Moss on Rock

A close up of the puffballs, yes there really are puffballs this small, I'm thinking these are from last year.

A view of the opposite side.

The rock upside down and showing the third side, here you can see the root matrix of the various plants living on the rock, which I think is flint.

Moss on Rock

Moss on a rock with lichens and a couple of fungi (puffball variety). Yes I left this in the woods, in fact I put it back eactly where I found it.

Bellwort

A view showing how the blossoms are attached to the stem.

Bellwort

Here you can see a blossom hiding under the leaves.

I love how the leaves just pop out of the top of the stem.

Uvularia grandiflora or Bellwort

Mayapple beginning to Unfurl it's Leaves

Bloodroot without the blossom

I think the petals must have fallen off of the flower.

Hepatica acutiloba

A close up of the green blossoms, the leaf margins towards the stem are a deep maroon to purple color like the plant below. This could be Hepatica americana or Hepatica acutiloba, I believe it to be the latter.

I'm not sure if these two plants are the same or not, if they are the same they are in different stages of color. I took them the same day in the woods, the one below has green flowers. Now that I have a little time I'm working on identifying them.

Wood Anemone

Bloodroot

Marsh Grass

We have several marshes in our local area, this photo was take awhile back, a few days ago I drove past the marsh and the spring burn had been perscribed. I can't wait to see the new prairie plants break earth.

Great White Egret

There were three white egrets in this oxbow off of the main river.

White Trout Lily

Spring Beauty

We have quite the prairie plants in our green belt areas.

Coot

This is a water bird, not a duck! It doesn't have webbed feet and it doesn't have a bill it has a beak like a chicken. I've been told that they are bad eating.

Coot

This is a water bird, not a duck! It doesn't have webbed feet and it doesn't have a bill it has a beak like a chicken.

Moss

A lovely clump of several mosses in the woods

Red Velvet Spider Mite

Kentucky Coffee Bean Tree Pod

Someone was munching on this black locust pod, it's great how the inside is a bright acid green color!

Bloodroot

Dutchman's Breeches

Visually Jarring

I have a photo of Neil Smith prairie and there are plastic bags blowing across the grass as the buffalo graze. It's very jarring to see the white bags there, they look quite garish.

Drought?

The wind is coming out of the south east again. The wind has blown out of the east for most of the year now, this means one thing and one thing only - Drought! The big question is for how long. The last time this area was greatly stricken with drought was the Dust Bowl way back when, so most folks don't know how to function in drought conditions.

Roses

The Weather

Does the current weather suprise or frighten me??? No. I remember a weather pattern like this some twenty years ago. And we saw the buffalo chasing the coyote this fall, so no it doesn't suprise me.

Easterly Winds

Bear no good, and this time I suspect that that's very true. The sky is beyond wicked looking right now, and it's started to rain a bit. I keep expecting to hear the thunderous roar of locusts, we are long over due for said invasion.

This is

what makes the heat of summer bearable!

Water Everywhere

There's a creek or two that runs through the park down into the Des Moines River. I had a blast taking pics of the rocks in the water; lots of minnows in the water. Another reason for going down early in the morning is the water isnt' being disturbed by all the general public swimming and playing in the streams.

The land of

These are the things that faierey tales are made of. Is it a horses head, an alligator, an mythological beast of times past?

What is it?

Found this tree out at Ledges, I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, looks very interesting though. I'm wondering if it's some sort of fruit in those papery husks. There were a lot of these trees out there, growing at the base of the limestone cliffs. They were very spindly, no more than 12-15 feet tall.

Townie

Living in town is making me soft, I'm out of tune with nature and I truly dislike this. Its time to get the house done and on the market. I need nature, probably more than it needs me, but I definately need to be out of town!

Deer at Ledges

I'm hoping that we will have more time to explore the park come September. The place is loaded with deer, can't wait for deer season to open up. I'm hoping to get a few hides to brain tan this year.

I don't know if you can see the deer on the hillside or not. John spotted them while I was photographing tree snails that were laying on the trail.

I've decided that we need to go out early in the morning when the park is relatively quite, and the wildlife is less dormant. The place was packed with people today, the birds were fairly quite.

Ledges State Park

Bee Balm

We went to Ledges State Park today, the hottest day of the summer yet, and I took 229 pictures with my digital camera. This lovely bee balm was along the ditches, I tried to get the bees but they were uncooperative.

I think we are going out to the prairie here in an hour so I can take more pics of the flowers.

East Winds Again

I've heard told that an east wind bears no good. It's blowing out of the south east again, and at a pretty good clip I might add. It is really dry here, very dry actually, this can't be good.

Three Things

Three things that no one wants to hear, even those who should know better.

Drought Locusts Famine

Thoughts

By simply believing that someone has power over you - you have given them the power to control you.

Wind Song

I had a flute that would not play.
When I held it up to the Wind it played a mournful song.

Quote for the Year

'It is always good to leave the things that "no longer grow corn" and to
plant new seedlings to sprout new growth.' Sunfeather

Tolerance Quiltlet #1

This is partially done, now I just need to print it off onto fabric and stitch it. It'll be 8.5 x 11 inches. I'm making this for the "Tolerance or Not" Challenge.

The Snow Walker

Just watched the last half of a really good movie called the Snow Walker. The movie is based on the novel "Walk Well My Brother" by Farley Mowat, I will have to see if I can't get the book to read. The landscape (scenery) in this movie was stunning. I admit while I know this kind of landscape to be harsh and unforgiving seeing this movie creates a deep desire to move to the north country.

It is refreshing to watch a movie that is about the soul. Here is the link for the movie: http://www.snowwalkerthemovie.com/

Fall is here

Well at least the wind is starting to come out of the north, yesterday it was coming out of the south. Pretty odd for this time of year. We were out taking pics today, here's a good one of the mature field corn.

Gourds

I'm planning to make this one into a gourd rattle.

Buffalo II

Buffalo

I wanna own about seven hundred thousand acres of prairie so I can have buffalo, prairie dogs, elk and other prairie beauties! I'm done in for the rest of my life now, yesterday I was so close to a buffalo I could have touched him, which I didn't dare do - these are highly unpredictable and dangerous animals. Gorgeous, incredibly gorgeous! Massive, I've never seen an animal with a head that large before.

New Loom

Have you ever felt that by one single action that all was well with the world again, like the space time continuum was put back into place? Well it did for me yesterday, when I said yes I would take the loom. John and I drove to Ottumwa and bought a used LeClerc loom in mint condition. (It's my birthday present) The owner is moving to Florida and needed to downsize. She included a bunch of weaving books, many out-of-print books and a slug of yarn, mostly expensive wools and linens with the loom. The standard shuttles and extra heddle stuff came with the loom as well. It's a four harness and is 42" wide.

What I love. Why am I not doing what I love and what I do best? I don't know that is an excellent question. I supposed I am bogged down by daily tasks, that a fledgling business demands. Why am I not doing those things for the business? Simple I have no one to help me, the things that I do best, the things I love most are incredibly labor intensive, I need help with everything else if those things are to get done. Dyeing, painting, printmaking of fabric and fibers, and then turning them into exquisite pieces of fiber art.

The new loom will serve me well, part of my art has not existed for lack of a loom. I use many techniques to arrive at a final piece of art. Now I can create again and I can finish what I have started, I have my tools now.

More Bees

Here's a bee on the garlic chives, that are no more.

Thistles

Here's a pic of a thistle that is growing in my backyard. The hummingbirds and bumble bees are in love with this plant. I do believe that they like my gourd blossoms a lot also. I haven't seen a single honey bee this year.

Thyroid & Insulin Resistance

I've recently become interested in alternative medicine. Well not all that recent, but now I'm willing to try something different. My thyroid is showing symptoms of stopping, hwoever my doctor keeps telling me that my thyroid is fine. Funny I have an aunt with no thyroid at all, she had thyroid cancer as a young woman, and her thyroid readings always come back as being normal.

So I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I'm hoping that through a radical diet change, and maybe a lifestyle change as well, I'll be able to help my thyroid out a little. This could be mere wishful thinking, but I'm hoping.

I've been told repeatedly is that soy interferes with thyroid production. I"m already allergic to soy, but find more and more sources of it in manufactured foods every day. Half the time they - the food manufacturers- don't even have to tell you it's there, they just call it protien. It's up to you the consumer to know what that means. So I'll be posting links to what I hope are informative or at least helpful.

Mind you if my doctor told me today that my thyroid was shutting down and that I needed to take a supplement I'd be on that like flies on honey! But I doubt I'll hear those words from her for quite some time.

Diabetes also runs in the family, I'm already hypoglycemic, suffer from low blood sugar. Since the endocrine regulates the thyroid and the pancreas I think it'll be well worth the effort.

Yellow Leaves

If I can figure out how to post pics to this blog I'll post a pic of my neighbors tree, the leaves are shock yellow.

Here's pics of my garlic chives, hubby cut them down about 20 minutes later, they are quite prolific in their ability to spread seeds! I have them growing every where, mainly places where I don't want them.

What's worse is I can't seem to get their roots out of the ground and they are taking over my herb garden, what a mess that is, I'm not even sure what's in it anymore, other than sage and mint.

Winter

I love winter, in fact I'd be the first person to tell you that I live too far south. If I had my way about it we'd be in Alaska right now. With that said my dad tells me that the Farmers Almanac states that we will have a mild winter. Hmmmmmmmmm I don't think so. Summer came way to early this year, and it's cool out now, very unusual for this time of year in Iowa.

So I'm working on making some new mittens out of old recycled wool sweaters, maybe a hat or two will materialize. I want to make some throws while I'm at this. With the coming fuel crisis, real or not, I have plans to keep my house cool this winter, to keep my costs down. That means wool to the rescue. I love wool anyway so this won't be too much of a stretch for me. Dad is coming to live with us in November, I sure hope he likes wool, cuz if he doesn't he's going to be a might bit chilly! I will need to make him a wool vest, DH and I each have one already, I love them! We both have two wool shirts each, DH has an Alaska Shirt (Woolrich) and it's really really heavy, I need to get one - or find the wool fabric to make one that weight - for myself.

Someday we are going to have to figure out how to put an alternative heat source in this house. I'd love to have a wood furnace/wood stove but dont' want to be limited to just wood, or just corn. It'd be nice to have a stove that burned more than one type of fuel - who knows cow patties may be in vogue as a fuel source someday!!!

About this Blog

I am about the most politically incorrect person you will ever meet. I don't go out of my way to be rude, racist, or anything like that. I am very accepting of other peoples, thier beliefs, even if I don't believe them myself, their lifestyles - just don't tell me about your sex life please.

I refuse to be apologetic for simply being white. Actually looks are decieving because I'm not 100% white. And this is a lot of what makes me un-PC.

Recent experiences have taught me that it's just not just whites that are racists. Case in point I was looking at NA herbal books, at my local Borders, when a young NA man proceeded to say all sorts of hateful things about me, while I was sitting in front of him, like I couldn't even hear. Most of the comments were directed at my whiteness and how fat I was. He then proceeded to inform his wife, I do believe she was his wife, that he could teach all of this "stuff" (ok I left out some really nasty adjetives he used) at the University. I inwardly chuckled when she softly chided him, telling him "not with an attitude like that".

I really wanted to tell this young man that not everything is as it seems. But I didn't as I knew it would only fall upon deaf ears. I also wanted to point out his racist, discriminatory comments, again I knew it would only fall upon deaf ears.

A preacher years ago gave a sermon about loving your enemy. He stated that loving your enemy is not only loving those who do wicked things to you. Loving your enemy, as Christ commanded, also extended to those you don't like and to those you disagree with, be it politics, religion or lifestyle. My husband always wants to argue this one with me, but I believe that the preacher was right. Love is loving some one exactly as they are with no expectations what so ever. This is the hardest thing for most people to understand, and it's the biggest hurdle towards any sort of peace that the peace mongers harp about.

Tolerance won't get you there. Tolerance is such an ugly word anyway, I mean to simply tolerate someone one, implies temporary-ness anyway. Only love will get you there, and in order to love others you can't focus on yourself anymore, something this culture will never understand.

There are days when the bowels of Alaska and the wilds of the Yukon look very inviting.

Wisdom Keepers

Be still, and know that I am God; Psalm 46:10

I think this has to be the hardest thing for humans. Being still. Being quite. Listening to the silence.

Gourd Questions

Or maybe it's just an observation. - I posted this on a chat list earlier.

I planted my gourd seeds back in early June, zone 3-4 (USDA says 5 but I"m not buying it). We had a weird May this year, a couple of heavy frosts and one major freeze, rather late in the month. The plants were mowed off once by accident.

They are now very viney and very leafy with lots of blossoms. Do I need to quench the vine growth at this point, like I would the tomatoes and grapes, to encourage fruit growth? Nature is indicative of an early hard winter this year. I'm concerned that continued vine growth will prevent gourd formation, size and wall thickness.

Another obsevation. The Blue Jays came through early this year, about a month or so actually - flying south. Their tree had been cut down due to whatever. Needless to say they roosted in my Maple tree this year and they were not happy with the demise of their tree. I wish I had had my digital camera charged, they were here mere hours.

Pictures

Eventually I will learn how to post pictures to this blog as well. I've been posting pictures of the sky on my other blog Natural Dye Journal.

Once I get all of this dual blog stuff figured out I'll start posting to this blog. My other blog is supposed to be about natural dyeing, and everything connected with that area. Somehow it seems as if everything is getting dumped into that blog exclusively.

Grapes

Bird was eating my grapes tonight, all of them actually, and I think she was enjoying herself tremedously. Tomorrow I'll try to pick what is left hoping I have enough to make some jelly.