Spinning The 8-Ball

Day 97: I've been behind the 8-Ball for the last couple of weeks, which is to say that I've been working diligently to spin up eight balls of carded wool in a rainbow range of colours. I bought the package on a whim when Paradise Fibers had their fire sale, although I don't usually like to spin in the woollen style. The first skein I made up (the yellow/gold) is a bit heavier than the others at 37 yards per ounce, but since I intended to make a hat, I will use it as the first colour on a rolled-back edge. The others all come in at roughly 42-45 yards per ounce, each skein weighing approximately 25 grams. The blends are delightful, with (you could probably guess) the green being my favourite.

Lobaria Pulmonaria, Apothecia And Soralia

Day 96: The specialized vocabulary of lichens can be daunting even with a glossary in hand. Let's talk about two types of reproductive structures as they appear on Lobaria pulmonaria (Lung Lichen). The first is "apothecium" (plural, apothecia), visible here as raised brown discs. These are fruiting bodies, i.e., they bear spores which allow the lichen to reproduce sexually with spores from another lichen. However, many lichens are capable of asexual reproduction as well. Lobaria pulmonaria is a case in point. Asexual reproduction occurs when it generates miniature clones of itself. These genetically identical offspring are called soredia (singular, soredium) and emerge through the cortex of the lichen in soralia (singular, soralium), visible in the photo as small white ring-shaped dots. Soralia may appear along the margins of L. pulmonaria's lobes as well, and often in great abundance. A similar lichen, L. linita, may be found in the same environment, however, it does not produce soralia.

Cantharellus Lanafiltris

Day 95: Extremely rare, Cantharellus lanafiltris might be confused with some edible species of Chanterelle, but although they are never found in the same habitat, knowledge of the morphological distinctions should be kept in mind. Otherwise known as the Woolly-Needled Chanterelle, C. lanafiltris is tomentose on all surfaces including the swollen, sparse veins on the underside of the cap. Although not poisonous, the texture of this fungus is unpleasant to the human tongue, however, the fruiting bodies are attractive to felines of all sizes and may cause digestive disturbances if consumed by small cats.

Nephroma Helveticum, Fringed Kidney Lichen

Day 94: It's been nine years since I first found Kidneys (Nephroma helveticum), and that was following a windstorm which dislodged them from somewhere in the forest canopy. They are not specifically noted for being a canopy lichen, although I have never known them to be anything but. I have found them in several locations, and always following gusty weather. Consequently, when I went for a short walk on Sunday in a spot where I had seen them previously, I was watching for them. I did not find any on the one-mile loop, but I did find the Life List lichen I mentioned in my previous post. That discovery took me home and back again with a fresh battery in the camera, and after I was done photographing the Hypogymnia, I turned around to leave and...well, whadda ya know! There were the Kidneys, just a few steps behind me. I had been so focused on the Hypogymnia that I'd failed to look around me. The ones in this location are smaller than those I found initially in 2016 and may in fact be a subspecies, but I do not know how to differentiate them.

Life List Lichen - Hypogymnia Duplicata

Day 93: The days or weeks after a windstorm are great times to go lichen hunting. That wasn't really on my mind when I set out for a walk on a nearby trail, but when I saw how much debris had come down out of the canopy, I said to myself, "Hmmm...I've found Kidneys on this trail before. I'd better keep my eyes open." As always I had the camera around my neck, but after I had taken a few pictures of nothing in particular, the battery indicator began flashing. To conserve what little charge was left, I decided to use it only if I found something of note. When I came across this lichen, I dismissed it as an atypical specimen of Hypogymnia imshaugii which I have found on the trail previously, and didn't bother to take a photo because it was so tangled. A quarter mile further on, I found H. imshaugii, and a niggling suspicion began fomenting in my brain. I could have circled back right then, but did not do so. Instead, I came home and uploaded the photos to the computer, and looking at H. imshaugii, realized that the earlier lichen had been H. duplicata instead. I replaced the battery in the camera with another which was nearly dead as well, and returned to the site, driven by the fact that Hypogymnia duplicata was a Life List lichen for me. This photo is now in the WTU image database, and I am a happy camper. Did I find Kidneys? You'll have to wait for my next post to find out.

The Urge

Day 92: It is irresistible, the urge to plant and grow, and despite having had very little success even in the germination phase over the last several years, I refuse to throw in the towel. Three springs ago, I swore I wouldn't try to grow tomatoes again. Unseasonably hot weather alternating days near freezing was more than they could survive. My dill bolted. Lettuce didn't sprout. The cucumbers croaked, and I said, "That's it. Not doing this again!" But I did. The results in the two following years were almost identical, and I vowed to give up on vegetables again. Historically, I've had better luck with flowers than anything edible, but even the old faithful Gazanias failed to come through for me. I considered my source (usually reliable), and decided to shop elsewhere. So here it is, January, and the Burpee catalog arrived. A BIG catalog, not just a feeble flyer showing one or two varieties in each category. I don't like perusing web pages when I am in the mood to shop. Clicking from one page to another annoys me, but a paper catalog...well, let's just say there's a good reason they used to call them "wish books." Burpee was my breakfast and dinner reading, and I soon found myself thinking about peppers and posies, never mind that I've never successfully grown a pepper of any sort. There was one in particular called "Pot-a-peño,"  good for growing in containers. I have reasonably good luck growing things in containers, and the thought of making my very own jalapeño poppers was more than I could resist. And then I spotted a dwarf form of Bells of Ireland. I've never been able to grow the full-sized variety, but maybe a dwarf would be better. I added it to the list, along with Painted Daisies (in lieu of Gazanias, which they didn't offer). I mean, daisies are something anybody can grow, right? That was as far as I would allow myself to go with the "wish book," but I'm sure when starts begin showing up in the garden stores, I'll cave in and get a tomato or two.

Crow's Mushroom Farm

Day 91: I'm having way too much fun with needle felting! I've done it before, but never three-dimensional figures. The Boleta (center) was my first, cobbled together with leftovers from a kit. The Morel (Helvella, actually, if you want to press the issue) was next, and it took me several days to make. Laying on the ridges was tedious, and in hindsight, there was a better way to do it, namely putting the light colour over the dark, and then adding dark spots to make the pits). The Amanita came together in about three hours this morning. Making the annulus (ring on the stem) was the hardest part. I made it separately and slid it down over the stipe before affixing it to the cap. The Helvella is 2.5" tall, the Boleta 1.5" and the Amanita 1.25". Next up? The Chanterelle Challenge!