Fungi!Lichens!andMoss!-OH MY!!!

Dorothy saw many wonderful things in her adventures in the land of Oz - these are a few of the wonderful things in God's creation that we may step on or over every day without giving them a second look.

I believe this is called the 'Indian Corpse Plant'.

These next two came from our trip to the Smoky Mountains last year.  The green really blended in with the lush forest surroundings.

This yellow fungi stood out very stunningly,  I had to climb up a steep bank and brace/hold on to saplings to get this picture.  By the time I was finished I had an audience - probably wondering what that crazy man was doing.

This was a stump covered with fan shaped fungi

Mighty Mushroom

This green mushroom was from the Smokies.  I have not seen any others that were this color.

This orange upright fungi is mostly hollow and had a sickly/sweet/disgusting smell.

This is one I wish I had taken several pictures of.  The little mushroom was growing in an acorn cap.

This fungi was very gelatinous and soft.  The shape, texture, and color of fungi help make them very interesting to observe. 

This one was perched high in a tree.  I caught a glimpse of it from a distance - wonder how it climbed way up there?

These little guys looked like a burnt out forest.

Some purple and orange branch like fungi from the Smokies.

Lichens!

These lichen samples were growing on lava flows in Idaho.  

This lava flow cooled and hardened in ripples which gave it many crevices for lichen, and other things to take hold and grow.

Moss!

From the lush, green Smokies.  The area around streams are often covered with moss in the cool dark hollows.

The following moss pictures are from the Heart's-A-Burstin homestead in Virginia.

This moss is putting up capsules from which to spread its spores.

Moss on a split rail fence in Tennessee.

Not sure what category this one fits into!!!

Chickens Plus++++

Starting out with a chicken update.  The Heart's-A-Burstin Homestead has some new additions - Tona went to the feed store a while back and ordered some Buff Orpington chicks.  She got 10 little, soft, peeping, cute, ...... baby chicks.  We were blessed to have a hen trying to set so the question was whether she would accept these homeless little beauties who did not have a mother to care for them.  When she heard them peeping she perked up and when we put them down she started clucking to them and they responded right away.  They slept that night under her warm sheltering wings and I think they were both pleased.

Here some were out and others were crawling out from under her wings to see what was going on - they are very curious which is not necessarily a good trait for little chicks.  

Here is a closer look at "mama" and her new brood - she is so watchful!

All our hens are Buff Orpingtons and here is a close-up of one of the other hens.  In general these seem to be a very calm and peaceable breed of chickens.

It seems like every time I go out to the pen Frank makes sure to crow so I took advantage of that and caught him in the act.  He is a little assertive and will start picking things up and ruffling his feathers and announce himself.  I make sure he knows to back off and even get in a talking/crowing match sometimes.  That's me talking and him crowing in case you were not sure.

Plus a flower - 

This spring the lilies have been very profuse and beautiful.  This is a sample of one of the lilies in our garden.

Back to chickens - I think this would make a great print with a black mat or black frame.  Other than minor color tweaks this is out of the camera.  I think it looks a little like a painting.  

And a parting shot of Frank giving me his look!

Plus a toad -

our little dog Sweetie is fascinated with toads and this is one of her 'buddies'!

Plus a blast from the past for our daughters - 

our house near Covington, Virginia where they grew up.

I have started the slow process of digitizing our old pictures.  I'll try to post some now and then.  The one in a a previous posting of Tona on our wedding day was one of them.  Hopefully as I get more practice I'll get better and faster - right now it is a slow process to restore some old photos.  If the print is good the digitized version usually needs very little touch up.

Have a great week and remember to read God's Bible daily!

Trip to the Mountains or Tona @ 55 MPH

We got away for a day last week and slipped off to the Shenandoah Mountains.  Tona took me exploring at the base of Skyline Drive just north of Standardsville, Virginia.  She had been there earlier with our neighbor and they got to see bears on their trip.  We did not see any bears but the scenery was beautiful.

This was a farm on the South River road.  Farms abound in this area and the rivers run cool and clean coming down from the mountains.

This picture is a great example of the views and variety of features of the area.  The mountains in the backdrop, the lush green fields with a fine harvest of hay, and the rock fences apparently made when the farmers cleared their fields of rocks.  This area is a picture taking extravaganza.

Not a part of the natural landscape but a charming addition!  We passed this up at first then turned around and came back to get a few photos, sure glad we did!

Plenty of old barns around, hope they are preserved for generations to come.

This was a water snake on the Middle River.

A good stream view of the Middle River.

This was taken through the windshield on our way home at an intersection in Ruckersville, a popular shopping destination with many shops and antique stores.  We had lunch on the way at a Pizza place just off to the right.

As promised here is Tona @ 55 MPH.  She was driving toward home and I was playing with the camera.  

By the time I finished this post the date is now 7/1/2008 - our 31st anniversary!  Here is a picture of Tona from our wedding 7/1/1977 - see why my Heart's-A-Burstin for all these years!  Love will do that to you!  

Thanks to God for bringing us together, thanks to Tona for asking me out, and thanks to her dad Paul for giving his permission for me to marry the sweetest girl ever!!!