Autumns gone and winters come

Back in Summer we introduced a seasonal table or nature table into our home. Our first table was a mass of shells we collected on trips to the beach, pieces of driftwood and tones of yellow sand and blue skies.
When the season changed to Autumn it took me a little while to let go of this lovely feature and initially I felt the signs of Autumn outside just weren't strong enough. Where were all the different shades of leaves and what else would I put on the table?
Then one day, a week or two in, it just came together. Gnomes gathered, some beautiful mossy twigs from my mothers garden became a teepee and a campfire. Little mice came scampering and some golden leaves were collected.

     

Creative licence allowed for horses, chickens, rabbits, lambs and various other animals to find their way into the scene. Why these for Autumn? Why not? says the Big Pickle.

Various park outings were had to enjoy the sunshine and crisp air of autumn and on one of these my eyes opened to the huge variety of autumn leaves around - for some reason I had been feeling that the colours of previous Autumns weren't here this year... A knitted hat full of leaves were collected and they were laid out in wait with some homemade paste for an afternoon crafting project. Big Pickle was very impressed with the layout when he awoke and applied some paste to a sheet of paper, put down a few leaves but then decided to do other things. To my surprise, the not yet 2yo Small Pickle stayed and sang 'Stick, stick, stick, leaves, leaves, leaves' happily for a prolonged amount of time. Two beautiful pictures were created and hung above the table to complete our Autumn scene.

As the days shortened and got colder and winters arrival became undeniable, I found myself reluctant to let go of our colourful Autumn display. Each time I thought about taking it down and creating something for Winter I felt stumped on what I could do. Winter scenes conjure images of white, grey, snow....... what does an Australian winter look like? It took a while but eventually I threw aside concerns of what was exactly right and just let it happen. A rainy morning and runny noses prompted some crafting and hence the 'glitter snowflakes were born. We'll change and add as the season progresses but for now this is our winter.

The apples were a complete rip off from a friend who mentioned she'd added some to her table - sorry LaLa.  We may use some upcoming rainy days to make some cotton wool clouds or glitter raindrops to hang from strings and I am hoping to plant a bulb in a pot that we can watch emerge as Spring grows closer.