All things under the sun
I am passionately in love with the Natural World, it's a beautiful and amazing place and we really do treat it badly and take for granted all it gives us.
I've been in love with it all my life, from the smallest tadpole to the largest mountain and I am also in awe at Nature's power both to create new land through volcanic eruption from the sea bed and its destruction when see in a massive tornado or tsunami. Nature is truly awesome.
The most delicate spiderweb decorated with dew, a rock holding the fossil remains of an ancient dinosaur, diversity doesn't come any wider than that and yet the natural biodiversity of this planet is under threat from Mankind. Species are becoming extinct at a rapid rate while an increasing number are put on the list of threatened species. What a sad loss it would be if our children's children could never see a polar bear or an elephant except on a piece of grainy old film.
The number of lenses in this mini-lensography will increase as I deal with various aspects of Nature, so if you are interested in the Natural World, please bookmark this page and keep checking.
The photograph is a detail of a large broom plant (Sarothamnus scoparius) which, although growing in my garden, is wild and self-seeded.It reached the magnificent height of 8 feet and lasted several years before keeling over. This Autumn I will have to cut it away and look for one of its seedlings to replace it.
Insects are invaluable
The Importance of Insects
Bees are the best known pollinators, seeking out the pollen and nectar from flowers to carry back to the hive, they are also cross-pollinating and ensuring that the plants can set seed and more will be available for the bees' use in the future. Sadly, bees are on the decline and we need to give them a helping hand if we are to ensure an abundance of fruit and vegetables for our use in the future.
Love the bee - please.
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Attracting and repelling bees
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Bees are necessary for pollination of plants, without them the World's harvests would be considerably poorer. If you grow fruit and vegetables in your garden then you will want to attract bees, if you have an allergy to bee stings then you will...
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The Wonderful Bee
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I came home one sunny June afternoon and was surprised to see that the latest copy of the Yellow Pages was lying against a bush close to my front door when it should have gone through my letterbox easily, and it isn't as if my letterbox is hard...
Wasp nest and bee hive
What Nature leaves behind
Yet, where they really come into their own is as teaching aids for young children. It can seem an insurmountable task to assemble a Nature Table for a child (it could be a shelf) if you live in a city but once you start to look around you'll be amazed what you can find and if there's a sample you would like to include which is not available in your area, find out if a cousin, an aunt, a friend of a friend might be able to get it for you wherever they are.
Children can learn to respect life and to understand death through the use of a Nature Table and if that sounds dramatic, remember that leaves die every year, to a child it looks as if the tree dies. Gathering some Autumn leaves allows you to explain the lifecycle of a tree in simple terms and if you need to expand the theme to include a pet death it becomes a more gentle process. Autumn leaves are also wonderful for rubbings for artwork.
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Naturally Precious
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On Planet Earth we are surrounded by beautiful things and we can find them wherever we walk. Sometimes it's a view, a landscape of particular note, a garden, a sunset, the sound of an ocean, the perfume of a rose and sometimes it's a found o...
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Our Nature Table
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To tell the truth, it never really was a table, it was more of a shelf but it doesn't really matter where you set one up, if you have young children, a Nature Table is a must. And it doesn't really matter what you start with when making a N...
Smoky Quartz
A collection of stones
Besides, there is something very pleasant about a collection of spheres and eggs such as you'll see in the lenses linked to below. They are a delight to handle and , fascinating though a lump of crude silver ore or gypsum might be, they are not so tactile. Many eggs and spheres can also be used for alternative healing therapies.
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Crystal Balls
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Nothing can be more eyecatching than a shelf of various crystal balls and they are available in almost every colour imaginable. My shelf catches the evening sunshine most of the year, which does show up the dust. I have found that an Ostrich feather...
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My Egg Collection
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Collecting wild bird eggs is against the law in many parts of the world so my egg collection has nothing to do with birds at all. Gemstone or semi-precious eggs are a wonderful alternative, guilt free and not as easily broken, you can pass them roun...
Sunset in Strathspey
Cairngorm National Park - my home
I live in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, in the Cairngorm National Park area. Largely speaking, the Cairngorm National Park covers the Cairngorm Mountain range and its surrounding area, you can find a full map here and on the same site you can learn much more about the area in which I live. Here we live with wildlife all around us and coming soon will be a series of lenses about some of our local flora and fauna.If you have never visited the Highlands of Scotland then I would urge you to consider it. In the Winter we have skiing and other Winter sports and, of course, the Highlands is the place to be when celebrating Hogmanay (New Year). Scotland has a longer New Year holiday for good reason. In the better weather there is hillwalking, climbing and other outdoor sports and yet, the birdwatchers and nature lovers will still find the peace and quiet they need to observe the local wildlife.
There is fishing on the Spey, famed for its salmon, golf courses are numerous, there are castles, museums, beautiful churches and an abundance of holiday accommodation, but more than anything else, we having some stunning scenery at any time of year. It is perfectly possible to take yourself off for a day in the hills (but do leave a copy of your route map with the hotel or local police) and experience the tranquility of solitude in Nature's embrace.
Having waxed poetic, a warning. We can experience all four seasons in a day at any time of year here in the Central Highlands, you must be properly equipped to venture into the hills, and make sure you bring your wellies (waterproof boots).
In the Cairngorm Mountains
This lens belongs to ...
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0ctavias_Group-ography
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If you have quite a few lenses you'll discover that they start hiding from you when you're looking at that long list on your dashboard. First, I started my lensography which does help me find my lenses when they're hiding but as the num...
Share your feelings about the Natural World here.
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Reply
- QueSea QueSea Jul 29, 2009 @ 6:57 am
- I like your view of the world. We love plants, flowers, insects, and rocks too.
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- aj2008 aj2008 Jul 1, 2009 @ 8:22 am
- I love all things nature too and have been very lucky to visit two volcanoes (Mount St Helen's & Vesuvius) but it does not stop me from enjoying the little things in my garden as well. You are building up a lovely collection of Nature lenses, blessings from me!
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- kiwisoutback kiwisoutback Jun 24, 2009 @ 8:42 am
- It looks like you live in a beautiful area! My wife went to Scotland a few years back and loved it. Nice work! And I like how you group by subject with text links below, it makes it easy to read.
Nature on Amazon
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My lenses arranged by interest
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Be guided by your Angels
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How Does Your Garden Grow
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A Passion for Puppets
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The Natural World.
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by 0ctavias0fferings
The picture I've uploaded is about 20 years out of date as the little darling you see there is all grown up now.
I'm a grandmother. I live in the H...
