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By Mom Unplugged, August 29, 2008 8:42 pm

Unplugged Project Special Edition

Now that my camera cable is back, here is our project for trees. Better late than never I suppose!

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I was fairly uninspired for the Unplugged Project theme of trees. It needed to be simple since we were in Albuquerque for the weekend, away from any supplies beyond crayons and paper. No one had ideas, then I suggested making trees out of our hand outlines. The idea was met with very little enthusiasm, but my oldest daughter and I decided to give it a go.

First we traced our hands:

Then we cut some small branches off some trees that needed a bit of pruning anyhow. We took the leaves off the branches to stick them on our handprints:

What started off as a rather dull project quickly became exciting when one of the leaves I was stripping off a branch suddenly hopped onto the countertop and began walking around!

He was amazingly similar to the leaves I was using and none of us had seen him, even up close, until he jumped off.

We all ooed and aahed and squealed with delight as our surprise visitor crawled on our hands and showed us that he knew how to fly.

After we had all had a very gentle turn with him, we carefully returned him to his tree.

Here is a photo of him in the tree to show you how well camouflaged he was (if you are having a hard time spotting him, look for the brown spot. That is him pooping - much to the delight of the children):

After that bit of unexpected excitement, we finished our projects with new enthusiasm!

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This was an Unplugged Project “special edition.” Be sure to check back on Monday morning to see what everyone comes up with for this week’s theme of insect.

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By Mom Unplugged, March 14, 2008 10:39 am

As I write this, I hear the angry buzzing of a chainsaw and heavy thuds shake the house as huge chunks of tree trunk drop to the ground. A tall Ponderosa Pine growing inches from my house is being cut down to make room for a master bedroom extension that will add some square footage, as well as fix my horrible mystery roof leak.

I am so sad to see this tree go, although it is just one of probably a hundred tall Ponderosa Pines that surround my house. The decision was a difficult one for me, but I know that the even bigger, stronger trees nearby will ultimately benefit from this smaller tree’s removal. They will receive increased nutrients and water, especially important in these drought years. I must say that my views on forest management have changed since my close encounter with a wildfire nearly six years ago. Trees need some space to be healthy and strong.

Because of my mixed feelings, I had planned on being absent during the tree-cutting, but watching the men work on this windy day has actually been quite fascinating. One man climbed the tree and strapped himself to the top. He rocked back and forth precariously in the wind as he cut off all the branches. He clipped the branches to a rope that was held by a second man on the ground, then he sent the branches down the rope, like a zip-line, safely out of the way of the house.

Now he has finished removing all the branches and is slicing off heavy sections of trunk working from the top down. I hope he is careful as to what section he is cutting or he could end up having a one way flight down to the ground.

As you can see from my photos, this is not a job for those who have a mild fear of heights such as myself. Watching this man swaying back and forth in the wind a hundred feet above the ground makes my palms sweat! To give this next photo a sense of scale, that roof on the left is the top of my two story house. The man is hanging off that tree much, much higher than my house!

The tree will not go to waste. The men have brought a chipper and will chop it up into a big pile of wood chips that I will spread on the children’s backyard playground area to control the weeds and protect them from falls. So the tree will live on here in my yard after all, just in a different form.

Taken from my bedroom skylight:

And from the bedroom window:

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By Mom Unplugged, October 14, 2007 9:30 am

Today I offer you this lovely fall photo from a nearby hike, courtesy of Wishy’s husband.

(Yes the sky here really is that color sometimes)

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By Mom Unplugged, May 18, 2007 10:51 am

It is the last full week of school here and my daughter and her Montessori class have been taking many field trips. One was to a local tree farm where they grow Ponderosa Pine seedlings for use in reforesting areas burned from wildfire.

The nursery kindly sent each child home with a baby Ponderosa Pine, and even some seeds to plant. My daughter’s little tree measures just 8 inches and may one day be over 100 feet tall!!.

We planted the tiny seedling yesterday. Knowing how tall it could ultimately grow presented us with a bit of a challenge to find a bare spot. We have plenty of huge Ponderosas around the property already. But we found a nice place in the front yard that is not too close to the house or the other trees. Here it is in it’s new home.

The mother of a third-grader in my daughter’s class had a marvelous idea. When her son was in kindergarten, he received a Ponderosa seedling. The family decided to plant the tree in the forest near a geocache site so that they could easily visit it again. They visit the tree regularly and now, after four years, it is over three feet tall and doing very well!

Below are photos of the pine seeds (I had never seen Ponderosa Pine seeds before - they are quite small) and some mature trees in our yard. The last photo shows the roof of our
two-story house to give you a bit of an idea of the mature trees’ height!

Today they are going to an alpaca farm. I hope they don’t send each child home with a baby alpaca. I’m sure it would be awfully cute, but I think 3 kids, 8 cats, 2 birds, and 2 dogs are enough needy creatures for this mother to manage!

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By Mom Unplugged, March 17, 2007 10:53 am

I sit here in a Claritin-induced mental fog. The Southwest US is experiencing some sort of rare “pollen burst” brought on by sudden record high temperatures. I heard a rumor that the whole state of New Mexico is sold out of Claritin! Glad I have my stash.

Today all I can muster up is a photo of this beautiful spring day among the tall Ponderosa Pines of the Arizona mountains. I hope it brings a little warmth and hope for the future to those of you in the Northeast who are still suffering in winter weather today. Enjoy!