I don't have the seeds for this old tree I spotted out in Monterey Bay. It was such an ancient tree that the garden keepers have built a frame to support its branches. That's loving a tree. Nobody was around for me to ask what the tree was, but if some of you out there know, I'd love for you to share that with us.
I've had great fun with the Seed Guessing Game. Thank you all for doing the guessing. A few of you were right with this last picture but some of you weren't. The popular guess was Catalpa. That was wrong. Catalpa pods are much longer and greener as best I remember from the tree that was in my aunt's backyard when I was a kid. I remember loving the tree and its blooms and thinking it was a great place to lie in the grass and daydream until...you guessed it...until those worms showed up. I never cared much for worms when I was a kid. Maybe that's why I never decided fishing was fun. :) 
Another guess, and a very good one, was black locust tree pods. But that too was not right. I grew up in a yard where black locust trees were our only shade. The trees grow fast, but they don't make that great a shade. They do make good firewood if seasoned. Also, old timers claim they draw lightning. Not sure if that's true, but our locust trees did get hit by lightning a few times. Then, they have those little thorns on their twigs that fall off on the ground and make running barefoot very unpleasant. However, we did use those bean pods on the trees in our mud pie kitchen. Definitely a good addition to our "pantry" right there along with the buck berry bush seeds from a few posts ago. Nothing we could really eat, but great pretend food.
There were other guesses too. And then, some of you guessed the exact right tree - the redbud tree. This year the seeds on those are abundant. Not sure if anything eats them or not, but if they do, they'll have some winter food.
Thank you all for playing my guessing game. Okay, have I let the suspense build long enough?
It's time to announce the winners!! Karen G. and Linda Mc, you are my winners. I've sent you e-mails with the choices of books. If I don't hear from the winners in the next week, I'll pick new winners, but I expect to hear from them soon.
Now I'll have to come up with a new game. Or at least a giveaway. What can I give away between Thanksgiving and December???
As always, thank you so much for reading!
