This blog is under construction, so bear with me. I have set up many blogs in the past, but it’s been a long time since I did one from scratch. And everything has changed, so this may take a little longer.
My plan is to create posts that complement my book, Outside ABCs which is due to release on April 21, 2026. The book is written in rhyme, but these posts can include any kind of material that might encourage children and families to go outside and explore nature.
My Outside ABCs books have finally arrived! This is so exciting for me as they are even more beautiful than I had imagined. I am setting up some book signings and hoping for some school visits. I have found two local shops to carry my books.
These books are available for order from the following locations:
My own Square page for autographed copies:
Outside ABCs and other books I’ve written
Ambassador International: Outside ABCs
Barnes and Noble online: Outside ABCs
Amazon: Outside ABCs
Other bookstores should be able to order Outside ABCs with this ISBN number: 978-1-64960-751-5
#outsideabcs #naturealphabetbooks
National Crawfish Day is April 17th. Celebrate it with an outside adventure.
Everyone knows about finding crawdads in creeks and ditches, but did you know you could catch one in a hole in the ground with a string and some bacon?
Many years ago when my now-grown daughter (Jonathan’s mom) was very young we saw several funny looking chimneys made of mud our back yard. Not knowing what they were, we asked around and were told that they were made by crawdads that lived under the ground. I often wondered if I could catch one with some bait on a string, but I never got around to trying it. Many years later in a different home in a different town, I noticed some mud chimneys in our ditch.
Then one day I learned that April 17th was National Crawfish Day, I set out to do something that had been on my bucket list for over 40 years–to catch a crawdad in a crawdad hole with a piece of bacon tied to the end of a string. Check out my pictures!
Continue readingWhen I was a little girl my aunt showed me how to make a doll from the flower of the Althea Rose of Sharon bush. It grew in the front yard of our farm in northern Indiana. The petals made a lovely long dress and the doll’s head was the unopened bud of another flower. While visiting my husband’s family in upstate New York I noticed the same flowers blooming all around and took advantage of the opportunity to make one again.
To make this flower doll:
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