Only five weeks until Winter….0_0
I think I need to talk to Mother nature….she’s early!
The cats were out exploring, when the flakes started coming down with a vengeance they made a bee-line for the door, “LET us IN!” Sensible beasts! I grabbed the umbrella afterwards and sat with it shielding the lens as I watched the birds come and go. Note to self, time to get the winter boots out!
I had to grab the camera and wander around for awhile. There is something magical about those big heavy snowflakes swirling about. They cover everything so quickly with that soft coat of winter. It melted as quickly as it fell on the warmth of the ground. I thought about going for a walk but remembered it was hunting season and I didn’t feel like coming home with bullet holes in me;) It’s actually been pretty quiet this year but hey, why risk getting shot when you don’t have too. Guess I should get rid of that hat with antlers on it;)
I’d been hoping to take a paddle out into the bay, the Mergansers have arrived in droves, at sunrise it was clear. Not today but I did get some shots from the dock. Not much light. I love to watch how they hunt/fish together. They don’t as much swim across the lake surface but hydroplane on their bellies pushed with their feet! Very cool. Sometimes they dive only to resurface like a submarine, their necks and heads being the snorkel. The otters are back as well. I could hear them chirping, they sound like birds at times! Three of them, sitting on the old cedar eating a fish until Mike went down and they scooted. I’ll have to spend some time camped out on the dock to see up close I think.
Then there was the swimming deer a few days ago. I thought Mike had seen a bobcat in the front yard as he was saying “UPUPUPUP!!!! LOOK!!!” I was sipping on my morning coffee, got me leaping out of the chair, What, where? LOOK! WTF….hahahahahaha! Why there is a paddling deer nonchanlantly cruising along. It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s not a moose or mighty mouse or Superman but our local one antlered White Tail buck deciding he might try the Wim Hof method of cold water bathing for inflammation! He’s actually probably just evading some hunters or a pack of coyotes hopefully! That’s a first from the deck! He swam across the entire lake!
May the force be with him through these last few days of hunting season, he’s not very wild and trimmed all my hosta’s leaves this Spring:) I told him I didn’t need a gardener but he kept at it anyway;)
So, I’ll have to rely on the clouds, reflections and mother natures palette at sunrise for some brightness and colour. Not a bad way to start the day:) It was above freezing 1°, not quite an end to pyjama photography just need to add a robe! Saludos amigos, now where did I put those winter boots away anyway?! Ha!
Clear skies and then more clouds…November
There is something so spectacular when the moon rises over the pines, orange as a pumpkin and slowly fades to yellow, then a bright white that hurts your eye almost as you look through the telescope at it. People always rub their eyes after, no it doesn’t hurt your vision but it is so bright you feel blinded for a moment looking out over the dark water of the lake. Then come the reflections…even Jupiter was reflecting the other night, a trail of wobbly light across the water, spectacular.
..and now the clouds again. November is the month I dread the most, before the snow flies and brings some light, the flowers are gone, the birds are fairly quiet and that wind. Brrr….we did have a few moments of sun today and a newly moved in Woodpecker graced the feeder, a beautiful Red-Bellied Woodpecker male. We had a pair back in 2021 so I was thrilled to see this fellow show up with the regulars, he’s shy, but hopefully will get used to us. The backseat of the truck makes an excellent bird blind to keep me out of the wind!
Maybe I’ll join Groot and we can hit the nip together;) It is amazing how well it has survived the frosts and -5° the other morning, still green, still has it’s wonderful nip qualities resulting in fresh and fruity runs down the driveway on the windy mornings in a serpentine pattern;)
He disavows all knowledge of being impaired! No nip to see here, wanna give me a nippalyzer officer? Ha! Rocket has rediscovered one of the joys of November, now that the leaves are gone, he has sunshine on the bed most of the day, when there IS any sun! Ha! Life is good! It is a time to worship the sun God Ra!
I walked out to check the mail. It was such a quiet place. A few chickadees could be heard chirping, it had a solemn feel to it, death of the the year as it goes into slow hibernation. Día de los meurtos, not always human the dead, the leaves, the bugs, the fungus. The potholes filled with rainwater hosted an array of leaves laying as if artistically placed, waiting to be admired and loved in death, like a corpse in a coffin. Those colours, onyx/brown, perfect for November in one of my photo groups, I thought it was onyx or brown but it is actually a colour, a dark brown/black marble like creation of nature.
In the quiet emptiness lies so much beauty.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
BY ROBERT FROST
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
In the swamp I marveled at the Virginia creeper berries, thinking they might be grapes, leftover, dried, raisins but no! The birds will take care of them soon enough! The only mushrooms visible through the leaves in the forest are the rows and rows of turkeytail on dead and dying trunks and branches. At the culvert I spied a single drop of melted snow on a milkweed seed, it was irresistible, having to photograph that. I climbed out on the culvert, on my knees and lay down so I was the same height as it, pondering one wrong roll would land me in the pond, the chances you take! Ha! I figured I could still hold the camera above the water if I tumbled in, so why not! Ha! Those little marvels of beauty.
I made a note of the locations of the winterholly berries, they are so beautiful. Along the Narrows Lock Road we passed an area that was solid red. I’ll go back to collect some for the Christmas wreaths and to string in the trees for the chickadees. They are so cheerful. But for now, the golden leaves of Fall will be a memory until next year when they burst forth in their last glorious display before falling slowly to the ground. Mike proclaimed seven weeks until Winter, it feels as if it has already arrived:)
Saludos amigos.
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”
― Henry David Thoreau
Saying goodbye to the leaves and hello Blue Jays!
I know it’s a fleeting thing, these Fall colours, but I do mourn as they fade away, now only the gold and browns of the oaks remain with a few wild red sumacs popping out between, then this morning, our first snow flakes…sigh…The blue Jays are wildly getting ready for the colder months ahead, stashing sunflowers seeds and peanuts, they are the local bullies if you ask the somber yellow goldfinches and chickadees. The woodpeckers ignore them mostly and usually won’t back down from a confrontation. I placed our remaining pumpkins on the picnic table for some colour and the Jays stopped by to check them out, so I put a handful of peanuts out and watched their curiosity and love of peanuts get the better of them!
I call him James Jay, on his majesty’s service, he likes his martinis with peanuts thank you very much!
I am not obsessed with Blue Jays, ha! They are pretty colourful though and fun to watch, they would fall into the local mafia, narcos, extortionist categories if they were human I think. They are bullies lets not be shy here:) So I don’t mind setting them up to do my photo bidding every now and then. It is amazing how fast they can find a few peanuts, they have super sonic peanut radar apparently! We had one tree this week, a glorious little maple with a few bright red leaves left on the lower branches and I was thinking…blue, red, would be a nice combination, so yeah, they work for peanuts my models! I’m wondering if there is a minimum peanut wage for these stars and starlets! Ha!
I just couldn’t resist the last of those red leaves! Not all Blue Jays either, the White Breasted Nuthatches are out doing their acrobatic moves alongside the chickadees but it does seem a bit quiet out there after the hum of summer.
I walked out to check the mail, the road seemed so quiet, not even a rustle. A lone goose was on “Goose Rock” as I walked past the swamp on the road. No frogs in the ditches and not a single butterfly. Not even any mail! Ha! A few very small Autumn Meadowhawks were still whirling about, brave little flying insects. The bumblebees bees keep expiring in the few remaining dahlia flowers, curled up, gone to sleep, never to wake. I can’t bring myself to cut them down, not until all the flowers are gone. It’s like a bumblebee cemetery. Someone asked what happens to the bees, well, only new queens survive the winter, while the rest of the colony dies off. In the fall, male bumble bees mate with future queens from different colonies, and these future queens spend the entire winter underground or in holes in soft wood that are safe and dry. The boys curl up in flowers and pass…
There is the squawk of passing geese, or ones on the water having a disagreement. As I sat under the trailer hitch out of the wind photographing the blue Jays one looked very startled as three Sandhill Cranes flew over, honking loudly, as only sandhill cranes can! He watched them fly over as well! Fascinating as you can hear their wing beats if they are low enough!
It’s not all birds;) or blue jays! Ha! A few squirrels have ventured out of the woods, no red squirrels yet but several black ones and the local small raccoon pulled one feeder down early in the morning. I went out and had a chat, told it about the compost being far more satisfying than a few sunflower seeds, we’ll see if it heeds my advice! Time to put the wildlife cameras up again. The blowing leaves set them off so now we should be good now!
The chipmunk population has dwindled to the few Einstein’s left. Between the fox, we smell it’s pee out by the trailer on a few trees, and the traveling mewberries they are hard on small rodent populations.
It’s wonderful we all have time to work on our Shakespearean insults! So colourful! This morning was a shock with those funny white flakes falling from the sky, outrageous said Gamora, she wanted right back in. The boys hung out over the chipmunk producing hole then we went down to the dock to bail out the canoe, it was chilly! No fish biting at all…sad cats….
Tomorrow they are promising sun, we’ll see. We caught a lucky break Saturday night as Mike had arranged to take his telescope out to the local distillers here in Perth, Top Shelf, they were introducing their “moonshine” spirits, it had been cancelled from the last cloudy Saturday! Friends Graham, a local schoolteacher we know and Ingrid, from Ottawa brought their telescopes out as well to show folks the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Fun times showing people the night sky and helping with cell phone photography, my only known superpower, getting phones to focus on the moon through the eyepiece! ha!! It has been sooooo cloudy, bienvenidos a Canada mis amigos!…and hey, FYI, Top Shelf is a Harvest Host location! Chatted with some campers staying the night there!
For the eclipse October 14-2023-We got a lucky break in the clouds as well. At 1:13 when there was the largest amount of the sun covered for our location. A few cool sunspots as well! With my Canon R5 and Tamron G2150-600 lens at 600mm. I used a Baader Solar filter Mike has for a pair of binoculars that worked well and fit over the telephoto lens.
We closed up the trailer yesterday morning, winterized the water system, swept off the slides and closed them, Rocket wanted to know where the stairs had gone this morning as he sprinted to what he thought might be a warmer place than outside. It’s with a bit of melancholy seeing it put away, almost, batteries still need to come out. Humming this morning…
♫♪♫ Carefree highway
Let me slip away on you
Carefree highway
You’ve seen better days
The morning after blues
From my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway
Let me slip away, slip away on you…Thanks Mr. Lightfoot:)
There will be other trips, plans for perhaps an East coast tour of Canada this coming Summer, a winter on the West coast? Could be, I could use a few tacos, wait, I will NEED a few tacos by then:) At least the snow stopped and has turned into a drizzling rain! No shoveling today! Ha!
It hasn’t been all clouds and doom and gloom, it’s actually been unseasonably warm and cloudy the last few weeks, that is why maybe the cold, or “normal” temperatures are a shock. I have had a few early mornings of pyjama (yes, not pajama) photography;) The hats, gloves and mittens are out now, time to find the snow boots as well! Every now and then the sun has poked out at sunset, bathing the far shore in a wonderful glow of soft colours and warmth, simply astounding.
I salute whoever was in charge of the colour palette!
The paper birches are white twigs now on the far shore, I am glad the pines add such a wonderful splash of green to an ever monochromatic scene of gray and blue. I will be relying on the light for the next six months to bring me some colour! And yes, there is beauty in the gray as well:)
….and there is always that wonderful red canoe. As I bailed it out this morning I was hoping the wind might die down, for a quick paddle to catch the last few oaks reflected in the waters surface. We’ll see! It’s better than what my thermometer told me the other morning, bit of a shock! Ha! It warmed up quickly when I replaced the batteries! Ha! Great joke pre coffee…NOT! Hahahahaha! Saludos amigos, hasta pronto! I have sushi photos and moonrises still to come! ♫♪♫ Rainy days and Mondays…I’m not going to let it get me down!
Wild lands and Autumn golds
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
It was the temperature change, it was summer, summer, summer and we knew it was coming, but those first cold gray days always eat into my soul, especially when it’s a weeks worth. With the warm came the colours, they didn’t wait for the gray and rain, it was glorious. The high winds have laid naked the small colourful trees as some of the giant maples remain green, it is odd. My mind wanders to travel, but not this Winter.
Those warm temperatures lulled me into a sense of timeless late Summer. It was so comfortable. A pair of trumpeter swans, named Graham and Joyce I was told were paddling around the bay one afternoon. Apparently, they are regulars at Long Lake but have been absent the last few years, it was wonderful to see these huge majestic birds up close as I paddled over. I sat in the canoe and watched them, not wanting to disturb them, they swam past an oasis of colours, reflections on the still-calm lake.
“All about birds: Trumpeter Swans demand superlatives: they’re our biggest native waterfowl, stretching to 6 feet in length and weighing more than 25 pounds – almost twice as massive as a Tundra Swan. Getting airborne requires a lumbering takeoff along a 100-yard runway. Despite their size, this once-endangered, now-recovering species is as elegant as any swan, with a graceful neck and snowy-white plumage.
Trumpeter Swans are impressively large—males average over 26 pounds, making them North America’s heaviest flying bird. To get that much mass aloft the swans need at least a 100-meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off.
Starting in the 1600s, market hunters and feather collectors had decimated Trumpeter swan populations by the late 1800s. Swan feathers adorned fashionable hats, women used swan skins as powder puffs, and the birds’ long flight feathers were coveted for writing quills. Aggressive conservation helped the species recover by the early 2000s. Overhunting of muskrats and beavers may have harmed Trumpeter Swans, too: the swans nest on their dens and dams. As the rodents’ populations recovered, the breeding habitat for the swans also improved.
Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do switch mates over their lifetimes. Some males that lost their mates did not mate again.
The swans spend significant time preening, rubbing their bills in the oil-secreting uropygial gland near the base of the tail, then distributing the oil over the feathers to waterproof them. Swans form long-lasting pairs and may identify a nesting site when less than 2 years old, but often wait several more years to breed.
Trumpeter Swans take an unusual approach to incubation: they warm the eggs by covering them with their webbed feet. To feed, Trumpeter Swans skim vegetation from the surface, dip their long necks underwater to forage, and tip like dabbling ducks with the rear half of their body in the air as they scour for algae, leaves, stems and roots of pondweeds and other plants. They also pump their large, webbed feet up and down to create water currents that free roots from surrounding mud.
Trumpeter Swans are mainly vegetarians, although they occasionally eat small fish and fish eggs. Younger birds also eat aquatic insects before switching to a plant-dominated diet. Day and night, the birds feed on a broad range of aquatic plants, including pondweeds, eelgrass, marestail, sedges, rushes, duckweed, wild rice and algae. To feed underwater they tip in the air like dabbling ducks, rooting beneath the surface to twist and pull up vegetation or freeing roots by paddling their feet in the mud. In winter they eat a higher percentage of terrestrial plants and berries, such as blueberries, cranberries, lupine, wheatgrass, broom, and ryegrass. Grain crops, including corn and barley, and tubers such as potatoes and carrots also make up part of the wintertime diet.”
They are an early morning alarm clock, they don’t call them Trumpeter swans for nothing;) Ha! As I got back to the dock they swam over. All I had to offer were a few sunflower seeds. The male came over at first and nibbled them out of my hand, then Joyce was brave enough to sample some as well. I promised them cut up apples for the afternoon if they were hanging around:) They are VERY large but exceeding polite birds!:) Something magical about having them eat out of your hand:)
Such amazing reflections and magical swans!
The weather was just too nice, we broke records last week, 30° Celcius In October…0_0…86° Flinstone scale! So the highs of 10° yesterday with howling winds and rain were a shock, even when you do know they are coming.
The few remaining bugs, mostly Common Eastern Bumblebees have been clinging to the last of the dahlia blooms at night, no frost yet so they are still beautiful. A Banded Tussock Moth and his mini-me were crawling along the basement door, the mini-me, I think may have become his next meal! 0_0! I spied a butterfly on my walk out to the mailboxes, a Pearl Crescent, and a few young bullfrogs in the swamp. The Autumn Meadhawks are still flitting over the swamps. I spied a larger dark-coloured dragonfly but it was busy flying and did not land. A new to me beetle was clamouring across the gravel as well. Commonly known as Blister beetles. The name derives from their defensive strategy: when threatened by collectors or predators they release oily droplets of hemolymph from their joints (legs, neck, and antennae). This fluid is bright orange and contains cantharidin, a poisonous chemical compound. Wiping the chemical on skin can cause blistering and painful swelling of the skin.
As with all other members of Meloidae, the larval cycle is hypermetamorphic; the larva goes through several body types, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin that finds and attaches to a host in order to gain access to the host’s offspring. They usually climb onto a flower head and await a bee there. They will then attach themselves to the bee. If it is a male, they wait for mating with a female. They will switch to the female when this takes place. If the bee is a female, however, she will take them back to her nest unwittingly. Once in the nest, the larvae morph into a grub-like “couch potato” and feed upon all of the provisions and the larva. Next, they form a pupa and emerge in various seasons depending on the species. Each species of Meloe may attack only a single species or genus of bs. Some are generalists. Though sometimes considered parasitoids, it appears that in general, the Meloe larva consumes the bee larva along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone. So, you catch a ride on a female bee and become a couch potato in her hive while consuming her grubs, isn’t nature somewhat gruesome, weird and amazing!
There are only a few Asters blooming for the rest of the bugs out there. I collected some baneberry and holly seeds to dry, we’ll see how that works. The true splendour was in the canopy above me as I walked down the road. In the swamps the reds are fierce, the birches have lost their leaves already but the maples, they range in all the colours from green to yellow to orange to red.
You start humming a James Taylor tune…:) Or it could be a John Denver one as well;)
“Take to the highway won’t you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child
Mama don’t understand it
She wants to know where I’ve been
I’d have to be some kind of natural-born fool
I wanna pass that way again
But I could feel it, oh
On a country road”
But it’s fleeting these magnificent colours and warmth. You have to appreciate every day the sun shines and when the wind still sunsets and sunrises bring their magic. Those moments when not a breath of wind is in the air and the fallen leaves are floating, waiting to get moved away by the morning breeze…
Still working on that #LittleRedCanoe calendar for 2024! Ha! We have had a few evenings this week where the sun has appeared under the clouds just as it was setting, as if to remind us of the wonder, even after a day of rain and wind. Astounding beauty can be found:) When you casually look out the window after looking at your photos of soggy maple leaves in the rain all afternoon and see this! The sun came out at the last minute! Holy F@*k Batman! Isn’t nature grand!
I can’t read the news, my heart aches for the death and destruction happening in our beautiful world. Man is man’s worst enemy, will we ever evolve? C’mon Darwin!
I’ll leave it there, still so much to do. The swim ladder needs to be pulled and painted, dahlias, well, they get to keep blooming for the bees but the cannas and gladiolas have been pulled and are drying, last of the tomatoes are in, the trailer needs to be winterized, and the list never ends, we are never, really ready for Winter! The Traveling Mewberries were not impressed by the last few days of rain…Time to get out their wee winter coats I told them! Stay tuned! If you are looking for a beautiful book to read, our wonderful friend Jennifer gave me this to peruse last time we were down at the barn, she said it reminded her of my blogs. I was very much flattered by that after reading it: “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” by Edith Holden. A remarkable journey through the seasons month by month with stunning drawings and poems, I think I would have liked Edith very much! While reading through the book a poem about March by William Wordsworth stuck a cord, read it, the last line…
What man has made of man?…
A fun project…if you are slightly masochistic, Ha! Pebble mosaics!
Do you love leaning over for great lengths of time, want to firm up your abs, have a good set of knee pads already, and don’t mind playing with cement and grout? Maybe pebble mosaics making is for you! 😉
I was younger then…hahahaha! 2014 and my knees were younger as well! There was well over 160′ of paths, it took me a while and the rocks were so easy to source. A drive down to the coast netted me various colours and presorted sizes of these lovely beach pebbles to work with! They came in feed sacks, weighed, way more than feed, but the guys would load them up down at the beach and I’d drive them back to the ranch.
I had great ambitions this Spring as we were leaving Baja and convinced Mike a few sacks of the pebbles in the back of the truck would be out of the way and hey, it’s a big truck, it wouldn’t notice a few more hundred pounds of rocks would it? They were already bagged up so I didn’t get a chance to see them super well, they were blue, 1″ I thought, but turns out most were quite a bit smaller, sigh, that just means they take WAY more time to place but it also lets you add better detail. Still interested? Go buy this book!
Maggie Howarth’s book is the bible for pebble moaiscs! https://www.maggyhowarth.co.uk/ A big thank you to Stefan and Stephanie who gifted me a new and expanded version of the book!
She goes through all the steps you need to do these, but you do need to practice with stone flow, filling, and of course designs. I sketched out most of what I wanted to do, then added the pebble shapes in pencil to see what direction they needed to go. In Baja it was easy, we were all sand, everywhere, just playing with pebbles beside the path, laying them out, then moving them over when I was ready…not here in Canada. Did I mention our house actually sits on one huge rock?! That was then…this is now:
First, acquire pebbles! I had the four large bags I brought back from Baja, plus two I bought in San Diego of the maroon colour, then I knew it wasn’t going to be enough so I dragged Mike all over Ottawa looking for pebbles until I came upon Cohen and Cohen Natural Stone. All in search of those beach pebbles from Baja. Careful here, this store could be addictive! I wandered around glassy-eyed staring at rocks, big as VW’s to tiny wee bits of stone…heaven! Apparently, most people start these projects in Spring the lovely lady explained as I fondled their large box of sample stones up front. No, I didn’t steal any! They didn’t have many left, but she’d take me back and show me. They had GREEN ones! I was very very happy, and some beautiful semi-polished beige ones as well. I took their last 5 bags, sorry folks, you’ll have to wait for Spring now! I felt like Gollum clutching at the one ring with my rocks!
I went home and started sorting. Buckets are great for this, separate by colour, and size. Also, have someone strong go with you to get the sand and cement;) ha! I Baja, I would go into the arroyo with the tractor bucket, scoop up some sand, then sift it through various mesh sizes to get my mix, not here! OMG, you can just buy sand! Clean, perfect sand! I was cheating I felt…and a bag of Portland cement. I asked about premixed bags of cement but they all were with gravel, no good at all! Now, back home to plan!
You need some stonework to contain your pebble mosaics. I walked around our large rock here, and found dozens of small rocks that fit the bill to make a framework to work within. I then built a 32″ x 32″ frame of wood, put it on the ground, and filled it with the wonderful sand, this was the starting point of the designs. Caution, if you have cats, such a frame was approached with great glee the first day, dug in, half the sand flung out as happy cats spun around in it, and pooped in…sigh…note to self, cover frame with white tarp, especially if there is a partial design on the go!
The actual first preparation was getting a small load of crushed rock/gravel dumped in front of the alcove. I needed to level the area off I was working in so water would run off. I wetted it down and tamped it with a piece of wood…Baja style, a 2″x 6″X 12″ long with a handle screwed on, for several days until I was satisfied it was really well packed down. I’m a bit worried about the freeze and thaw but we’ll see! Life is an adventure right?!
I’d seen some pebble mosaics surrounded by white rocks so I thought I might give it a try. The first bag I bought was marble, too soft and falling apart, perhaps suited to potted plants but not mosaics. I also went looking for glass pebbles to do the wings of the dragonfly and bumblebee I’d planned. See, still sourcing rocks! Walmart had glass pebbles for vases so I bought two bags of those and found some 1″ ones online, and ordered them, Amazon can be handy! I did read to keep the glass pebbles out of high-traffic areas so decided they would be on my right, where we don’t walk in as much. Then to the planning!
Decided on a bumblebee to fill the first small corner, the dragonfly was getting too big! Those wings! Finally found some smaller white stones that were not too soft. Added some stones around the white that I brought back from Baja. After the design is set into the dry cement and sand mix I tamp it down with a 2″ x 6″ X 1″ board and hammer very gently to try to get it as level as possible. I angled this one down for drainage. Then it gets sprayed with a hand sprayer until thoroughly soaked, repeat every four hours then tomorrow again until it is set. I use the board to stop the work, seams are always tough! This is where the practice comes in! I found a small sprayer for insecticides/fertilizer at Home Hardware for under $30. Not too heavy, easy to fill, and pump up as well. I was happy for some extra cushions below my knees on top of the tiling pads I have! My knees appear to be saying I am not immortal…Ha!
The next day I retrieved my shade umbrella from the front, if I am going to abuse my knees, at least it will be shady abuse!
Dragonfly was moved from the frame full of sand to the cement and sand mix beside the bumblebee. I mix small batches in the wheelbarrow, one cement, and three sand, mix and mix and mix until it is absolutely all the same colour! I fill the area I’m working in about 2-2.5″ deep, giving me room to tamp down the bigger pebbles. After I place the main design I think: try to keep following the flow, like water, rivers, eddies forming circles. Creating a bit of movement. In Mexico initially, I did a lot of straight lines but this needed something different, you learn to look at the pebbles and sizes and create other small designs in those spaces you are filling. I’d forgotten the leaning over the entire design for hours feeling…That’s what those stomach muscles are for!
I struggled with a few different bird of prey designs but this one fit the space. I got it a bit close to the edge of the alcove but was happy I found a perfect stone for the beak! One of the several hundred rocks I picked up in Baja, Arizona, and New Mexico walking on trails and around the campgrounds! This was a bit larger, longer, all those small rocks, yikes, that took a few hours of sitting, placing, sorting, getting up and moving around, then going back to placing! I was running out of the burgundy rocks I brought back from Baja, I was even using the ugly ones, not symmetrical, placing them along the edge of the house where they were less noticeable! I did have @4 80lb bags of the smaller-than-I-anticipated rocks! Ha!
For the last design I struggled making mushrooms, they just didn’t look right, I still had a bunch of the beautiful green and beige semi-polished pebbles so decided a turtle it was going to be!
I used all the remaining burgundy stones and had to switch over to the small blue ones to finish the project. I’d get up every 20 minutes and sort through another giant pail of tiny blue rocks, picking out the biggest ones to use! Then it was done! The base design! It now needed to be cured for a week or so. I wanted to see how the smaller pebbles held up as well. It was watered twice a day, this time with just the hose for the entire week, or more, while I went in search of a sanded grout colour I liked. Yes, it still needed to be grouted! ha!
I apply approximately a 1/2″ layer, sometimes more, of dry sanded coloured grout and use a soft paintbrush to ensure it gets into every small crevice and crack then it is misted with a sprayer just until water pools. Then you have to go over it a few times to ensure the bubbles and small holes are filled. Occasionally you have to go back after it is dry to fill small missed spots or where it is too thin. I missed a few bits that were too high with cement that I had to chip out with a chisel and apply more grout to several small spots. Once it’s cured for a few days, it gets sprayed for the next week, I can use grout remover/muriatic acid on the white and light-colored rocks to remove any grout haze, then seal it! I did finally find some “earth” coloured grout at Home Depot, bonus was it was on sale for $11 a 25lb bag…woohoo! I bought the last three they had, wasn’t sure how much I would need. I have leftovers for the next project…mwhahahahahaha!
A video of the design after grouting!:
https://www.facebook.com/100000224080592/videos/a.991827177501409/1294243954534169
I left it for a few weeks after grouting, took my time, cleaned the grout haze off the white rocks, filled a few more holes, and looked around for sealer. Our friends Pam and Graham mentioned they had used a concrete sealer around their stamped pool edge and asked if I wanted to come look. I wanted a bit of a sheen, and hopefully, something to protect from the freeze and thaw cycle. I liked the way the sealer looked, they told me to take the 5-gallon can and use what I needed, which turned out to be only about 5 cups worth, and then to bring it back! Thanks you two! So ta-dah, the finished project! I waited until the leaves were not blowing about too much and got out the knee pads and cushions for one more spell! I applied the sealer with a brush, the small foam roller wasn’t working getting into the smaller crevices and it looks beautiful!
I will let you know in the Spring how the freeze-thaw worked out and snow removal as well;) Excuse my shadow here!
Anyone want to borrow the book, let me know;)
♪♫♪ Wild geese that fly, with the moon on their wing ♫♪♫, wait, is my husband yelling at me to stop singing the Sound of Music? Ha!
I just can’t help myself when they start flying over, not my husband’s favorite movie, but I know ALL the words to the songs! They have been paddling by as well, Fall, first day, sigh. Hummingbirds are gone, the feeders I’ll leave up until the end of the month for any straggler, but the last sound of wings was two nights ago. I do miss them, it seems so quiet. I did get a few lovely photos right up until the last day! They were ignoring the flowers and heading straight for the sugar water, the jet fuel of migration!
It never ceases to amaze me these feather-light birds go so far, maybe I’m a bit envious, Mexico will sound good in January! This Winter we are sticking out with the Chickadees and Woodpeckers! Nearly all the winter wood is in and stacked, taking a break today, sat and watched the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. The Pileated put in a brief appearance as it called and hammered a few tree trunks and then moved on through the forest. Hopefully, they’ll come back for the suet block this Winter.
The Goldfinches are still feeding babies, they nest so late! The White Breasted Nutchatches are fighting over territories and rights, always a kerfuffle when they are around and the trees, green in one direction, red in another, Gold to the left, yellow and brown to the right! Absolutely stunning. It’s later this year but Mike pointed out that with no stress from the moths, they have had a much better summer. The apple trees lining the hedgerows and in people’s yards are covered wherever you look, speaking to a successful year of flowers and fruit.
Did I mention the bugs, daytime ones anyway, are gone! Hallef*ckinglujah! I can walk out to check the mailbox without being carried away by deer flies! I can amble, oh dear, that means stopping to take pictures of course, it’s not exercise Mike says the way I do it…Ha! It takes time to see all the sights! The new bugs, and dragonflies, the few remaining butterflies, and fruits, on trees and shrubs, I have to see it all! There are still a few mushrooms out there as well! One MUST explore! 🙂
..and all the berries! I’m checking stock for those winter wreaths! ha! The birds will probably beat me to all the holly! The grapes are already being eaten! The Bittersweet Nightshade we will avoid! Pretty, but not to be consumed along with the White Baneberry!
..and the flowers, those last beautiful blooms before Fall are upon us and the frosts turn everything brown! Asters and Goldenrod, Queen Anne’s Lace and Nodding Beggarticks…WTF??? Hahahahaha! Who gets to name these things? I love the Gentiana andrewsii, the bottle gentian, closed gentian, or closed bottle gentian, it’s a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the gentian family. The flower never opens. According to iNaturalist:
The closed flowers make entrance to feed on pollen or nectar difficult for many species of insects. Those strong enough to enter through the top of the flower include the digger bee species Anthophora terminalis and the bumblebee species Bombus fervidus, Bombus griseocollis, and Bombus impatiens. The eastern carpenter bee chews a narrow slit at the base of the flower and “steals” nectar without pollinating the plant, a behavior known as nectar robbing. The holes in the petals created by this species allow smaller insects to also access the nectar and pollen, including the honeybee, the green sweat bee species, and the eastern masked bee. Isn’t our natural world amazing!
…and one frilly mushroom! I believe this is Rhodocollybia maculata, also known as the Spotted Toughshank. There are also a few red Chanterelles still poking their way up through the old leaves! Turkey Tails are growing on the dead branches and trunks of soon-to-fall trees.
At one of the hills, we came upon a Bald-faced Hornet’s nest! Such a delicate work of art hanging by a thin thread. Feather-light, I gave it a good berth, allergic to these guys! I’ll be back in Winter to save the nest if it survives once the hornets are gone!
and the caterpillars! Wow! They never cease to amaze me with their furry bits and bumps and man, they are just wonderfully weird! It’s always amazing to see what moth or butterfly they will actually turn into!
The Tiger Moth caterpillar is busy making its way through all the leaves on a sunflower plant. It has a few left to go. I wonder where it will cocoon? He has a racing stripe down his underside and such a furry back! This morning he/she/it was covered in dew drops! A large bumblebee was buried in one of the dahlias, once it warmed and dried off it, it was off flying. So much life in these potted flowers beside the driveway! An eastern Comma was out flying about, This butterfly seldom visits flowers, but rather feeds on sap, rotting fruit, salts and minerals from puddling, and dung. He was interested in the woodpile!..and the frogs…Ha!
The resident Gray Tree Frog, he lives with his spouse in the cushion bin. I often have to move him to get at the cushions. Today I placed him on a canna lily leaf as I took the cushions out to sit on them, then put him back, it doesn’t seem to trouble him in any way;) His young ones, several of them I think, are tiny! Barely an inch across and very very green. Mike rescued one from Rocket who seized it inside by the screen, it must have squeezed in through one of the holes! It was safely placed back outside! The traveling mewberries consider the frogs a source of amusement, we take them away to safety when we can but apparently, frog legs are very tasty as well! The beautiful toad was down at Plum Hollow, what a fabulous creature! So much life!
Apparently, lying down on the ground to photograph a mushroom…or a leaf…Causes great consternation to Mr. Groot…Perhaps he is worried I have died……and won’t be able to feed him, feeble human that I am;) Ha! No lying down and photographing he says! So many rules these cats!
Anyway, this is beginning to feel like a novela so I will sign off! Next up, pebble mosaics! I will explain in better detail what is involved in making these fun projects! It’s time for a paddle to check out some colours soon too!
…and wait…one more shot, this one I managed to clean up, it was very noisy and far away but it really did make me chuckle all morning long! A juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird had been exploring the red flowers I have in one one the baskets, they are nearing their end and the flower came off on his beak. He flew away, not amused, and pondered just how to get the “Holy Mary, mother of Jesus” flower off his frickin’ beak! Ha! I don’t think he was amused at my chuckling from far away;) He shook his head, looked left and right and up and down before using his small wee foot to remove it…I felt he might be of Irish descent and all, with his swearing…hahahahaha! Isn’t nature grand!
September is Fair time! Perth Fair that is!
…and it was a scorcher! With 32 classes to start they were still dragging the ring a half hour after start time and we waited! I think Jennifer groaned audibly at me, “You said we’d be done early!” She proclaimed, last year it had all gone quickly and we were done by 4, maybe not this time! Horse Shows! I was glad she had decided to judge, I told her misery loves company! I appreciate her amazing eye, I’m still looking at a horse’s pretty face and she can tell me it’s not tracking up from behind, right hind leg before I have even gotten past the ears! She has ridden all the disciplines and has so much knowledge, so a great person to judge and help anyone coming up in the ranks! And hey, we were in the shaded building on the edge of the ring, judges, announcer and the amazing Kristyn who organized it all! Not me, I was out in the sun for the first half of the day before admitting defeat and retreating for the 2nd half of the show to take pictures from the building only!
This wonderful Fair is run mostly by volunteers. We ran the Hunter Horse Show for many years when we had Ranyhyn Farm, our equestrian center, so it is nice to lend a hand, a chance for local kids to shine, taking photos and dragging the jumps around is the least I can do! We were well fed by Tommy, delicious pulled pork sandwiches, what else could you want! It started with the English Classes.
There was only one bad pony with a tough little rider and all day long we only lost one kid, bucked off, to an over-enthusiastic horse! It wasn’t a hard hit to the ground so all got up, brushed off the sand and carried on! The came the Western classes…
and then the pairs classes:)
I got a few headshots of the beautifully clean and turned-out horses, the tongue wagger was very comedic. There was a Spanish-speaking family standing next to me at the ring laughing, “Qué divertido esa lengua!” I had to chuckle along with them as well! Provided that the rider is not pulling on the metal bit, and causing pain, it may just be a habit, expression of anxiety, or expression of concentration. Every case can be different.
The we stopped for lunch before the jumping! We had a few hands to help us set up and measure the course that Kristyn had made up. I sat and watched some of the rides as we ate. I zoomed in on some of the faces on one ride, having fun? Not sure;) Ha! We agreed the teacups, or merry-go-round might be more our style;)
The heavy horse and mini show had also started out towards the Scotch Line, that can always cause even the quietest horse to have a look at loudspeakers blaring and jingling harnesses! And those minnies! Way too cute! Please tell me those barrels are full of wine! My perfect ride! hahahaha! I’ll take the large barrel por favor! Merci!
The jumping was fun, as always, we had a few cringes and crossed fingers, stay on kid! Hang in there, what amazing ponies, doing their jobs. Brings back memories of many previous shows!
I did miss a few rounds as the camera battery started to die before it had processed about 60 shots, Perhaps I was shooting too quickly and given the 31° temperature, it wasn’t happy either! I found a corner to stand in where I had a clear shot of the fences, in the shade, Whew…I was sweating even there! These kids and adults are tough, not to mention the horses!
After the over-fences classes, we pulled the rails and standards to the side of the ring while the Costume class participants were getting ready. My favourite part of the show! We had a John Deer Tractor, Harry Potter Pony, a Pirate, a butterfly (?) (too damn cute!), Barbie, A Harley Pony, a busted orange-clad pony and a cop and Yoda with Chewbacca:) I had to admit the cop was my favourite, the pony, Slick’n’Dry was busted for impeding traffic;) Ha!
…and there was more!!! The games! Egg and spoon, the last egg left in the spoon wins after the walk, trot, canter, and multiple stops! Water cup, the most amount of water left in the cup after several maneuvers wins! Relay race, timed, and whew…we were done!
Shouts out to all the volunteers at the Fair and Kristyn who did an amazing job putting the Family Fun Horse Show together! Jennifer did a wonderful job judging, kids even came and asked for more advice, love to see that! Announcers/ring stewards Amanda and Janet, thank you as well! And many thanks to Tommy for lunch! I think it took me as long to go through the photos as the entire horse show! I posted a link online here at the website for the kids and adults to download the pictures, free of charge for them to share and keep. I’ll leave it up for a while, many more pictures there if you want to have a look.
So, we’ll wait for next year’s Fair! Maybe I’ll get out and take a look around at the rides and heavy horses if it’s not boiling again! Look for those casks of wine;) Ha! Saludos amigos! Salutations aux amis!
Whaddya mean it’s September? I didn’t even get to part 3 of “Where did August go?” Ha!
In a few days we’ll be saying goodbye, or just one morning, they will be gone, that whirring sound of wings and squeaky chirps defending feeders, flowers, and perches. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird adults, males and females are gone, headed South, just the juveniles remain, playing tag at the feeder, seeing who is the toughest, stopping for a drink or to look at a possibly edible nectar-filled flower!
How do I know they are juveniles? They can’t figure out how the feeder works! Ha! And they are trying all the flowers, very cautiously, is this one good, or not? Fun to watch! Groot, Gamora, and Rocket say they would like to be hummingbird photography assistants in the morning when I sit, drink my coffee, and watch their antics. I have assured them I need the hummingbirds flying, not brought to me in their clenched jaws…;)
They still think they could be helpers;) Ha! Those sad faces…get me every time! At least they get to watch! The flower baskets are still popular out at the lakeside, everything that is red is game and out the other side they have been exploring the zinnias, dahlias, and gladiolas.
The Canna lilies are again a hit this year! I’ll dig them up after the first hard frost and store them in the basement with the dahlias, gladiolas, and crocosmias bulbs until the Spring. Next Spring I’d like to plant more in pots on the deck, where I can sit and really enjoy the show!
We delivered the kittens’ Torch and Mask to Mike’s friend Dave after they quarantined for two weeks in the trailer. It was sad to see them go but at least we can go visit and watch them grow! Their sniffles were cleaned up, first shots, no more goopy eyes and eating us out of house and home! Ha! The traveling mewberries said there were terrible little mini me’s in the trailer, they wanted nothing to do with them! Let them be GONE! Three is just fine they said, NO MORE! Hahahahaha! Rocket thought he was being replaced I think:( Poor guy!
The trailer is cleaned and ready to be winterized. We’ve had it for sale, thinking of something a bit smaller but the market has been soft, if it doesn’t sell, maybe we’ll take it East next Summer and explore some of Canada we have never seen! We looked at a few newer ones at a dealer, Oh my we are spoiled with the quality of that DRV, everything else seems so flimsy and poorly made. We’ll have to look for something older to find the sturdiness and workmanship we cherish in what we have!
In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye out for these guys tomorrow morning while I drink my coffee. I may need a blanket! Our hot snap gave way to cooler temperatures today and finally some rain in the early morning hours. We needed that! Trees are starting to turn here and there, Fall is coming. Stay tuned for some fun shots from the Perth Fair Horse Show and my latest pebble project! Saludos amigos and Hello September! Did I mention I love Fall! Ha!
Where did August go? Part 2-Gone Loony!
Those flat calm days, where the canoe will glide through the water by just thinking, well almost, I wish I had those powers! Our neighbours down the lake had said the osprey nest was full of activity so I took a few hours, poodled (our riding version of taking a nice slow walk on horseback around the field, go for a poodle!) around the far bay first and then slowly made my way down the lake in the lee, no wind. It was quiet, I hunted down a few dragonflies, stared at some bluegills below the surface of the water but hardly a bird to be seen.
I reached the island and turned the corner and I saw a tremendous splashing going on, at first I thought the bird might be in distress, so I inched closer and then just sat and watched for a while, a loon was having a magnificent bath. It truly looked like it was trying to dislodge something from itself but no, just having a wild and crazy time. I was getting some shade from the clouds and it was almost windless so I sat and watched.
“Extreme preening” Ha! Occasionally a loon will bathe more vigorously, splashing its wings in the water, doing somersaults and plunge dives, and aggressively tending to its feathers with its bill. This behavior is often reported as a loon trying to remove tangled fishing line. But the loon is actually giving itself a thorough bath, trying to remove mites and other parasites. To a loon, it may feel good – like jumping into a lake on a really hot day!
I was humming ♫♪♫ Splish Splash I was taking a bath!
They was a-splishing and a-splashing, reelin’ with the feelin’.
Moving and a-grooving, rocking and a-rolling, yeah!
I was a rolling and a-strolling, reeling with the feeling.
Moving and a-groovin’, splishing and a-splashing, yeah! ♫♪♫
A preening loon may roll onto its side or back and pull at its breast and belly feathers with its bill, or, stick one leg in the air and paddle in circles. It may rub its head against its back and shoulders to disperse oil. Loons and other birds secrete oil from a gland at the base of the tail called the uropygial gland. When preening, loons take oil from this gland in their bills and use it to coat their feathers.
While I let the occasional breeze blow me about in the canoe out of the corner of my eye I caught this ones mate, or buddy, just quietly paddling along, diving occasionally, not the raucous show this one was putting on for me. Occasionally it would dive and come up fifteen or twenty feet from the canoe, not a care in the world other than trying to have a bath! It could care less that I was there, the crazy loon voyeur;) Ha!
I did mention Loony right? A legend says that to see a Loon means a dream will come true or a wish will be answered. Why do loons flap constantly while they are flying? I can hear them going over head! Thanks to their tiny wings, loons simply can’t glide or soar, but must ALWAYS flap to stay aloft. Loon wings are so small compared to their body weight that even with strong flapping they can’t support the weight of the loon in the air if they’re missing a couple of feathers. For loons, daily preening is necessary in order to maintain the waterproofing of their feathers and keep them aligned. Individual feathers are like shingles on a roof, their interlocking structure creates a barrier so that water cannot reach the skin. Loons bathe to clean their feathers and rid themselves of feather lice or other external parasites.
When swimming, loons typically rely solely on their feet for propulsion, however, they may use their wings as paddles to help ‘row’ themselves across the water when they need to escape a situation quickly. Male and female loons have identical plumage, which makes them nearly impossible to tell apart by sight alone. Although males are generally about 25% larger than females, this size difference is difficult to determine. Adult loons weigh from 7 to 15 pounds and measure roughly 3 feet from bill tip to outreached feet.
I completely forgot about the ospreys! The sun did finally come out from behind the clouds, I was just hoping I caught this Loon fast enough to see all the water droplets flying about! It was magical! I was looking forward to a tailwind paddling back as I’d paddled against the wind to get down to the islands but the workout Gods must have been chuckling as the wind turned around again and I had to huff and puff to make it back to the dock. Dastardly wind gods!
I was thrilled to be able to just sit quietly and watch these magnificent birds. Sorry about the loon dump of photos, I couldn’t just pick a few! They showed no distress and went about bathing and preening their feathers until a motorboat buzzed by and they gave out a few howling wails and calls…just goes to show how much we actually disturb wildlife, humans seem to be good at that…
I have missed our baby, sadly it didn’t make it. Whether the eagle got it, or bad weather, or just bad luck who can say. It was hard to listen to the parents wailing, looking, mourning. They carried on their cries for about two weeks before moving on. I hope they return next year and with any luck, can raise two. It’s a precarious life that of a baby loon. I’ll sign off with my favourite shot of the day, such joy, we need more of this in all our lives! Saludos y abrazos amigos.
Where did August go? Part 1-Mushroom hunting
Summer does this every year, it flies by, it doesn’t matter if you are busy or not, happy, sad or outright crazy, it flies by;) The rains came, and they haven’t stopped. If I could wave my magic wand, if I had one, (does anyone know of a wand store near Ottawa? Ha!) well, I’d do a lot of things, bring loved ones back, send clouds to British Columbia, move hurricanes out of people’s paths, create world peace, yeah, if only I had a wand. I’ll simply welcome the rain when and where it falls, no matter how hard or drenching, I’m sure every living thing out there is soaking it up, especially the mushrooms.
I’ve seen varieties I didn’t even know existed, a few that are regulars every year, and then some downright crazy-coloured ones as well! I asked Mike to pull over on our road to see what the hell those bright red things were, did someone throw out some plastic, were they geranium petals, What? I was wondering but no, nature’s marvels! Candy Apple Waxy Cap (Hygrocybe cuspidata). Such a bright red! I decided to take a slow walk around the yard, getting down to eye level a few times to see just what WAS growing in the grass, I didn’t have the heart to cut it to the south of the house there were so many things popping up!
On the North side of the lawn, these were my finds. The Common Funnel (Infundibulicybe gibba), it was full of rain before I picked it up to bring it into the light, where Fairies bathe;) it is growing out of an old piece of tree trunk/bark. The Common Gilled Mushrooms and Allies(Order Agaricales) meaning…I dunno what the hell it is! Ha! We call these LBMs (little brown mushrooms) a friend remarked. And FYI, all ID’s are not set in stone so don’t eat any you are not 100% sure of or you may be taking a trip, not walking, good, or bad one to the hospital! The Red-mouth Bolete(Boletus subvelutipes) or what I call the “double dong” had me chuckling all week. A model for a double stick onto the floor didlo perhaps? I saw it in a catalog once! Ha! Commonly known as the red-mouth bolete, is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is found in Asia and North America, where it fruits on the ground in a mycorrhizal association with both deciduous and coniferous trees. Its fruit bodies (mushrooms) have a brown to reddish-brown cap, bright yellow cap flesh, and a stem covered by furfuraceous to punctate ornamentation and dark red hairs at the base. Its flesh instantly stains blue when cut, but slowly fades to white. The fruit bodies are poisonous, and produce symptoms of gastrointestinal distress if consumed. So, yup, not for dinner. Now, Coral Fungi-Genus Ramaria, it’s almost like you are underwater! The genus Ramaria comprises approximately 200 species of coral fungi. Several, such as Ramaria flava, are edible and picked in Europe, though they are easily confused with several mildly poisonous species capable of causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; these include R. formosa and R. pallida. Three Ramaria species have been demonstrated to contain a very unusual organoarsenic compound homoarsenocholine. Now that is a mouthful! But, no thanks again! But! Eastern Black Trumpet (Craterellus fallax) you can eat these!!! Skip the Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum) not edible;) Ha!
So many different kinds of Amanita. Amanita multisquamosa or the small funnel-veil amanita is a species of Amanita from the coniferous forest of eastern North America. They have such beautiful patterns on them! Marasmius oreades, also known as the fairy ring mushroom or fairy ring champignon, is a mushroom native to North America and Europe. Its common names can cause some confusion, as many other mushrooms grow in fairy rings, such as the edible Agaricus campestris and the poisonous Chlorophyllum molybdites.
Marasmius oreades is a choice edible mushroom. Its sweet taste lends it to baked goods such as cookies. It is also used in foods such as soups, stews, etc. Traditionally, the stems (which tend to be fibrous and unappetizing) are cut off and the caps are threaded and dried in strings. A possible reason why this mushroom is so sweet-tasting is due to the presence of trehalose, a type of sugar that allows M. oreades to resist death by desiccation. When exposed to water after being completely dried out, the trehalose is digested as the cells completely revive, causing cellular processes, including the creation of new spores, to begin again. How cool is that!
Leucoagaricus leucothites, the white dapperling, or white Agaricus mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus. The species was originally described as Agaricus leucothites by Carlo Vittadini in 1835, and bears similarity to species of that genus. Solomon Wasser transferred it to Leucoagaricus in 1977. While sometimes regarded as edible, the species is suspected of being poisonous due to gastric-upset-causing toxins. It could also be confused with the deadly Amanita ocreata. We’ll skip that one, and a weed? Laccaria laccata, commonly known as the deceiver, or waxy laccaria, is a white-spored species of small edible mushroom found throughout North America and Europe. It is a highly variable mushroom (hence ‘deceiver’), and can look quite washed out, colorless and drab, but when younger it often assumes red, pinkish brown, and orange tones. The species is often considered by mushroom collectors to be a ‘mushroom weed’ because of its abundance and plain stature. So much to learn!
We went for dinner down the lake at Stefanie and Stefan’s lovely cottage and there were HUGE mushrooms there! Over a very tasty dinner and a raspberry infused G&T we enjoyed a wonderful evening, and a new mushroom to me, in their yard lakeside! We had a Bald Eagle swoop right down in front of us here after a fish a Loon had caught! Priceless!
Then I took a walk down the road. I decided to brave what was left of the deer flies and go check the mail as well out at the main road.
Blue, yes friggin’ blue! Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, the indigo (or blue) lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken — a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius — is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air.
It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Honduras, the mushroom is called a chora, and is generally eaten with egg; generally as a side dish for a bigger meal.
Red and yellow, edible and not and purple coraL FUNGI! They come in Purple as well I gasped!!!!
Clavaria zollingeri, commonly known as the violet coral or the magenta coral, is a widely distributed species of fungus.
That was just going OUT the road, on the way back I took one of the wonderful woodland trails:)
From Jelly Babies, how cool is that! Leotia is a genus of cup fungi of the division Ascomycota. Leotia species are globally distributed, and are believed to be ectomycorrhizal. They are commonly known as jelly babies because of the gelatinous texture of their fruiting bodies to Goblet Waxcap-Hygrocybe cantharellus. Hygrocybe cantharellus, commonly known as chanterelle waxy cap, is an agaric (gilled mushroom) in the family Hygrophoraceae, no bigger than my pinky, to more Blood Red Russula-Russula rosaceas and Hygrocybe miniata, commonly known as the vermilion waxcap, is a small, bright red or red-orange mushroom of the waxcap genus Hygrocybe. It is a cosmopolitan species, that is found worldwide. Then the shining waxcaps, a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. It prefers bogs, swamps, and similar moist habitats and Candy cap or curry milkcap is the English-language common name for several closely related edible species of Lactarius; L. camphoratus, L. fragilis, and L. rubidus. These mushrooms are valued for their highly aromatic qualities and are used culinarily as a flavoring rather than as a constituent of a full meal. Thank you Wikipedia for so much information! All this, on an hour long walk!
It wasn’t all mushrooms;)
There were wildflowers, from Prunella vulgaris, the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter’s herb, brownwort or blue curls, is an herbaceous plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. Self-heal is edible: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the plant as a whole can be boiled and eaten as a leaf vegetable; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a beverage. To Purple-flowered Raspberry, wild carrot and Virgin’s-Bower (Clematis virginiana)…and berries!
Not to mention several lovely Leopard Frogs:) ♪♫♪ Walking down a country road ♫♪♫
All thanks to the rain:) I found a few more interesting fungi in the yard his week as well. I looked at one, pink Fairy fingers I was thinking? No, Rose Spindles. It only lasted a day, then its cousin, golden spindles. Crowded Parchment (Stereum complicatum) not just for old libraries it seems, it likes dead branches, Common puffballs, Club Feet (?), and bright red Chanterelles! OMG, they are red! Orange-red! I usually feel like Mother Nature is screaming “DONT EAT ME!” when you see these colours but no…Nature never ceases to amaze me.
As I mentioned, so many fungi! I am not an expert and I have probably mislabed a few of these but OMG, so much incredible life! I have spent hours on my hands and knees just mesmerized with the camera, trying to coax a cat to pose with some, impossible;) Ha! We’ll keep trying!
Hug your loved ones close. It was a very hard week as we said goodbye to a very dear friend battling cancer. I have had a hard time containing my emotions and have a pretty good idea of what her family is going through as well. I don’t have the words to express the grief and pain, I really don’t. Celebrate the time you have, open your eyes, take it all in, it goes so quickly life, and time. Abrazos amigos. I’ll leave you with a look down the lake, magical reflections for souls flying free.
