Our Nature Table

There's a fun little practice that I learned about through Waldorf education and The Creative Family: keeping a seasonal nature table specifically for young children. It makes me more aware of the changing cycle of the year and allows my daughter to participate in those cycles by having a place to display her treasures.

Our fall-time nature shelves are pack with goodies. I think my favorite moments this autumn have been when she finds a pretty leaf and says, "This goes on my nature shelf!" Part of the change happening outside then comes inside and becomes a part of us.

Nature Table pool on Flickr has some incredible photos & crafts.

This book has fun ideas:

The Nature Corner: Celebrating the Year's Cycle with Seasonal Tableaux

by: M. Leeuwen, J. Moeskops

Following the sun's warmth on a chilly autumn morning

We did it~
Five camping trips in one summer~
They were well worth the work of packing and unpacking, but I'm feeling like it's time to hibernate. It feels like time to be done. I'm ready for this to be the last one of the season and I want to take advantage of these sunny autumn days. We didn't go far, under an hour away to Lake Easton. (Although it took 3 hours because we thought we were going somewhere else which was closed for the season.) When we finally arrived, we happily pulled into an empty campground with a site (and playground) overlooking the lake. We had a bit of sunlight left, until we enjoyed a warm dinner by the campfire. As the sun came up, so did the cool mist from the lake. It was chilly! The tent was barely warm enough and Alita and I went down to the lake to welcome the rising sun on our skin. I so love this practice, only found while camping: following the sun's warmth on a chilly autumn morning.

Upon return to the site, Papa had warm oatmeal ready. Then, we explored our surroundings.


It was just fabulous what was lying out in the open on the evergreen needles.

We spent one more night in the tent, and then early in the morning Mama declared triumphantly, "I'm so *%#@! cold. Let's pack up the tent quick and go out to breakfast. We're done camping!" So the time came to say goodbye to our season of camping and my daughters first memories of sleeping outside to the sound of wind in the trees.
Bye-bye ... until next spring.

Piles O Pumpkins

Our weekly pick-ups at the farm are coming to an end. The final harvest is glorious and the pigs anticipate the last of the summer fruit. We have loved and learned and look forward to next spring! Now, my learning begins about new pumpkin varieties with which to make pie. So far, the Cinderella was delicious. ~ There's an entire greenhouse of squash for me to explore. ~