While many are already experiencing snow on their side of the world , in Texas we are enjoying pleasant weather,the kind that makes you embrace the outside with full force, it makes one find every excuse possible to enjoy it. That is not hard for me , for I am a lover of nature and autumns, always looking forward to that first crisp morning, pumpkins patch, mums in the store, the first fall colors... Autumn like spring renews my love to photograph nature, at this time there aren't many autumn colors in our area but there isn't a lack of beautiful things around us.
photos Taken at Cibolo Creek and at the Guadalupe River.
I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver
Nature study is not something planned in my house, just happens. In the spring always seems natural to study nature. Do you feel like that too?
Who in the Spring could resist the beautiful flowers popping everywhere, the pleasant weather, the happy sings of the birds...not I, not I !
I love to keep around copies of favorite books about nature. Right now we are enjoying:
Wildflowers of Texas
A Field Guide to the Butterflies of North America
A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
Do you have a favorite book about nature? I would love to know.
Dwarf Dandelion and Texas Stork's- Bill
Skullcap and verbena (?)
Phacelia
Baby Blue-eyes, Rose Vervain, Phacelia, Erect Dayflower, Wild Onion
Yellow Wood-Sorrel
Spiderwort , Dwarf Dandelion and Yellow Wood-Sorrel
Our place is really small and any open space is a luxury right now. So to solve some of our desire to still have a little corner for nature. We are now using a small tray (14"x 8"). I found our tray in a craft store like Hobby Lobby or you can find it here.
To add a unique touch, I hand painted it with acrylic paints, I used one main color so wouldn't take away from the beauty of our nature finds.
My inspiration for the little designs on the tray come from Nature itself but if you don't know what to do, maybe a collage would be easier, where you could select beautiful nature pictures and add to your tray, it would be a perfect project for little ones too. The idea for my Nature Tray come from a British magazine, from a article about bringing back The Nature Table to the classrooms, apparently in England the kids were encouraged to bring any seasonal nature specimens to the classroom to everyone to admire it. The idea to have a specific place for our nature finds was just perfect for us.
But because space is a issue for us right now to add a whole table for that purpose would be impossible, so the little tray was the next best idea.
I love the simplicity of it and the end result.
I was just planning to write about my nature tray when I stumble is this little post about nature study.
Huntsville State Park is a 2,083.2-acre recreational area, six miles southwest of Huntsville, in Walker County
This heavily wooded park adjoins the Sam Houston National Forest and encloses the 210-acre Lake Raven. The park offers camping, hiking, biking, boating , guided horseback trail rides, fishing, swimming in an unsupervised swimming area, canoe and paddle boat rentals, and nature study.
The Nature Center features live animals, a fish tank, bird nests and other collections, as well as information on a wide variety of topics. Programs and special events are planned on a regular basis.
Fui com a minha familia visitar uma area natural quase 1 hora da minha casa, um parque estadual , muito bonito. Essa area e predominada por arvore de pinha. Com lagos e muitos animais selvagens. Pica- pau, esquilos, jacare, cobras... Tirei algumas fotos.
We enjoy walking and taking nature pictures ,unfortunately the nature center was close when we visited.
The park is located in the southern pine belt, so the predominant trees in the park are pines( loblolly pine) the trees are majestic and add so much beauty to the park. But among the pines there are sweergum, sassafras, red maple, oaks and dogwood.
