Summer Nature Table

We're still playing around with our nature table. In someways this table reflects how we spend summer at the beach and down the river rather than capturing the essence of summer in the natural world. The runner is a scarf. The two glass plates were gifts from a girl whose grandmother makes plates and jewellery by recycling glass. The larger plate holds a variety of shells and corals that we've found washed up on the beaching. It also has a couple of tiny mermaid and some glass fish for that enchanting touch and to draw in little ones interest. The smaller trays hold a few seed pods. This is the most evident sign of summer in the bush for many species of plants but confusing as the seed pods are still there for most of the year. I'm not sure what plant there from but these seed pods are helicopter seeds. The seed is at one end and then there is a long wing. Once dried the seed falls from the tree, spinning around to find a new place to land and (hopefully) grow. They are fun to play with as you can throw them up and they'll spiral down. When we came across these a few weeks ago they were scattered under some sheoaks. Rainbow and I spent a while searching around trying to find the tree they had come from. Eventually the green pods still hanging from the tree gave it away. In the background is a card that was given to me and Rainbow's game showing things we see down the river.