Tuesday 21 April 2015

Keeping Nature Notebooks

Natural history is a matter of observation; it is a harvest which you gather when and where you find it growing. Birds and squirrels and flowers are not always in season, but philosophy we have always with us. It is a crop which we can grow and reap at all times and in all places and it has its own value and brings its own satisfaction.

John Burroughs (1837-1921)


In the Garden

Mr Froggie went a courtin' - can you find him?



Bees - 10 year old Moozle's journal:


Mosquitoes




Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

 John Lubbock (1834-1913)

Camellia sasanquas in flower...




 15 yr old Benji's journal:





Contented cat...




Clouds gathering before a storm...




On our Bush Walk










My journal - I'm not as regular with mine as my children are with theirs but I've always liked pressing flowers and so continue with that.

Do what you can where you are with what you have.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)




Autumnal glory...




13 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVELY, Carol! :D I enjoying pressing flowers in my books...then when I'm rereading...a delightful surprise is there as I turn the page! :) Probably not the best for the book, but I can't help it!

Cleo said...

I just LOVE nature journals! Thanks for sharing yours and for the inspiration. My daughter has been working so hard all year and I think we'll try to take a month and go treasure hunting in nature.

Sarah said...

Wow, fabulous drawings and photos. I'm obsessed with clouds, I just love watching them.

Nicole Renée said...

Visiting from Trivium Tuesday! I have always wanted to do this with my children and have never gotten to it! I'm inspired :) Thanks for your post!

Carol said...

You're welcome, Nicole!

Carol said...

I put the fuschia flower between the folds of a paper napkin, stuck it under a rug and put a chair on top - then forgot about it. I'm amazed it pressed so well because both the chair & rug have been moved at least twice when we re-arranged the room.

Carol said...

Clouds are one of the easiest subjects for nature study - fairly obvious, don't require a great effort & very rewarding if you get in the habit of looking up!

Carol said...

Now that's a neat idea. Have fun.

Celeste said...

As always, these are just wonderful, Carol! I can't tell you how inspiring it is to see the work of students older than mine, and yours keep lovely drawings and notes--it is such a treat to look through. We studied the mosquito life cycle last fall and it was one of the most rewarding nature studies we did last year.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful!
We found a green tree frog in the violets just before the recent deluge in Newcastle.
We heard him before we found him... then disappeared into the basil a perfect disguise!
Your photos are delightful.

M

Carol said...

Hope you got through all the crazy weather ok. Our little frog was pointed out to me and even then I had to look closely before I saw him. Didn't help that I'd left my specs inside.

Lisa said...

Lovely, Carol. I am always inspired after a "visit" with you. :)

Amy Maze said...

I always love looking at other folks nature journals. Thanks for sharing! I'd love to hear your method for pressing flowers. I've never really done it, but I'd like to give it a shot =)