Fungusamongus

 

Here are some of  my favorite Fungus and Lichen sightings

from this summer.  I thought when I unpacked all the books

I brought home from school, my fungus identification book

would show up but, much to my disappointment, no such luck.

:-(

 

 

I think these are called Indian Pipes - that is the only

one of the group that I have even an idea about.  I know

that the members of the kingdom are notoriously difficult

to identify even with a key.

 

This one makes me think of garden sprites and gnomes.

I love these minute garden vignettes that you find on the rotting logs

or growing on bare rock...decay... succession... death... rebirth ~the cycle of life.   

Slime Mold?  Like lichen, not neatly classified.  I'm not sure that is

what this is, but it is obviously slimy and certainly appears to be molding.

This is just a tiny little specimen - I found a much larger patch of it later.

It looks like staghorn coral to me and I think it has a similar name.

Here it is in a yellow version.

Isn't this cool!?  It is only about 3cm tall.

 

...and an orange version.

I love everything about lichen!  The fact that it is actually two organisms

from 2 different kingdoms, it's many different forms; it is both an indicator species

and a pioneer species.  American Indians used it for dye and medicine and reindeer eat it.

This is growing out of the side of a tree and looks a little like a shelf fungus,

but I don't think it is.  It is soft and a little fuzzy and mostly hollow inside.  There

was a slug inside - perhaps it had eaten its way in?

All this needed was a little frog peeking out...and a different forest...

Button Fungus?  Maybe I made that up.  The caps were

the size of shirt buttons, but it looked like a bouquet.

Rock Garden

This was so cool...red-orange on the inside, creamy on the outside.

About 5 x 6 cm on a short fat stalk.

This little beauty is about 3cm tall - tiny, thin stalk

and a cap about the size of a small button.

 

Fungi can be identified by their spores and making spore prints was an activity I did with my 7th

graders back in the day when we did science because it was cool as opposed to science to take a test.

 

Spores, like pollen, are as individual as the organisms that they come from and are one of the ways that scientists identify and date ancient climates and habitats.

 

G'ma Nancy loaned me her July/August Discover magazine.  There is an awesome article for you mycology fans, "Mushroom Manifesto".  Adam and LeAnna, I wonder if this is the source of your

mushroom boxes from last Christmas??  REALLLY interesting!!

(This is a special edition Discover, Invisible Planet, and it is awesome if you can get a hold of it.

Thanks, Mom...I really will return it)

Wildlife Summer 2013

Here are a few of the cool creatures we ran across

in our travels this summer~~

 

 

I saw a video one time where the length of the beetle's antennae

was like a male bird's fancy feathers - the longer the

antennae the more attracted the lady beetles. 

This guy should be pretty lucky in love!

 

 

 

Cool millipede in the leaf litter in West Virginia.

Wild Beach Dog ~ Okracoke, NC

 



 

Green Anole on the trash can ~ Okracoke, NC

 

 

Duck in a Puddle ~ Okracoke, NC

(I know, repeat)

 

Yes, here are the triplets again ~ they were so cute

they got to come back again.

Guildford Road Park

 

 

 

Green Darner Dragonfly, Anax junius

Back Yard, Medina 

This one happens to be a female,

 males have a blue abdomen.

 

One of the largest, fastest dragonflies, it migrates

south in the late summer.

 

 

Not pictured:

~the blue crab that NONE of the dogs saw, NC

~the crazy cardinal that was in love with her reflection in our car mirror ~she spent

hours (not an exaggeration) courting herself~NC

~the awesome, gigantic, blue parrots, with yellow skin at the Akron Zoo

~ the really big tadpoles in the stone puddles in WV

~ Mackenzie's blue and red betta

 

Mackenzie goes to Ohio (...and West Virginia...and North Carolina)

The last time Mackenzie was in Medina, for Megan and James' wedding,

she was promised a summer at Aunt Karen's.

So, this year when she came to town for Adam and LeAnna's wedding,

she got to stay.

Here are some photos from our very busy summer.

After the wedding, we packed up and headed to West Virginia with

Adam and LeAnna.

They had rented a delightful cabin in the woods where you see

Kenz sitting on the fireplace hearth.

We all agreed that it would be fun to be there

to watch the snow and sit by the fire.



Kenzie and Elfthereia wait for the rest of us to get ready for

a "quick" hike to the lake for a swim.

The deck was complete with a hot tub, lounge chairs

and an awesome view!







Mackenzie hikes through the woods in her cute new swimsuit.

The hike, itself, was sort of monumental.

Boy, were we glad to get to the lake!  See that smile?

Another day, another hike.

At the end of the hike were small "puddles" in the giant boulders fill

with what else besides big black TADPOLES!  How does

that happen?!

And, a magnificent view of the bridge and

river valley :-)

We went to three Thursday evening concerts at the Akron Art Museum

Note Mackenzie's cool summer skirt and blouse~

(Very cool sax player)

and

we even took a tour of said museum.

 

Another summer adventure was a week in the Outer Banks.  Not in the picture:

 hungry sea gulls (see Ian's blog)

that always accompany the Okracoke Ferry.

One of the goals of this trip was to get to the beach at the ocean.

This picture documents that Mackenzie was there!

 While on Okracoke, we did a little "shop hopping".

Note Kenzie's favorite beach attire.

This is the "Castle of Mackenzie".

Jill came over from Goldsboro to visit for a couple of days...unfortunately it rained :-(

But, like they say...a bad day at the beach...

...besides the ducks loved it and Mackenzie loved the ducks.

Back in Medina, Mackenzie and I went for a bike ride on the new

trail that starts just a block and a half from the house.

This is a picture of momma and her triplets nursing.

We took a cool video, but I could not get it to load.

 Here are the babies.  All together I think we saw 5 or 6 deer

none of whom were the least bit worried about the fact

that we were there...close...

It was such a fun summer!  There was a trip to Miss Mollies for tea

and a Baby Shower and an afternoon at the Akron Zoo,

LOTS of shopping, reading, swinging on the porch swing, visiting,

a birthday party, a couple of play dates...

So, there you have it~Mackenzie's summer in Ohio, etal. 

A few more wedding pictures

 

 

Thanks to my friend June, here are a few more snapshots

from LeAnna and Adam's wedding.  Enjoy~

 

 

The barn was a wonderful setting.  The decorating was

delightful and so personal thanks to family and friends

who contributed their time and talent.

 



 

Here are Adam and G'Pa getting things underway.  They both

look pretty solemn.  I think it had to do with the crazy weather and

the thunder in the distance though.



 

Andy, climbing buddy, and Sarah - check out those really cool boots!

Chad, climbing buddy, (check out the new tennies) and Jeanne,

childhood friend.

 

 



 

Shane, climbing buddy, and Christie, childhood friend.

 

 

Ian, climbing buddy & brother of groom;  Eleftheria, sister-in-law of groom.

Keith, climbing buddy & brother of groom;  Gina, sister of bride.

 

 





 

Happy parents of the Groom, Karen and Pat.

 



 

The beautiful bride, LeAnna and her parents, Karen and Kevin.

 

 

 

The service was in the Gazebo by the barn.  The curtain in

the back was made by LeAnna and was just beautiful!

 

 

 

The Wedding Party

 

G'Ma Nancy shares a special poem written by a friend of LeAnna's.

 

Lighting the Unity Candle proved to be a challenge,

but...

 

...in the end, united they were.

 I hope I got people correctly identified and names correctly spelled.  My apologies for any mistakes.

It was a wonderful service and the reception was so much fun.  All the personal touches

created a celebration of love, family and friendship. 

May it always be so.