Hot Hot!

Things to do when it is unbearable outside. Bring some outside into the house. Since I was having fun with the candle holders, I thought I'd expand to sticks and bark. Using glue, moss, and some funky crafty items, I got busy.

and then of course I had to imagine what would take place on this piece of bark.

and I took it a step further. 
Since my 'photo table' had to be moved out, I haven't had a good place to do indoor dioramas are creations. However I muddled through and had to avoid the concentrator and avoid stepping on the 02 lines...
but I made it work.

I ended up putting the items on a box and using a cutting board that was made from an Italian Olive Tree for the backdrop.

I kept messing around and finding more interesting ways of using my decorated sticks and roots.

I went out after the sun went down and decided to watch Fireflies. On the forest edge, they were abundant in the tall grasses.

You may have to click on the photo to see
the driveway...4 minute Livecomp
exposure.

...and on to the week of somewhat cooler temps but a lot of predicted rain....

Another Exciting ... Day!

 Of course there has to be fungi, slime molds, alligators, rocks, fishies, rain, picnic, and fishing involved.

I went out early to find my fungi friends and admire slime molds. Yeah, I am strange but I love the beautiful world of the odd things in the forest.

Chocolate Tube Slime mold ... with mold on top of it!

Coral Slime Mold...finger for perspective.

With all the wet and humid weather I have found lots of Deadman's Fingers growing near many of the old oak tree logs. These logs have been on the ground for nearly 20 years. You won't find these on newly downed logs.

This is a curiosity.

It is called Shotgun Fungi/ Shotgun Slime Mold/ Artillery Fungus/ Hat Throwing Fungus... this particular kind grows on Equine Manure.

 I know, gross, but kind of cool. 

The spores can be ejected up to 18 feet.

What it looks like from a distance. What can I say?...

It is so cool and weird at the same time.

This rainy humid weather is awful for so many things. However, it delights me to scrounge around the forest and look for bizarre things.

Not so bizarre is finding Oyster Mushrooms and bringing them home for a side dish.

Wednesday was fishing day.

 Getting Rich to the table was an extra human effort since he can barely walk. But Steve and I got him there. Rich did catch a Bullfish.

Ewww, he tossed it back. Here he is wearing a clear poncho as there was a light rain. He son took it off because it wasn't bothersome.

While the guys fished and Steve baited for Rich and assisted him, I walked around to enjoy the views.

I did spot Cormorants, but they were far way. I've never seen them before so it was fun to watch them fish. I did grab this shot of the Blue Heron that saw me. Mostly, I just walked around and enjoyed watching the guys fish.

The skies looked threatening but only gave us a light drizzle on and off.

Of course, I had to get my Lego folks out.

This is the ME minifig and Charlie....

You never know what to expect at the river!

Be Careful!

Steve is now used to my Lego Antics. When we got Rich to another spot, we really had to struggle to get him through some loose rocks.

This was a good spot and they had a lot of fun watching the turtles try to take the worms. 

Rich did catch a fish!

There was a lot of laughter for that.

Here was my Lego scenario for the trek through the loose rocks.

Life in Hospice can be interesting and bittersweet.

One knows that time is probably short. However it is also a time to shine with friends and family.

I don't know how to explain it. But this time has been more joyful. Pain is managed, and our main goal is comfort and doing things for the patient. Rich looks forward to the times Steve shows up and things happen.

Our Grand daughter Ariel will come for the holiday weekend and stay over. She wants to cook another supper for us and just hang out. 

I wonder what we may do next week? Rich was really tired out from this fishing trip and it took him a full day of naps to recover. However, he is looking forward to the next adventure.

Heat calls for....

 Creativity

Last night the temperature outside was 80 until it cooled off to 77.  The dewpoint was 75. 

Yeah...that makes for a wicked thick air and major discomfort. However, we have that wonderful little minisplit that cools the downstairs and keeps us cool.

The breezes outside are pretty strong and the heat will intensify this weekend. Enough so there are extreme heat warnings out for the next few days. Then? The storms and rain will move in for a few days.

Welcome Summer!

Update on my Respite Day and new decisions and schedule. I made the most of my time on Friday. I filled Shay in on the doings for the day. She offered to make stuff for supper while I was 'gadding' about.

I showed her a huge pail of fresh strawberries I'd picked for Olive. I hadn't had time to hull them and chop them up. I asked if she'd mind hulling them. She said she'd be happy to.

Then I asked her to take half of them home to enjoy with her son. Her eyebrows shot up and she smiled. Ding Ding! It is always pleasant to share isn't it? It cost me nothing but time to pick them and I was so happy to share.

Boring, but I went shopping for the items I needed for cold salads for this weekend and a couple of other things. I brought a cooler with ice packs so put perishables in. 
I met up with my CF girlfriends at the Viroqua Food Co-op for some coffee, conversations, and laughter. We caught up in each others' grand kids, and weekly doings. 

I can't think of a better way to spend some Respite time [in the heat!] We chatted about Julie's cancer trial and how she was feeling. We are there for each other. They updated me about goings on at the gym and the progress they were making. And of course what was going on in their own lives. 
We mostly discuss grandkids which is everyone's favorite topics.

So where does the Creativity fit in? Well, hot days may push me indoors for the afternoon.

So I need to do something.

Remember the Jason Christoble Candle Holder/Sculptures I got? Well, some were chipped and damaged. 

Yesterday afternoon I got the brilliant idea of 'fixing' them and modifying them. The chipped and broken ones wouldn't really be worth any money anyway. They are not in good condition.

I mixed up some acrylic hobby paint and touched up the places where someone had slapped some white clay on the sculpture. It looked nice, but I decided to go a bit further.

I added a micro resin butterfly to his nose and added some moss to his broken bits.

I think I may just give him a mossy 'do' and add a few more butterflies.  

This one had a frog that had broken off. I used some super glue to put it back together. However parts of the frog were missing and it just didn't look nice. 

Solution? Add moss around the froggy!

I also had a tiny bluebird that had come from Aurora in a gift she'd sent. It had fallen off the stick, so I thought this Entish tree would love more company. 

I painted over her chips and nicks and stopped there. I think my grand daughter would love this piece for her bookshelf of fantasy books. I'll have to send her a nice photo of this and see what she thinks.

I've collected some very odd roots and pieces of wood over the years and never knew what I'd like to do with them. 

Until now. This weekend seems like a good time to stay cool and create something interesting with the pieces of wood. Who knows? My Lego folks and dragons may really love them!

At least I have a plan for the hot weather. Suppers are made, house is clean and it feels like a day off in a way....

Let the creativity begin!

No Subject

I will admit that is has been a tough week with a few changes here and there. Mostly changes in my not so routine routines.

I fell asleep one night sitting up with hubby watching a Britbox program we both enjoyed called Death in Paradise.

As soon as I did go to bed, I was wide awake for most of the night. I tried reading, I tried writing in my paper journal [do people do that any more?]. Then I sat up on the bed and looked out the window.

The Fireflies were out but not in great number. I decided to go out and see if I could take a few shots of them.

 The Fireflies put on a show for me right away in the above shot I took in the driveway. Then they stopped. Maybe they were shy or maybe I scared them. Not really, but in order to see more, I would have had to walk up to the ridge or out to a pasture.

I didn't. Instead I sat down on the driveway and just watched what I could see of the stars and the Fireflies in the distance. I noticed the sky lit up from a distant thunderstorm. Eventually the sharp gravel irritated my bum so I got up and went back inside. By 2am, I actually fell asleep and the other half awakened me at 4am.

There are constantly things of beauty around me to keep me amazed. The peonies this year were exceptional. I had one huge bush that just produced and produced the most beautiful flowers. I simply couldn't get enough of them.

I picked buds and set them in glass bowls in the house to open up. The amazing thing is that they lasted nearly a week indoors.

There is a photographer on Flickr that shoots abstract shots of peonies, so I grabbed my Lensbaby and tried a few shots myself.

Not stellar, but it was a fun little experiment. I'm still trying to learn how to really do an amazing job of flower photos with the Lensbaby. I'm studying those photographers who do this professionally. I like a challenge and this lens is a challenge.

I'm sort of digging the abstract-iv-ness from the lens in a way.

Play.

I'd left some Legos out on the table last Friday when our friend Steve stopped by with his daughter, her hubby and their daughter. The daughter had a great time playing with the Legos on the table.

I miss my 'play' time and creative time where I can wander off with a backpack and some ideas. Or sort out my Princess Sara stuff and continue with her story...it is just itching to happen.

I started to create a little scene on the table last night after we had cereal for supper. [I was exhausted physically and mentally and wasn't hungry at all.]

Rich watched as I moved the minifigs around. He asked who was who...I do have a tenancy to give them names and create minifigs as people I know.

I pulled up a photo that I did last week and gave him my minfig rundown...

These are our helpers. To the left with the red headband is Shay, our Respite Gal. She looks different than the minifig, but her spirit IS very swashbuckling, so it fits that she is a female pirate.

Next is a visiting nurse. How surprising it is that out of 5 of the nurses we've seen, 4 have been male.

The wheelchair minifig is Rich. But I've changed his 'clothes' since I took that shot.

The guy with the fish is Steve. Why not? He really looks like Steve!

Next is the Chaplain and the Social worker we see. 

I posted this on IG and labeled it as our support team.

Rich watched me arrange and arrange the Legos on the table and finally said. 

You need more that time. [remember he has aphasia]

What?

You need more time to ... his hands flutter... You know... to do that and not be so busy.

He may have a lot of health issues, but he still is pretty perceptive. 

I grabbed my camera and Rich looked at what I'd created. 

I kept messing around with the figures until I had a small scene. I guess what I was doing was fidgeting. Fidgeting relieves stress and calms the mind.

Figuring out how to photograph something on the table just for fun was relaxing.

I came to a conclusion which was very hard for me. I love going to the gym and my gym friends. But I hate the scheduling as I can't seem to fill the times properly and I don't seem to get real 'respite' out of it.

I'm pausing the gym stuff for now.

So this morning when Shay gets here, I'll take Charlie and go for a morning walk before it is too hot. I'll adventure, I'll look for fungi, I'll take some minifigs with me. I'll breath the warm humid air and find myself and perhaps get smacked with some creative juices.

Then I'll go to town and get groceries and pick up meds. Boring but a necessity.

Wednesday is another Steve-Fishing-something-adventure day. So I have to organize Oxygen tanks, snacks, and whatnot.

I do feel a bit of guilt making me time. But I am realizing that if I don't ... well, they be picking me up for the Loonie Bin.

Fungi and Slime Molds...Yipee!

So much fungi, so little time!

 

For my fun with the Princess Sara Quest and journey, I have to figure out who the 'bad' guys are. I swapped a mummy head to this Witch's body from the D&D collection. I thought it would be fun to have her making a potion out of some rather wilted looking fungi.

This dude is a mix up of head, hair, and body. I just put it all together because it made this minifig look rather crazy. He is holding a fungi that grows on old oak logs called 'Deadman's Fingers'. 

I feel it is appropriate for Zombie type Minifigs.

I'd stuffed these guys in my pocket when I went out to check the fence the other morning. I couldn't help but stop and set up these little shots.

My fence inspection found a tree that fell on the fence in the valley so I have to get back and fix that sometime very soon. At the moment I have access to the valley shut off. The mules like to go there on hot days as it is a cooler area.

However, I hit the bonus of all cool things in the forest on my way back home.

Fungi and Slime Molds!

I'm not going to try and ID all of them for you. Just enjoy the shots. Of the ones I know, I will give the names. Otherwise researching these would take up more time away from the pressing chores that are waiting me outside today.

Unknown Fungi. 8 shot focus stack hand held done in camera. Olympus has computational photography which will do an auto focus stack in the proper settings. It will also combine those shots into a jpg. In the past I've used Helicon Focus for this. However, since I like to get the shot and not spend too much time working in a program, I trust my OM-5 to help me out. 

[Not all the shots are focus stacked. Some were just quick shots. I have to keep moving even though I wanted nothing better to do than just explore more.]

This was about an inch and a half tall. I had a little light that I used to light it up from the side.

Happy little fungi on a moss strewn log...
the witch was using some of the wilted ones in her potion....

Here is another favorite of mine. Coral Fungi. It has a scientific name. I've ID'd it before, but I love thinking of it as Land Coral.

This is a few days old so it is turning brown. But this log ought to provide for more beautiful formations this summer.

Mark that log!

Some of my ALL time favorite Slime Molds!
Chocolate Tube Slime. I laid the lighter on the log for perspective.

Isn't this little forming one cute?

and then there are its big brothers...

the first shot was taken in the morning. The second shot was taken in the early afternoon so they could have been drying out. This stuff is usually gone in about 24 to 48 hours. 

What a lucky find for me! I haven't seen slime mold for a while since we've had such dry years.

The log I found it on. They look like they are marching across the log.

Another favorite. Deadman's Fingers. They get creepier as they get a little larger. But pretty neat in my book.

And last but hopefully not the last I find this weekend. A pretty little gilled mushroom on a moss covered log.

I mean, who doesn't like cute fungi and slime molds???