Ruheforst Mushrooms – part 3

It’s another interesting mix of fungi photographed by Avalus in a natural burial cemetery.

It’s hard work pushing up. A still deadly false death cap pushing up. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

It’s the real Sluglife! Note the dry, dead mosses. They were like that in all the forest.

Proudly presented!©Avalus, all rights reserved

Iggi Pilz, a pun on Igelpilz (hedgehog shroom) and Iggy Pop. Don’t know why. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

You have a good eye, Avalus. So many different types of mushrooms! I’ll be sure to check back tomorrow to see what else you found.

 

Metal Magic – part 3

The next installment of kestrel’s magic making is here and there are tools to ogle.

 

It’s time to meet some of my favorite tools, the raising hammer and the planishing hammer. The faces on them are different shapes and that helps to shape the metal in different ways. The first one I’m going to use is the one on the left, the raising hammer. 

©kestrel, all rights reserved

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Wednesday Wings

Goldfinches from Nightjar.

I simply love the light in these.

goldfinches

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

goldfinch

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

goldfinch

She loves me, she loves me not…
©Nightjar , all rights reserved.Click for full size.

goldfinch

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

goldfinch

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

Horses For Caine

(Or, When I Think About People. This is what happens.)

This share has been a long time coming, because it felt right to ask Rick’s permission to share – mostly I’m of the opinion that I’m allowed to share my own art, but I wanted to be sure this time. Thank you, Rick.

Back at the end of spring, I was finally ready to make some art for Caine, and I had it all figured out – but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do a companion piece for Rick, because while we, as readers, may not have seen much of him, he was certainly there for Caine and deserves more than general acknowledgement. I had him down as more of an Air person, but I double-checked, and Caine had no doubts – Water it is.

Caine, of course, is Fire.

Yes, the photo is bad quality, but it’s the one photo I took that makes any sense, and… I dunno, it works for me. Most of my art goes out into the wide world and I never see it again. I try to keep track, and maintain an archive, but I’m lazy like that and some of my favourite pieces have no record at all.

Both pieces are about A5 (half a Letter-sized piece of paper, for you NAmerikaners), done in acrylic, and both were inspired by incredible people. I’m glad to know that they arrived in time for Caine to see them.

They’re Rick’s horses as much as they are Caine’s horses.
©rq, all rights reserved.

And no, there will not always be time. But sometimes there will be just enough.

I miss Caine.

Youtube Video: Are electric cars really green?

Potholer 54 delivers an excellently researched video, as usual. I have just watched it and since I have nothing better to post at the moment, here it is.

Unfortunately there is still one big hurdle in the way progress here. I wanted to actually buy an electric car, but unfortunately the upfront costs are still to prohibitive for me. No matter how much the prices of electric cars have fallen, the purchasing cost of an electric equivalent of my current car are three times higher. Whic means I would have to save up money for three years to get that car. And in the mean time I would not have any car whatsoever.

Jack’s Walk

Baby Jack, ©voyager, all rights reserved

I was looking through some old photos over the weekend and I came across a few of Jack’s puppy pictures and I thought I’d share just how little my boy was when he came to live with us. Jack was 7 weeks old when we brought him home. He was one of 14 puppies in the litter and we had first pick. The choice was easier than it sounds. I picked up Jack and held him and he nuzzled me and called me mom and suddenly the other 13 puppies were out of the running. This photo was taken his second day with us.

November Light

Capturing light is where all the magic happens in photography and Nightjar is a master at it. Her latest photos come as a gift to us all at a time when light magic is scarce. Please be sure to click-through to see all the photos. They’re brilliant.

As promised, to cheer up Voyager and everyone else who may be struggling with a gloomy and gray November. All photos taken on November 10. The light is already not as warm as in October (https://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/2018/11/09/october-light/) and when combined with raindrops it becomes magic. There are still hawkweed seeds suspended from single threads of spider silk but now they are wet. There are mushrooms and pink heather flowers. Vineyards are putting on a show. When the sun shines, November light is lovely.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Ruheforst Mushrooms, part 2

A few more of the mushroom specimens snapped by Avalus at the natural burial forest.

Everything was totally dry and this one excreted water. I was (and still am) very puzzled. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

Tiny guys squeezing between the bark and the wood. I was fascinated. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

©Avalus, all rights reserved

Just a group of sulfurshrooms with a green sheen. ©Avalus, all rights reserved

Thanks Avalus. I really like the different perspectives that you’ve used. Each one seems perfectly suited to its subject. Check back tomorrow for the next installment of ‘shrooms.

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

Light Magic

It’s an open secret that LED fairy lights were invented for me. I love lights and there’s an abundance of solar powered lights around the house in summer and (rechargeable) battery lights in winter inside. So to combine resin and lights was a natural step. Especially since Marcus sent me a crystal mould and a handmade big globe mould.

I first tried my regular resin with the crystal. I absolutely love how the colour came out and how the copper metal foil really makes it all mysterious.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

But, but, the resin clearly wasn’t the right one for such a project. It cured too quickly and with too much heat. You can see the bubbles all around.

resin crystal

©Giliell, all rights reserved

So back to the computer to get a different resin. This one cures a lot more slowly and with less heat and is more suitable for bigger projects.

resin crystal

©Giliell, all rights reserved

This one cured nicely without too many bubbles, though the longer time meant that my metal sunk down more than I like it. The opaque sheen is due to the acrylic paint I added for the colour.

resin crystal

©Giliell, all rights reserved

I used one of the solar fairy lights Marcus sent in this project.

Now on to the big globe. I first ran a trial freezing water and then deemed it suitable.

resin globe

©Giliell, all rights reserved

The mould is not quite perfect with some bubbles at the top, but with such a project you won’t notice that anyway. This time, my metal rose to the top and there are still some bubbles, but I think they add to the otherworldly flair.

But man does that resin eat itself. I swear the mould was filled completely. It#s not a problem here, since a perfect globe wouldn’t rest nicely on my window sill, but I think it would be best to refill part of it after a day or so.

resin globe

©Giliell, all rights reserved

I Had Plans

They didn’t include a break, but as it happens, ’tis the season.

Last y’all heard of me, I was becoming a star, and I expected to be back on track by now – turns out, two post-1am nights plus a workday plus a day of rogaining followed by a day of children’s tae kwondo tournaments isn’t exactly a recipe for recovery (after 22km and a record* 48 points in 4 hours on Saturday, I hope you believe me I was practically dead on my feet come Sunday, but parental duties meant I got to sit in a gym for most of the day, keeping a little person’s nerves calm)… and then there was the work trip to Vilnius, and then the centennial celebrations plus my mum’s birthday this weekend. That’s a long list of excuses, but there you have it, at my age, excuses is all you have. I’ll be back on track with a couple of more Macedonia posts (have to finish with those before the next trip comes up, and that, as it turns out, has come up a lot faster than expected, by request of the project leaders and I have two kinds of thoughts about that), I have at least one more post from Austria, and then a few randomly selected picture essays from the summer and early autumn.

In the meantime, please accept my apologies, some rather boring photos from the show (I am in the circle of light) and this lovely song by The Stars, which quite often reflects my ideas about life, planning, and my own expectations. I can write a script and set the scene as much as I want, but life provides its own twists and turns and cliffhanger endings. In other words, I am fine, and I apologize for not keeping up with the rest of you, especially with my forest raking. ‘Intermittent’ is my middle name.

  • A record for my team and I, since we’re not hardcore and we don’t run, we maintain a fast walk, preferably between 5  and 6 km per the hour, take breaks in picturesque locations, and collect as many points as we can. Previous high-scoring events have topped off at 43 or so.