Celebrate the Great Maine Outdoor weekend with us!

Bring your family to enjoy the outdoors and connect with nature this winter right here at the Topsham Public Library...

Saturday, February 14th-16th is the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend and we are hosting two events on Saturday the 15th:

• From 9:15 on will be a hands-on exploration and identification of the trees along the library's paths using a camera and the Trees of Maine guide.
• Starting at 10:00am will be a DIY bird feeder activity, perfect to honor National Bird Feeding month.  Choose from several feeder options.  When you are through, head outside to hang them up throughout the library's gardens and paths and have fun exploring. 

We look forward to seeing you then!

Nature Journaling Photos and Resources

Here's a glimpse of our Intro to Nature Journaling workshop held this past Saturday:

Micro-worlds were unveiled, often overlooked details noticed with new eyes and excitement, and maybe even a new species of spider discovered!

Thank you to all who joined us.  What a perfect it day it was to be out exploring the gardens!

P.S.  We've created a new page on our blog dedicated to nature journaling resources.  You are sure to find lots of useful information...  Please be sure to check back regularly.

Remember, nature journaling is a practice to be done on a regular basis.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes and will eventually become part of your routine.  As our friend Roger says, "the longer you look, the more you will see" and the first step in understanding the natural world is to see.

Next workshops
Intro to Phenology, June 15th: Phenology is the observation and recording of the effects of seasonal changes on plants and animals.  Join us to discover the joy and benefits of keeping a phenology journal.
Patterns in Nature, July 20th: You will be amazed at the patterns to be found all throughout nature and the influence they have had on the scientific, mathematical, and artistic worlds.    Come see what patterns you can discover...

Monday Inspirations: Green

Hello again.  Happy Monday.  Are you looking forward to your week?  We are definitely looking forward to our nature journaling workshop this Saturday.  We sure hope to see you there...

Until then, we're here to provide a little inspiration for working some nature exploration into your week.  We promise it'll be fun!

The following activities have been inspired by all the beautiful green growth outside as well as a lovely book titled Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.  Whether you are 3 or 93 or somewhere in between, give them a try and have fun!

• Matching Green:  Have you seen our color walk cards in the childrens' area?  Would you like to have your own?  Head to your favorite paint supplier and collect some paint chips.  Try to choose shades of green close to what you have seen in nature.  Punch holes in them and attach to a key ring.  Head outside and see how many of them you can match.  
• Creating Green: Put some green paint on a paint pallet or paper plate along with some white and black paint.  Try slowly adding some white or black to the green and paint that color onto some paper.  Now add a little more and add it to your painting.  Experiment further by adding yellow, blue, and purple.  What do your shades of green look like now?  By the time you are done you'll have a lovely green color study that just might be fridge worthy.

• Journaling Green:  Now that you've experimented with making different shades of green, take your nature journal and paint supplies or colored pencils outside.  Stop at a few different plants, draw a quick sketch, maybe add a description, and try to match the color.  You'll have captured the freshness of spring in your journal.  Maybe you can even visit the same plant in the summer and see if the color has changed any...

If you would like to share photos of any of these activities that you have tried, we would love to see them!  You might see them in a TPL Gardens photo gallery!

A Great Day and Another Coming Up...

Last month the Topsham Public Library Garden Committee hosted a Garden open-house and what a lovely day it was!  The weather was perfect, volunteers were hard at work, children played, laughed and made some nature crafts and we even made a few new friends.  We call that a success!  Thank you to all who joined us.

This month, we have another fun event happening in the gardens and it's coming right up...  

It's our second annual nature journaling workshop.  This year, we will be hosting a series of three workshops, all with a specific theme.

Sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 

The first in the series, taking place May 18th at 1pm, will be an introduction to the practice of nature journaling and is open to all ages.  We’ll be kicking it off with a not-to-be-missed 3D slide presentation by a very special friend that's sure to inspire you.  The rest of our time will be spent in the gardens where you'll receive individual guidance as you make a nature journal entry.

We will provide notebooks and sketching pencils, although do feel free to bring your own supplies.  You may also choose to bring your camera if you’d like to add photos to your journal.

We hope to see you then...

P.S.  If you'd like to read more about nature journaling, check out my post here: The Art of Observation 
Don't forget to view the resources at the end.

Seedfolks

Lately we have been reading lots of garden-related stories: Seedfolks, Rose's Garden, Plant a Kiss, and more.

But these stories are not just about planting gardens.  They are about so much more, like planting seeds of hope for a future filled with beauty.  About the power of nature.  About how simple gestures bloom into something so much bigger with faith and perseverance.  About a sense of community. 

The messages found in these pages are being realized right here at our library.  

Join us on the 27th of this month from 10am to 12pm to celebrate the library gardens at our spring Gardens Open-house.  See what our community has nurtured from those very first seeds of hope and be a part of its blooming.

I just read an article called "What Makes a Successful Place" on the Project for Public Spaces website. You can find the article here: http://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/. Their PlaceMaking blog is listed on our blog list.

The article has a good graphic that can be used to evaluate public spaces.

Something to aim at. The article made me feel that we're pointed in the right direction and had pointers on how to adjust our aim.

Hey here's the first post. Getting started with the blog. Posting material that we want to show potential sponsors for the Library's universal access initiative. I'm adding colors to a portion of the plan Irene's begun developing. Here's what I have so far:

Stay tuned as we plan for the party on September 8th!