Nature calls
I woke up super early the night-before-last and couldn't get back to sleep.
I determined a little later, given my mood, that not only did I get up a bit too early for a holiday Monday, I must have also done it on the wrong side of the bed.
I'd have taken a nap... if I could have fallen asleep (cruel, cruel world).
Instead, I took a hike. I grabbed my camera, and went down in the woods to photograph the amazing fungi growing on the rotting oak trunk -- it's been catching my eye quite a bit lately. Amazing stuff.
There are more than a few of these flowers, too, which I can't remember the name of; it forms a long, small seed pod that "explodes" when touched. Very cool.
While mostly orange, there's enough yellow for me to qualify for Project Spectrum -- and dye inspiration. Formulating...
Meanwhile, today is the fourth and final day of a long holiday weekend. I spent much of yesterday helping Ali at the coffee shop -- mostly cleaning a new-to-her 5-foot refrigerated display case, and rearranging the counter area and appliances to fit it in.
I slept well last night.
I think my latest Stripe Study Shawl is going to be a little larger than the first -- the border is taking FOREVER! I still have an inch or so to go, but maybe if I knit out with the group tonight I'll make some progress and even get it done!
Your fungi epitomized yellow (imo) and I totally love it's shape. You have such an eye, Vicki.
Six down, 16 to go. ;-D
Posted by: margene | 06 September 2011 at 12:33 PM
Such a cool fungi! (They're so . . . bizarre. . . aren't they?) Great color inspiration. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Posted by: Kym | 06 September 2011 at 12:55 PM
Don't look now but I think there's a fungus amongus.
Posted by: Carole | 06 September 2011 at 01:11 PM
Very pretty! Your flower is a jewelweed, also called touch-me-not. They attract "flying jewels" (hummingbirds), and the sap from the plant is supposed to be good for calming an itch!
Posted by: Shonnie | 06 September 2011 at 03:31 PM
Chicken of the Woods is the fungus. Edible. But I'm not recommending you eat it, unless you get a fungus person to confirm. Actually, though, Hen of the Woods is tastier and I like the texture better (this one looks brownish, like a bunch of tail feathers). Yes, jewelweed, Impatiens capensis. Common lore is that it is a remedy for poison ivy, though personally I recommend avoidance. Anyhow, if you take a jewelweed leaf and flip it back and forth under the water, it looks like quicksilver. And if you put the seed pods in your mouth, between tongue and hard palate, and then press, you get the explosion in there...
Posted by: lisa | 06 September 2011 at 05:52 PM
Nice photos. Nature is a great mood enhancer.
Posted by: Elizabeth | 06 September 2011 at 06:44 PM
Vicki, only you could make a fungus look so beautiful!
Posted by: Lynne | 06 September 2011 at 08:36 PM
yes- chicken mushroom. delicious and that piece looks very fresh. yum.
beautiful pictures-now enjoy that mushroom!
Posted by: beth | 06 September 2011 at 09:32 PM
Beautiful fungi! Impatiens capensis, aka jewelweed, aka touch-me-not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impatiens_capensis
Posted by: kmkat | 06 September 2011 at 09:55 PM
It seems weird to say, "oh, pretty fungus!" But, well, oh, pretty fungus!
Posted by: nova | 07 September 2011 at 01:04 PM