Welcome to Winding Pathways
Winding Pathways encourages you to create a wonderous yard, whether that yard is an expansive acreage, a suburban lot or a condominium balcony. Go outside and play!
Join our email list
Sign up for FREE Winding Pathways emails (approximately weekly).
Four Abundant and (some) Deadly Poisonous Plants
Four plants lurk along trails, in campgrounds and appear in yards. Beware of these problematic plants.
Woodchuck or Groundhog?
What's In A Name? A big furry animal has made a tunnel under the deck and clear cut down the garden. Is the culprit a woodchuck or groundhog? The answer is simple. They’re two names for the same animal. The window by Marion’s computer desk overlooks our...
Naturalized Yards and Weed Ordinances
some tips on transforming a yard into a beautiful, vibrant, species diverse habitat.
Trackchair® Brings Folks with Mobility Issues into Nature
Want to get outside but have limited mobility? Check out a Trackchair(R)! Some non-profits, like Indian Creek Nature Center, provide quiet electric vehicles so people can venture into nature.
Adventures In Buying a KIA Niro
Buying a KIA Niro in the fall of 2024 ended several months of seeking the best car for us. Our Chevy Cruze was serving us well. We liked it but it was a low-set vehicle. At pushing age 76 we were finding it harder to get in and out of it. So, we went on a quest...
Chicken Wisdom
Chickens are smarter than you think and are excellent parents.
Post Surgery And Beyond
Learning to live with temporary different abilities. Reflections on recovery from lumbar surgery.
A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned*
*Apologies to Ben Franklin* It's funny how quotes get attributed to people. Franklin might not have actually said the quote above, but he did have the right idea with his quote: in the 1737 Poor Richard’s Almanack: “A penny saved is two pence clear.” When you save...
Post -Surgery Go Slow Now to Go Fast Later
Post Two Post-surgery time – Days 1 to 21 Go Slow Now to Go Fast Later Go to this link for valuable information. Being on high-level pain medications is interesting. In the hospital recovery, I remember drowsily being aware of voices coming and going. On the post-op...
May’s Ten Best Days
late April and early May in the northern hemisphere are wonderful times to take in nature. Flowers appear, trees leaf out, migratory birds come back and fill the air with song.
So You’re Gonna Have Surgery
Caveat Note, many of these ideas can apply to various situations where one is temporarily limited in movement. Rich has had hand and cataract surgeries. His movements were limited for a time. My situation was ALIF - low back fusion surgery. There appear to be...
Keweenaw Peninsula By Winter
Quincy Warmth After a short walk through deep snow in the bitter cold, we entered a dimly lit tunnel. As we stepped into Quincy Mine’s long tunnel we were surrounded by warmth. Well, the warmth was relative. Outside it was below zero but inside the tunnel was a balmy...
Turtles of Iowa
Two experts share current information on turtles of Iowa.
Odd Shed Deer Antler
An odd shed deer antler caught our eyes during a woodsy March walk. We’ve enjoyed shed hunting for years and have found plenty, but this one was unusual. What is a Shed? Deer, elk, moose, and caribou all shed their antlers a couple of months after the breeding season....
Clean the Tool
Disclaimer: Both Milwaukee and Ego have provided us with tools to test, however, we purchased most of our tools at retail cost, including Milwaukee and Ego brands. There it was, printed clearly in the owner's manual. Clean the tool. I’d just bought a Milwaukee Brand...
DEI Chicken Flock
We have a DEI Chicken Flock. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in chickens??? Yes! A smart way to husband animals. And honor people, too. DEI Variety Within our small flock are chicken breeds with various body types, feather colors, origins, and dispositions. Here’s...