More Mushrooms on Monday?

Sulphur shelf or chicken of the woods are very tasty sauteed in butter, especially if you find them as brilliant and fresh as this batch was. 

Aren't they beautiful? That color isn't enhanced - they're really that bright. They're pretty hard to miss while walking through the forest. I noticed evidence of another bloom someone had already harvested - just orange remnants stuck to the side of a log. 

 

Interestingly, on the same big pine snag, about five feet lower and around the other side, a lacy group of aged turkey tail fungus filled the crevices in the bark. I thought the textures and colors were a nice juxtaposition. 

Another set of turkey tail growing on a fallen poplar tree, was a surprising color of green. It looked like that poplar was sprouting a whole new kind of leaf! 

I thought this colorful fellow, growing between the pieces of a rotting birch tree added a perfect touch to a picturesque forest floor vignette. 

This beauty was large and impressive, with an undulating cap and a lot of personality! 

Lots of fungus lately, right? It's what I've been seeing out in the woods! We'll have to see what I can locate for the next blog installment!  

Fungus for Friday?

 We got a little bit of rain, finally, and fall mushrooms decided to pop. 

Piper and I have been stopping to admire them as we wander out in the woods and fields. 

Well, I admire them, at least. I think Piper wonders what I find so fascinating. 

She likes to try and figure it out, even if it doesn't make sense to her. 

She does that a lot. When I stop to take a picture of something, she likes to try and understand why "the big dog" thinks its worth investigating. As a result, I get a lot of Piper photo bombs! 

There are places out in the woods that smell extremely mushroom-y and I stop and look around to see who is blooming. The colors, textures and edibility properties are all worth checking, from  my point of view. (No eating the mushroom above!)

This one was so interesting because it had lobed caps. Almost like petals of a flower. One of these days, I may have my reference books back and I'll be able to start looking things up again! 

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy looking and finding. 

There may be more mushrooms on Monday... I think I still have a few on the camera that need to be downloaded and prepared! I know at least one reader will enjoy that. :) 

Considering the Flowers...

Sometimes, you just have to stop and smell the roses...

And admire the colors,

And the beauty of petals unfurling. 

Then there's the smile-inducing oxeye daisy, 

Along with its cousins that were blooming in great profusion. 

The purple coneflowers were in full display mode beside my sister's stairway,  

And a marsh mallow voluntarily adorned the boat launch where Piper likes to get a drink or take a dip for a break to cool off on our walks. 

Yarrow blossomed along the trail, 

And St. John's Wort spread a little sunshine through the fields where Piper likes to romp.

The flowers of the field are, indeed, something marvelous to consider. 

Little Things with Wings

Bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other little winged wonders can be real day brighteners. 

I don't know what kind of pollinator is on the black-eyed Susan above, but it was an earnest little fuzz buzzer that caught my eye.  

I've been cheering for mosquito-eating dragonflies since I was a small child. They not only have the most delicate and intricate wings, they're the most amazing aerial acrobats. They hover, fly backward, forward, dart, dive and actually eat their prey while hanging in the air. 

I love the way sunlight makes the wings glitter and the veins are like stained glass leading around the colorful panes of transparent wing. 

Piper and I saw this newly emerged monarch butterfly as we were finishing up an afternoon walk. It was so vibrant in its new colors and completely undamaged by any encounters with the world. I'm sure it will be well traveled by the time it finishes its migration flight, but no less majestic for that. 

We took a Jeep ride (old 1966 vintage), complete with windshield down and no doors, of course, on the family property to celebrate my brother's birthday. We stopped to admire some giant swallowtail butterflies in the thistle patch. 

They hardly ever stop fluttering and it's really hard to get a good picture.  I did manage to get a couple clear shots out of the dozens I took - most were blurry to one degree or another. The patterns on these butterflies are beautiful. The tiny teardrops on the ends of the tails and the colorful orange and blue markings at the base of its abdomen are striking details in an already intricate series of wing markings. 
 

Mushrooms on Monday

There hasn't been a post for my fungus fancying friends lately, so I thought it was about time to address the situation. 

Of course, I have absolutely none of my reference books, so I haven't looked any of them up, although I did think the ones above looked like inverted hooped skirts. Perhaps mushrooms a la Marilyn Monroe's billowing dress. :)

These impressive specimens had forced their way through the leaves and pine needles, looking like freshly made canopies to shelter wee folk. I'm pretty sure Piper and I disturbed the end of the night's dancing and reveling. 

 They definitely looked enchanted. And enchanting. 

This brilliant scarlet beauty fairly glowed against the backdrop of browns and greens. It was the only one of its kind, which seemed fitting for one so striking. 

Sail Away

I thought this was pretty cool. It sailed by as I was returning from my morning walk with Piper and it's not something a person sees very often.

I believe it's one of the Maritime Academy's training ships. So, the crew is learning the ropes (literally) of sailing a tall ship. Just an interesting Saturday morning sight. 

Trail Cam Thursday

I posted a bunch of trail camera captures of whitetail deer families earlier. So, I thought it might be fun to show who else has been caught roaming around in the woods. 

We have some bears. Above is a fairly large boar and I'd rather not meet him while out walking Piper! They usually only wander by the cameras at night, so we get pictures of glowing eyes and silhouettes, but sometimes they're ambling back home in the early morning sun. 

This younger, adolescent age black bear passed the same tree its larger relation walked by in the earlier picture. It's a popular critter crossing (which is why we put the camera there). A small pond sits just beyond the bear and it drains into a little creek that runs through a culvert under the two track trail, so lots of beasties come by for a drink, or use the road to keep their feet dry. 
  

There are also some beautiful bobcats roaming about the woods as well. We sometimes get an early morning picture, but this is the more typical capture. 

This is my personal favorite of this batch, though. This sandhill crane walked past this same camera in the same direction almost every single day to have his portrait taken. We started laughing every time he showed up in the camera roll. :)
 

Morning Marvels

Piper and I took a pre-dawn walk at a nearby nature preserve and were very well rewarded for our efforts. 

We chose a trail and had nearly completed the circuit when we spotted this handsome fellow standing in the staghorn sumac as the sun was cresting the treetops. He didn't seem overly concerned about us, but moved along. 

A little farther down the trail, a larger buck with a beautiful set of antlers in the velvet came into view. The first one we saw had joined him and there was a third with a smaller rack as well. 

I realized the reason they weren't terribly concerned about Piper or me had a lot to do with another handsome creature that came trotting from the concealment of the sumac and tall grasses. The deer kept a close eye on it. The coyote stood and contemplated its options for a few moments, decided it didn't like the look of the canine with the human companion and went trotting back the way it had come. 

The sunrise was also pretty spectacular.  Getting up early has its rewards! (Of course, so does sleeping in, but Piper doesn't allow that very often!) :)

Yes, I've Been Quiet...

In case you've been wondering why I've been missing in action lately, I confess that I haven't had the heart for much in the way of creative posting. 

Over seven months after the fire, my house looks like this. There's not a scrap of drywall or insulation, they still haven't gotten all the old plumbing removed (much less new installed), same with electrical, fire remediation is still going on in the basement, which has been scrubbed, sandblasted, disinfected and is now being deodorized. Ductwork, furnace, water heater, are all gone - the basement is a huge empty space. I could go on, but I won't bore you all with further details. 

The latest completion estimate is December 31, 2026. I'm hoping for a Christmas present of getting my house back, but I have days... 

 My family has been great, my dog is confused but coping and I have so much to be grateful for.  

I'll try to get myself rolling with the blog again. I have some pictures to download from the camera and prep for viewing. I also have some fun trail camera pictures. :) 

Flowers and Foolishness

 Piper has great patience with me when I stop and photograph things in which she has no interest. 

Things like sweet starflowers  showing bright green and white against the brown of last autumn's leaf duff interest her not at all, but I love their cheerful blossom faces with the long, bright yellow eyelashes. 

She also doesn't have any use for the pink lady slipper orchids which are a rare and special treat for me. 

Piper also didn't particularly care about this unusual specimen, which took me forever to look up and identify. Of course, I don't have any of my books at present, so I had to rely on online resources and these don't seem to be pretty enough to rank on the who's who of wildflowers lists. In case you, too, are unfamiliar with this strange and almost otherworldly plant, may I introduce you to Conopholis Americana, otherwise known as Bear Corn. If you look closely, those little spiny bits are actually tiny flowers. It's a parasitic, non-photosynthesizing plant that depends entirely on oak roots for its existence, though happily, it doesn't seem to harm the oak at all. I found it fascinating, but Piper remained unmoved. 

She does like to see what I'm doing, though, and frequently photobombs my pictures. That small black bear behind the trillium is Miss Piper coming in to check on my progress. :)

 

Duck and Run

Piper and I have been getting up before dawn most mornings to try and get our walk in before it gets too loud and boisterous out along the bay. Boats, jet skis, cars and bicycles all get on her little sound-sensitive nerves and she wants to go back sooner than I do, so we try to work around the problem. 

As a result, we've gotten to see some fun duck antics along our way. This merganser couple was sailing along in tandem. I have yet to see any babies, but the parents are almost always out foraging in the early morning light. 

They also get a little territorial from time to time and the boys get into spats. One minute they'll be happily diving as a group and the next there's a dispute needing to be resolved. 

Sometimes it just gets too intense and a get-away is in order. After all, it's a pretty big bay and there are plenty of places to forage. :)

Just a Little Gem

Piper and I were walking at a nearby historical site and spotted a few of these little gems hidden among the new grass and dry leaves. 

Even thought this picture was taken a couple weeks ago, I figured I needed to post it so BetsyLee could get her mushroom fix. :)

I made a nice pan of crispy fried morels to enjoy with my sister for an appetizer before dinner. Only fresh morels are good for that particular purpose. When we have an abundance, we dry and freeze them for other culinary adventures, but I look forward to a pan or two of crispy ones when we're fortunate enough to find some. 

Looney Tunes

While the days are starting to get warm, nights are still fairly chilly, so I keep the window open to cool things off. There's something so nice about the fresh air wafting through the room when I'm sleeping (except, of course, when the skunks walk by with their distinctive perfume). 

As a bonus to the (usually) fresh air, Piper and I have been awakened by the pre-dawn call of loons from across the bay. It's a perfect prelude to an early morning walk. 

We typically don't see them, since they're way on the other side of the water, but we occasionally get a glimpse when we're walking along one of the other nearby lakes, which is where these pictures were taken. 

Bald is Beautiful

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago, when the trees were just beginning to put on their summertime finery. 

On the hillside behind my sister's house is a favorite perch for the eagles to survey their territory. 

When Piper and I take our early morning walks, we frequently see them gliding overhead, looking for hapless fish, squirrels or rabbits as they hunt for something to feed their youngsters. 

This handsome pair must have a nest nearby, since they are in the neighborhood almost every day. 

Now that the leaves are on the trees, it's impossible to get a good picture, since they're hidden by the foliage, but they can still see all the hunting possibilities. They do have the eagle eyes, after all!