Pictures for Pam, Day 82: Furry Mushroom

(+2 insets!) (looks better at full size for more fuzzy details!)

Looking over my photo stream today, I've noticed a lacking of MUSHROOMS! That needs to change! :) I have a couple more mushrooms from my trip down to San Anselmo but I am not sure they are "main picture worthy." I do have one which I've finished and you'll see it as an inset.

This furry little mushroom I'm sharing today was a wonderful discovery. A month or so ago I'd decided to wander around our lower forest on a very wet morning after it stopped raining. I was hunting for mushrooms and other fungus and focused my attention on sticks and branches that had fallen to the ground. I found many interesting lichens and mosses, and I also discovered some micro mushrooms too.

After studying a lichen-encrusted stick, I spotted another one nearby and picked it up carefully. First I found a micro mushroom...but then I spotted something so small I could hardly even see it. It was maybe the size of a lower-case "o" and it was FUZZY. It looked like maybe it could be a mushroom so I took a set of pictures. Studying the branch even more carefully, my nose nearly touching the surface, I spotted another one and it was most definitely a fuzzy mushroom! It was sitting next to several more that were just starting to grow. My excitement had no bounds! I'd never seen such a cool little fuzzy mushroom!

My main image features this darling little mushroom. My first inset shows a family portrait as it stands next to some extremely shy family members who don't want their picture taken! :D Aren't they adorable?! They are so small they are barely visible and I am so delighted that I got pictures to share. I went back the next day to take more pictures but I couldn't find the stick. So sad! I will keep my eyes open, maybe someday I'll find more!

My other inset was taken down in San Anselmo on our first hike. In fact, Nathalie found them and I heard her whoop in excitement when she spotted the group. I could see what all the fuss was about when I got to her. The group was HUGE! I think they must have been about 1.5 feet across from one side to the other. And STRANGE...they are such an odd cluster, aren't they?! I love them! Thank you Nathalie for discovering these mushrooms (and you found the others I photographed too)!

Pam, I hope today was better than the past couple. I know you've been on a rough ride. Maybe the sun will come out soon for you. *hugggggs*

Explored on 1/29/19, highest placement, #1.