Hello all
Sorry for the delayed post this week – I have been under the weather.
Our nature walk for this week from Exploring Nature With Children was the Autumn Pond Study. We went on Monday; a beautiful, glorious Autumn day! Unfortunately I forgot both my camera and ‘phone!
I do have photos of our nature journals, however, which we did ‘en plein air’.
I did a very ‘sketchy’ sketch, breaking the rule I give my children; ‘Draw what you see, not what you think you see, or want to see!” But I have to confess that after several years of painstakingly sketching exactly what is in front of me, I do enjoy this more ‘laissez-faire’ style.
Elianna sketched the plant life
And Rose sketched a fish she could see in the shallow, clear water.
Hello Lynn
Sorry to hear you have not been feeling well, hope you are better now.
Great fish picture by Rose, I wish the water in our pond was that clear! We did see lots of activity where the fish were coming to the surface to breathe as the water was that murky! The pond we were looking at was not actually our chosen pond to study but we might do both ponds as I think it would make a useful comparison, our chosen pond is much cleaner and reportedly full of life.
On the upside we did count 10 skylarks in the field next to the pond and a great number of flowers in bloom, a second flowering for most of them after being mown.
We have also ventured out for the first time with painting materials and I was surprised how well it went, I have my new water brush and I love it.
Also do you have any suggestions apart from pine cones for natural things to pick up for Christmas decorations, our wildlife club has a tree to decorate and they want to get cracking next month?
Many thanks
Jenny
Our pond (which is fed by the local canal.) was always pretty murky. Suddenly, this summer, it completely cleared & it is possible to see the fish swimming about!
Really glad to hear you enjoyed your water brush! I much prefer to paint at home, but when I do paint ‘en plein air’ as we did this week, the water brush is a boon! I just try to remember to take a small pack of tissues, or old muslin cloth to clean it on.
I really love the look of natural Christmas decorations, Jenny. What a lovely idea for your wildlife club. I should perhaps do a post on the topic.
I would suggest holly (the berries look glorious!) dried seed heads (now is a good time to look) dried cow parsley & such would be beautiful tucked in amongst the branches of a Christmas tree, Poppy heads are big & bold, too. How about popcorn threaded onto dental floss in lieu of tinsel? Use plain if your tree will be outdoors & the wildlife will be feasting 🙂
Lovely to hear from you!
Thank you Lynn,
I knew you would be the person to ask, I feel inspired to do some for us too. I shall look forward to reading the post, please.
I am not sure about the popcorn garlands, I doubt much popcorn would get on the tree;-)
Best wishes
Jenny
I can imagine what you mean about the popcorn 😉
We had sick little one so we are hopefully going tomorrow! So inspiring to see the pictures. Hoping for a glorious day but here in Derbyshire we often can only sketch or take photos to draw and paint at home due to rain. I suppose this does explain why the Peak District is so lush and green 🙂
Oh, I hope your wee one is on the mend Suzanne! Yes, that rain does have its benefits 🙂
I LOVE that photo of the swan!
I have been behind in the nature study department. But I am determined to make it priority… I’ve been reading a few books that I think have FINALLY spoken to me and convinced me to stop getting bent out of shape if the schedule doesn’t go just right and to make things like nature study take a priority above some other things. So…. I need to make plans! Part of that will be to make sure I get out the binder I put the “Elxploring Nature With Children” into when I get home from our vacation and making sure I’m more prepared to follow it! Thanks so much for your posts and get well soon!
It’s so lovely to hear from you!
Enjoy your vacation & keep me posted when you get home 🙂