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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!
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Poison Ivy’s Secret
This summer millions of Americans will have unhappy encounters with poison ivy. For most people, the result is a patch of itchy bumpy skin that goes away after a few days to a week or so. Unfortunate others will develop a serious reaction that includes severe itching...
Take Time for Sunrises and Sunsets
"Take Time. Make Time" Guest Blogger Connie Sjostrom After working 40 years of my life, I was fortunate to be able to retire early. Always a multi-tasker while I was a working mom, you can imagine that much of my spare time was, well, not really spare. I vowed early...
Walking the Sacred Path Daily
A reflective blog on walking the sacred path of the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth daily. And, when I am away, finding other labyrinths to walk. Read the blog at 1080labyrinth.com.
Best Birding In the World!
Birding in our Back Yard We’ve traveled throughout the United States seeking interesting birds, and we just discovered the very best place. It’s our backyard! Since we began actively diversifying the plants in our yard they’ve welcomed many new bird species to visit,...
Care for Your Rain Barrels This Summer
Problem with Hot Weather A friend emailed today with this dilemma: "I got a whiff of a horrible smell near my rain barrel. I looked inside, and there's a horrible, putrid layer of something floating on the top of the water. I think it might have come from all the...
Reflections on Heron Rookeries
Reflecting on Heron Rookeries Guest blog by Sigrid Reynolds Heron rookeries are one of the most peculiar sights you will see. Picture three large sycamore trees in the middle of a swamp in Ohio. Skunk cabbages, those harbingers of spring, poke up along the early...
Great American Campout!
Camping this summer
Creeping Charlie and Other Ground Covers
Years ago, a homeowner visited a garden store and bought plugs of a plant commercially called ground ivy, but most folks today call it Creeping Charlie. In many ways this exotic plant was an ideal ground cover. It’s tough, easy to transport and plant, adaptable to a...
Foiling Ticks!
Creepy Crawlers Even before Lyme disease created a serious tick-borne health hazard no one wanted ticks crawling on them. We sure don’t want them at Winding Pathways and because our yard has tall grass, shrubs, and a woodland we have tick habitat. A few years ago,...
Goats of Wonderland
A Visit to Cheshire Moon Farm Fans of Alice and Wonderland know the famous Cheshire Cat grin. That feline gave its name to a happy place called Cheshire Moon Farm in rural Atkins, Iowa. Winding Pathways visited in late April and left smiling. The farm is perched on...
Bird Feeder Adaptations
Bruce Frana, a Winding Pathways visitor, saw one of our blogs on our "squirrel proof" feeder and how we discourage squirrels from gobbling up sunflower seeds we put out for birds. He crafted a similar but much more attractive version that's in his yard. Our...
Food In Alaska
Food in Alaska is just plain fun! The Last Frontier state has one of the most ethnically diverse area codes in the country. English, Irish, Scottish, German, French, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, Filipino, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, African Americans, Laotians,...
Baby Chicks Grow Up – Part Two
Now a couple of months old, the quartet of chicks is exploring farther afield. After the cold and snowy introduction to the outside world in late March, they readily follow Mama Hen outside. Mama protects them inside from the other hens by cornering the chicks and...
Texas Drawl in Alaska
You know Steve Brown is from Texas right away. Vernon, Texas, to be exact. Home of the Red River Valley Museum, that features native sons trombonist and singer, Jack Teagarden and singer-songwriter, Roy Orbison. Brown’s drawl and easy manner draw you in. But, there...
Chickens Up North
It may seem odd for a bird that evolved in tropical Southeast Asia to thrive up in the frigid north but increasing numbers of people are enjoying the benefits of backyard chickens in Canada, Maine, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in Northern Minnesota, and even Alaska....
Baby Chicks Grow Up
We've had fun allowing the California White to brood and then raise four chicks we placed under her one night. She's been an attentive Mama showing the chicks how to eat, accept new foods, and forage outside in the snow. Each evening she tucks them into her...