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!

Sign-up for FREE email updates

Join our email list

Sign up for FREE Winding Pathways emails (approximately weekly).

What is the “To-Do” About Moles?

What is the “To-Do” About Moles?

People make a "to-do" about moles. They might be the most disliked animal in suburbia. We have them at Winding Pathways and are sharing tips on what we do about them. Human Created Problems Suburban and urban soil has a common problem. It is too often compacted.  ...

read more
Look Up!  Look Down! Shhhh, Listen!

Look Up! Look Down! Shhhh, Listen!

A Season of Variables After a drab March “look up, look down, listen” season is here. It’s exciting and frustrating. Always something to see and hear and things we miss, too. What is look up, look down, listen?  Well, when we walk in woods and prairies, we’re always...

read more
Backpacker Meals and Car Travel

Backpacker Meals and Car Travel

We Bring Along Backpacker Meals* We don’t do wilderness backpacking anymore but we are never far from backpacker meals at home and when we travel. Last May we drove to Casper, Wyoming, with plans to set our tent up at Nebraska’s Smith Falls State Park the first night...

read more
Battery-Powered Chainsaws

Battery-Powered Chainsaws

Are battery-powered chainsaws worth the money? We decided to find out. * Gas chainsaws have been around for decades. Rich wondered if newer electric battery-powered chainsaws would be as functional and easier to use. So, he acquired a Milwaukee saw with a 16-inch bar...

read more
Meet The Confusing Tree Sparrows

Meet The Confusing Tree Sparrows

Tree Sparrows. Two species. What could be more confusing?  Well, there’s more. Both look like common House Sparrows (formerly known as English Sparrows. Meet the American Tree Sparrows Marion glanced at our feeders recently and noticed what looked like a Chipping...

read more
Can You Tell History from Syrup Tap Scars?

Can You Tell History from Syrup Tap Scars?

Scars in a tree at the Indian Creek Nature Center reveal maple syruping history. Back in 1979 Rich Patterson and volunteers approached a husky Box Elder tree, armed with a drill, spile, and buckets. It was early March. Nights were cold and frosty, followed by warm...

read more
Amusing Winter Squirrels

Amusing Winter Squirrels

Winter squirrels are amusing as they scout out food resources, navigate high wires to cross the road, and forage at local feeders.       Diane and Frank Olsen feed birds, and squirrels, daily and enjoy the antics and dexterity of the neighborhood...

read more
Vrieze and Geese!

Vrieze and Geese!

"Yes," to Geese If You Please Guest blog by Jody Vrieze When we lived in Plymouth, Iowa, my husband and I realized there is more to a home than just a house. We embraced our love of nature and animals by creating a retreat in our yard featuring natural diversity and...

read more
Disappearing Ash Trees

Disappearing Ash Trees

Disappearing Ash Trees Ash trees are fast disappearing from American forests and towns. It’s tragic. There are several ash species, including white, green, blue, and black. A Chinese native insect, the Emerald Ash Borer, is killing them all quickly. It’s awful. Years...

read more
Reflecting on 2022

Reflecting on 2022

Several people have sourly said, “Good riddance to 2022.” This day, swaddled in dense fog that muffles sound and limits sight, I’m reflecting on 2022.  As we noted in the Gratitude jar on the shelf, the year before, “Good things DID happen (in 2021).” Below are some...

read more
What to Do BEFORE Power Outages

What to Do BEFORE Power Outages

Power outages. They happen in an instant. Most are only a flicker but some can last for hours when the wind’s whistling and the temperature’s dropping outside. Or in summer when the heat rises. What’s the best thing to do in power outages?  Well, it’s best to...

read more
Winter Trees

Winter Trees

Winter trees. We love ‘em even though they don’t sport their cooling green summer leaves or October’s color. When autumn leaves fall, trees look wonderfully different. Their nakedness reveals sights that are difficult to notice during summer. Here are some of the...

read more
Harvesting Snow

Harvesting Snow

A raging blizzard roaring over Winding Pathways just before Christmas showed us the power of HARVESTING SNOW. We love catching it. Well, we didn’t really catch the snow, but our prairie did. It has a talent for harvesting snow and other forms of moisture. It taught us...

read more
Do You Know a 99-Year-Old Teacher?

Do You Know a 99-Year-Old Teacher?

Henry is still a teacher. Our feature today is different. It's about an amazing teacher. Winding Pathways blogs are normally about yards, backyard chickens, labyrinths, and occasional touches of home care and energy efficiency.   It’s about a 99-year-old who retired...

read more