Jack’s Walk

Morning at the park, ©voyager, all rights reserved

I know the perspective is wonky is this photo, but it was taken with my phone camera which I really don’t know how to use. Unfortunately, it’s the only camera I have right now because I’ve lost the charger for my real camera, making it more of a paperweight than a camera. The charger is a biggish thing that should be easy to find, but it’s hiding somewhere in the chaos that is my house right now. I’ve been scatter-brained lately so it could be anywhere and my short-term memory sucks at the best of times so it may be a few days before I find it, but find it I will. Predictably, it will be in the last place I look.

Tree Tuesday

Sent in by Nightjar, our trees this week tell a cautionary tale about the effects of climate change.

Mushroom Hunting Part 1...We went mushroom hunting last weekend and I decided to share some photos. I split them in two parts. The first doesn’t show mushrooms but rather our journey to find them. I knew that the wildfires last year had affected this area, but wasn’t sure if our favourite spot had burned or not. It did. I say green isn’t always hope because that green in the third photo is mostly acacias (Acacia longifolia) taking over the place. The future of these historical pine forests doesn’t look bright. We turned around and drove a bit south until we found a patch of forest that escaped the fires and didn’t look as dry and sterile. That’s when the mosquitoes attacked me, but there was also a lovely damselfly to make up for it.

Mushroom Hunting Part 2 will be posted tomorrow and it’s chock full of interesting photos of fungi found in the forest. Be sure to check it out. Thanks, Nightjar.

1. The road that no longer leads to mushrooms, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Flowering Money Tree

This is one of my most precious bonsai trees – Crassula ovata. My mother has got the plant before I was born and she tells me it was already relatively big at that time. It is therefore safe to assume the tree is at least circa 50 years old. I started converting it to bonsai about twenty years ago. It continues to grow succesfully each year after pruning, and in case you wish to start growing bonsai yourself, this species is ideal for a beginner. It responds well to pruning, it grows quickly but not too much so, insects do not infect it much, and if you forget to water it from time to time, nothing happens.

I want to share a picture this time around, because this year something special happened – the tree flowers. It has done it once already a few years ago, but not as much as this year.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Tree Tuesday

 

This week we have an incredible tree from Down Under that’s full of big, bright, colourful flowers, courtesy of DavidinOz.

The first 3 are of a huge Bottle Brush tree, an Australian native that has been exported to other climes.Look closely in 2 & 3 and you will see bees had at work.

4 & 5 are of a different tree, but all the better to see why they are named …. Bottle Brush.

Cheers, David

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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Tree Tuesday

This week we have a story tree from Nightjar and it’s a wonderful story of hope.

I was driving through an area that was badly affected by wildfires last year and stopped the car to quickly take this shot, because it shows the concept of “fire-adapted species” so well. Everything still looks horribly devastated. In the foreground there is a completely destroyed orchard, in the background a completely destroyed pine plantation. Trees are still standing, but they are dead. Except… there is a survivor! The cork oak tree is resprouting all over and will regenerate soon! That’s what cork is for, to insulate the trunk from high temperatures protecting its core during a fire. It’s one thing to know this in theory, but to see the advantage of this strategy so clearly was quite enlightening.

Cork tree, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Thanks so much for sharing, Nightjar. I think it’s amazing that any living thing can survive a forest fire. Nature is so endlessly fascinating.

Jack’s Walk

Early morning at the park. ©voyager, all rights reserved

The day started out a bit gloomy, but that wee spot of blue sky has grown and now the day is bright and beautiful. The temperature is even climbing and by tomorrow it’s supposed to be plus 5º C. That should melt all the snow and the world will turn brown and gray again, making it hard to see Jack on our evening walk. The boy disappears in the dark and so does his poop. At least when there’s a bit of snow I don’t have to get out my flashlight and wander around trying to find the poop somewhere amongst all the dried leaves. Snow is good that way…the poop pops and so does Jack. No flashlight required.

Ruheforst Mushrooms – part 5

Today we have the last of Avalus’ photos from the natural burial forest, ending fittingly with a view of the forest itself. These burial forests are not only natural, but also safe and life sustaining. They’re one of nature’s best ways of recycling and there’s a growing demand for this type of burial option. One of the other big benefits of natural burial is that it is much more cost effective than the traditional care offered by the funeral industry of today.

My thanks to Avalus for his wonderful tour. I’ve enjoyed walking through the forest with him and seeing the myriad of fungi that grow here.

A “Hexen-Röhrling” (lit: witches-boletes), probably a Rubroboletus rubrosanguineus. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

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Tree Tuesday

These stunning photos are from DavidinOz and they were taken along the Murray River in Swan Hill, Victoria. David says he was fortunate to be there at the “golden hour” and I have to agree. The light is golden and tinged with just a smidge of rose. The exposed tree roots alone make for dramatic photos, but combined with that light they become something special. Thanks for sharing, David.

©David Brindly, all rights reserved

©David Brindly, all rights reserved

©David Brindly, all rights reserved

Jack’s Walk

Under the category of Be Careful What You Wish For, yesterday’s November blues have turned into today’s November whites. It is very pretty if you look past the mush on the road, and I do like the way the trees look with a blanket of snow, but thundering Jesus it’s made the walking hard. Most of the sidewalks haven’t been shoveled and my winter muscles for tramping are way out of shape. Suddenly it’s the season of boots and bundling up, of wiping Jack’s feet and checking them for salt and of doing the slip and slide on snowy sidewalks and wet floors. It’s also HappyJack™ season and that’s just enough to make it all tolerable.

Frosting, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack’s Walk

 

Watching the squirrels scurry, ©voyager, all rights reserved

There’s not a trace of snow left in town, but out in the country we saw highlights of white persisting in pockets here and there in the fields. In the forest, the fallen branches and trees were frosted like cupcakes and the leaves on the ground were wet and nearly silent as we padded along. All but a very few leaves are down now and the trees stand like scratchy wire sculptures against a foreboding gray and gloomy sky. Late autumn has arrived and with it has also come the November blahs and blues. Even Jack seemed tinged with ennui today.