Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: pearls

(+9 insets!) On the Hunt for Fungus! You probably know that one of my favorite finds are mushrooms, and it's always something I'm looking for whenever I go on a macro stroll. It took a while to find any while we were at Tugman but eventually I hit pay dirt! Slowing down to a creep, I discovered mushrooms peeping out from beds of moss, attached to logs and even peering down at me from lofty heights on tree trunks. I even found an American yellow fly agaric , the blond version of my bucket list mushroom, the Amanita muscaria . It was easy enough to find various species of shelf fungus, and at one point I discovered a huge one right next to the trail that was bristling with droplets. Eying the beads of moisture closely, I couldn't help but ponder…those aren't dew drops, so what are they? Those Droplets are called Guttation and They Occur in Plant Species Too! This moisture oozes out of many types of fungus at times of rapid growth with proper temperature and humidity. They can be clear or tinted with colors from yellow to blood red. Some mushrooms use this guttation to create a protective slime that makes them glossy in appearance (I iincluded a picture of a Cowboy Mushroom found on our property, and it's a clickable link with many insets) In plant species, guttation happens at night when the pressure of excess water in roots forces moisture out of the leaves. This will ring a bell to you when you think about leaves that have beads of water perfectly arranged around the edge of a leaf! I always wondered how dew could have formed so perfectly that way…and now I know that it wasn't dew at all! This article is brimming with awesome photography and a lot more information about guttation, which I encourage you to read and enjoy! Read it and Weep: Fungal Guttation Immortalized Before Being Mutilated The two pictures of this lovely bracket fungus turned out to be very fortunate timing. Located along the longer Eel Lake trail, Steve and I had admired this prominently positioned fungus each time we passed and when I came back with my macro lens I got the pictures I'm sharing today. A couple of days later we made our successful hike to the end of the trail and back, and admired the eye-level bracket fungus on the way in. On the way back we encountered a very noisy group of kids headed our way, led by an obnoxious young adult. Disturbing the peace of the forest, they yelled back and forth and none of which were observing safe distancing. We noticed that the leader had a knife and was looking around and cutting things off trees. A while after we passed by, I noticed a bracket fungus with a huge section sliced off its bottom. Wait. THAT WAS THE BEAUTIFUL SHELF BRACKET I'D PHOTOGRAPHED! Suddenly it hit me--that jerk was mutilating everything he found of interest along the trail! That explained the branches, bits of mushroom and fungus we kept finding littered along the path as we made our way back. What a shame. What a jerk. But I did get these pictures for all of us to enjoy! Fungus Insets Galore! I'm including images of the wonderful mushrooms I've processed from our trip to William Tugman State Park and I hope you enjoy the show (I also added the few I put on earlier trip posts too) I hope all of you are doing well, keeping safe, dry and warm! Explored on 2/26/21; highest placement #4.

(+10 insets!) (please view large!) :) What a gorgeous day! The species of flowers in bloom on our property right now is just amazing…they are so beautiful! So many colors, shapes and sizes, it's mind-boggling! To be honest, it actually makes me feel very stressed out. Every year it's like this…I have the urgency to take pictures constantly and yet I must resist and force myself to just relax and let the flowers come and go. I have to remind myself that there's just no way to keep on top of all of the species of flowers and even if I could, I'd never be able to process all of the pictures. Case in point: years ago I worked on a project, "The Flowers of Spring and Summer" and did my best to photograph, process and post every species in bloom on our property. Over the months I ran myself ragged as I explored every inch I could get to on our 26 acres. In the end I got so worn out that I just couldn't work on the project anymore. So now I have folders of pictures that have not been touched. Sadly I don't even know where I left off so it would be a challenge just to figure out where to pick up that torch. Ugh. Do you ever feel like you should be out there taking pictures and processing everything? It's such a struggle. But you know, it's just not a race you can win. It is, however, a good time to practice relaxing about trying to document everything. I feel like I need to document every wonderful thing I see and experience and I think that learning to chill out about this is something that would be good for me. I've noticed that as I get older, I'm not so frantic about this, but it's still hard sometimes. Especially now with so many pretty flowers and plants exploding so vibrantly everywhere. :) But it really is a fact: we will never ever be able to get through all of our pictures and that's just the way it is…so, I'm learning to deal with it! :) Ok, today is Macro Monday! The theme is "white on white" and the first thing I thought of was my wedding dress! It is such a pretty thing but not overly fancy. The dress has all kinds of lovely iridescent-white beads sewn into the fabric in a leaf and flower design that is just so pretty. The problem is that the thread is wrapped in a gold foil and unfortunately takes away from the "white on white" concept of this week's challenge. I did my best though and I hope that the threading isn't too much into the realm of "cheating". I had better luck with my veil, which is white with iridescent white bugle beads sewn in at the edges and made for some really fun pictures that are more in keeping with the challenge. Also, I got a simple but usable picture of the ribbon sash which turned out nicely. And finally, Steve bought me a lovely string of pearls which he surprised me with on our wedding day…they are so beautiful and delicate. I have only worn them a couple of times but I love them so much. When I looked at my pictures, the pearls were the easy favorite for my main picture. I am sharing 10 extras as insets (one shows a wedding picture to see the dress! Pam, I looked up "white" on your photo stream and though I did find plenty of white flowers and such, I was thinking about wedding pictures, so I tried that and found the wedding collage you posted in 2015 which I remember so clearly. It's so lovely. And you know what I forgot? We both got married in 2005! You in January, and Steve and I in November! It's been quite a ride, hasn't it? But a wonderful one with its marvelous ups--and for me, things are better than ever. I do have you to thank for helping me to figure out how to fix some things. I will always be indebted to you, Pam my dear. *BIG HUGS always* Explored on 4/30/19, highest placement, #8.