficient pollinators that over time our agriculture became dependent upon the insects. This dependency is due in part to honey bees living in such large colonies that we are able to easily move from field to field in portable hives. I love the idea of fostering different habitats in our backyard for a variety of animals from birds to insects to mammals; especially since observing these animals in our backyard is such a simple way to introduce and connect Alex and Luc to nature. As such, one day I would love to have a colony of honeybees in my backyard, but I know that requires time that I don’t have right now to learn about their care and monitor the hives throughout the year, not to mention the work that would be required to collect the honey. Meanwhile, our native bees are really interesting insects that receive relatively little attention yet are the perfect guests for a low maintenance backyard! Knowing that, we thought Earth Day was the perfect time to encourage everyone to invite these gentle creatures into your yard!

Today when discussing native bees, we’re referring specifically to Mason Bees, of which, there are over 100 species in North America. Unlike honey bees that live in large colonies, Mason bees are solitary insects and they do not produce honey. Another difference between the two types of bees is that Mason bees do not sting unless squeezed or stepped on. For that reason and for their interesting nesting habits (read more below!), they are a great bee to encourage to nest in your backyard; kids will enjoy watching them create their nests without the threat of being stung!

Welcome February!

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 by Sarah | Leave a comment

On the first Wednesday of each month we like to pause and take a look at what’s going on in the world around us, with a particular focus on animal activity, celestial events, and our farmers’ fields.

Welcome February! Bye, bye January.. you suck. Am I the only one who thinks that? Hands down my least favorite month of the year, which makes February that much sweeter. Even though February is only a few days shy of a full month, it always seems to scoot on by. Here’s what’s happening this month:

Animal Activity:

I usually take a walk in the woods every day because it’s my job. Actually my job is dog walking, but they like to hike, I like to hike, to the woods we go! Anyway, this week I have been hearing and seeing a lot more bird activity. The squirrels started scurrying about more and more a couple weeks ago, but now I’m hearing lots of rustling in the bushes. If you focus your eyes you’ll notice little song birds hopping around in the brush. I also saw a few red-headed woodpeckers this week. It’s nice to feel like you’re not the only animal (besides the pups) in the woods.

Seasoned View: Vol. 11

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Each month we share our Seasoned View. Snapshots of nature taken by the Seasoned sisters. Find last month’s here and past months’ here.

It’s February! One-twelfth of 2015 is over. That is totally cool with me. One more month closer to summer says the bitter winter-hater in me 😉 Each month I post a screenshot of my desktop with one of the new seasoned view backgrounds. Did you notice that it always looks so clean and tidy? Well, I wanted to let you know that it’s a total illusion. Each month My desk top really looks like this:

Then I simply make a folder entitled everything or entire desktop or all of it and select all the crap on my desktop and throw it in there. I wish housework was that easy! See? All clean:

You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or even as phone and tablet wallpapers. Simply click on the download link below each photo and save the image. Enjoy!

Click here for You’re Perfect.