Isn't Nature Wonderful

Following a recent walk I came home with a very sticky large fir cone which has been sitting on a piece of plastic in the Utility Room for about a week now waiting for me to get round to do some drawing from it.  It oozed a very sticky resin all over everything including my gloves and it is very difficult to remove.

Stupidly I decided to turn the cone around as it was getting water on it from the draining board and what did it do but explode!!

It is so beautiful and the seeds are amazing.

The lower part of it has a long spike that the wings must be attached to.  It looks just like an upside down spinning top.  It is actually the wrong way up but I am afraid to touch it as it will probably disintegrate even more.

This is the otherside of it.