Master Naturalist Class

I have been taking a class since September and am becoming a Master Naturalist. It's a really fun class and I enjoy being back in a class learning new things each week. We have had classes on all types of topics - trees, reptiles, mammals, birds, ecology, interpretive skills, etc. We are nearing the end of the class and I have to say I'm a little sad that it's ending. We had our last field trip this weekend and went over to the Eastern Shore for some birding. Stopped at Kiptopeke Park, Fisherman's Island Wildlife Refuge, and the dump (yes, the dump - there's a pond there that had a TON of birds).

The coolest thing we did was go to the bird banding station which I'm thinking I might try and volunteer there as part of my required 40 hours/year. They set up mist nets all day and count, measure, and band all the birds they catch. Here are the volunteers doing their thing.

And some bird bands - sizes dependent on the type of bird they catch.

And the size of bird that I got to hold and release!!! :) I release a Yellow Rumped Warbler - which was the most common bird we caught that day.

And then we got to see some hawks which was VERY cool.

New Craft Projects

Visited the Russo's in WV and got inspired to do some crafting. In fact, we visited Michael's THREE times in the week I was there. :)

Jes has been knitting for a while, and even Rob has given me a washcloth that he knitted, so Jes was trying to make a knitter out of me too. I have to say I can see her excitement when going to the yarn store. There are just so many colors and different kinds, all very organized also, and you can't help but imagine all the things you could make with them. So the first visit to the yarn store Jes bought some stuff and I just looked around. I felt like I needed a knitting lesson first. Well I got a refresher course - the first time she tried to teach me it just didn't work. But this time something clicked and it made more sense. That still meant that while knitting I had to seriously concentrate and couldn't talk to anyone or I would mess up! :) Hopefully I will get better at that as time goes on and I can join in on Jes's weekly knitting group again. Here are some pictures from the yarn store and of me learning and then my current project - a scarf.

We taught Jes how to decoupage (spelling?) that weekend too and she made a super cute canvas for Ellie. I can't wait to see what Rob will come up with for the matching canvas.

Lastly, I had seen this craft on a blog and wanted to try it. It turned out alright. Still not sure if I like it or not. It's super girly - which I'm sure part of it was my color choice. I was going for a spring time wreath since I already have a fall and christmas wreath. We'll see if I keep it or give it as a gift. :)