Nest Building

More nice weather!  Can it be?  Can our long and cold winter finally be over?  The kids and I packed up yesterday and headed outdoors to take full advantage of the mild air and sunshine – just in case it snows again this weekend!

It’s been an absolute joy to wake up to the sounds of birds chirping outside our window.  I never really got so much into bird watching as many of our other homeschooling friends have, but we’ve enjoyed seeing all the nests in the barren trees throughout the colder months.   We also have been talking about how birds build their nests; what they use, how they assemble it, and so on.  We even found an abandoned nest on the ground outside.  Happily, the little ones started talking about what kinds of things they could leave outside for the birds to assist them in their nest-building.

Hmm, what can a crocheter offer?  I wondered aloud.

The boys were thrilled as they gathered up loose ends of yarn in fat little preschool fists from various projects that I’ve been working on around the house and joyously made their way out into the sunshine out toward the trees, all the while talking about the colorful nests they were going to see this year, speckled with bits of purple yarn, pink yarn, and blue.

Finally, they placed their offerings at the base of a couple of large trees that are just beginning to bud.  They watched and watched, but no birds came to retrieve the yarn.  However, I allayed their fears by letting them know the birds would indeed take the yarn after we’d gone inside.  Satisfied, they ran and did all sorts of things that little boys are supposed to do outside while I sat in the sunshine with hot coffee, crochet and a book.

Welcome, Spring!  We are so happy to see you.