Rain, Morels, Yard and Whatnot

On Monday I went hiking at Duck Egg with the intent of searching for Morel Mushrooms.

Instead, I found some amazing bluebell fields.

I also found False Morels.

Lots of them! All over the place!

They are pretty interesting and sort of wickedly cool.

 

They are different from Morels in that they are solid through and through and not hollow like a Morel is.

Hiking in Duck Egg is a crazy sort of adventure ... that is, if you can make sense of the signs:

The signs are getting better than what they used to be though:

The trails basically circle around the dam which protects areas from flooding. The altitude changes from the ridge to the valley are about 300 feet. Trails zig and zag up and down steep hillsides. The horse trails are really quite wonderful and will make the equine work hard. Hubby and I used to ride Duck Egg quite a bit.

I did find 3 Morels the next day in our woods.

They hide! Actually, because of the garlic mustard 'invasion' they are getting pretty hard to find:

With all the rain and the warmth, the plants are growing with great gusto and soon it will be very hard to find the delicious fungi.

The last few years were too dry or too hot for good Morels to appear. The conditions have to be just so and their are quite a few other factors and conditions that have to be met for them to flourish too.

I do like Morels, but I won't dedicate my days to hunting for them as I have so many other duties to attend to.

I went out to the Meadow to look under the old apple trees for Morels and I found a broken Turkey Egg. So they are nesting right now. 
 

I stopped by the Hawthorne Trees to see how they were doing. They are flowering now. One of the trees still has reddish leaves with buds, but I found this one in full bloom. Note the thorn! 

I still think these are amazingly beautiful trees.

Duty keeps calling in the form of mowing the yard. Hubby has an old zero turn mower that has a deck that has to be flipped in order to clean it properly.

We did get it flipped and it is always a total B--tch to get it flipped and back together properly. With his lack of ability for doing any heavy work, it is proving to be near impossible to get it done. I've cleaned it and now it has been sitting for 3 days not ... quite put back together.

I have a little self propelled mower and have been doing piece by piece mowing when I can between rains and foggy mornings. 

I have a notion to just run a temporary fence over certain sections of the yard and let the equine do the work at least for this growth period.

I did that in the 'lane' which is a hilly grassy lane between two pastures. The gals picked it pretty clean and then I mowed what was left. I have hoof impressions in the lane but the grass is no longer knee high.

...Hey...it has been done before!

Photos from many years ago.  2006 and 2008. I think hubby was in the hospital at these times and I couldn't keep up with mowing because I worked full time and drove to Madison to see hubby on my days off.

However...I learned not to hang laundry out when they were in the yard...

The yard never was worse for wear and they did a good job.

A large perfectly mowed yard is very underrated. I guess I shouldn't complain though, last year we mowed the yard 4 times all summer.

The rain and frustration are welcome.

Mayapples

 

Down in the shady woodland
Where the fern fronds are uncurled,
A host of green umbrellas
Are swiftly now unfurled.
Do they shelter fairy people
From sudden pelting showers
Or are the leaves but sunshades
To shield the waxen flowers?

"Mandrakes" by Minnie Curtis Wait

I thought this was a good poem for today....

Sunday~~ day of rest???

 👇

Well, sort of. I promised myself not to do too much work. Well, that didn't happen.

Saturday I found pie at the Farmer's Market and purchased some fresh greens to eat. I decided to head out to a place where there is a Mennonite Store in Coon Valley. [Yes, that is a real name. Coon Creek runs through Coon Valley]

Years ago I got a couple of Hens 'n Chicks from a friend. I have been finding different ways to use them as they multiplied.
Since I am not a huge fan of pies ~~ baking, that is, but had many pie tins given to me in the hopes of making me a 'baker'....... 

I began to make Hen 'n Chick pies. I have added other little plants. Dragon's Blood Stone Crop and a yellow type of stone crop someone gave me. I add some soil, some rocks, and make a Succulent Pies.

I used a plastic dog dish one year and any other odd little containers I can find. Eventually, I ended up with multiple little pies and containers of cute little succulents.

This year I thought I'd try a little rock garden.

I purchased some little plants. I used Google Lens to try and ID this but really didn't get a good answer. The table I purchased this from just said: Succulents.
I liked its color so I went with it.

The next two are mysteries to me also. But I like them for their textures and shapes. So I put them in the one spot of the porch that is very sunny and warm during the summer.

It is also the place where I like to have my fossil rocks displayed. 

I don't know if these 3 plants will overwinter in my zone and come back, but I know that the other little succulents will.

I don't know if you can see the little dog planter I found -- in the photo below.. It was just too adorable to pass up. I worked on this part of the porch while the grass was still so wet from our heavy dew and foggy sunrise.

I still need to add some mulch to the area to tidy it up and make it look nicer...

and I need to tidy up the porch next to the bench so I can take the rocking chair out there and a little table for coffee.

This is the same spot last year at this time....how things change!
I did plant nasturtiums in this area last year.

The Ajuga I have on the other half of the porch has gone crazy. One year I lost so many plants and this past year, despite the drought, the Ajuga...or Bugle Weed has come back strong. It has presented us with an amazing carpet of purple.

Next year, I may have to dig some out and share the plants with others or find a good spot that they would like. This year, I will enjoy them. They make a good border for around that side of the porch. [And the bees are really loving them!]

I had to mow the hill on the highest setting on our self propelled mower and it still plugged up. I just mowed it last Monday. 

Insane! 

The setting says it is mowing at 7 inches. I nearly gave up and thought about fencing the area off for the mules to chomp on. However, I am very grateful for the rains compared to the last two years of very dry and dusty springs.

In fact, the rain and warm weather have been providing the forest with a huge Flush of Morel Mushrooms. My neighbor found 5 lbs yesterday in a spot where we have searched before and found nothing!

I turned the dirt over in my 4 little flower gardens and then weeded until my fingers wouldn't work any more.

I wanted so badly to start planting seeds but thought it was a bit too early.

My wildflower 'beds' are ready for planting along with the area next to the house that I plant zinnias and 4 o'clocks. 

Our foggy morning seen through my infrared camera.

Sleepy mules:

Box Elder tree and fog:

Enjoy your Monday.

Change of Attitudes and Thoughts

 

Tweet Tweet -- how we change over the years!

Years ago when Rich and I first lived in our cottage he said feeding the birds was such a waste of money and of course I agreed as we had a very tight budget. Bird feeders felt like a luxury as well as any seed.

Back then having dogs in the house was also a no-no. Pets did not live in the house. Farm dogs lived outside. If a dog came in the house it was confined to one room. 

Fast forward 25 years.
Rich invites Charlie to take naps with him in bed. Charlie has his own chair and 'owns' the love seat couch. 

The birds have a feeder and if I don't feed them, Rich reminds me that he can't see all the birds that visit our yard.

This was some fun on the first day the Orioles showed up. 27 seconds long.

On that first day, the Orioles were maddening! They really went nuts over the feeder. I may add a second feeder just to try and keep the peace.

I love that the birds land close by in the pine tree where we can see them from our table. It means hubby can sit and have coffee or just sit in a chair and watch the birds.

I get a running monologue of who is visiting our feeders and yard.

I get ---- Bluebird! Blue Jay! Cow Bird! Downy Woodpecker! Sometimes he gets so tongue tied he just says a partial word and points. Goldfinch! ... the list goes on and on as long as the birds are feeding.

When the Grosbeaks showed up we both got excited since we don't see them that often.

This year the Purple Finches [????] seem happy to stick around. So far.

The first hummingbird showed up on the 3rd of May which feels like it might be a bit early. However, we did have the feeder set out and we do see one returning often during the day.

When it gets nice enough for hubby to sit on the porch, he watches me work on our little garden around the porch and delights in more birdwatching. If there is a bird he can't identify, he has me get the bird book and look it up with him.

I could get the Merlin Bird app, but I could also just enjoy sitting with Rich and  the both of us page through the book together.

How things have changed.

A little pal dog and a fascination with birds.

Whispers of Love ~~~

A Botanical Symphony that fills the forest with harmony~~~~

I took advantage of hubby sleeping in late on Wednesday and went for a morning forest jaunt. I was just amazed by the colors and the light.

Maple trees in morning light:

Gooseberry bushes blooming:

Apple Trees doing their beautiful thing:

Mayapples or as we called them May Poles:

Tulips in the yard:

Stunning Trillium on Hay Valley Trail:

Bellwort on Hay Valley Trail:

Truly, I cannot get enough photos of these Virginia Pinks before they disappear!
In the pine forest at Hay Valley Trail:

There were hundreds of Trout Lilies plants, but I only found one that was blossoming!

Hay Valley Trail:

[Other things that are going on at our farm? Not much. 

I built another two summer lots for both the little stud pony and the mules so I can do a bit less mowing. I spent all morning working on fencing and then took the afternoon to work on cleaning up the little flower gardens.

I brushed all the critters with a shedding blade until my arms fell off.]

It is the weekend now so I may take a day just to chill out!

Neat Ferns

Behold! 
The Cinnamon Fern!

I get excited when I see these guys as they are large and really stand out in the spring. So far in the past 28 years I've only found 3 places on our land where they come up. They like to grow near a wet area. Last year was so dry that I don't recall them coming up near our creek bottom. Or I missed this plant?

I just love how a fern comes up in a tight curl.
 

Close up of the same fern curl as above.
I've heard of people who look for these in the forest and collect the not so hairy curls to eat. They call them Fiddleheads.

I have not tried it as I'm still in the learning stage about fern plants. Plus there are not enough of these in my forest to harvest and eat.

Close up of the leaves inside the curling head of the fern. Ferns fascinate me as they have such symmetry to their leaves!

More Cinnamon Ferns found at
Duck Egg County Park
on 4 24

I found these on a south facing hillside
high above the water
but in a moist area.

The brown 'stuff' is supposed to 
be spores according to 
information on these ferns.

Another fern that I am very familiar with is the Maidenhair Fern. They are my favorite fern in the forest.

This group emerging from the forest floor 
looks like they are literally

dancing.

Maidenhair Fern, come up red
and turn green.
They spread out like a beautiful spiral
after they mature.

A mature Maidenhair Fern:

There are other ferns, but I don't know enough about them 

--> Yet <-- 

to put a name to them. But I do enjoy finding their beautiful curls in the spring and admire them through out the year.

Even in winter they add a bit of interest to the forest
Photo from the winter of 2011:

Chores are done! Yard is mowed!
And it look like I can go out again today and explore.

Who knows what we will find?

Ephemeral

 Ephemeral: Lasting for a short time; short lived.

Dutchman's Breeches:

April 24th 

Duck Egg County Park

Rue Anemone 

April 24th 

Duck Egg County Park

Rue Anemone

April 20th 

Our woods

Spring Beauties

April 25th

Our woods

[Sorry, I just can't get enough of

these wild flowers!]

Spring Beauties

Our woods along the trail

April 27th

Blood Root

April 24th

Duck Egg County Park

Trout Lily

Tainter Hollow DNR Land

April 27

Meanwhile in the tree department.

I think the oaks are ahead of themselves this year. They usually are after the maple trees. I was going to go out and take a peak at the oaks and the maples along with some bushes this morning, but it looks like we'll have a long rainy day instead.