Man's Best Friend

This video was shot not long after the tsunami rolled out of Japan.  Man's best Friend is also his own best friend...Thank goodness by the time this video aired the dogs had been rescued and were being treated at local veterinary hospitals.


The following is a translation of what the reporters are saying; it too is quite touching:

We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone's pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.

Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He's getting up.

It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.

The Christmas Tree Debate...

Being an environmentalist really makes the Christmas Tree debate a personal one for me, especially living right in the middle of the forest and being as passionate about saving trees as I am.  But I know what a HUGE carbon footprint those plastic jobbies leave when they are made and placed in your home.  So where does that leave an environmental steward like me?

We looked high:

And we looked low:

And then we found the most perfect compromise ever!  We took a tree that already needed to be cut down!  This spectacular Colorado Blue Spruce was encroaching on the power lines at The Royal Roost, our "Nest in the Woods" getaway cabin for visitors.

It also was blocking some much needed sunshine from that very same cabin, so we knew it needed to go sooner or later, so I said why not use it for a Christmas Tree and firewood?

So this year, so far, my dreams are coming true.  What is your opinion on the Christmas Tree debate?  What are you doing this year to be green?  Or maybe to save some "Green"?

They're not Maple leaves, but they'll do

Good morning GSO readers.  Yes, it is the wrong day for me, but I had a few hiccups this week, so I am posting on the wrong day because I wanted to share fall in Colorado with all of you.  I sure would love to see some pictures from the lake states... (hint, hint!)  But anyway here is my post from Wednesday at my daily blog at The Royal Ranch:

Well hello again Rebels!  I heard there was a nasty Twitter Bug, no I didn't say Jitter Bug...a Twitter Bug.  Someone got a hold of Twitter yesterday and made quite a mess of it from what I can gather.  As a matter of fact, when I did my research this morning to make sure it was safe to blog and all, I'm not even comfortable linking to any of the articles that I checked because there were so many pop-ups to, well, pop-up.  And that was the problem I guess; third parties that took you places that had all sorts of pop-ups and malware and nasty stuff.

So here I am being all proud of myself for just having gotten everything all connected.  You know, my new Royal Ranch Facebook page, and my new Twitter account, and of course this blog, and Tuesday is the day that I post for Green Spot-On...Wow, I'm pretty hooked up.  Yeah, hooked up to spread a virus like that like wild fire!  Really I laugh as I write this, you all know that right?

So, to make up for my absence, and god forbid any trouble I may have caused by my huge, massive exposure and connection  I will finally be posting my pics from our overnighter up to one of my favorite areas in the state; Lost Park Wilderness.  You know, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I do have quite a few pics here.  Ha!

Lost Park at sunset

Our walk in the "Park"

Dog walk at sunrise, aaahhh!!

You do see the antelope, right?

 

One of my favorite old barns in South Park

The next day we went to Tarryall Reservoir, what a beautiful dam!  

Pretty cool husband too!

 If you look closely, you can see swallow nests up top, and huge piles of bat guano on the ledges, very intriguing for a manure connoisseur!

There is no rock that they will not climb!

A little grody, but look at the size of this Pike head!

The first picture is from Monday night here at the house, we had a beautiful storm pass through, too bad it didn't bring much rain.  Please excuse the power line, but the view was worth it I figured!

Trying something new while keepin' it real

You know, I was so excited today with the response to my new Facebook page for The Royal Ranch.  It was really quite surprising; not only in the number of people, but who it was.  So since things were already on a little bit of a mixed up trend, and I;m getting ready for my big launch of Royal Rebels on Friday, I decided to do my post a little differently today.  I did part of post via video, so please bear with me and all of my nervous umm's, but I am new to this... so here goes:

And by the way, I was so excited about my idea to record my post I forgot one of the main reasons I was videoing.  That is to ask all of you to do the same.  Get your cameras and video recorders ready to record your goals for the Rebels and send them to me.  You can either send me a link to a YouTube video or e-mail me a picture to judy at royalranch dot net; this way we can all share in one anothers goals and successes.

Working with Nature

I must admit, I'm a tad bit jealous of our neighbors and their gorgeous ponds.  We sit up on the hill overlooking the valley and the neighbors with the gorgeous ponds, so don't get me wrong, I don't have too much to complain about, I just don't have waterfront property.

One of our neighbor's, we'll call them the J's, have spectacular fly fishing ponds that they have built up over the years.  They stock them every few years with prize winning trout and even make a little money through a local fly fishing association.  The P's on the other hand, have a smaller pond just to watch wildlife and such.  It is so cute, they are a retired couple and have a bench sitting over the dam, and all kinds of rocks and wildflowers, they really enjoy their yard.

So recently, I have been hearing about troubles with the ponds.  Actually, I caught Mr. P going after the geese, yelling and chasing them out of his pond (he doesn't want them taking over because then they will contaminate it).  Funny as could be!  Then, come to find out, the J's are having a problem with the Blue Heron damaging some of their beloved fish.  And I do mean beloved.  We have seen Mr. J (one of Tom's best friends) jump in the freezing cold winter water to revive a fish that has been caught and released, the rules of the pond, of course.

The main problem is that the fish are too big for the Heron in the first place!  So the fish is getting injured for nothing, and the Heron still gets no dinner, bummer.  The J's can't use a lot of regular detractants for the Heron because that would interfere with the fly fishermen.  They did buy a fake Blue Heron, but that mostly just scared the dog.

Well, I got to thinking (could be dangerous).  And watching that Heron's pattern, he seemed to like the P's pond just as much as the J's pond except he wasn't getting anything to eat there.  But when the Blue Heron was at the P's pond, the Geese were nowhere to be found.  They seemed to hang out in the beaver ponds up the valley just a bit where they belong.  Hmmm..., how about we stock the P's ponds with inexpensive (native, of course) brookies for the Heron to hunt so that he leaves the J's nice big fish alone?  This could solve everyone's problem.

I talked with Mr. J, and he thinks the plan is brilliant, (with just a tiny bit of prodding from me-ha!), and I will talk with the P's today.  I'll let you know how the plan works out, but it is always best to try and work with Mother Nature than against her!

A day late and a dollar short

 The Lone Dead Tree

I think that just may be my new motto, a day late and a dollar short.  No, I'm just kidding, but it is definitely true for the past couple of days and this post, sorry GSO readers!  As it is for many of you, it is the last few days of school around here, which means all sorts of picnics and graduations and field days and all kinds of fun stuff when you have three kids in three schools.  It is also the week we are preparing to open our campgrounds for the big Memorial weekend.  So, it was not a good thing when I went out to start my beloved truck yesterday on the way to three of these fun events and it would not start.

Let's say I am very thankful that I know a lot of people in this community and was comfortable just hopping in the truck with the Dad of one of Nate's friends and hoping I could find rides from there on out.  Which I did.  My friend Amanda took me from the middle school up to the elementary, a neighbor took me from there to the food pantry where I was needed to put some extra hours in, and my wonderful seventeen year old sons came and picked me up from there and delivered me back home last evening-WHEW!!!

Now, the trouble of the day really started when we headed off to work at the campgrounds (that's pretty bad after a day like that-ha!).  I have mentioned the forest mitigation project going on around our area before, and I have said that I am pretty much on the fence about it.  Mother Nature is unable to take care of things because we as humans have gotten in her way, so I was hoping that we as humans had gone in and fixed the problem.  Well, I'm pretty much off the fence now.  My campground, er, the campground that the company that I represent that represents the National Forest I mean, looks like s@%t.  Yup, I said it (sorta).

You know, I can get past the loss of the trees, as a matter of fact many of the stumps that we investigated were diseased in the middle.  I am actually surprised by the number of trees that were already dying in that forest, but had shown no outward sign.  A few of the odd things were the fact that they left some really dead trees standing, one that looked as if we could just knock it right over, hence the picture.  They are riddled with beetle holes and both were struck by lightning and have a ring from top to bottom.  We looked for nests or any other obvious reason for them to have been left, but could find none; odd.  Tom joked that it was because they had not been tagged so the workers hadn't taken them, and I'm afraid he's not too far off the mark. 

I must say that my biggest concern is wildfire.  Ironic isn't it?  They come in for fire mitigation and I think Tom and I have one hell of a campground season ahead of us to make sure our campers don't burn down our home.  I am now thinking our new motor-home may come in awful handy as we may have to move into that campground to keep the campers from dragging all of the mess that the fire crew has left just on the outskirts of the grounds, into the grounds to have their fires.  Campers tend to get their fires as big as they can, and as you can see from the pics, the wood crew has left a "tinder box" of  wood debris about a foot thick just to the west of my, I mean your, campgrounds waiting for a spark to escape into.  Directly in the direction of my ranch I might add.

Okay, okay, in about twenty to fifty years, after this mess is all cleaned up by campers and decomposed back into the soil, it will be beautiful.  Nicely thinned, and some wonderful green grassy meadow areas, hopefully the deer and elk will love it.  As we stood there debating this whole mess, and I do mean mess literally, we must have been quite engrossed in our conversation because this moose must have walked right past us.  As we were leaving we saw some cars at the entrance; when we stopped to see what they were doing they pointed her out to us!  Look closely, that is her back side in the trees there, laughing at us as she walks away...

Identifying Nature's Wonders!

Hello Readers!  I need your help!  I have some photos that I took that I have not shared due to the difficulty I am having identifying the subjects!  I would love it if our readers would help me identify these creatures so I can put the proper names for them in our slide show!  Remember that these photos were taken in Michigan in case you want to look up a species for identification.

One of my main things is to go outside and just take pictures of the interesting things I see or wildlife found.  I have hundreds of photos like this.  This first photo is of a butterfly that was resting on the trunk of a tree (Photo taken July 10, 2009), notice the coloring of the wings and the bark are similar if I hadn't seen it land I probably never would have noticed it there:

Another photo I took of a Dragonfly resting on a blade of grass in a field (Taken July 10, 2009):

Last but not least, a small turtle that was trying to cross a very busy road that we intercepted while on a walk (Photo taken on June 20, 2009):

To give you an idea of the turtle's size:

So what do you think?  Just reply to this post and let us know what species/type of wildlife you think are in these photo's.  If you have a link to a website or book you found the species in, please cite them so we can take a look and see what you came up with!  I would love to add these photo's to our slide show:)  If this Identification project is successful, maybe I'll do this again in the near future as a regular thing.  I would love to have you all join the discussion!

Thank you all!

Sincerely,

Khrys @ GreenSpot-On

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Recycling Hair

Yes, Recycling hair!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  What a fantastic natural resource that every single person, yes even including my very bald father, has to recycle.  I signed up for the Earth911.com newsletter a few months ago and it has been an absolute treasure trove of information for this blog!  I recently came upon an article entitled "I Didn't Know That Was Recyclable" and on the list was hair.  I was pretty sure I was going to come across the same old line of hair donation, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually hair recycling!
In 2000 an ingenious hair stylist named Phil McCrory was watching film coverage of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and notice the oil that stubbornly saturated the fur of the otters he thought of the huge amounts of human hair that is collected in salons and started testing the amount of oil he could soak up with the hair from his salon.  According to the article at Earth911.com "McCrory invented the hairmat to help soak up oil from an estimated 706 million gallons of oil that enter our oceans each year. There are more than 370,000 hair salons in the U.S., and each collects about 1 pound of hair per day. That represents a tremendous amount of landfill matter from something we probably never even thought about!".
With this great invention, was the birth of a great public charity called Matter of Trust that accepts hair clippings and turns them into the hair mats that are used to clean up the oil spills.  The group is doing all sorts of research with hair and fiber and it's uses and what a wonderful natural resource it is.  If you have a minute check out the website, it was very interesting and gave me some really great ideas for my llama wool as well.  Keep the link handy, and next time you get your hair done, pass it along to your hair dresser and they can sign up and send the hair in a shampoo box that they would probably like to get rid of anyway!
Now, I do not mean to minimize donating hair, it is just up until now, I thought that was the only way to "use" your natural resource that grew on top of your head, or unless like my Dad only on the sides of your head.  Boy, he's really taking abuse on this one isn't he?  Anywho, back to the subject of hair donation.  This actually is something I very firmly believe in.  The first time I donated was when my aunt in Iowa got breast cancer.  I could not be there, so I felt the best way to support her was to cut my hair when she lost hers.  I donated it in her name.  I must say I was a tad disappointed in the impersonal postcard that she received from Locks of Love.
The next experience we had was when my Grandma was first diagnosed with cancer, my decision to cut my hair was still fresh in the mind of my very young daughter at the time, but she decided that she wanted to cut her hair for "GG".  The timing still amazes me to this day.  We had been waiting for Isabella's hair to reach the proper length and for me to be okay with losing her beautiful blond locks when one morning I awoke and knew that the day had come.  My friend Della had just finished cutting her hair when my cell phone rang, I answered to my Grandma sobbing.  See, she had been a hairdresser for her entire life, so to have woken up that morning to clumps of hair on her pillow was more than she could bear.  The day that Bella donated her hair in GG's name was the day that I had to shave GG's head.
I have donated my hair one more time since then, but again, have been a bit disappointed in the simple, impersonal postcards we have gotten in response to the very personal gifts we have given.  I know that sounds kind of funny, but when I sent in Isabella's ponytail, I put on the form her age and the reason she had donated her hair, and again, just the regular postcard.  I did save it for her baby book and of course will make a big deal out of it on the page if I ever get around to updating the book, but it was just a matter of principle. 
The great news is that when I googled hair donation in doing my homework for this post, there have been many new companies that have gotten into the business of hair donation in the years since we have done it.  So whether your hair is long or short, whether you want to donate or recycle, don't forget, you have a wonderful natural resource growing right on top of your head (yes, even you Dad-love you!!!)!

Spring Flowers - Nature's beautiful reminder of things to come!

It's truly exciting to see how well the flowers you planted or transplanted the previous year have fared. About three years ago we bought our house and with it came some great flowers and tons of mystery plants. The biggest challenge was identifying the plants that were there and then deciding whether they were weeds or not. This meant waiting for blooms or waiting to see what they did.

Some of the plants did not need identifying. For instance, a climbing rosebush that had been planted to close to the house and had been trying to grow behind the siding. I made it a point to transplant as much of the massive plant as possible (A real feat considering the root mass was about the size of three softballs it had been there for so long). Since transplanting it, it has done well in another area of my yard!

Another group of plants that I was pleasantly surprised to find in my flower beds were the tulips; many different colors of tulips.

While the flower beds in the front of my house have been cleaned up and some of these transplanted or split up, my back yard flower bed is still in need of some major attention this year. I had waited a while to do anything with it, mainly keeping an eye on it to see if there is anything else that needs to stay.

(The picture to the right is of the back yard flower bed)

My front flower beds have slowly evolved over the past 3 years. Going from a few tulips, lilies, giving it a good weeding and putting in some cheap solar lights with old mulch in the spring of 2008 (Picture to the left taken in Spring 2008); to the major transformation of this bed that started in the spring of 2009 with splitting and transplanting lilies, then adding landscape fabric and edging. Around the same time I had a seed and plant swap with some family and good friends (Which is great for those of us amature gardeners who have a very limited budget)! You know who you are and thanks to all of you! At last, in the fall of 2009 I had a major pilgrimage to a couple farmers markets and then of course to local stores for perennials when they started going clearance. I managed to find the Giant Hybrid Columbine (Photo at the very top of this blog post shows you what it looks like), Hosta, Pixie Lillies, Blanket Flowers and the Purple Heart.

I also bought a new set of solar lights that looked a little fancier and colorful on sale. (The picture to the right was taken at the end of the summer in 2009, you can see a definite difference)

This year I have already seen amazing growth from the plants I received and bought last year. My sons and I made seed planting a family affair on monday.  I want it to be a learning experience for them and give them the chance to plant them into the ground when it is time.  My youngest was alot more excited about it, but he likes doing anything involving dirt (imagine that, a 5 year old boy that loves dirt ;)  My oldest (who is 8) is a little less patient and would rather get instant results so when we put them where we want them I am sure he'll be more into it.  I'll tell you more about it soon!  I can honestly say that I am excited to see what will happen over the course of the year as I continue to watch the transformation that comes naturally with flowers. I also can't wait to continue the swapping of more seeds and plants with friends and family!

Until next time!

Sincerely,

Khrys @ GreenSpot-On

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Great Video for kids and people of all ages

Happy Earthday Everyone!

Happy Earth Day! Just a reminder that we can practice good stewardship for our environment and earth not just today, but everyday! There are many things to do to help; plant a tree, clean up litter, educate others, and be earth conscious in your daily decisions.

A great start for kids is to learn early the importance of our environment and natural resources, so start early. There are many sites that offer program and activities to get children out and involved if anyone is interested. Here are some links to get some ideas on activities that can be done at home or with your family, to get involved with nature...

http://www.ecokids.ca/

http://www.arborday.org/explore/families/

http://www.outdoor-nature-child.com/

http://www.nurseryactivityideas.co.uk/category/outdoor-activities

I hope these sites will spark some interest, and I know for myself and my daughter we got started earlier this week and planted trees and plants earlier on in the week and enjoyed a nice bike ride today! As always we try to stay conscious about recycling, turning off lights when they aren't being used, and reducing our waste. We like to get outside as often as we can. When my nephews come to visit we often will take family hikes and little explorations, it is a very rewarding experience seeing what they take from those experiences :)

Leave No Trace

Royal Mountain (Sept '09)

The Royal Ranch sits right at the base of two beautiful trail heads in Bailey, CO.  A hiker can climb Mt. Rosalie, Mt. Logan and can even reach the Mt. Evans Wilderness from our neck of the woods.  There are two spectacular campgrounds that Tom and I manage in the summertime that ironically enough I used to camp at when I was a kid just a mile from the house here.  So, needless to say, we can always tell when "Spring Fever" has hit by the amount of traffic passing by, and with the warm weather this past weekend here in Colorado, Spring has Sprung!

This has gotten me to thinking about all of the visitors headed our way, and to be honest, all of the trash that is headed our way.  We have some of the best visitors around, I must tell you, but even the best tend to forget a few little items.  The top three offenders on my list are cigarette butts, twisters and straw wrappers from juice boxes.  Yup, tiny little offenders, but boy do they add up!

So, as you are headed out the door on your first or second or any spring picnic, think about using reusable drink containers and don't forget a good trash receptacle.  A lot of picnic grounds are still officially closed until after Memorial Day, so you may have to haul out your own trash.  Double and triple check your site before you leave, and make sure there is no trace of your visit.  The less impact you leave, the better it is on the environment which leaves it just as beautiful for the next time you come to visit!  Oh lord, and don't forget the camera to take pictures of all the wonders of nature!!!

Mistakes - and the courage to correct them

The road to you-know--where is paved with good intentions. In the case of my garden's Bunny Food section, my good intentions ended up with too little "pavement." I reuse boards from an old fence and old deck, stepping stone style, to create walkways. In my quest to plant more in the existing space, I made the walkways too small. That's the bad news.



The good news is also bad news. I planted two kinds of spinach, but only one came up. See the space between the parsley and the spinach? Weeds and two too-small boards, that's all. The good news is that left me space to put down a wider walkway. I pulled out the boards that held back the raised beds and placed them over the weeds and dirt.



Now I have more room to walk, more room to kneel while harvesting or weeding, and I don't have to weed or water the portion under the boards. The boards themselves will keep the bad seeds down. Next year I'll know better. For now, change is good. Parsley on the left, spinach on the right, stepping "stones" in the middle: it works for me!

Next on the to-do list: harvest lettuce (in the foreground). Salads, tacos, bunny food, or all three? By the end of summer, this lettuce will feed people and rabbits - the pets in the house, that is. You wild ones? Please be cute somewhere else!

Leaving well enough alone

I've been ill for several days -- nothing serious, but enough to keep me indoors and resting and napping for hours at a time. Meanwhile, we've had rain, sun, rain, more rain, followed by sun and a hot, humid weekend. When I finally ventured outside toward the garden, I found...

Spinach! Enough to harvest, clean, and cook! I predict a crockpot full of chicken- spinach stew soon.

Peas! Last year the beans hogged all the sun. This year I planted the peas in front, and the beans are lagging behind. What next? We'll see. the beans are reaching for their trellis behind the pea plants.

Those maple seeds, though -- those seeds on helicopters coming from the HUGE silver maple in my neighbor's yard -- they're making headway. Now that I'm up and about, it's time to gently tie the tomato plants to their supports and (growl) weed out the baby maple trees.

Summer Fun!

It's that time of year again! I love travelling and experiencing new things. I would love to go out of state and visit new places, but usually it can cost you and you are not always sure what to expect or how kid-friendly a place is. My husband and I love camping and we have been passing that love to our children. It is a great learning experience for them and a great way for the family to connect! We go camping at least 5-7 times a year for a weekend, up to a week at a time.

(Pictured at right: My boys last year on the trail at P.J. Hoffmaster Park in Muskegon, Michigan)

We used to camp in a tent, but now we have a pop-up camper that we use. In the pop-up, we can do rustic campsites or the more modern sites. However, the biggest reason we started using a pop-up is because we wanted to take our children when they were toddlers. Honestly, it was great because we could lock the door and they couldn't be escape artists:) I don't care what age a child is, more than likely they will try to sneak out on you! Hence the pop-up for safety reasons. The other reason is because it saves time. When we pack for our trip, pretty much all of the basic things we need for our trip is already in the camper, all we need is clothing and food. We are completely set! We can camp at the drop of a hat! Our children love it and look forward to our trips every year.

As a matter of fact, we are preparing for our first official camping trip this year! This time around JRouse and family is going with us to Silver Lake State Park in Michigan which is near the Silver Lake Sand Dunes off of Lake Michigan. My husband has been there a few times, but I never have been there.

What we plan to do while we are camping:

Nature Hikes - My sister JRouse and I take our kids on nature hikes at any place we camp. Our children's ages range from 2-7 years old. No child is too young for a nature hike and for learning about the plants and animals. Not only do they get to ask questions about the different things they see, but we also learn things from them (Sometimes the kids can put a whole new spin on things that even us adults hadn't thought of before). Stay on the marked trails and your good to go! I keep a book in our camper that has information on different wildlife (track recognition and some other facts) that the kids can look through.

Campfires - At state campgrounds they have fire pits that you are to use to have a campfire in. If you plan to use them to cook, before you use it you may want to stir it up with a long stick and check for trash that is not burnable or is toxic (plastic products, aluminum foil, etc.). Make sure you remove those items and dispose of them properly. We usually burn a hot fire in it prior to using it for cooking as a lot of previous campers may have burnt plastic items in it and we want to make sure it isn't going to affect our food (You can't always pick stuff out so this is an added precaution).

Hobo Pies - A staple of our camping experience, we ALWAYS have our pie makers in our camper for this purpose. You can buy them in cast iron or in aluminum. I prefer the cast iron as they tend to hold up better and longer. We had some aluminum ones but they did not hold up as well, the pro to having them is that they are lighter weight-wise. You can buy cookbooks for the pie irons that have Pesto Calzone and Falafel recipes. For more info on the irons and the cookbooks go here: Fire Pie Trail Store (We actually own the cookbook on that site and there are some GREAT recipes in it). Some of our favorite foods to do with the pie irons are:

• Dessert Hobo Pies - This one is the most simple. All you need is: Bread, butter and any pie filling of your choice. Take the square pie iron and open it up on a flat surface. Butter two pieces of bread and lay one of the pieces butter side down on one side of the pie iron. Scoop 2 tablespoons of pie filling onto one piece of the bread, take the second piece of buttered bread and put it butter side up (Kinda like making a grilled cheese sandwich). Close the pie iron (keeping the sandwich on bottom side) and close it up tight. Take a knife and cut any bread crust that is outside of the pie iron off. Cook for a few minutes on one side, turn it over and cook for a few minutes on the other side (Time depends on how hot your fire is). Make sure to check your hobo pie while you are cooking it, both sides should be golden brown (Again like grilled cheese). Once it is done, carefully find a surface to set the iron on (wooden picnic table is best) and open it up (Make sure you have it flat side down). With a plate ready, turn the iron over and dump the pie out onto the plate. Let the pie cool for 5 minutes or more because the pie filling with be hotter than the surface of the sun fresh out of the iron. Be sure to check the temp before you eat it. It will burn you if you don't!
• Pizza Hobo Pies - Will add an easy recipe at a later date.
• Meat and Cheese Hobo Pies - Same concept as dessert pies except you add sandwich meat and cheese.

In what way do you or your family enjoy the summer? Do you make it a learning experience for your children (if you are at that stage of your life)?

(Pictured are my boys being "chased" by Lake Michigan's waves at P.J. Hoffmaster Park in Muskegon, Michigan. My youngest (photo on right) seems to think that screaming at the waves will get them to stop chasing him or something to that effect)

I'll let you know how our trip goes and will have pictures! Till next time!

Sincerely,

Khrys @ GreenSpot-On

Link: http://unhub.com/GreenSpotOn/17979

GreenSpot-On Wildlife Q & A #3

Welcome to the Third Issue of the GreenSpot-On Wildlife Q & A! Here are new questions recieved from a student at Beachnau Elementary in Ravenna, MI and a couple more from some of GreenSpot-On's adult readers along with my responses to them...

Question: What kind of things do you do at your job?
Name: Jenna Age: 6
Grade: N/A School-City/State: Beechnau Elementary - Ravenna, MI

JRouse’s Answer: At my job I have a variety of tasks that I do during the workday and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming...

I start off the day cleaning out the cages (kennels) that the cats are kept in and make sure they have clean litter boxes and clean towels to lay on as well as fresh food and water. Throughout the day I answer the phone and wait on customers and take care of the animals that are in the clinic. In our exam room we have mice in a cage to help distract the cats a little (so they aren't focused so much on seeing the doctor - kind of like you with lollipops), and we also have canaries that are in our boarding facility.

The boarding area is where animals stay when their owners are out of town. We try and make the area as homelike as possible; we have a fountain with large goldfish in it, the canaries and an exercise area for them to play around in. I assist the doctor with appointments - this includes; taking the cats temperature, weighing them, trimming their nails, and writing down information for the doctor regarding the cats diet and history.

I also assist the doctor and hold the cats for blood draws and vaccinations. On days that we have surgeries, I help check the cat in for surgery and then set up the treatment area in our hospital for the procedures to take place. Myself as well as a couple other co-workers do this job, and we all help the doctor with various things during these procedures, like shaving the cats that are getting lion cuts (a type of haircut for a cat), giving it a bath, or prepping for the surgeries. But, the doctor is the only one who actually can perform these - we only assist!

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Question: How do you get the supplies you need to rehab an animal? Are rehabbers funded by a group or is it donation based?
Name: Kim Keller-Rouse Age: Over 40
City/State: Mount Pleasant, MI

JRouse’s Answer: The supplies that are used for rehabbing usually are purchased by the rehabber (out of pocket) and that is the case for myself, as well as most rehabbers. Sometimes if you start an organization you are able to get donations, but most rehabbers are independent, therefore, all the expenses are out-of-pocket. This is one thing that people don't understand when you are taking in an animal. You can be picky about what you take in, because you may not be able to afford the animals care it needs (depending on what you have to spend and what you have time for). When an animal is in its nursing phase it can be costly, just in milk, syringes, etc. Then when they are weaned it may be less costly, but that all depends on the type of animal you have and what it eats!

Got a question for JRouse (me) on any animals listed or pictured on the site? E-mail jr.greenspot_on@khrysania.com to ask! Please include the following information in your e-mail:

Question: (Question for JRouse)

Name: (First Name of Child) Age: (Age of Child)

Grade: (Grade Level of Child) School-City/State: (School Name - Location: City/State)

Sincerely,

JRouse

GreenSpot-On

Link: http://unhub.com/GreenSpotOn/17979

Have Questions? Presenting GreenSpot-On's Wildlife Q & A!

Parents/Guardians, Teachers, Wildlife Enthusiasts and GreenSpot-On Readers!

As someone who has done wildlife rehabbing, JRouse has worked with many different types of animals. She would like to give children and adults/wildlife lovers the opportunity to ask her questions about the animals she has helped or even questions about what she does and how!

They include:

Fawns

Osprey

Red Fox

Canadian geese

Domestic geese

Pigeons

Pheasants

Squirrels: Red, Black, Gray Tree, Fox and Flying

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Barred Owl

Great Horned Owl

Screech Owl

Red-Tailed Hawk

Domestic Cats

Some of these animals are pictured in the slideshow on the main page. If you have children or students or if you adults would like to ask a question about any of these animals, please send an e-mail to JRouse in the following format:

Question: (Your Question)

Name: (First Name) Age: (Age)

Grade: (Child’s Grade) School/Location: (Child’s School Name and City/State or your location)

JRouse will answer up to 3 of these questions once a week as she receives them. All answers will be posted to GreenSpot-On with the original question in the format above. We at GreenSpot-On hope you will take this opportunity to teach your child something new about the wildlife around us. Thank you for joining us today!

Sincerely,

GreenSpot-On
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Nature's Surprises

I love history... I love genealogy. As a part of my research I go to cemeteries and photograph gravestones to preserve them and post them to on-line graveyards. When I was younger I spent alot of time in cemeteries, they were beautiful and serene. A great place to think. It wasn't until I was about 19 that I decided to photograph them for genealogy purposes, which brings me to my tale.

A couple years ago I happened to be visiting family in Mount Pleasant, MI. When I am in a town, village or city I try to get to the cemetery to take photo's of veterans gravestones. Especially the older stones and Civil War Veterans. While there I went to a beautiful Catholic Cemetery called Calvary Cemetery that has beautiful stones and many statues, alot of clergy were buried there. At one point I began to photograph a group of gravestones that was a family plot that had about 9 graves. There were lily's or some type of flower that was planted in front of two particular gravestones that hadn't bloomed yet. They struck me as particularly beautiful that day.

I looked through my viewfinder, zoomed in and prepared to take the pictures. Always trying to get the best shot of the full gravestone. I had originally planned on taking at least three shots of the one stone with the flowers. I steadied myself, took a deep breath and slowly let it out (to make sure I was holding the camera steady). To my complete surprise, a head popped up behind the flowers and scared me half to death! I jumped back and let out a shriek, in a complete panic as I have never had something pop out at me like that while photographing stones before (I had zoomed in to the stone, had taken one picture already, so through my viewfinder it was a lot closer and in my face). My heart was pounding in my ears. You simply don't expect that kind of excitement in a cemetery!

What was this thing that scared me so badly, to the point of near cardiac arrest you ask? I did a double take and stared in awe. It was a fawn, not very old and cute as can be! It still had it's spots! After the initial shock wore off and the idea that something living scared me in a cemetery (It should be the complete opposite like a zombie, right). I took in my surroundings and determined that it's mother must of left her baby in the fenced in cemetery to keep it safe while she went for food. There was no sign of her whatsoever. I stood in one spot while the fawn got up on it's four legs and began to move away as I had intruded upon it's safe and shaded spot. Needless to say I had quite a laugh at my own expense! How silly I felt!

My intention was not to scare the fawn more than I already had (or like it had scared me) and to not get close to it so it's mother would come back for it. It ran a few feet and then began walking around the cemetery when it realized that I was not going to follow. I stayed glued in my spot and began to take photo's of the little one walking around. This went on for at least 45 minutes. Eventually the fawn seemed to tire. It climbed a small hill near a large cross in the middle of the cemetery and hid in the comfort of the bushes that were in front of it.

After that, I lost sight of him/her and decided to move and finish my photographing. Not before I took a picture of the cross the fawn was sheltering near and went on my way.

I have chosen two quotes for you, both of which I feel are appropriate. They are:

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles." - Anne Frank (1929–1945), German-Jewish refugee, diarist. The Diary of a Young Girl, entry for Feb. 23, 1944 (1947, trans. 1952).

"There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story." - Linda Hogan, Chicksaw poet and novelist (quoted in Listening to the Land, edited by Derrick Jensen) http://www.nativewiki.org/Linda_Hogan

Sincerely,
Khrysania @ GreenSpot-On

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