October ...

Say goodbye to October.

The colors were incredible, the weather was quite beautiful but awfully dry. It was really a month to celebrate fall.

My camera was busy.

I hiked around our farm and sought out trails.

I enjoyed the beauty of golds, reds, and the colors of October skies. 

I watched wild life while leaning up against an ancient old oak. 

I listened to the birds chatter as they migrated through, stopping to rest in the yard and meadows.

I chuckled at the squirrels who scolded me from the Hickory trees.

I often sat quietly on the porch or a log in the woods, just to live in the moment.

and now we move on to the next chapter....

November....

Thursday specials...

What a sunrise!

Or should I say...Wow, what a non sunrise!

In fact, there was absolutely no sun orb in the sky at the time of sunrise. My weather app said haze, poor air quality, and some fog.

This is what I saw:

[Taken with my Olympus camera]

However, all was not lost:

An hour later the sun shone through briefly in an odd color:

I went back to the ridge to check the mail and saw this after sunrise. It looks like some scene out of a Science Fiction Movie doesn't it?

This field was corn last year and it should be rotated to soybeans, but I'm not sure. It was sprayed and planted, but it doesn't look too great. The fog/haze finally got some orangish color to it.

The air quality lifted somewhat so I went out and worked at the forest 'pasture'. The forest is deceiving in that there actually is a lot for the mules to graze on. This section is not used in the fall and winter. It is too far out for me to check on everyone easily.

All summer I take a daily walk to check the fencing. The deer don't seem to knock things off the insulators much during the summer.

Mule/Deer trail:

Oyster Mushrooms near the creek in a dry run which has moist air flowing through it. The red arrows point to the delicious fungi.

The girls moving about in the summer meadow after they'd explored the steep woods.

Unless we get some good rain, our black berries in the woods won't be very plentiful.

I am happy to report that A. Corn finally met Fern. 

A. Corn was a bit shy, so he ... well... did this --->

Fern pulled a wild strawberry out of her shoulder bag and ... well... it was a nice date.

I think they will be a pretty happy couple. Neither one of them look lonely any more.

The Big Adventure

I generally take some things with me wherever I go. This trip was no different.

I put the small Mickey Mouse Lego Car in my stuff along with a few of my favorite Lego Females.

I imagined a road trip. I imagined some different scenes in my head and let the ideas percolate. 

While I was setting up a shot on my son's boardwalk, Twila came bounding through and jumped over me. I was crouched on the walk with camera in hand. I hit the shutter as she ran by and leaped.

I thought, "Well crap, that shot is ruined now isn't it?" I figured I'd get another chance later on to do another or different shot.

However when going through the photos once more on my laptop, I decided that this shot was a keeper for sure. I imagine a story line something like this...

Driving can be dangerous!
Hobby and the gang decide to take Mickey's car and drive to a Big Lake where they heard there was cooler weather. Cooler weather and lots of water? This they had to see!

They encountered some wildlife. Due to Hobby's excellent driving and evasive maneuvers, all was well...

Mirth asked for a rest stop so she could stretch her legs and inspect the area they were travelling through.

Hobby decided that the huge exotic flowers were a must to add to her album of wild plants. While taking photos, an elfin gal came out of the brush.

Hobby was stunned. The elfin gal introduced herself as Fern. Fern had a sad story of being the only wood elf in these Kenosha woodlands. She was so lonely.

Did Hobby know of any other wood elves?

Hobby said she knew of one other wood elf just like her and maybe she'd like to meet him? However the wood elf was back home hours away.

Fern said she like to meet this wood elf could she meet up with them later the forest that humans called Peoria Park? After a short hike, she could take them to the Big Lake called Michigan.

They meet up at the Big Mushroom in the Park.

Fern takes them for a short hike.

She explains that they are in her forest, people and dogs also like to visit to enjoy nature. The people aren't dangerous and sometimes the dogs just knock her over. But Fern felt quite lonely being the only little person in the whole forest.

Fern takes the gals to see Lake Michigan.

And they are all in awe.

None of the humans even notice all the little people, it seems they were interested in other things like bird watching and a kit flying festival.

Hobby and the gang were fascinated, they'd never seen so many people and the the lake was incredible. So much larger than their creek back at home.

Fern then said that sometimes the human people actually built homes for little people like them.

No Way!

Fern decided to show them one of the homes that had been abandoned by other little people when they left the forest. Human children must have built it and then left it out in the woodlands Fern tells the others.

Hobby asked Fern if she'd like to come and visit their forest and meet Acorn the other wood elf that lived not far from them.

Fern agreed and...

well,

we'll just have to see what happens next.

Ahhhh.

One just cannot have too many Lego People.

:)

Finding Things

...In nature....

In the shot below there is an aphid on the stem just below the bee. Not sure it you can see it unless you click on the photo and it appears larger.

Possibly a Long Horned Bee

This is a Tussock Caterpillar on a

Milkweed leaf.

They look rather fearsome.

But they are also 

referred to as a Wooly

Bear Caterpillar.

This is what we call a ground nut plant. 

Leaves of three, but not to leave it be!

American Hog Nut Plant.

It blossoms in August.

Apparently you can actually eat the seeds from the pod once they are dried out. I'm not sure I'd collect them all, but it might be interesting just to take a few this year to see how tiny they are!

Maidenhair Fern branch. This is one of my favorite ferns,
the shape of the plant is rather beautiful and distinct. 

They are starting to fade now and die off.  The photo below is from a few years ago.

Bracken Fern.

Boy that is not a fancy name for how pretty this 

fern is as it readies itself for fall. I love the colors.

Mystery fungi or

Slime Mold?

It is considered Dog

Sick Slime Mold

or Dog Vomit Slime

Mold.

Or a scientific name:

Mucilago crustacea

No name for this one. 

I just thought it was 

beautiful.

It caught my eye and I literally had to get down to get a look at it. That is a blade of grass behind it. It was still damp from the fog and morning dew.

This is perhaps a Lycoperdon perlatum.

Fun preferred names are Wolf Fart, 

Devil's Snuff Box, 

and gem studded puff ball.

I do enjoy finding the wee things in the forest and pasture and then trying to figure out what they are is a delight also.
Sort of like a Treasure Hunt.

I'll be out again tonight watching the stars. The Perseids were kind of cool and I had fun sitting out with a large mug of coffee watching the stars.

More treasures coming. I didn't want to bore anyone with Treasure overload.

Shots taken with my pocket camera and my Oly and 30mm macro lens.