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.

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.

Just for fun instead

Enough of all that talk of doctors, medications, and whatnot. For right now, I'm putting it out of my mind and will focus on some fun things.

How about the twins I watched the other morning? We stood and watched each other for about 8 minutes. They obviously couldn't smell me or we have seen each other often enough that they are not wary of me.

I could be all wrong, but I think these possibly could be the very same twins I've seen off and on for two years. That said? They could be different. I'm just hoping and wishing they are.

Here is Sven our goat working on trimming around an old tractor tire that hubby insists stay where it is at. I have a notion to roll it somewhere and make it into a garden. It sure would keep hubby from mowing over it!
Sven take the dandelion blossoms first and then works on the weeds, and lastly trims the grass about 3 inches tall almost perfectly!

I have the place where I dug out the BS to clean up. It should be cleaned up with the skid steer, but I thought I could build a pen for Sven to eat all the nice grass and all strip the nettles. I wonder if one day I can dig that pile[s] up and put all that good dirt somewhere. [Gosh, thinking outload with my fingers on the keyboard!]

The pallet garden! 
I found a Lego storm trooper checking on my succulents. The 'car' he is in is an old brass ash tray! Another treasure found!
The planter is no planter, but an old pie tin I found buried in a junk pile in the woods.

When I watered the tomatoes before it rained....I found a shady character tending to the plant!

Seems I have a lot of helpers with the different tomato plants I have!

And for some more fun.

Hobby and Squatch continue to search for relatives in the woodlands and forests.

Hobby: I still think there is one out here! Haven't you heard of a Big Foot sighting?
Squatch: No.

Big Foot gathering mushrooms ~ no wonder he is so hard to spot!

Squatch went out to the rocks to take a shower after the recent rains.

Then he went looking for oyster mushrooms...

That's it! In spite of the things we face in the world, having a positive attitude can certainly help.

I'll just keep finding things that cause me small joys.
Small joys can add up to large Joys.

Fungi Fun Guy!

Well I think these are Boletes that look like they have seen better days. 

I found these not far from an old tall oak in our forest that has a racoon den in its top.

Remember the ones I said were Wolf Farts? These are the same ones a few days later.

So I think some fungi are only beautiful when they are just coming out of the ground. 

I thought I'd found Turkey Fan Fungi. But no I didn't!

The Scientific name I believe is: Daedaleopsis confragosa. 
Try to say that a few times quickly. I can't.

I prefer a common name like Blushing Bracket [if it turns red], another name is Thin mazed flat polypore. 

That doesn't sound very memorable either.

I'm just going to call it .. the Fake Turkey Fan Fungi.

The Turkey Fan Fungi.

Scientific name: Trametes versicolor

I found this about 200 feet from the other one. Last year, this log had a different kind of fungi on it and at the base of the tree where half the tree is sort of alive.

I found white jelly fungi all over one section of our woods. Some of the pieces were rather large and looked like the common jelly fungi of Witch's Butter but pure white.

I like the common name which is easy to remember.

Snow Fungus.

Scientific name: Tremella fuciformis

Apparently this is 'good' stuff which has anti-inflammatory properties. Um. Still not sure I'd go with eating this. You can purchase different forms of this fungi to eat, to take as a pill, or to use on your skin.

I know there is so much we don't know about what is growing around us.

Then I found this which was aged and old. Curious that I first thought someone had left some material in the woods.

I have no clue what it might be. Obviously it grew a long time ago and turned black.

Fungi/mushrooms are very short lived. The following is some sort of Japanese Umbrella fungi, I think. I found it at 8 am when I headed out to check the fences.

I returned to look at it after I'd done chores and picked sweet corn.
In two hours, it looked like this....

These fungi/molds/mushrooms are constantly changing.

I consider myself extremely lucky to find them as they Pupawee. That is a Potowatami word for Emerge or Passage. 

Here are some more slightly ugly looking fungi, but I found them quite beautiful in the way they were grouped and in all different stages of their short lives.

Ink caps

I took a series of photos of one type of fungi that I think is pretty interesting. I found them when they were fresh and glistening. I took photos in a series of days to see what they looked like when they were done with their job. I won't put it here today but will save it for another time.

After 4.5 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, I'm headed out to check out the woods once more and see what will surprise me.

I leave you with this Fun Guy. 

One of my tiny soldiers sitting on an Oyster Mushroom.

Boring

Boring Saturday. 

The little mule in the middle is Fred. He has always been the boss mule. He rules the roost at 35 years old. Yes, that is totally old for any equine.

Fred could use dentures as his old teeth have pretty much worn out. However, after a life time of service to my hubby, attending our wedding, and teaching numerous people how to ride, we have decided that Fred has earned a retirement with grain and special feed.
He prefers the pasture and chasing girls though. 

Here Mica joins the group. She is often pushed out. I wonder if it is her color?
The reds hang together as well as the bays.

Fred had decided that he would try and convince everyone that they were in heat. Yes, mules do come in heat. He kept nuzzling all the gals until everyone decided to take a morning nap.

Fred is a gelding and has always been this way.

Lil' Richard is our small stud who had a job telling us when the mares we bred to our Jack were ready to be serviced. We'd put the little stud pony next to a mare when we expected her to be in heat and Lil' Richard would work with her until she'd stand for him. Poor little guy could never do the job, but he was accurate.

Now he is simply a mower and fertilizer. 
He and Sven keep the hillside mowed and trimmed among other places like the tractor in the weeds and other piles of 'junk'.

I took a walk in the rain yesterday just to get out of the house. Endless loops of Alias on TV was driving me nuts. Binge watching is not my idea of a day well spent.

I found more Pheasant Back fungi and made a discovery. These trees that used to produce Morels are now dead enough to produce this fungi. This tree produced 3 or 4 bags of Morels about 4 years ago. Now? Just these fungi. I noted it on other old Morel trees too. 

The Honey Suckle is blooming. Yes, it is invasive but it sure smells nice!

This was on my neighbor's land. They don't manage it, don't keep up the fences, or do anything with it. 

Higher on the ridge I found Jacob's Ladder. At the top of the ridge I found wild geraniums.

Different levels of the hillside had different temperatures and that creates mini climates.

A bee was hiding inside the blossom. I imagine it was stuck there because it was cold.

My second woods walk landed me at the far back of our acreage. I found Oyster Mushrooms...I think.

Since I don't have enough knowledge about edible fungi, I just admired them and moved on with Charlie.

We found so many trees that had antler rubs on them that I figured that Big Buck was still hanging around in the prickly ash woods. Smart Big Buck. He knows how to hide well.

I had to laugh when I saw the Spider on the Tree. I'd put that up a long time ago when decorating the Spooky part of the Woods for my neighbor's kids Treasure Hunt.

I was looking just above our creek for signs of any sort of fungi or if the light rain had brought out any interesting new plants when I spotted something pinkish under a geranium.

Showy Orchid aka Galearis spectabilis. 
Yep, I prefer the name: Showy Orchid 

I have found these once or twice before in our woods just about 20 feet above the creek. They are really hard to spot and like hiding.

If I can spot these, why can I NOT spot a morel?

Probably because it has been too cool, too dry, and just a crappy year for them.

I wandered through the Buckthorn Forest and decided I'd turn the mules out there after I roached their manes and wormed everyone. 

The grass simply looks abundant and delicious.