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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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...
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...
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...
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...
2022 Labyrinths – Walks and Experiences
2022 Labyrinths What about labyrinths draws us? The unique patterns? The locations? The need to center? Perhaps all. Labyrinth walks of 2022 varied from ordinary to recognizing the structure needed attention and Love, to being “surprised by Joy!” Home The Phoenix...
Why Do You Band Birds?
On an early, warm, bright November day, several Coe and Mt. Mercy University Students with their professors arrived at Winding Pathways to band birds. They stood mesmerized as one cradled a diminutive bird in his hand. This long-distance traveler had met a temporary...
Have Your Seen a Calf Being Birthed?
watch a calf being born.
Sharing a Serendipity
We invite you to share a serendipity you have experienced. A recent overnight to Fairfield, Iowa, delighted us with unexpected bliss, a sense of connection, and enchantment. On recalling other times when we found ourselves in wonderous situations and with engaging...
Be Less Tidy in Your Yard! Welcome Wild Fruits
We think of fall as migration time when all the birds leave. And there is a great birdcast website to see in live time the flights. But an autumn walk through a park with wild edges reveals shrubs, bushes, and grasses alive with bird activity. Visit an orchard on a...
Messy Yard – Look From a Different Perspective
Motorists passing our yard must think we have a messy yard. Instead of the clipped and sprayed yards of neighbors, ours is a dancing field of tall wildflowers and native grasses. Many consider them “weeds”. Our yard is unconventional, healthy, and beautiful. It...
Feeding Backyard Birds and Saving Money
Feeding backyard birds is fun, but it’s become expensive. The price of black oil sunflower seed has doubled in just a couple of years. To keep our birds well-fed and our budget under control we use Fourth Story Feeders. What are they? Well, the first story is...
The Continuing Saga of the Ninja Chicken
Well, our Ninja Hen is at it again. A neighbor, watching the hens for us, entered the barn one morning to find the California White strutting around inside the barn but out of the coop! Looking around, our neighbor also found a small white egg in a depression in the...
No Feeders for Birds? No Problem!
Hi all: Many people either don't have feeders for birds or have reduced their giving of seeds due to higher expenses. Yet, we still like to note birds around. We encourage you to join Cornell University's Project FeederWatch. From the website click on "About" on the...
Taking the Direct Path – No Rules Labyrinth
Editor note: Because of a glitch in the system and being uncertain if this blog was published at the original time, we are sharing now. Guest blogger, Shari McDowell I walked a labyrinth this afternoon. The one in New Bo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, between the Bottleworks...
American Ninja Chicken!
One of our 14 chickens is a true American Ninja Chicken. Most of us know the TV program American Ninja Warriors where athletes navigate extreme obstacles to beat the buzzer. Well, this gal, a California White, is right up there with the most athletic of them all. Like...
Installing a Low Maintenance Polyaspartic Garage Floor
Home Upkeep! From time to time, we post a blog about home care on Winding Pathways. Ways to upgrade appliances and refinish the structure. Although removed from our normal nature tips, home care is both important and interesting. One TV ad caught our attention about...