Hiya! Some special news on nature // street today!

I'm super excited to share that I'm working in collaboration with Brighton Primary School and their Outdoor Education Specialist, Simon Hutchinson, to put on the... 

Brighton Primary School Nature Play Adventure Day! 

The event will form part of Nature Play SA's inaugural Nature Play Week*, and will see the school open their new nature play areas for an unstructured and creative play session suitable for toddlers and primary schoolers. The day will also feature mud exploration and junk yard adventure spaces so we're recommending people deck the kids in their olds and get ready for a play experience like no other!

Geed up on geocaching!

"Geocaching is the world-wide treasure hunt that's happening right now, all around you. 
There are 2,482, 791 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers world wide"

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

I first came across geocaching on Nature Play SA's list of 51 Things To Do Before You're 12 where "find a geocache in your neighbourhood" features at number six. It stood out as the only activity on the list I'd not heard of, and the description "global GPS treasure hunt you can do with most phones" piqued my curiosity. I started to see references to the activity about the place but still wasn't actually sure what was involved when a free 'come and try' geocaching event at our local wetland was advertised. Bingo, just the incentive required to get our treasure hunter on!

Rethinking the reli-bash agenda

Alright, confession time: for the past three years my parents have lived next to an expansive recreation park aaaand... I only stepped foot in there a few months ago. 

hang. head. shame. 

The too-hard basket is overflowing with potential reasons slash excuses: a[nother] sick pregnancy, an unwell infant, the mombie haze, and a tendency for our reli-bashes* to occur within a ten metre radius of the dining room table. Hmm. It still doesn't quite add up, but oh well - this one will just have to be put down to a case of c'est la vie.

The good news is visits to Grandma and Pops' place have taken on an extra dimension since realising the park lies before us. Walks now feature as a key agenda item: the gumboots are gleefully put on, spare clothes packed, the dog runs in wild circles of anticipation, and off we venture. We descend down a dirt track and then find ourselves able to select from numerous walking trails, any of which will have us follow and traverse small creeklines lined with towering River Red Gums and South Australian Blue Gums. 

Project Wild Thing - now only a keyboard away!

A quick heads up! Project Wild Thing is a brilliant, funny and truly inspirational film created by British filmmaker David Bond - and as of today it's available for viewing worldwide via this link! 

So what's the deal?

Project Wild Thing is a film led movement to get more kids (and their folks!) outside and reconnecting with nature. The film is an ambitious, feature-length documentary that takes a funny and revealing look at a complex issue, the increasingly disparate connection between children and nature.

a family farm and woodland wanders

"Why get families outdoors? Quite simply, nature is good for us... Family ties are strengthened, a sense of community is nourished, and a sense of place is cultivated. All in all, nature is good for children and their friends and family, too!"

Nature Clubs for Families Tool Kit, Children and Nature Network

Like many Aussies, I made the most of a spate of mid-autumn public holidays by taking three days annual leave and getting a block of ten days off in return - high fives all round! The break coincided with school holidays and some extended leave for my husband so we took up a couple of opportunities for low-cost family adventures in regional South Oz. First up was our trip to the river, closely followed by a visit to a family farm in the state's South East.

The SE's Limestone Coast is one of my favourite parts of the state to visit in cooler months with its crisp air, rugged coastlines, pockets of diverse scrubland, expansive agricultural lands and world-class wineries. This affection for the region is also steeped in nostalgia: my father's side of the family descends from the SE town of Naracoorte and there's been plenty of [infamous] road trips over the years to the coastal village of Robe and surrounds with uni, friends and work.  

word up

hello! I've had a short hiatus from the blog courtesy of a smashed iPhone. Bill for a new phone aside [let's not go there], I really enjoyed being unplugged for a while. The urge to check the phone quickly diminished and I made my way through a couple of books. A tech detox every now and then is definitely a good thing, and is all the impetus I need to start day dreaming about somewhere out of range I could take the kids in the July holidays... A few days in Deep Creek Conservation Park with a wood fire, beanies and kangaroos is currently winning... keep you posted!

This week's word up comes via Richard Louv and his book Last Child in the Woods. In the chapter "Cities Gone Wild" Louv explores the assumption that cities don't have room for wildlife. Zoopolis is a word Jennifer Wolch [director of Sustainable Cities Project] uses to imagine cities transformed into habitats through land-planning, architectural design and public education. It gets a double-thumbs up from nature // street - let's dream big! 

4th of May: a day to play [outdoors!]

"Many of us don’t get out into nature much. We’re too busy, plugged in to screens and rushing through our busy lives. But nature is crucial to our health and wellbeing — and to the health of our planet. Let’s reclaim nature and grow our connection with each other and the places we love!"

Australian Conservation Foundation

Today was "Play Outside Day", an initiative coordinated here in Australia by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The Day is a great example of the global movement recognising the importance of nature and unstructured outdoor play for the health and development of children [and adults!].

Mombie tonic

"Today, the long-held belief that nature has a direct positive impact on human health is making the transition from theory to evidence to action... And many of us, without having a name for it, are using the nature tonic. We are, in essence, self-medicating with an inexpensive and unusually convenient drug substitute. Let's call it vitamin N - for Nature"

Richard Louv, in the Nature Principle

Blogging has taken a backseat over the past few weeks while I've been a "mombie":  a hybrid mom [mum] / zombie creature characterised by dark circles under the eyes, aimless wandering, grunting responses and relentless caffeine hunting [oh no wait - the last part's normal]. 

This semi-catatonic state can primarily be attributed to our toddler's recent grommet/adenoid surgery and recovery, immediately followed by his third bout of bronchiolitis this year alone. Combine serious sleep loss with über busy days at work and - voilà - you've got yourself a[nother] mombie on the loose. 

word up

    

autumn adventures

"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living".

David Attenborough, aka The Man

There's something about the change in seasons that resonates with me on a fundamental level: it starts with a deep craving for the change, and follows with excitement and semi-ritualistic basking as the new season announces it's settling in. 

I find the change always brings a kind of a contagious thrill; an invigoration of senses, the welcome return of a suite of simple pleasures, and a promise of new adventures.  

The weekend past delivered on all of the above - heralding our first cool, wet weekend of Autumn after a summer of extreme heat. Those few days, although somewhat burdened by fatigue and responsibilities, were full of small celebrations brought about by the much-awaited physical arrival of the new season.

Friday night brought us a crisp clear night with the neighbourhood's first wood fires tantalizingly drifting smoke on the wind. Ordinarily the kids would go to bed after a later dinner but instead we excitedly donned trackies and jumpers to explore the garden after a few days absence. The kids seemed to pick up on the changes in the air, eagerly investigating the vegie patch, bouncing on the trampoline, and finally lying back on the lawn to yell goodnight to the moon and single star in the emerging night sky.

word up

default mode: hustle

"once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how 

much more life she had time for"

                                                                                                              Unknown

The summer past was definitely a game changer. It marked the end of a year distinguished by rolling sets of challenges: where I'd give my all to reach the crest, snatch a glimpse of the horizon, and have the next set on top of me again. Keep going, keep going, push through I'd think. You're resilient, you work best on adrenalin, you can run on a staple diet of double-shot flat whites and no sleep [btw: you've got no choice here anyway!]. 

Of course it wasn't sustainable. During a few weeks off over the summer holidays I realised I was burnt out. I felt tired and old beyond my years, unfulfilled in spite of all the great things in my life, and unsure of how to properly relax in the limited windows of time I'd get to do so. 

As I was processing this burnout, I experienced a moment that crystalised how much I was caught in the pace of modern living. It was down at our local beach one day: my dad, daughter and I had been kayaking as part of my effort to start to slow down and get active outdoors again. 

As we prepared to make our way home, I was given responsibility for looking after the kayaks and our belongings while Dad went to collect the car.

RIP Rover

Hurrah! It's been another slow Saturday to soothe the soul.

It's been a hectic week again, characterised by changes in the air, a toddler with a recurrent bout of bronchiolitis (requiring mid-week grommet surgery to be postponed), and ultra busy days at work. By the end of this week, and with only one full night's sleep in three weeks, I'm run down and trying to stave of a head cold. 

Thankfully this morning saw the dawn of a long weekend here, and I was granted a rare sleep in with the toddler - who had attempted to rise at 4.30 a.m. but eventually surrendered to come and snuggle in bed for a few more hours.

Despite initial plans to head in to the city to enjoy all Adelaide has to offer in the month of Mad March, we ended up spending a quiet day outdoors at home. The kids helped their Dad with home improvements, and me with the gardening.

Today's gardening was all about vegie patch maintenance. We've had a crazy run of weather over the past summer including a spate of heatwaves of over 40 degrees. In addition to warping trainlines and inducing mental meltdowns, the heat's left the vegie patch having to fend for itself and looking worse for wear at the end of the season. 

I again enlisted my two trusty little helpers and we set about to water, clear dead bean stalks from the teepees, trim and re-stake the tomatoes, and give the compost some TLC. Some of our discoveries included eggplants hiding behind luscious leaves, self-seeded cos lettuce germinating, and lots of bugs doing-their-thing in the compost, showing us some rich soil forming much to the kids' equal disgust and delight. 

word // up

nature // street vision

"Nature in our urban landscape and homes is critical for connecting half the world's people with the natural environment. The experience and contact the majority of the world has with nature is more likely to occur in the city or home rather than a rural setting. The more urban our lifestyle, the bigger the need for a connection with nature" 

                                                                                 Amanda Talbot, author of rethink:the way you live

Today's nature // street vision is for roof top gardening to be the norm in modern urban living. Let's foster the creation of urban jungles in all shapes and form!   

   

   

   

   

sources (l-r, top to bottom): unknown (via Pinterest), The Permaculture Research Institute, 

Spitsoskylo, A Paper Aeroplane,  LD5, JaminPaul, unknown (via Pinterest), Nubby Twiglet

sunflower sagas

I had great aspirations of making a sunflower fort for the kids [ok, and me] over summer, and boy, did I try. This was my romantic notion, thanks to Pinterest:

source: Bring Blessing 

I started off by putting in some serious effort digging a ring-shape into the back lawn. My daughter and I designed it with a front entrance and a secret side exit, then planted the circle out with a mass of giant sunflower seeds. We were SO excited when they started germinating. Only to discover that so were the snails. And Dad's whipper-snipper. 

After a few more attempts at  direct-seeding we switched tactics to grow seedlings for planting out instead. That was all tracking along nicely until the crazy toddler tipped out the seedling trays. Repeatedly. 

Finally we had grown a batch of sunflower seedings which we planted out successfully. They grew! And then I realised, somehow in the midst of going back for repeat packets of sunflower seeds, I'd picked up a spindly knee-high variety instead of the giants. Wahhhhhh. Parental fail.

Even though the fort didn't work out, we did have success with some giant sunflowers in the vegie patch. They looked pretty magical with their plate-sized flowers, and were practical too - providing some shade to other vegies and acting as a natural trellis for our lebanese cucumbers.   

The giant sunflowers have died off now and we pulled them out over the weekend. I enlisted the kids to help harvest the seeds, which we can hopefully use to make the ultimate sunflower fort next year [I've gotta redeem myself!]. The seed harvesting was a really fun activity to do together - the sunflower heads have great patterns and textures, and there's something therapeutic in hanging out on the back lawn picking seeds. Check out the pics below, and my daughter's video, breaking down all things sunflower.      

  

Take care,

Claire

word up

like a kid in a treehouse

I'm super excited to be able to hear nature-play legend Richard Louv talk at his sold-out Adelaide event tonight! 

His best-selling book Last Child in the Woods is an inspiring and thought-provoking read which "shows how we can improve our children's lives, and the lives of future generations, by opening the door to nature". 

There is a definite groundswell happening with the nature play movement and its coming from many different sectors of the community. Tonight promises to be an inspiring (and large!) meeting of people looking for change and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

source: unknown (via Pinterest)

                      

Stay tuned for a post-event blog post in the next few days! 

Take care, 

Claire 

skinned knees

“nature is imperfectly perfect, filled with loose parts and possibilities, with mud and dust, nettles and sky, transcendent hands-on moments and skinned knees…"

 Richard Louv

Giving my five-year old daughter a bath on the last night of the summer holidays, the two of us suddenly realised her shins were lined with bruises and her knees and arms bore an impressive collection of scabs. We talked about them being evidence of a super fun summer: that stack riding through the parklands with ‘Pops’, kayaking at the beach on Australia Day, swinging from the tree branch out the front.

my daughter kayaking with Pops over summer

A wave of pride and nostalgia caught me – this tanned, spirited little kid instantly took me back to my own childhood and the essence of what seemed like endless summer holidays.

I remembered my own skinned knees and the rough soles of my feet as I raced barefoot along gravel paths on long balmy nights. Afternoons spent climbing high into the old almond trees in the backyard. BMX riding with the neighbourhood kids and that epic stack my sister had when I tried to dinky her up a curb at full speed. The hours spent exploring the local urban creekline, daring ourselves to venture under the bridge and beyond the next bend...

hello and welcome!

nature // street is on an expedition to invite more nature, simplicity and play into modern living. It’s a call to reconnect, explore and celebrate life in the urban jungle:  a fresh view on slowing down, conscious thinking and appreciating the little things in a busy world.

sign up to the nature // street blog and be part of the ride! 

Claire