Summer Daze and part of the weekend.

 Hot and mug-gley are the words for the weekend. Our friend did come. Jason has been a good guest and has enjoyed keeping Rich company with his stories and discussions.

Our upstairs doesn't have A/C so Jason made a DIY unit out of ice/cooler/rechargeable fan, and foam board. 
It works. It sort of looks like this and uses ice and a fan that can run on a battery or plug in if you prefer. 

What can I say? 
Ingenious.
His looks a bit different. He used foam for a lid and pulled or left the original lid open so he could still use it as a cooler.

I think he used a 10lb bag of ice and set things up.

I did get out and watch some more of those amazing fireflies. I was hoping the sky would clear off so I could also see the Milky Way again. No such luck.

Early Saturday morning while it was still cool, we went for a hike down the new logging trail next door and scoped out two spots Jason thought there should be more underground caves. 30 some years ago there was a 'hole' or entrance in one of the fields at the edge of the woods near a long dry run.

I was pretty sure that it had been filled in with a bulldozer by Mike around 29 years ago when the loggers had last visited and the landowner decided it was a hazard to his cattle.

The way out was a long and slow hike as Jason is still recovering from his surgery last month. He hasn't been able to get out and hike much due to some restrictions. I have photos from out adventure. Some in Infrared and some from my little red Oly TG6 [tough] camera. I keep forgetting what a great little camera it is for getting both landscape and macro shots.

Once again, under the forest canopy was the place to be. There was a very slight breeze and the ground under the trees was much cooler than that in the sunny field. Of course ... I found cool fungi. What else?

Coral Slime Mold and Coral Fungi...

The white 'coral slime mold' is as tall as the width of a nickel for size reference.

That is...small!

Jason has issues with heat and humidity doesn't help.

We took a short on the way back home and decided to take an old snowmobile trail. However. In June the trail is very narrow, the grasses and weeds are as tall as I am. 

AND...it was full of Parsnip that was flowering. Just this, the hiking challenge in the heat and humidity got a bit trickier.

After I dropped Jason off back at the house I went out for a while in the woods to have some serious quiet time. 
No conversations, no one else. Just me, the oppressive heat and old logs with amazing things growing from them and in other places ... interesting things growing up from the ground or wood chunks and roots under the dirt.

The fungi growing above is seeming to grow out of the dirt, but they could be growing out of roots or sticks. I don't know exactly what they are. They look like coral fungi, but when I look at the one below that is growing on a log, they look pretty different.

Another shot of some of the coolest and strangest looking fungi. Deadman's fingers. I found an old oak log that had been around for years. Deadman's Fungi was growing along each side of the log for the length of it. 

I've never seen that before. I couldn't get a shot of it without clearing most of the plants alongside each side of the log.

When I got back I changed into dry work clothes and started to mow the yard. I didn't finish, but finally quit and decided to cool off and eat supper.

When darkness fell, the guys went to bed and I laid down for a bit. At midnight I woke up and decided to visit with the fireflies.

The shot above was shooting east from the driveway into the neighbor's meadow. I just loved the designs the Fireflies made in the darkness. I sat on the driveway and just admired the night. The owls were busy talking and echoing through the forest.

The clouds had moved in so the stars were rather faint and I was disappointed that I could see the Milky Way.

I thought I'd try a shot up our driveway. It took two shots with two exposures and then blending them together to be able to see the driveway on the ground.

It's faint but one can see it. I did get some stars too to the south. Clouds were moving across the sky making for places that the stars were blotted out.
The result of a slightly over exposed shot and a regular LiveComp shot resulted in this shot below.
Not perfect or stellar. But I am working slowly at a way to do better.

Oddly enough, I wasn't tired and I was very relaxed while enjoying the night. It was just me, the snorting deer, in the forests, and the silent fireflies.
What more can one ask for.

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.

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???

Fungi, Slime Mold, and Bumble

Cool damp dew-y mornings are the best times to go look for neat insects. I know, it probably is not on your list of things to do bright and early in the morning.

But that is my 'quiet' time to myself so I go and enjoy the nice easy slow walk through the pasture weeds on the edge of the forest. The birds and a few deer are my company as I stop and peer closely at yarrow, ox eye daisy and other plants.

I was rather disappointed. But finding this bumble bee was pretty exciting. The bumble has heavy dew on it and if you can see the photo large, you might be able to find the Bee Mite on it!

So...that slime mold that looked like fish eggs? 

24 hours later...it looked like this....

The log it was found on...

The yellow slime mold went from this

to this in 24 hours

The third day it turned brown and white. No photo of that. 

Slime molds are very hard to ID. So any ID will be a best guess. I am going with common names as I think they are more fun.

The white stuff could be White Finger Slime mold. The pinkish blob should be Wolf's Milk.

The next shot is of the log I found it on.

Note to self: Tie a piece of orange twine above the 

log next time! Because...
I wasn't able to find it again.

Oh, it has to be easy to find this stuff right?
Here is my boot from the morning walk.
See the little white spots on the log?

These are those little white spots. 
I could not ID this at all!

[I suspect that they are in the family of
Tube Slime Molds]

Just for size comparison, here is a dime 

with the tiny little fungi/slime mold?

I figured I had struck gold in discovering these little things. I tied some twine to the tree next to the log so I can go back and see how it changes.

I slowly walked through the damp area and peered at logs and just when I gave up to go home and check on things I saw something that caught my eye.

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold 

getting ready to fruit!

On another log nearby I found immature 

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold!

As it matures, it changes color

How amazingly lucky I was

to find these in different stages

in the same area!

Fruited CTSM:

I had company coming, so reluctantly headed back towards the house. 

I was bummed in a way because I'd read that these little slime molds change rather quickly and if I couldn't get back before too long, they may fruit and disappear.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered more 

Deadman's Fingers

They are so alien looking that I just had to add this Lego Alien to the photo. I've found this fungi several times this year and I wonder why I've never spotted it before?

Can you guess what I'll be doing today?