Firewood, Wood Ear and Cardio Workouts!

   It was another wood-cutting sort of day!  The sun was shining and the woodpile, though still well stocked, can always use replenishing.  So...I cut wood!  Now let me clarify something here about all of this wood cutting and splitting.  I do it because I enjoy being able to do it.  We have a log-splitter that may come in handy some day but, for now, I do it the "old-fashioned" way.  It is my idea that it is best to be able to do things for yourself instead of always being dependent on others.  Son and Mark cut wood but if they are off working on other things...I CAN DO IT!  Plus, it is one of the best cardio workouts you can do!  It seems that the previous posts caused some concern among folks, and while I appreciate that concern, it is far from necessary.  I split firewood.  I can use a chainsaw.  I garden.  I push a lawnmower.  I paint the house. I put up fences. It is my choice...I do it...I enjoy it...'nuff said.  

  Like I said it was another wood-cutting sort of day so I was out as soon as the temperature reached 40 degrees.  I grabbed the tools and headed to where I had stacked several logs from the hike yesterday...and...I was distracted by some lovely mushrooms.  On the wood I had just stacked, wood ear fungi had sprouted up overnight!  They were huge!  In fact, I have never seen any quite this large and, this time, Bat was still indoors!  That cat would have already torn my beautiful mushrooms to pieces had he been out before me.  After taking several photos of the fungi, I decided that those particular logs would not be cut today.  I had to skip down to the next pile.

  The logs were cut into firewood length with the saw then split with the axe.  After grabbing a drink of lemonade, the logs were hauled to the woodpile and neatly stacked.  Twice, I filled the wheelbarrow with my lovely firewood.  Yep!  My cardiologist will be proud!  I am proud.  I do not want to become fat, lazy and dependent on others, if I can help it.  That day will come soon enough.  I will keep doing what I can in the meantime.

Wondrous World

   I braved the mosquitoes yesterday morning to venture back behind the canebrake.  Down in this part of the woods, there is always something interesting.  Yesterday morning, it was what was beneath my feet as I padded along the soggy pathway.  With the copious rainfall of late, the ground was literally covered with mushrooms and other fungi.  All were brilliantly colored but so tiny that you could not see them from a distance of about forty feet.  Also, dotted here and there were tiny flowers that I have yet to identify.  Had the biting critters not been so vicious, I would have loved to linger there longer just photographing this "Land of Miniature".  

  Perhaps, after dousing myself with mosquito repellent, I will venture to the back of the property once again and find more treasures on the "forest floor".  The nigh on constant rains have kept me, more or less, housebound and I feel as if I am missing out on so much.  I was not made to be kept inside.  I need to roam the swamps to clear the mind and salve the soul.  A free spirit was never meant to be trapped within four walls.  I have to breathe.

Conditions are right!

   Back when Hurricane Zeta rolled through and did major damage to the Bayou area, the debris was endless.  It still is endless but progress is being made.  The decision to cut the smaller stuff into a mulch worked out rather well.   After pulling all trash and boards from the mounds, I used an old lawnmower to literally cut the stuff to a fine mulch.  The wheelbarrow was used to tote the stuff up the hill where it was dumped into the garden and pathways. Now that the debris mulch is starting to decay a bit, it is becoming a delightful mix of fertile soil.  It is sort of the ultimate of recycling.  

  The rich soil, warm weather and copious fog has made the fungi around here spring up like bad weeds.  The whole hillside is starting to look like a gigantic faerie garden with toadstool benches everywhere.  Mushrooms of every color, shape and size are pushing their way through the one foot thick layer of mulch. 

  It does make me wonder where all the spores came from since the place was covered with water during the storm and, if the spores stayed on the ground, how in the world are they pushing through that thick mulch?  Fungi is resilient, for sure!  If the conditions are right, the mushrooms grow. They are, indeed, amazing creations.

A Handy Stairway?

  On the stroll to the pier this morning, one of the groundsel bushes seemed a bit off.  Several of the main stalks were bare of leaves and had what appeared to be a hefty growth of oyster shells going up the side!   Nope, not oyster shells at all but a type of mushroom.  The shelf mushrooms had formed a virtual "ladder" up the tree trunk as if to give an easy escape from high tide for any faeries that may live under the pier.  I figure that is probably a good thing since we do not want our pier faeries trapped by high water!

  Actually, this is not the best news for the groundsel bush.  When this type of mushroom is seen growing on the main trunk of any tree, it is quite a dire situation for that tree.  These usually only grow on dead or dying trees. Even if they are found on a live tree, somehow that tree has been weakened to the point that it is about to die.  The mushrooms are sort of Mother Nature's cleanup crew as they slowly draw any nutrients they need from the dead tree causing it to decay much faster.  In a weird sort of way, I find that a comforting thought.  At least, the tree did not die in vain.  Life goes on in the form of the mushrooms.

  As I walked passed the small shrub, I reached out and snapped off the tip of the branch.  Yep, the bush had already died.  Happily, the other shrubs seem to be healthy and happy.  They soon will be covered with the groundsel bush beetle larvae and many other insects.  This will cause the birds of the area to go into a feeding frenzy on the bushes.  Marsh life...only for the hardy.

The Stars Underfoot

  Several of my friends are avid hikers who often drive to wilderness parks or find nearby areas to do their exploring.  They discover wondrous things along their chosen paths and love to share their finds via photographs.  I find these pictures enthralling as they spike the curiosity and make me ponder if I can find such things here on the Bayou.  Sometimes, it just takes a kick in the right direction.  I know I will never find the snow-filled wonderlands that my cousin, Libby, does on her hikes nor the historic "man-made" finds that my daughter-in-law's Uncle Mark stumbles upon but there is always the outside chance that I can find a few of the same plants or critters in the photographs of an (unmet) friend, David, who lives in Florida.  All three of these folks inspire me to keep searching even though my hikes cover just the area around the Bayou.  

  I have taken to searching more for the "unnoticed" among curiosities along my hiking path.  The tiny spider that lives in a hickory nut shell, the small brown skink that scurries under the leaves, the minuscule bluets that grow beneath the taller grasses all pique the interest.  I want to know more about this often overlooked world of magnificent entities...the tiny tidbits of life that, more oft than not, go unseen, are trampled upon or merely ignored.

  Today's masterpiece of Mother Nature is none other than an earthstar!  Earthstars are mushrooms that closely resemble the familiar puffballs only they go one step (literally) further in releasing their spores.  An earthstar uses the same method of a puffball that "poofs" spores out of a tiny hole in the top of the ball.  The only difference is, the earthstar has an outer covering that protects the spores when it is not time to release them.  Usually, the spores are pounded out of the ball by raindrops.  The spores need the moisture to grow so earthstars are adamant about not letting them "poof" before the time is right.  The outer covering of an earthstar stays tightly closed around the ball until it "feels" the rain coming.  Then, it splits open and folds backwards revealing the inner spore ball.  This flattening of the outer cover is how the earthstar gets its name.  When it splits, the outer covering is somewhat star-shaped.  That extra "step" is that the earthstar can and does fold back up over the ball if the rains quit before the spores are all released. This action protects the spores from drying out too much.  As soon as another rainstorm threatens the area, the earthstar springs into action and folds the "star" back open to let the raindrops do their work.

  I was tickled to find the earthstar this morning.  This one was just the outer covering as the hard rains of last night obviously emptied the spore ball and the high winds ripped the ball from the covering.  My little earthstar had completed its life cycle and left its spores to renew the next generation.  It is tiny things like this that make life interesting.  Just think of how many wonders of the world are stepped on, walked over or ignored on a daily basis. 

Not A Mycologist

  With all of the rainy weather we have had this summer, there are some pretty funky looking mushrooms growing about the yard.  One expects that.  Let there be some type organic material (mulch, leaf litter, dirt, whatever), a bit of moisture and some heat and you have fungi.  Some of these mushrooms look pretty but are dangerous.  Some have a not so nice appearance but are supposedly edible.  There are also some that are just downright strange.

  One such strange mushroom decided to grow in an equally strange place.  Mark and Son have been doing a lot of work on the house and have left the scaffolding in place so they do not have to lug it out every day.  It was on that scaffolding that a weird little mushroom decided to grow.  While the innocuous looking little thing may seem innocent, it is eating the scaffolding board.  Uh, oh!  Say what?  Yep.  Mushrooms and fungi are sort of like garbage disposals.  They decompose organic materials.  The presence of this mushroom probably means that the board is starting to decompose or rot.  This is not good when you consider that two men will be standing on that scaffolding board.  Now consider that there is not a lot that can be done to remedy the situation as the spores have already infiltrated the wood.  There is to be a mushroom garden riding high above the ground on the scaffolding.

  I am no mycologist by far.  I can recognize a very few different types and know enough to not carelessly handle unknown mushrooms.  That is about it.  So....I tried to look up about this strange mushroom.  Since I needed a description, I figure color would be a start.  I looked up "black topped mushroom" and was immediately bombarded with stories of mushrooms pushing through asphalt.  Not quite what I wanted.  So...I tried again with "mushroom with black cap" and received dozens of sets of instructions on how to crochet a mushroom shaped cap.  Again, not what I had in mind.  After several tries, I found an image that was almost an exact copy but the mushroom grew in the Guadalupe Mountains.  No where did it say that it could be found here and, imagine this, it was called a "Blacktop Mushroom".  Well, duh!  I knew that!  Sort of.  Anyway, I still am no closer to identifying our scaffolding mushroom than I was when I found it.  That said, I will leave it be and definitely NOT have it for supper.  

Its a Tad Smelly

  The other day, a friend showed me a photograph of something that had popped up in her flower garden with a question of its identity.  Stinkhorn...Devil's Toadstool...Devil's Fingers.  Yep. a foul-smelling, red mushroom had just "hatched" in her mulch.  (I say hatched because a lot of folks tend to think the round, white bud of a mushroom is actually an egg.)  She was rather miffed that something of this sort dare to invade her pristine garden plot.  "Why is it in my yard?  I do not let things like this grow here."  Well, sweet friend, get used to it.  These rascals are hard to eliminate short of digging up each "egg" and burning it.  They multiply like wildfire once they find their way into the yard and there are dozens of ways that happens.  The wind and critters can carry the spores but most likely, this mushroom found its way to her place in that lovely mulch that she had so carefully spread about her plants.  While it makes the garden look nice, many things hide in those mulch bags.  Everything from weed seeds to snails can hitch a ride in the bag right to the garden spot.

  While I am not a fan of the Devil's Toadstools (local name), I have resigned myself to the fact that I shall never eradicate them from this property.   The place is far too big and I am far too old to go around with a shovel digging up stinky fungi.  They shall just run their course and do their thing.  Aside from the stench, they are rather pretty...in a weird sort of way.  Their bright red "fingers" stand out sharply against the brown pine needles or even green grass.  My whole beef with them is not even the fact that they smell terrible and I really should not lay the blame on the fungi.  Dogs seem to love to roll on the Devil's Toadstools and then they reek for days. Why?  Why in the world would something so smelly be so appealing that you would want to wear it as perfume??  Needless to say, I keep a close watch on old Mr. PJ.  Nope....no stinky dog is sleeping in my house!

Alien Lifeforms???

  The other day, I saw something on social media that made me giggle.  A request was posted to "Describe 2018 in two words".  One answer was "It rained."  That, my friends, pretty much was the most accurate response that could have been made.  It rained.  And rained.  And rained.  So far, 2019 is starting out to be much the same.  This does not surprise me.  The sliced persimmon seeds predicted it.  Maybe those things are accurate...then again...maybe the rain caused the persimmon seeds to appear the way they did.  Still, to be honest, I find it great.  Rain is good no matter how you look at it.

  The copious amounts of rain has caused the ground to be a bit soggy and with the warm weather, this has caused profusion of fungi species to sprout up all over the place.  While some can be a bit smelly and others downright slimy, most are fascinatingly beautiful.  The hillside resembles some fantastical gnome kingdom.  Wandering the property, I keep waiting to find some happy little faerie sitting atop one of the 'srooms.  It just needs to be.  Not only are mushrooms taking over the place, mosses and lichens are flourishing, as well, in this warm. humid climate.  Down in the lower part of the front yard, an old oak tree is dropping a good many twigs that are covered with lichens of all kinds.  

  I am ever intrigued by the shapes and textures of lichens.  Some seriously remind me of an alien life form that has fallen to earth.  Contrary to what most folks believe, lichens are not parasitic plants that harm the host tree.  Instead they pretty much just use the tree for a place to anchor themselves.  They draw moisture and nutrients from the air.  They are often blamed for damaging trees since the lichens usually try to colonize on bark of twigs that are already dying.   They love damp areas with little air movement so the mugginess lately has been good to them.  Another thing that is good to know is that if you find a plethora of lichens in your trees, that usually means the air is rather clean and pure!  They prefer non-polluted areas and are rarely seen in places that cannot offer such.  Obviously, the Bayou and surrounding woods are blanketed with clean air as indicated by the overabundance of lichens!  

Fungi Fields!

  As I am writing this, we are in the midst of yet another thunderstorm that is dumping a torrential amount of rain down upon us.  The roar of the water hitting the rooftop is almost deafening.  This type weather has ruled the summer making things seem a bit soggy around here.  Over the past four months, we may have had ten days without rain.  Today appeared to be one of those days but as night fell, so did the rains.  For nigh on the past hour, It has been pouring nonstop and there seems to be no let-up in sight.  We are in for another long night of high winds, lightning and inches of rain.  Thankfully, we live on a high hill overlooking the Bayou.

  Just this afternoon, Mark and I noticed that the hillside was quickly turning into a mushroom farm.  As far as you could see, thousands of the fungi were dotting the ground.  In just a small area, I found about thirty different types.  Big ones, tiny ones and every size in between...red ones, white ones, tan ones, brown ones, spotted ones...you name it, we have it.  In fact, some of the mushrooms even have mold on them so it is almost like two for the price of one!   Yep, that is a lot of rain!

So, while we are being inundated with rain, I decided to take advantage of the mushroom fields and get a few photos.  All of the above photos were taken in a small area of the yard in less than five minutes.  There were tons more but the old dog decided that he did not want to be a fungus photographer so we headed back inside.   I am not sure of any of their identifications but they are interesting!

 

The Bog Calls to Us

  It was a good day.  Any day outside seems to suit me fine but today was special.  Darling Daughter and I spent the day traipsing about a creek and wooded area.  Down behind their property is a low area that is almost magical.  The trees block out the sky leave you feeling completely secluded from the world.  Once you head down under this canopy, things change.  It is the perfect place to escape reality for a little while.  As she and I slipped quietly down the embankment to where the creek was still overflowing from the recent rains, we both felt a peace around us.  We looked at each other and had the same thought of deja vu.  It was as if we belonged spiritually among the mosses, ferns and critters that inhabit the bog.  Something felt as if it was drawing us deeper and deeper into the depths of the fen.  

  While we were marveling over the intense feeling of belonging, we began discovering life that most overlook.  Our vision adjusted from the bright sunlight of the open field to the dim lit understory of the creek. The mystical, magical place began to open up to us.  We were enthralled.

  Mosses, fungi, lichens, ferns...all could be found among the fallen logs and crawfish mounds. Some, we recognized.  Others were unknown to us.  All were fascinating.  We pushed deeper into the swamp.  The further we went, the more entranced we became.  Then, an idea! Wouldn't it be wonderful to build a tiny house way back in the bog that was only accessible by means of a footpath and a swinging bridge? Just a tiny hut of a place to commune with nature and sort of "nest" while escaping the "real" world.   A place where we could feel at peace.  The bog calls us.  We shall return.

Where is the gnome?

  The consistent rains that have pelted the Bayou this whole summer have brought out a continuous crop of mushrooms...not that I would ever "harvest" and eat any of these beauties.  I am just not that sure of my fungi identification skills.  I do, however, find them quite interesting and beautiful in their mushroomy way.  The assortment of fungi is extraordinary.  Never before have I seen so many different shapes, colors and sizes.

 My hikes about the hillside enables me to encounter all sorts of things. With mushrooms springing up like wildfire, I keep half expecting to either find some cute little gnome using one as a stool or some elves doing a funky dance in the midst of a ring of them.  There are so many legends connected with these fast growing-short lived fungi that it makes the head spin.  

  One word of caution, though, about these gorgeous forms of life...watch your pets.  While we should all have enough commonsense to avoid eating anything that we cannot positively identify, sometimes pets are a bit different.  Even if the critters do not mean to actually "eat" the mushroom, just grabbing it as a play-toy can do much damage. Some of the mushrooms can prove fatal to dogs, especially.  We had our share of scares with poor, old Ms. Ez when she was still with us. Countless nights were spent doctoring the old dog.  She could never leave well enough alone.  Watch those pets in this warm, rainy weather!

What is it?!!!!

  Down near the wild persimmon trees on the edge of the Bayou, one can find any number of interesting things.  It seems that this spot is a haven for critters and a good growing spot for a number of different plants and fungi.  The hike there and on around behind the canebrake is one of the more interesting spots (other than the pier, of course!).  This out-of-the-way, road-less-traveled area literally crawls with critters and, at times, resembles an overgrown rainforest with its vines and large clumps of palmettos.  It was on one of my hikes recently that I found and photographed a large mushroom.

  The mushroom in question was like none I have seen before on the hillside.  It was the size of a dinner plate and was rather flat being only about four inches tall.  I could not see the underside without disturbing the 'shroom so I just left it be.  The texture was more "meaty" than other mushrooms in the area and it was quite noticeably attractive to ants. Not only were the ants munching on the outer portion of the cap but they had dug several holes down in the center and were busying themselves by carrying stuff in and out of the center.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see several ants having their supper at the expense of the mushroom.

  The fact that ants seemed to love the mushroom was odd enough but it is that photograph that almost gave me the willies!  When I was flipping through the photographs that I had taken that day, I was taken aback by the sight of the mushroom.  It almost had the appearance of skin...wrinkly old skin!  Ok...that was freaky!  The fungus resembled some dead critter or worse.  Even the coloring was not unlike flesh!  Creepy! 

  Since finding this unidentified bit of fungus, I have looked high and low for another but have not seen any just like it.  Was this a fluke?  Did something happen to make the mushroom wrinkly and pink?  Why were ants devouring this thing so hastily?  Questions!  Always questions! Too bad I have no answers!  I am quite positive that some expert could identify this massive thing but since I know of no such folks, it will remain a mystery.

 

Gold!

 Our stretch of rainy weather seems to have brought out the best in Mother Nature.  Even though the torrential downpours and high winds have wreaked havoc on most of the "soft" flowers such as the azaleas, Mother Nature has brought forth color in other ways.  Mushrooms, lichens and mosses abound in the area around the Bayou.  These, I find more interesting than the flowers, in some ways.  Springtime is expected to be abundant in the brightly hued blooms but finding a fungus that has immense beauty is always a treasure.  

  The aforementioned winds have knocked down a good many tree branches.  These limbs are usually ones that have been damaged in one form or another.  I was thankful that one particularly large branch that fell in the lane missed (narrowly) Son's car.  The branch was a good eight inches in diameter and about five feet in length.  It could have done a bit of damage to his vehicle! Making impact on the ground, the limb broke in several sections making it easy just to toss out of the way. Being out for any length of time during a rainstorm is not pleasant especially if one is moving soggy tree limbs!   So the limb was shoved to the side of the lane with a promise to move it to the burn pile at a later time.

  This morning, I took advantage of the break in the weather and tromped about the place.  That tree limb caught my eye because suddenly it was a bright golden color!  Tree limbs are not gold!  They are dull and drab in color...especially rotten ones.  This called for an investigation.  Nearing the broken branch, I realized that my "pot of gold" was not left behind by some leprechaun but by Mother Nature, herself!  The entire branch was covered with really pretty mushrooms!  Oh, if I only was wise to the way of the world of fungi!  This batch of mushrooms was lovely!  

  One of the first thoughts that goes through my head when seeing a new mushroom is "I wonder if it is edible?"  With the weather like it is, we could be feasting upon delicacies if I only knew which were edible and which would kill me!  Even looking at pictures in books and on the computer leaves me with enough doubt that I have qualms about munching mushrooms in the wild.  I feel that it is best to leave that to the experts!  Still, I find them intriguing and love to photograph these lovelies.  Bring on the rain.....I can always find something to make the day brighter...even if it is a fungus!

Cleaning up the Woods!

  Behind the house far down below the cane brake, is a wooded area. This includes the creekbed that stems off of the Bayou.  The creek runs from miles up north of us and finally dwindles to a mere trickle through our place.  During especially rainy seasons, this trickle escalates into a full blown running creek.  I love it when it is like this.  Hearing the water as it splashes over the roots and moss mounds, watching  the water as it makes new rivulets around the clumps of palmettos and just knowing that my critter friends are thankful to have a ready drinking spot all makes for happy times.  This area is also home to a lot of downed tree limbs and even some entire trees.  It is not my habit to clear out the woods as these branches and logs make handy homes for so many creatures.  At times, though, the sheer amount of fallen debris makes it difficult to find a path if one wants to hike in the woods.  This is where Mother Nature takes control.

  Just recently, I wrote about the Turkey Tail Mushrooms.  These are just one of a bunch of mushrooms called the polypore mushrooms and are so called because they create spores in little tubelike structures instead of having gills.  Included in this group are the bracket fungi.  A bracket fungus sort of resembles an oyster shell plastered to the side of a tree or log.  Shelf fungus, bracket fungus, polypores...all are basically the same. The good news is that these mushrooms are sort of the janitors of the fungus world.  They help to clean up dead wood.  Bad news is that they can and do sometimes infect live trees.  But to be honest here, the live trees found with the fungus are, more than likely, already weakened from some other disease.  The fungus is merely hastening the demise of an otherwise unhealthy tree.  

  On our walk today, Mark and I found some bracket mushrooms growing on one of the Bay Trees that grow near the marsh edge.  While I am not sure of the identity of this fungus, it was quite interesting.  Near the marsh edge is the perfect spot for the mushrooms as it stays relatively damp and shady.  While I am saddened that our little Bay Tree is obviously going to meet its demise soon, I fully understand.  The constant battering from the extreme high tides and strong winds of late possibly have damaged the little tree beyond hope.  It is time for Mother Nature's janitors to get to work and clear the area.  In the meantime, I do think the mushrooms are quite pretty!

Minuscule World

  Mother Nature has some astonishing things out there that can blow the special effects of any science fiction movie right out of the water.  All over this planet there are things so mind-boggling beautiful and extraordinarily weird that they go beyond the reach of the imagination.  I am one who finds these fantastical things in my own backyard.  I keep harping at folks to get down on their knees and investigate the world beneath their feet but few ever do.  My preachings do better reaching the minds of little folks of around the age of three than those of any older age.  The toddler brains are still open and receptive to "seeing" what is there.  Whether it is the busyness of the adult world or the "don't care" attitudes of teens, my wonder at things falls upon deaf ears.  To many, my fascination is far-fetched.  I suppose it is.

  I was out weeding under the rose bushes and once again came across some of the most minuscule fungi I have ever seen.  Each year, I see these tiny threadlike fungi and wonder about their identity.  I have yet to find anything like them in my many books.  Surely, they have not been overlooked by the experts but rather just overlooked by my research. The miniature world of molds, fungi and algae is a magical fairyland of design.  How these creations of less than the diameter of a human hair withstand the harshness of the elements is far beyond my comprehension.  A mere droplet of rain surely would decimate the structure! They appear so fragile.

  My mind often wanders into these tiny worlds and makes me wish that I had more knowledge about that around me.  In just a tiny space of a few square yards the diversity of life is inconceivable.  This world will go unseen by most folks and they will never know what they are missing.  It is amazing. (Ok, so maybe it is just me.)