Stuck indoors

If anyone at all was following the Midwest weather, then they know about the string of subzero weather we had.

It was kind of nasty but not the worst string of cold we've had. It is no secret that I like winter and enjoy snow sports.

Getting stuck inside for days on end except for chores makes me stir crazy. 

While hubby took his morning nap, I checked on my outdoor critters then decided to do a bit of Fun Fotography. 

My camera assistant helped of course.

Charlie carefully rearranged my herd of unicorns.

So happy that he got them rounded up!

I got out the woodsy guys and placed them on the floor. The light could have been better, but I'm still working on that. 

The hard part was bouncing the dim light from the windows onto the characters I was using and keeping the black foam board in back black.

When the boss woke up, he immediately tuned into ESPN, YouTube, and Showtime for boxing and sports at volume  ~~ VERY LOUD. I guess all the excitement of wearing hearing aides have worn off as they sit on the table gathering dust again.

There is nothing in the world that drives me more crazy than screaming fans and commentators that yell.

My cell phone was charged up so I grabbed my cheapo ear buds and plugged them in. Pandora, take me away!

Thunder from Imagine Dragons was the first thing I heard. 
Music seems to inspire and make me move and -- sometimes do a bit of a dance. It cheers me up and gets me motivated.

I danced in my own head and swayed to the music. One good tune after another. Charlie looked at me and closed his eyes. 

Thank goodness for music and ear buds!

This is what things look like for taking some fun still life stuff. No fancy studio. Just some black felt or white boards on top of the old trunk next to the back door.

Let there be Lego People and Monsters!

Tea time anyone?

Feed the monsters and they will be happy!

Crazy about Fungi

 

I cannot recall ever finding these wild fungi before. They are growing in 'gregarious' groups and solo on this ancient dying box elder tree in the Buckthorn forest.

Though we know that box elders never really die, they just send out new shoots.

I couldn't help myself since I seem to always have a little something extra in my pockets.

I believe the proper scientific name for these are: leucopholiota decorosa. I have not found a common name for them yet.

Here is a look at what a slightly older bunch looks like:

I am so fascinated by them that I keep going back to look at them. Thank goodness, they are a short walk from the house.

A bit further down the hill I found this unidentified fungi. Looks like a Slug Love Fest going on...

I found an Artist Conk also known as a shelf polypore.

Each year I bring one home and do this:

I'm not very good at drawing with sticks. I let it dry and then bring it indoors for my fall display on a little table. It feels nice and woodsy. I know, I'm a bit odd. 

Oh! And on my way back from the woods I found very fresh Chicken of the Woods. So I picked just a little and cooked it up for us to taste. 

We lived. I may pick some more and cook them up to go with our burgers tonight. 

I couldn't resist this one either. For a long time I wanted to try this with a tiny figure and even tinier tea cup.

This is my 'creative' play. It was so hard to place that cup in a saucer and balance it on that tiny fungi. It was fun trying to find a perfect spot for the little squirrel too. I must have tried about 10 angles and different spots to shoot from.

With this tiny tea set, I got tiny plates and silverware. I have to place the silverware with tweezers because my fumbly fingers won't work with such tiny items.

The 'table' is a piece of pine bark. I just made those 'shrooms out of Magic Model clay stuff. Behind them are the twigs that are now painted and have funky moss glued to them.

Rich walks by my little thing and shakes his head then pats me on the head.

More on that at another time.

In the meantime...enjoy fall and enjoy looking at the forest floor as well as the fall foliage.

Happy Hunting....

Teddy Tea Party and Infrared Fun

Hmmm. I was going to start this particular entry with something on the lines of Deep Thoughts. Nah. 

I'm just going to have some fun here. I had a notion that it would be fun to go out on the cropland with Charlie and have a Tea Party with my Creek Teddy Bears. I grabbed Percy and Chance. I've had those two since 2018 and the Big Floods. I did find Percy 1/4 of a mile downstream in one of the first floods.

August 2018
After I found Percy...

Now my Teddies stay on the porch unless I am going to take them out for Tea or some other playtime. Looking for them after the flood was pretty distressing. I mean come on, I felt responsible for them!

These two even got names. Percy and Chance. Perseverance and Second Chance.
Dumb, I know, but I thought they earned it after surviving that flood and being found again.

Chance...scrunched into a pile of debris further down the valley.

August 2018

I have another Bear. He is larger than the other two. I really love his fur. This bear looks so lonely all of the time. Not sure what name to give him.

There, I got sidetracked again. 

There is an area in the cropland that is an 'island of box elder trees'. The neighbor kids call it The Tunnel. I wanted to take the Teddies there. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and I just need to try it out.

I grabbed my Tough TG6 camera and the little Infrared Camera. Why not? I had a satchel of Teddy Bears and tea cups. I really didn't want to carry much more.

Heading up the neighbor's driveway to get out to the cropland.
Infrared with Charlie in the road.

I couldn't resist trying the Infrared camera. I used the 665nm filter. IR works better when there are leaves on the trees. But I find colors still interesting with a channel swap in the winter. The oak leaves and some of the branches still reflect enough light to make things interesting. 

Below, original shot before

channel swapping

with my shadow.

One of the things that IR does produce in the winter months is stunning black and white shots. The light refraction is pretty cool.

The Tunnel

We haven't had new snow in over a week now, so the deer and other creatures have left the snowy fields full of tracks.

Oh what do I see? 

Bears in a Tree!

And yes, we do actually have a real bear or two around the area as well as many other forms of wildlife.

But these Bears aren't so Wild.

They like having Tea in the oddest of places.

This lonely Teddy was waiting for someone to show up. 

All alone in the field.

I think I'll bring Chamomile Tea in a thermos next time and sit with him.