Welcome to the Farmhouse!

        Hello, everyone! My sincerest apologies for the fact that I've lived in Indiana for over two months now and have not yet started my blog. There is a reason why they warn you that the first 9 weeks of graduate school are "intensive". I was not thinking it would be as crazy as it was! I literally would wake up, go to class from 8 am until 5 pm, come home, make dinner, study and do homework, go to bed and do it all over again five days a week and then do homework all weekend!
        Since I am so behind on my blog, I think I will write it daily as possible, and include a flashback at the bottom to recap some of the many things I've done since I moved to Wolf Lake. Having a blog is also a requirement for my practicum class, so I will merge my reflection assignments into this blog's daily entries.

Just in case you missed my pretty face, this is me holding a baby downy woodpecker at bird banding!

        I start teaching TOMORROW! We've been observing for the past few days, trying to get our feet planted firmly on the ground before we are "thrown into the fire" as Paul says. Tomorrow we begin teaching with 50 second graders doing what we call the "Farmcraft" program. I will give you an overview of the stations in tomorrow's blog and try my best to describe what happens.
        First I want to give you a sort of 'virtual tour' of where I live and what my house looks like. Then I will show you where I have class and my graduate office. That way, when I talk about the "Farm" or the "Learning Center" you will know what I am talking about. Here we go!

        Welcome to my house! This is the view from the front, and you can see the part of the house that I live in (the brick part). I share half of the house with Tom and Amy. So, grandparents, you never have to worry about me being alone! I literally am a wall apart from the most amazing couple that I am blessed to have as neighbors. Tom completed the graduate program last year and works now with the Sustainability Semester in Residence program offered through Merry Lea. Amy works as an animal keeper at Black Pine Animal Sanctuary, which is a safe haven for exotic animals located in Albion.

They have an adorable dog named Lexie, and a hedgehog named Penelope (isn't she cute?). Whenever I have a need for animal love, they let me come over and play with their animals! They also let me get into my side of the house when I lock myself out and don't feel like climbing through the window (which has been about 4 times now)...

Above is Amy, Tom and Lexie           

Now, more pictures of the house and surrounding area!

     The brick section is my part of the house, but the three windows you see that have wood paneling are also my part. If you walk around the back of my part this is what you see: 

     We call this beautiful area Kesling Wetland. It's also changed a lot since I took this picture! The cattails and other vegetation have grown up quite a bit since we got some rain in the past few weeks. The grass is also green. Everything around where I live is currently green and lovely. 

     The Canada Geese were often on the lawn waiting to quack at me as I went exploring. I haven't seen any in a few weeks except for a few in the middle of the water. I have also seen quite a few huge wild turkeys on my way to class. They like to run out in front of your car... and by 'run' I mean waddle awkwardly and frantically wherever you are trying to drive so you have to stop your car as not to hit them.

     In this picture you can see the Wetland Gathering Room, which is the wood paneled building to the left of the Farmhouse. This is one of many buildings next to where I live in which programming takes place. I did not take pictures of each individual building yet, but I will and include them with an entry about Farmcraft. We also use this building for various public programs like Wilderness First Aid and Entomology. 

     This is a close up of the Wetland Gathering Room so you can see the black boxes on the top of the siding. What are those things? They are actually houses for bats! When I was out on the lawn one night with some friends to watch the meteor shower, you could see (and feel!) these guys dart past you as you were on the grass. They are incredible to listen to and watch! If you go out at just the right time before the sun sets, you can see them flying around hunting bugs. I love walking outside of my door and seeing all these amazing things happening around me.
     Now it's time to introduce you to a few of the many animals currently living on the farm for use in Farmcraft. We have turkeys, chickens, angora goats, huge pigs, and a tom turkey that is determined to kill the other turkeys! There is NEVER a dull moment with the animals. The tom turkey now lives with the goats!

     The pigs love any food you will give them. When I am feeling down or need a laugh, all I have to do is go watch them root around in the mud and listen to them oink. They are hilarious to observe and fun to feed. They don't have names, so we just let the kids name them on a daily basis. The pigs and goats are on loan to Merry Lea for programming, but all the turkeys and chickens will be butchered before the season is over. I have already been told that I will be participating in this... and it will be quite a learning experience. It is important that children know where the food comes from that they eat.

Now for a tour of the Learning Center!

     When you walk in the door to the Learning Center, the first thing you see is the gathering room. This room has all kinds of things to look at and touch, like an actual living beehive! This is where the kids meet, meetings are held, and lunches are eaten surrounded by amazing people. There is so much to see and look at that I will give you just a brief tour!

This is Don, our domesticated water snake. The large snake before this one died a tragic death when a large rock fell on it during Thanksgiving break of last year. Therefore, he was replaced with this little guy. I love holding him, and the kids absolutely LOVE getting to play with him. He was dropped a few times on Friday, but was okay. He will grow to be pretty big! He is very spoiled and is very much taken care of by several staff members who are particularly fond of him. He has never struck or bitten anyone. He gets scared when you lift him out of the water (I'd be scared too if I suddenly was taken high into the air!) but other than that, he's a great learning tool for the children.

Here is an aerial map of Merry Lea. The red line denotes the boundaries.

 Here are some of the many fun things to look at and play with at the Learning Center.

 Kids love learning about scat!

 Sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks dot the shelves along with fun facts and interesting things regarding the rocks and glaciation at Merry Lea. You'll learn more about eskers and glaciation later!

 The beehive! This is the coolest thing EVER. You can hear them buzzing, watch them do their dances, see the honey, and if you put you hand on the glass very carefully, you can feel the heat that they are generating. They are fascinating creatures. Every time I have a spare moment I have my face pressed against the glass with a magnifier watching them. I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to come from a line of beekeepers and how much I miss my grandfather. He would have had so many stories to send to me if I had a chance to show him these pictures. 

 It has to be a little bit cramped in there! About two weeks ago, the bees you see here swarmed and left the nest to create another nest. The bees we have now aren't as plentiful, but the population grows bigger each day!

 What's your wingspan? Stand against these life-sized birds of prey to see how you match up. 

 Various animal skins are used to show kids the differences between fur and talk about winter coats and summer coats. Did you know that the fur on deer is hollow? You probably already knew that, but I sure didn't until I got here.

 Merry Lea displays various native birds that have been donated and stuffed so that children may see the different birds up close. Most of the predatory birds and various other animals were found near Merry Lea. I need to take pictures of the owls and hawks!

 Indiana is known for their huge silver maples and the delicious maple syrup they produce! 

Yikes! This is one of a few hornets' nests on display at the Learning Center. How would you like to open your garage and see this thing hanging like a chandelier above your tractor?

Welcome to my office! I took these pictures a little while ago, and it looks a little bit different (more homey) now than it did at this time. I spend a lot of time in here working on projects!

 My Mac computer that I am still getting used to but oftentimes get very frustrated with...

 I had to show off my Baylor sign! Sic 'em all the way from Indiana!!

      This is the classroom where I had my classes for the "intensive" part of the semester. We were outside a majority of the time, but some deep discussions and lots of learning took place here! I recently put the books down and traded papers for practicum. We will be primarily teaching, but will also be reading and doing various other assignments. Practicum runs until the middle of November. I am teaching on average 4 days a week!

      I am going to try my best to do this on a somewhat daily basis. I have so much to catch everyone up on! So far, I love Merry Lea and all the staff members. They are like one big family and the dynamics and chemistry between them is amazing to watch and be a part of. I get to learn from master teachers, world travelers, and everything in between. I am so very blessed to have these people in my life and I am loving every day!