Meanwhile...

It is August and that means the daylight each day changes quickly. 

August through November are the three months of the year where I can't seem to sit still. The weather is changing, the hours of daylight are changing.

I begin to chase the changes in the forest like I do with early spring. 

As the heavy growth of gooseberry bushes begin to drop leaves and other plants in the undergrowth begin to drop seeds and wilt, I find moving through parts of the forest easier.

This morning I got a fog notice on the weather app. I knew it would be foggy in the valleys because it cooled off so much overnight. I hoped the fog would drift up through the forest.

Off I went as soon as the sun began to peek through the trees. It was humid but not really foggy.

Our busy road:

On the way back home I took a different way and...

.... found some Indian Pipes 
aka Ghost Plants or the Scientific name:
Monotropa Uniflora .

I think these are some of the coolest plants that can be found in a forest.

Boy was I pleased to see that the high humidity, even though the fog dissipated quickly. It provided a beautiful morning atmosphere.

My favorite maple tree in the woods northeast of us.

The sights were pretty amazing as was the light.

I also stopped and took an opportunity to do something that has been on my mind since I got those little dragons.

An idea came to mind when I was looking at my collection of rocks. My son gave me a really cool rock years ago.  To me it looked liked a petrified egg.

I'm pretty sure ... well, this has to be...

I mean...

what else could it be...

but 

a Dragon Egg?

However....

I think someone else must be interested in it!

I spotted two Rock Monsters!

Glaciator and Sulfrix to be exact! 

Oh No!

Silly me. How I do love to play.

I think I should keep an eye out for Princess Sara and her Knight to see if they will come to the rescue in the Big Wild Forest.

😉

A surprise and a hike

For 25 years, Canada Geese have been visiting this little spot of land above the water. This year, I noted what I thought was a big brown rock.

It wasn't!

It was a Sandhill Crane!

So each time I drive to town I take a different way to see what is going on at the pond.

At 7:30, the Cranes and the eggs looked like this:

There were two of them there...

at 9:30 I went by and...

both Cranes just hanging out.

Oh and the turtles I didn't know existed in this tiny pond were sunbathing:

It was a fantastic and gorgeous afternoon so I cut down some weeds. Then...

I decided to take some time and go on a hike at KVR on the Wintergreen Trail. It had been a long time since I'd done a spring hike there. I wanted to see if I could find Trillium before they disappeared.

My hiking partner:

He would rather be moving and he totally ignored me asking him to look at me. I even tried the COOKIE trick and he was more interested in what was happening in the woods below us.

All parts of the trail are my favorite. Though this view seems to be one I can never resist taking a shot of .

The haze from the Canadian Fires gave it an interesting light and atmosphere.

I took my time and searched for the Trillium. I wanted to see it in a slightly shaded area so the sun wouldn't blow out the white petals.

I took photos of plants that I have never identified before so I could figure out what they were.

This is the Canada Mayflower. It has a scientific name, but I like this common name. I have them in our woodland too. In a few days they should shoot up tiny tiny white flowers. I think I called them wild lilies at some point in the past.

They grew all over this bluff through the detritus of the pine needles.

Below is the Rock Cap Fern. Oddly enough, it is considered an evergreen which makes sense because it is green through the winter. These grow in the pine forest and all over the shaded rock bluff.

I'll make this short. I found so many beautiful things to stop and look at. I spent an two hours just slowly walking through the woods. Most folks don't walk to the very end of this trail, but turn around at the bluff that over looks the river.

I like to find what is hidden in the woods.

And after passing up many Trillium, I did find one that was absolutely perfect.

I found many more incredible plants and flowers, but I'll save them for another day.

Not sure

I had to spend the day inside and had done the 'house chores'. There was rain and sleet and icing going on outside.

I had so many things to do. Like stick around where I could get a call back from the VA. I dusted. How does so much dust accumulate on so few surfaces? It is a mystery. Dog hair. I got that too. Charlie is tiny but he is a mighty shedder. During the winter months we get a short break, I think he is hanging onto that fur coat so he can stay warm while snow swimming.

So I decided to try some Still Life Stuff. Truth be told, some of it was fun to set up but it didn't exactly make me go OHHHH or AHHH!

Eggxactly. 

Tiny Soldiers and Eggs

Totally Boring.

A flat presentation

of my new baby dragon

One interesting note. You don't need much to do a homemade still life.

I eventually said to heck with it. Though my words may have been stronger. Nothing was that interesting. 

I ascended into the Magical Room of Creations. Otherwise really known as the spare bedroom in which I toss crap and leave it laying about. Toys and totes are scattered all over the place. I clean it up once in a while but it is easier just to close the door and forget about it.

See?

I'd watched a video about being bored with outside photography and how to have some fun indoors and experiment with simple things like a desk lamp.

So I set up two crates and a board. I used a plastic tote lid to tape textured paper to and lit it up from behind. 

Glasses with water and 

drops of food coloring

Kind of cool. I had fun with it. Until I got bored. 
Then it became toy time.

Utter Failure of Dragons 

Backlit and out of focus

I had tried using a flashlight to 'creatively' light them up. Nah. Pfft. 

So I put some dinosaurs on the board. I draped the board and the backround with black felt. I took the desk light and laid it on the floor in front of the Dinos. Pretty gnarly!

Dinosaurs

Dragons

Well, that was cool. I like black backrounds. I can then literally create another world with photoshop brushes.

So last but not least, I took one of the 'Fairy' Houses I made last year and some shredded brown paper and did this.

The dragons are quite detailed. And I love their colors. By this time I'd had enough of messing around and left the spare room an absolute mess. I did get the call back from the VA on my cell phone. 

If I'd gone hiking into the creek I wouldn't have gotten a call. The valley is a dead zone.

So, hours wasted? I don't know. Probably not. I think I learned something and can set things up again on the next dreary rainy/sleety/nasty day.

Onwards.

While it is icky outside

It's been a while since I did random art.

I guess I was in the mood again....

Created with JWildfire, layers, png's that I picked up of the unicorn, grass, flames, water, and stormy stuff.
I tossed it all together into a composite form and ended up with a 'Unicorn's Nightmare'.

More fun with fractals and some brushes.
Nothing is as it Seems.

Let Sleeping Dragons ...Lie

After my husband's eye appointment we ate lunch and headed home before the fog totally socked us in.

And sock us in did! Whew!

The Day After Thanksgiving

And all through the house...

Oh wait that is something else, that Christmas poem, The Night Before Christmas.

Okay um, wait,...it was the day after Thanksgiving. Smacks forehead and reaches for a cup of coffee. Whoops, tea this time of night!
~~~~~~~~~~

The day after Thanksgiving, chores had to be done just like we do all of the time.

Round bales were put out by hubby and I manned the gates.

Our neighbors are gone for a family get together so I said I'd happily do their chores also.

The goats were so happy to see me.

These are the Nigerian Dwarf goats. Oh I can't recall their names but they are charming anyway.
All four goats greet me with calls of "ma...aaaamaaaa" as I come in to give them grain and let them out to their pasture.

I can remember one goat's name. Sedona. She used to wear a blue collar. Now I can't recall which one she is.

No matter, they were all pleased.

Our weather has been very mild again which feels quite odd. Normally by now we've had at least one or two significant snows.

Next were the chickens. 

I spread some feed out for them in the driveway. There sure was a lot of clucking going on. I checked the nesting boxes and they were full of hens doing their thing.

I thought I'd walk Dexter and see if I could collect eggs after we were done.
Dexter is a pug mix of something. He was pretty lonely the first day his family was gone. But by last night he was sure happy to go for a stroll and enjoy some attention.

This morning we took a fairly nice walk on the road. It is still hunting season and blaze orange is the hip thing to wear.

So, I guess Dexter is pretty hip.

For the past two days my husband and his daughter have been processing two deer that my husband 'harvested' for this season. I suppose there are those who dislike the deer hunt but I will welcome venison in my freezer instead of venison on my car hood any day.

Two deer meant that both households could have a freezer full of meat for the winter. I'd say it was worth it.

After The Dexter Dog Walk, I checked on the cats and checked to make sure everything was okay in the house. 

Well. 
The hens were done doing their thing and I collected a dozen eggs. I'd made scrambled eggs yesterday for the kids and thought I'd make scrambled omelettes today for Rich and I.

Jeeze, I know that omelettes aren't supposed to be scrambled, but that is the easiest way of cooking eggs. What can I say?

I worked on cleaning up the house. Angel the Beagle had visited with Morris for two days too. Morris is sort of okay with Angel. But he is sure that the grand kids belong to him and not to Angel.

Our day was rather dreary and Rich was rather tired after spending two days on his feet. He went for a nice long nap and I took my camera and went to the Dexter Cattle's summer pasture.

You never know how crazy a person can get when they are stuck in the house for an entire 'gun season'. 

So I thought I'd have a bit of fun.
Who thought 'selfie' would be this?

This weekend I may get out the Christmas Chair and work on it.

Or, who knows?