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!
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To Everything There is a Season
As November closes and late fall settles in with its grey stillness and stripped woods and fields we draw comfort from unusual sources. Read more at....1080Labyrinth.
The Best of Seeds and the Worst of Seeds
Cold weather in the northern hemisphere and the Holiday Season everywhere are upon us and many gifts for bird lovers fill store shelves. But, shopping for seeds to fill the backyard feeder can be confusing and even frustrating. Many types of seed and mixes are for...
Turkey and Squirrel Excluder
Nearly everyone who feeds wild birds sees squirrels gobbling up expensive seed. Elaborate and expensive feeders help birds eat while excluding squirrels. We use a different method. Plenty of squirrels make Winding Pathways home. So do wild turkeys. We enjoy watching...
All Saints’ Day Walk
We could not have asked for better weather, especially in November! On the first several Pilgrims walked the 1080 Laughing Labyrinth reflecting, soaking in the sun and warm air, and sharing experiences. Some left quietly. Others shared a hug and thoughtful remark....
Fall Season of Transition
One late October afternoon Rich brought only three eggs into the kitchen. In spring and summer our 15 hens normally give us a dozen beautiful eggs every day. Like so many signs in nature our chickens are telling us it is transition time. We have lucky chickens. They...
Sprucing Up Decks and Chairs
When we bought Winding Pathways six years ago we ended up with two old wooden decks and steel deck furniture. We love our decks and often enjoy meals there. Sometimes we just sit on our decks watching wildlife in the prairie and woodland. Unfortunately, our decks and...
A Cornucopia of Winter Squash
One of the most exciting times of our gardening year is winter squash harvest. Few plants are as interesting or useful. They're diverse, easy to grow, colorful, easy to store, delicious, and can be used in dozens of recipes. Winter squash were domesticated by Native...
Evacuation Advice While It’s Fresh In Your Mind
With an enormous flood surge coming down the Cedar River many homeowners were told to evacuate. Twice in eight years we've helped families facing evacuation only to find them mentally frozen and unable to decide what to take and what to leave. Evacuations are...
Outwitting Pesky Deer
Like millions of American homeowners we at Winding Pathways have a love/hate relationship with deer. Few animals are as beautiful as a peaceful doe nursing her fawns or as majestic as a powerful buck sporting husky fall antlers. But a love of deer only goes so far....
Overlands Create a Wondrous Urban Sanctuary
A short winding pathway around the home of Scott and Jan Overland leads to a wondrous backyard that's an oasis of privacy and peace within bustling Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Butterflies flitted about as a hummingbird sipped nectar from an obedient plant as we toured the...
Cast Iron Cookery
Want to buy a product that's inexpensive, American made, can be used every day of your life and then passed on to your children as a legacy? Cast iron cookware fills the bill. One cool August morning Rich collected eggs from our backyard chicken flock, pulled out a...
Jan Watkin’s Sunflower
A short note from Jan Watkins about her summer companion. "This lone sunflower volunteered to be in my garden. It looks in at me and makes me smile each day. It's the little things. The special thing about this flower besides choosing my garden in which to bloom, is...
A Mouse in the House
A long-ago children’s story began something like this, “There is a mouse in my house. It is a very nice mouse. It has a long, long tail and shiny eyes. It pops out of its hole and runs. My mother likes the mouse, but she says, ‘A mouse does not belong in a house.’”...
Rain Barrels to the Rescue!
A Guest Column by Jackie and Peter Hull When we first moved to Virginia fifteen years ago, we had no idea that the entire state was in a drought which had been ongoing for a couple of years. In order to help water the garden we wanted to grow, we decided to construct...
Indiana Labyrinths
August was a time of travel East. On the way to and from we took in labyrinths in towns just off I-80. South Bend and Valaparaiso, Indiana, both have lovely labyrinths. The South Bend labyrinths are located on Ironwood Road, a major north-south route close to Notre...
Butterflies Galore!
Carol Lampe shared these pictures and write up of her wondrous yard and the pollinator action on Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum). This is a particularly valuable fast food stop for migrating butterflies as it lasts into autumn. We have found it a bit difficult to...