Sunday, October 11, 2020

My latest interest

Seems I was spellbound by spider webs in my last post; now I've moved on to fungus fascination. Thursday morning I noticed a fat mushroom cap emerging from the leaves down by the Ram-ada Inn, so I took its picture. The next morning while feeding the boy sheep, I noticed it was twice as big; I took its picture again. Sabbath morning it had flared out dramatically, and this morning it looked ready to fly!





Fall being fungus season and all, I went to the arena in search of edible shaggy manes. Sure enough, I found a few emerging!


How about a mushroom-colored doggy?



Poppy doesn't have any extra insulation of her own, so when it turned cool and wet I dug out her coat.

Poppy has another tiny addition to her wardrobe. I mentioned to a friend that Poppy had disappeared into the dark one night and it was worrisome to not be able to see or hear her (she did come to the front door and ask to be let in before too long, thankfully). So my friend brought over a tiny bell, which Poppy now wears on her collar. Its sound is small and pleasant, but surprisingly trackable.

The pots on our deck are a pretty sight, a mix of flowers and fall foliage:

Rick has repaired the woodshed; there is dry wood, split and unspilt, that needs to be moved:

Our packed pantry shelves:

A 'houseplant tableau' atop our pie safe:

I had two orchids repotted at my favorite garden shop, so everything got moved, dusted and rearranged when they returned. Here's a close-up of that perfect purple spray on the far left plant:

This new Blogger platform is tedious to work with. I've been fighting with it for much too long tonight; I'm quitting and heading to bed.

Good-night from . . .



15 comments:

Leigh said...

Michelle, you always have the nicest collection of photos in your post. Poppy looks so fashionable in her doggie coat! I use bells for my goats. They really help when we're taking walks in the woods and they wander off after the tastiest tidbits.

Mama Pea said...

I so agree with Leigh's comment on the photos you always include with your posts. The addition of the little bell on Poppy's collar brought back a lot of memories. When we had our dairy goats, our lead goat, boss goat, whatever title she had, did sport a bell on her collar. And whenever we took our Pudel Pointer, Zoey, out in the woods we clipped a bell on her collar which proved very helpful in keeping an eye on where she was in her inquisitive roamings "off the path."

wyomingheart said...

Rock Star! Thank you! Great photos! What do you use to take photos? Just curious, because when I take shots with my phone or iPad, the colors just don’t look as awesome as what my eyes see. You photos are very sharp and vivid!

Michelle said...

Aw, thank you, Leigh! I almost always have more photos that don't get included because of time or struggle to fit them into the narrative. For me, posting is a dance between words and images, which is why it takes so much time. Oh, and last night Poppy wriggled out of her pink sweater (which I had left on her for warmth in our cool house) and chewed a hole in it! 😩

I've never used a bell on an animal before, Mama Pea; I can see now how useful they are!

I included that photo just for you, wyomingheart. 😊 I use my iPhone 8 exclusively and believe me, not all the images I take turn out!

Goatldi said...

Tell me about your orchid? My son and his family brought one up to gift me when we attended church together yesterday. It has instructions but delicate plants such as African Violets have always died out of self defense at my house.

Michelle said...

Goatldi, the most commonly sold gift orchids are phalaenopsis, or moth orchids, and are very easy care. You can google instructions that are a lot more involved, but mine do fine with weekly watering, sitting on the pie safe in indirect light, in a house that varies from a high of 80°F in the summer to 60° (or lower) in the winter. When the air roots start going crazy, I take them to my favorite shop and have them repotted. I SHOULD get some orchid food; I hear they will bloom even better with feeding.

Fran said...

I love your photos, always. Our GSD will come running back when we call the Mastiff on the other hand can hide in the dark, gets distracted if he hears a dog in the distance or a coyote in the woods. We found a small round light that clips on his collar, it can be set solid or flashing, so if he wanders out of the house light circle at night, he can be seen. That doesn't mean he will come, but we at least know where to aim to herd him back to the house. He does however with his massive head occasionally turn his own light on during the day and that is hard on the batteries if we don't spot it.

Tim B. Inman said...

Annie's rabies tag and a name tag hang on the same ring on her collar. Banging together when she moves, they serve as a sort of 'jingle' bell for me. It is amazing how I get used to hearing that jangle when we're out in the woods. Like my clocks, I don't seem to notice the sound until it isn't there. Then, like we used to do when our boys were young, then we start to worry!

Goatldi said...

Thanks!

Jeanne said...

Poppy looks great in her warm coat! You should see my daughter's little service dog when he's all dressed for work! He's evidently part Chihuahua, and doesn't have much hair. Hrs gets cold easily, even in the house, so then he wears a little polo shirt. To go in the car, he wears a harness,which attaches to the little dog seat that is attached to the seat of the car. He also wears a little service dog vest. People are always oohing and awwing over how cute he looks!

Sharon said...

I’m with you on Blogger. It’s a fight. I wish I had started on WordPress because it seems more friendly, plus a lot of third party apps are for WordPress but not for Blogger. I don’t want to start a new blog so I just kvetch.

Michelle said...

Aw, thanks, Fran! You've got two BIG dogs; they both come in the house? (I wouldn't mind that, but my husband thought my Aussie was too big to be in the house, though he still was.)

You know, Tim, I specifically didn't want jingly tags when I got Poppy so I got a RoadID tag that slides onto her collar. When we get her rabies tag, I might just switch to a hanging name tag as well for precisely that reason! I'm used to a more "biddable" dog than a stubborn little terrier. ;-) She is getting better, though, either from age or the agility classes, or both.

You're welcome, Goatldi; hope it thrives for you!

Poppy is the same way, Jeanne; short, slick hair – and NO body fat to help keep her warm. I got another fleece jacket for her at the thrift store yesterday, but need to sew on a new piece of Velcro.

Sharon, I'm sure it will get a little easier to use the new Blogger interface as I get accustomed to it; change is just hard! Switching to a new platform wouldn't be smooth sailing, either....

A :-) said...

Your pantry is awe-inspiring!!!

Retired Knitter said...

I think Poppy looks so smart in her jacket.

Yes, every time blogger "improves" the site it is WORSE!

Michelle said...

Thank you, A. It is satisfying to have all that food on hand!

Elaine, the other side is an even smarter-looking brown plaid flannel, but I put the softer material on the inside because it was a rainy day.