Nature Library NZ

We live in a world that expects us to be the same every day.

Same energy. Same output. Same pace. Day after day, regardless of the season, the turning of the year.

But we are not machines. We are nature.

And nature does not work that way.

Nature ebbs and flows. She expands and contracts. She blooms and she rests. She moves through darkness and light, through storms and stillness — and every season has its wisdom, its gifts, its invitation.

So do we.

When we attune to the seasons — really attune — something shifts. We begin to understand ourselves differently. We stop fighting the quieter, slower parts of ourselves and start honouring them. We stop pushing through exhaustion and start recognising it as a season of rest. We stop waiting to feel like spring when we are clearly in winter.

There is a season for everything. In nature. In us.

This is why I love to gather seasonally. Not just to mark the moment — but to pause, attune, and remember.

Remember that the ebbing is natural. That the flowing will return. That we are held by something much older and wiser than our to-do lists.

This Sunday we gather for Imbolc — that first tender stirring of returning light.

The Seasonal Gather ~ Imbolc 🌱

🌱 Sunday 9 August
🌱 8.30am — allow 2 hours
🌱 Te Puna Quarry Park, Tauranga
🌱 Koha donation

Comment ME and I’ll send you the link to join us.

AND if you’re not near Tauranga or can’t make it comment RETURN and I’ll send you the link to join my free 7-day nature connection journey.

With love, Kathy 💚

Imagine this.

You arrive in the crisp winter morning, the air still and quiet around you.

The secret garden at Te Puna is waiting. The earth beginning to stir. The first tender signs of something returning.

A small group of like-hearted women.

You set down everything you carried in, the week, the worry, and for two hours, it can wait.

We gather gently. Moving through simple nature connection practices, reflection, quiet journalling. Closing with a warm seasonal nature brew.

This gathering marks Imbolc — the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. In the old Celtic traditions, this is the time of returning light. Of new beginnings stirring quietly beneath the surface. Of tending the spark of creativity and inspiration within us, and beginning to dream into what wants to grow.

There is something powerful about pausing at a turning point in the year. Letting nature and the season support you.

The Seasonal Gather ~ Imbolc 🌱

🌱 Sunday 9 August
🌱 8.30am – allow 2 hours
🌱 Te Puna Quarry Park, Tauranga
🌱 Koha donation

Comment ME and I’ll send you the link to join us.

I’d love to see you there.

With love, Kathy 💚

Can you feel it? Something is shifting.

The light is returning — slowly, quietly — and beneath the cold earth, something is beginning to stir. A seed, a spark, a quiet knowing that winter is turning.

This is Imbolc.

Imbolc is one of the oldest Celtic seasonal festivals, finding its place on the Wheel of the Year at the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. A time of returning light, new beginnings, and the first tender stirrings of life.

The sap is rising in the trees. The first shoots are pushing through the earth. And we too are invited to emerge a little, to feel the warmth returning, to tend the spark of creativity and inspiration within us, and to begin dreaming into what wants to grow this year.

I have been feeling it and I am really looking forward to this one.

🌱 The Seasonal Gather ~ Imbolc
🌱 Sunday 9th August
🌱 8.30am ~ allow 2 hours
🌱 Te Puna Quarry Park, Tauranga
🌱 Koha donation

Whether you have joined me before or have been thinking about coming — I would love to see you at this one.

Comment ME and I’ll send you the link to join us.

With love, Kathy 💚

This is the part I’ll never get used to — saying farewell to a child who has been part of Nature School for nearly four years.

He arrived curious, cautious, finding his feet. And over four years — week after week, season after season — he grew into a confident, resilient, grounded young person, deeply connected to nature and to himself.

Walking alongside him has been a true honour.

I’ve watched nature hold him through challenges, celebrate him in moments of joy, and quietly teach him things that can’t be rushed or forced.

I’ve seen confidence grow from untold experiences in and with nature and community. Resilience built through weather and risk and perseverance. Curiosity and creativity sparked simply by being given time and space to be.

And somewhere along the way he became something else too — a wonderful leader. Someone who looked out for others, who never left anyone out, and who never, ever failed to make us smile and laugh out loud.

He shaped Nature School just as much as it shaped him.

He has taught me so much, and reminded me again and again why this work matters so deeply.

Nature School will always hold pieces of his story — and he will always hold a very special place in my heart.

This is the hardest part… and also the most beautiful. Because I know that nature has given him everything he needs to thrive wherever he goes.

If you’d love this for your child — I’d love to hear from you. 🌿

With love, Kathy 💚

This is not just a day out of school or home. Not just a day playing and exploring with nature — it is that, but it is SO much more.

I hear it often, from families, from teachers. I see it in the kids themselves.

This is transformational.

Children show up tired, wired, unsure of themselves, under pressure to perform — full of anxiety.

Over time — not much — they settle. Become grounded, calm but alert, excited to follow their own instincts and interests. Their self awareness and self love grow. They become more themselves — free, creative, curious, playful and confident.

It is truly incredible.

This is what one day a week with a small group, connecting in and with nature, can do.

It is powerful.

It is life changing.

For the kids themselves and their families.

If you’d love this for your child — we begin at Mount Maunganui this Thursday 30 July. 9 weeks. Small group.

Link above for more info or send me a message.

With love, Kathy 💚

The sky and sun gave me an idea this morning.

Dark and heavy, with a crack of light pushing through. Birds soaring and swooping in an acrobatic dance that brought a big smile to my face.

So many small moments of beauty. So many little reminders that the light is always there, even in the darkness.

We just have to slow down enough to notice it.

Today is the first day of a new term. New beginnings, fresh energy, and the chance to show up differently — for the children in our lives, and for ourselves.

And this morning nature reminded me of something I want to carry into this term more.

Noticing and sharing the beauty, the light, the good — that is always there.

So for the next 30 days I’m doing exactly that. Intentionally looking for it, noticing it, and sharing it — one small moment each day.

I’ll be sharing the full series over on .with.her if you’d like to follow along there. But I’ll be weaving moments of beauty here too. Because this is what we cultivate at Nature School every week too — the art of slowing down and noticing.

What small moment of beauty have you noticed today?

With love, Kathy 💚

Following their own flow.

Simply being.
Calm, connected, present.

Connecting and engaging with the world around them. Sketching, writing, wondering, asking questions, having conversations, problem solving.

Moving, stretching, climbing, balancing, building, creating.

And having SO much fun doing it all.

This is Nature School. 💚

A place where children get to be — to grow, to thrive — in their own way, at their own pace.

One day a week with nature, alongside a small, caring group who know and support them.

Term 3 spaces are available at Mount Maunganui. Thursdays for 9 weeks, staring 30th July.

If this is what you want for your child — I would love to have them.

Link in bio to find out more or send me a message. 🌿

With love, Kathy 💚

Tauriko School students were the first to try our new Winter Seasonal Scavenger Hunt.
From fungi and moss to bird nests and winter blooms, discover what makes each season special at McLaren Falls Park. Pick up a hunt sheet from the Visitor Centre or download one online and start exploring.