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.

Fence Checking & Weird Stuff

Usually just after sunrise I head out to do a daily fence check. I can walk the meadow admire the changes each season brings. The grasses have seed heads and are waiting to drop them. 

The Queen Anne's Lace is beginning to bloom and the milkweed is just about done blossoming.

If there is a good morning dew or fog, I get to stop and admire my favorite spiders who start to appear in abundance at the end of July through August. Orb spiders.

Orb Spider shadow!!!

If I stand quietly just after dawn along our fence line, I can watch the deer emerge from the woods and cross the meadow to the east of us.

In another few weeks and up until gun season, I'll probably sneak out a few times a week to sit in a tree with my camera and watch for some does and bucks in velvet. It is fun to catch them on the trail cam but even more exciting to watch them in real time.

I collected some Queen Anne's Lace to dry while out walking.

I just love their beautiful patterns.

Down in the valley I found an area that had a curious slime mold growing all over the place. It seemed to grow at the base of little plants and small saplings. Odd, but not so odd because of all the rain and humidity we've had. It makes for perfect growing conditions for slime molds.

One of my favorite slime molds to find is fresh Dog Vomit Slime Mold. AKA: Scrambled Egg Slime Mold or Fuligo septica. It is hard to miss as it is such a bright yellow. The patch was very tiny. It probably only is visible for about 24 hours.

I was SO excited to find this tiny patch!
[I know, I am odd.]

We are coming up on the great months for finding all sorts of cool Fungi and odd things growing in the forest. I can't wait!

Anyway, this was my morning walk. Checking on my mules and checking on the fencing.

Have a great week.