Mushrooms in the Forest

 Rebecca said that she stopped in another blog post, to study mushrooms that looked like fried eggs.  So Bonnie took a few new shots for her.  Ask and you shall receive.

... the smallest mushroom I could find ...

... a fluted mushroom ...

... so sweet, growing out of the fallen birch ...

... mushrooms in the lower left of the photo, their colour hiding them
in the rust of the  autumn golden cedar boughs...
... one mushroom looks like an beach umbrella ...

Arta

A Thoughtful Birthday Gift

 

... Bonnie and Arta starting another walk ...

There is no use dressing-up for this walk.

Bonnie and I expect to see no one, if that is the reason people dress up.

I grab a sunhat, stop at the top of the driveway for a photo shoot and proceed to the fork in the road where we ask each other, "Who is setting the destination and the pace today?"

Now is not the moment to be creative.  I pretty well know the paths to take -- now that the bears are walking the roads as well.

I take the safest path, since I still haven't purchased bear spray.  

That might be a good present for Bonnie's birthday tomorrow.  A good present for her (and me).  "Always buy gifts that should be shared," I think to myself.

 

... 4 well loved chickens ...

Bonnie and I stop for moment at Shauna's house for her chickens are on the porch, waiting for her to come out. 

Of course, she has gone to work already, but they hang out there still.

Having learned to love the chickens in the summer, Bonnie wants to stop and take a picture -- probably just to document that they live. 

 Arta

Walking Sticks

Photo Credit: Bonnie Johnson

When I meet Greg in the forest, he is always using his walking sticks.

When I met Rebecca’s doctor and his wife while they are walking up Pkols, they were using walking sticks.

I can’t find mine right now.

I have been searching for days, so I decided to use a cane in each hand on the trail – better two canes than a fall.

The most dangerous place on the Grandfather’s Trail may be its entrance off Pilling’s road, just at the railroad crossing.

... this must be four feet high ...

When I shared that fact with Glen he said to tell Greg Bates and that he will probably build steps there.

Not necessary.

I am just saying that I pay particular attention to my steps at that spot, since as I have started watching the ground more, I notice that wet clay on a slope is a sure sign that slipping could happen.

Another tricky slippage as well would a little clump of small wet pine cones.

I know the physiotherapists say to walk with eyes focused out about ten metres ahead and I know that will work when looking for a bear.

Looking at Roots
... the root of an overturned tree ...

But the protruding, interlacing roots of the Douglas fir tree are always at my feet. The more I am on the lookout for them, the more wonderous their pattern becomes on the forest floor.

Once invisible to me, now I see them at every step, some as thick as my wrist, and some as small as an arthritic knuckle.

Still, they work in symphony, their shapes producing static movement on the forest floor, both with their interlocking systems, and the heave and sway as they in the earth.

I keep my eye on them.

Bonnie has laid her shoe lace alongside
the mushroom so that Rebecca can
see exactly how small these fungi are.

Eyes down on the forest floor.

They are probably more dangerous than an animal, since it only takes a slip on them, or a stub, or the roll of heel to bring me down.

Trying to keep that event in the far future I walk forward slowly, though fast enough to lose Bonnie in the forest.

She stays behind me to photograph roots, or mushrooms, or the train passing by.

When she tries to catch up, it is not that I have gone so far, just that I am on the downside of a slope while she is on the upside.

... a small animal lives in this hole ...

She phones.

I stop to answer.

She catches up.

We turn around – 1 ½ hours of walking – new trails.

Old trails.

Walking them in a new way.

Arta

Bernina 730 Record

When Bonnie and I are not sewing we are walking
new trails around the property.
Right now there are banks and banks
of hedges with these flowers.
I think the are called snowberry bushes.

Bonnie broke the only sewing machine needle we had.  A broken needle is always an accident, and today it was one that put an end to sewing Covid-19 masks. 

As we were packing out equipment away, she pulled out the manual and noted the price had been scribbled on the back page, $419.00 for the sewing machine, $79.00 for the sewing machine cabinet. 

She had gone out to read the reviews of this old machine, which are stellar, because the machine is all metal, no plastic parts except two cogs. 

Both of us have noted breakage on the side of the cabinet, and she had found the plastic pieces that had snapped off of the side in the bottom drawer, carefully waiting for 40 years for repair. 

When I got up from my nap, I noticed she had used a glue gun so the cabinet looks almost as good as new. 

Moiya was generous and gave us two needles the next day. I asked to borrow a needle. 

She mocked me and said, “No, I will lot lend you a needle, for you will never bring it back.” 

I replied, “You are right. I would only bring it back if it were broken.” 

She laughed and said, “Then take two.”

Arta

Milks

 

Yet Another of Life's Wonders
... the fact that I can take a photo with my phone...

The easiest way to clean out my fridge is to take products I don’t intend to use and just toss them out. 

This is an important talent in the fall when all of the other cooks have gone from the kitchen and Bonnie and I are the only ones sharing the fridge.

Even though I am not in a space of food scarcity, I just feel there is something wrong in wasting any food, no matter how small the amount, so I look in my fridge and wondered what am I going to do with almond milk, goat milk, and rice milk. 

I’ve also got some coffee cream and some whipping cream waiting in the fridge to be used up. 

Google helps every cook think backward, and even sideways. 

Just tell it the ingredients you have on hand and a recipe will pop up that will match your search. 

Another of life’s wonders.

New Metal Structure at the Tracks

... there is less than a second to catch a photo of the engine
as it comes out from behind the trees ...

On one of our walks, Bonnie and I noticed that a new metal structure has appeared just at the crossing – similar in architectural features to an outhouse, but why built of metal, we asked each other.

It was Dave Wood who could tell us what is going on down there. He loves to chat with the crews.

In fact, he is my best source of information when it comes to local news about the CPR.

Apparently, a tree fell on one of the sidings, and bent it so out of shape that it has to be replaced.

When I type that information, it seems too weird to be true. 

Still, there is a siding that is going to be placed; somehow that new structure is going to heat up the new rails and bend them.

I am going to check back with David for the details.

LtoR: yellow truck, white truck, small furnace

I only took the picture because on a walk in the woods I climbed a steep knoll and then looked over it to see a sudden drop, just 50 yards away and into the woods from that new steel structure.

While I was there a train passed. 

All of these years, and I still stand and watch when a train passes.

But when it was gone, a white truck came backing up along the tracks – I was curious as to whether those vehicles have speed limit restrictions.

Not a minute afterward, backing up at the same speed came a differently shaped yellow CPR vehicle.

Trying to get a snap of both vehicles, I accidently caught the steel structure that is going to bend rails.

I hope I get down there to see this small furnace in action.

Arta

Babies, Bags and Beyond Sale

Sisters, Helen Ross-Gower of West Sussex, England and Chris Bishop of Langdon, Alberta worked together to create this stunning quilt to support African grandmothers caring for grandchildren impacted by HIV AIDS. Helen designed and created the top using traditional blocks and appliqué. Chris machine quilted the top with intricate stitching.

My friend, Ria, works with The Ujamaa Grandmas who are having a Babies, Bags and Beyond sale. 

The link below will take you to the auction – just scroll down to see the auction items if you are interested.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScE-pE1i9potzLnudg9-60COJ6-myF6lkp88oUnDmmsz9NmFA/viewform 

 Arta