Steppingstone4Nature

Calling all Children! Molly Nibbles is looking forward to seeing you on the 30 August at Camp Orchards. She's working on a series of eco friendly craft ideas for you and she will be on hand to share her love and knowledge of beautiful textures and colours in nature. Of course there will be lovely people from the Hillcrest Conservancy inc. Springside Nature Reserve to give her a hand.

This month Wally and Molly Nibbles will be entering the world of fashion and vintage motor vehicles as they prepare for the Vintage Vogue and Velocity Event to be hosted at the very beautiful Camp Orchards.
As the Hillcrest Conservancy inc. Springside Nature Reserve is the chosen beneficiary of the event Molly thought it would be a wonderful idea to highlight the talented fashion designers alongside some of the unusual grassland beauties of the Upper Highway area.

First up is the incredibly talented Karen Monk-Klijnstra . It's impossible for Karen's designs to go unnoticed. Her use of texture and colour is bold and daring. She doesn't place any limits on herself and fully expresses herself in her designs, in her words "more is never enough!"

Karen has a very impressive background within the fashion industry - see the comment section below for more information.

Most importantly, Karen is a really nice, genuine human being. She cares deeply about promoting and encouraging others; she is a loving mother and wife and a true friend. Karen's enthusiasm for life is reflected in everything she does. She certainly lives and designs IN CAPITAL letters.

Molly chose the Black-faced orchid (Corycium nigrescence) to showcase alongside Karen. Once common in the Upper Highway area this unusual orchid is becoming increasingly rare as its natural habitats are destroyed. Traditionally an infusion from the roots was thought to ward off evil.

Thanks to Lance Rasmussen for the orchid photograph.

As you know the inhabitants of Mossy Glen are a fun, vibrant crowd. They certainly know how to enjoy themselves. This month they are getting ready to attend the Vintage Vogue and Velocity Event hosted by Camp Orchards.

The frogs are revving up their cars and doing "eco-friendly" wheelies around the neighborhood while Molly is up-cycling old fabric offcuts and teabags into fashionable creations. Buttercup is creating "graffiti art" on the lounge wall while her mum isn't supervising her.

In the lead up to the show we will be putting the spotlight on local designers, who use natural products to create fashion masterpieces. Tomorrow the spotlight will be on Mrs Orb Spider.

When I visited the UK as a little girl it really was "Beatrix Potter" country. The hedgerows were beautifully biodiverse and the indigenous plants attracted a multitude of insects, birds and small mammals. Sadly, like so many places in the world, there has been an insect apocalypse. Insect populations have declined by over 60% in the past 20 years. We know that when insect populations decline so do the populations of animals which depend on them for food.
The decline in insect populations is caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides and habitat loss.

In an attempt to stem the loss of further insect populations landowners and institutions have been asked to give 30% back to nature. This involves rewilding gardens and open spaces with plants which would originally have existed in these areas, thereby once again providing a habitat for nature. There are currently small areas where plants previously considered to be weeds are now allowed to flower, fruit and set seed. Insect can drink nectar, while small mammals and birds can feast on berries and line their nests with fluffy seeds.

When given a chance nature will bounce back. We are very privileged to still have wildlife in the Upper Highway area. Perhaps we should consider giving 30% back to nature BEFORE we loose all our wildlife.

Life is an adventure! Every day an exploration! Sometimes, as we get older we forget to explore our world. That is just one reason why I enjoy working with children - I get to see the world through their eyes.

Here are a few photos from a recent Hillcrest Conservancy inc. Springside Nature Reserve eco-birthday party.
Our intrepid explorers boarded planes, trains and traversed the continents by foot searching for nature's wonders. They created artworks out of air-dry clay and used their sense of hearing to create soundscapes using recycled materials. All in all it was a wonderful, noisy, happy afternoon.

Thank you for the POPIA compliant photos, Jade. 🤗