Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: 365 Project

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) First of all, thank you EVERYONE for all of your wonderful comments!! You don't know how wonderful it feels to read the nice things you have to say! :) Also, I have to giggle because I knew you guys would be teasing me about the temperature and I absolutely love it! I don't know how those of you who've mentioned can LIVE in sub-zero climates, HOLY COW!! You're all crazy! :D *big hugs* Also, I wanted to say that I'm in the middle of a project right now and haven't been able to comment, which is making me nuts, but I'm hoping to get some time soon so I can come and visit each of you. :) As for me, I decided to take pictures inside today!! It was actually warm and balmy at 17 to 25 degrees today, but I saw my pink double-walled water cup on the counter with tiny bubbles sticking to the sides and thought, PICTURE OF THE DAY!! I had a great time taking pictures...sometimes there's nothing more enjoyable than a good abstract! After playing with the plastic cup, I saw a glass vase nearby with tiny bubbles too, and had more fun with that one. (Later I did go out and I got a bunch of very cool frost pictures but I didn't want to process them today. Something for another day! :) Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His first book Cane, published in 1923, is considered by many his most significant. Wikipedia: Jean Toomer

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Today marks the coldest day that I've ever experienced in a place where I live: 7°F degrees!!! That is so incredibly cold it's hard for me to understand...so I went outside because I needed to fill the bird feeders and in so doing, I had to lift the feeder off the metal pole...and I held the pole for just about 5 seconds. After about two seconds it felt like I was touching a hot iron!! WOW!! We have two bird feeders, so I used one hand for each pole, and then I shook my tail back into the house, yike-yiking all the way to the hot water to warm my freezing hands! :D :D HOLY COW THAT'S COLD!!! Always the glutton for punishment, I noticed that the frost formations were just AMAZING, so...once my fingers warmed up, I got my camera, put on my boots again, and out I went to capture frost crystals! :D This one is my favorite because it was a mistake. I was taking a picture of a different area and the flash illuminated this frost flake beautifully, showing how it grew out of the vinyl cover we have on our spa. I didn't realize they can form this way, isn't it fascinating?! (By the way, this is the same surface as the next picture...instead of being medium brown, it's burgundy, which I pushed closer to black to help pop the "frost-flake" out :) Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 New York City;– March 9, 1989 Boston, Massachusetts) was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, and stills of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artworks. Wikipedia: Robert Mapplethorpe

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Today's surprise was waiting for me when I looked out our bedroom back door, which opens up onto our tiny upstairs deck. The eves were bristling with icicles and they were brilliant with the sun shining on them! I was so excited I ran in to tell Steve so he could see too. Both of us had a lot of fun taking pictures! James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American author, journalist, cartoonist, and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. Wikipedia: James Thurber

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) We didn't get any new snow, but it's so cold that none of it melted, so I spent some time walking around our meadow looking for some fun pictures! I found this leaf laying in the snow just as the upper forest begins at the base of our hill to the ridge. One look was all it took for me to say, "Picture of the Day!" Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and model Bebe Buell. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14 but, after less than a year, she decided to focus on acting. After her film debut Silent Fall (1994), she appeared in supporting roles in Empire Records (1995), Heavy (1996) and That Thing You Do! (1996). Tyler later achieved critical recognition in the leading role in Stealing Beauty (1996). She followed this by starring in supporting roles including Inventing the Abbotts (1997) and Cookie's Fortune (1999). Wikipedia: Liv Tyler

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) We woke up to a dusting of snow and a temperature of about 27°F degrees. Very soon it began to snow more and more, and we ended up getting about 4"! More than we got all last year, in one day!! I was going to go out and get some fun macro pictures but as I started my day, I looked out to see the birds out at the feeders, which were empty! So I went out and filled everything up, put out suet, made new humminbird juice, and within minutes, it looked like a scene out of Snow White! Birds flying everywhere and enjoying the feast I put out for them! How could I resist taking pictures of them?! :D My Picture of the Day features a favorite birdy, the lovely Oregon Junco. They are bigger than the ultra adorable Black Capped Chickadee but no less cute! They spend their winters here and we love seeing their boisterous antics every day! :) James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue" which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue". Wikipedia: Langston Hughes

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) The weather forecast said it would be cold this morning. REALLY COLD. They were right!! It was 14.5°F when we got up, and it was all I could do to force myself out the door into nature's freezer! But I simply HAD to see what happened to the frost when it was that cold, so I bundled up like little Randy in "A Christmas Story" and out I went with Molly at my side. She couldn't be happier in her thick double coat and had a grand time frolicking about while I marveled at the world around me. At first I didn't see anything all that special, but then I saw some boards with screws in them and could hardly believe my eyes!! The frost looked like miniature Christmas trees! So huge and detailed!! I knew I had only about 15 minutes before I would be forced to get back inside, but in the end, I refused to go back for 30 minutes because I was enjoying the beautiful frosty sights so much! I found many "furry" screws like the one above, frosty planks, twigs, and leaves. and even I found a mushroom in the grass that was looked like it was covered in diamonds! I saw so many cool frosty things that by the time I got back to the house, I was very glad that I forced myself to go out into the cold! You all would be snorting in laughter to see me sticking my feet, one at a time, into a hot sink of water to get the feeling back into my toes! :D :D Too funny!! :D Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Contrary to popular belief, Ford did not invent the automobile nor did he invent the assembly line. Ford however was the first to develop and manufacture the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from a relatively unknown invention into an innovation that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently. Wiki: Henry Ford Explored on December 5, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) This morning Steve and I got up before dawn so to make it in time for our early eye exams and I think all of you would have snickered at how well I portrayed a zombie! :D We were out of the house by 7am and could not BELIEVE how cold it was--20.5°F degrees!!! And even though Steve had the car warming up for 5 minutes before we left, we needed to scrape the frost off the windows because it wasn't melting! :D I looked mournfully at the beautiful frosty morning as we drove along and wished I could be out there taking pictures...of the two huge flocks of Canada Geese in the frozen fields...the light shining through everything and sparkling beautifully, the misty hillsides...it was so lovely. But who was I kidding? I really just wanted to go back to bed! :D Though I hoped I wouldn't have to, my eyes were dilated for the exam, which meant I wouldn't be taking pictures until after the medicine wore off. Forlorn, I bid my hopes for frosty pictures goodbye, but I wasn't too sad because there would be plenty of opportunities in the coming weeks for more frosty goodness! After I got home, I had to wait until 1:30 pm before my pupils shrunk from eerie basketball-size back to normal, and since it was beautiful outside, I told the dogs were were headed for the ridge, and all of us exploded out into the beautiful cold day to seek adventure and good times! :D The ground was hard and crunchy here and there and though it wasn't frosty, it was still very cold at about 38°F degrees. I wondered if I might find some frost after all. Making my way carefully up the steep trail to the top, I avoided the smooth and slippery path which was slick and muddy. I'd done my share of sliding on that mud in the past, and was very careful to pick my way up cautiously with my camera and macro flash. We headed to the far end of the ridge line, all of us exuberant and happy, and along the way I found a couple of beautiful "caught" leaves glowing in the afternoon light and I also found a manzanita trunk that had twists in it that reminded me of a straight candy cane! As we neared the far end, I slowed to a stop in front of "Snakey's Log", because for some reason, it often has something wonderful for me to photograph under it! Moosey gave the log a sniff and I told him, "Move along, Mister, this is my log!" :D Lifting it up, I found a surprise! It was a very large, red centipede, curled up and beautiful. I managed to get many wonderful pictures before it slowly disappeared into a hole, but I won't be sharing those today. For fun, I gleefully showed Steve when he got home and chortled mirthfully when he looked and yelled, "EWWWWWWWWW, GROSS!!!" *cackle* Big baby. :D I recognize that my fascination with creepy crawlies is not shared by a lot of people so when I do share some of my "icky bugs", I'll save it for a day when I can warn you and let you decide if you want to see my pictures! :D However, Snakey's Log had ANOTHER prize for me...a large group of mushrooms growing on it and peering up from around the sides! SO COOL!! I got many pictures, and no, not sharing them tonight either, but maybe in the next couple of days. And yet...a third prize, which I AM sharing...and it's picture #2 tonight: another shining amber droplet with a sea of melting frost bokeh behind it! How wonderful to get another nice picture of these mysterious little droplets! After replacing the log and beginning our return walk, I stopped at a pile of logs to check them out for mushrooms....DOUBLE PAY-DIRT!!! Not only were there mushrooms, but they were covered with frost!!!! Hooray for patience and tenacity!!! I thought I might get lucky but I wasn't sure. Here then, is my Picture of the Day. A beautiful, frosty mushroom, who waited in darkness for me to upend its log so I could find it wearing nature's finest jewelry! :) Thomas Henry Huxley PC FRS FLS (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist (comparative anatomist), known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Wiki: Thomas Henry Huxley Explored on December 5, 2013. Highest position, page 4.

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) I planned to get out of the house early enough this morning to catch the frost, but I dawdled too long and it was all gone by the time the dogs and I bounced out the front door. Just in case, I headed down to the shadiest part of the "light side" of our lower forest, hoping I might get lucky. Nope. Just a tiny bit here and there, but I'd missed the real show. Oh well, it's going to be very cold the rest of the week, so I'll try again tomorrow! :) As the dogs had a fine time nosing around and looking for icky things to chew on, I began studying stumps, logs and branches. Our Oaks get positively COVERED with various lichens and fungi, and there seem to be endless varieties as I pay more and more attention. Every stick, every log, every piece of bark, has the potential of showing me something interesting and new! I feels like I'm in a gigantic toy store in the woods, with hidden surprises everywhere, just waiting to be discovered! It didn't take long to find my day's treasure trove! Examining a couple of logs without seeing anything special, I reached over to grab a fallen branch and toss it aside...when my mind registered "CIRCLE" and I froze in mid-toss. I have trained myself to look for circles, ovals, and rounded shapes over leaves, and this has really helped me to find mushrooms. In this case, the circular shape was exceedingly small, and it took me a few seconds to race along the branch with my eyes to find what got my attention. MUSHROOM! There it was! Tiny and shriveled, this little mushroom was a brand new discovery for me! In the past, I've never found mushrooms on the thinner Oak branches, only the thick ones. But here it was! And then...I spotted another! And MORE! In twos and threes, many little mushrooms were poking out through the various species of lichen and moss attached to the branch! It was like a little village of fungus, all of them so precious and tiny, ranging in size between 1 mm and 1.5 cm! I had a hard time knowing where to begin, there were so many wonderful little shapes, positions and fun groupings! My biggest challenge was finding a way to balance the unwieldy branch without mashing mushrooms and still being able to get the angles I was after. Many pictures later, I was satisfied that I got my Picture of the Day, so I lay the branch back down, and just for fun, took a very good look at the tree's trunk and a living branch...YES! Lots and lots of tiny mushrooms!! I thought to myself, "I bet they've been here all along, and I've just never noticed them until now!" Isn't it just amazing how much there is to see out in nature?!! :) When I got home, I found myself becoming overwhelmed at the sheer number of magical little scenes I'd been lucky enough to capture successfully, and it was really hard to narrow down my favorites. In the end I decided to go with this picture because the mushrooms are so cool looking the way they are peering down from their woody perches, the gloom deepening into darkness behind them. I found myself thinking of one of Gollum's riddles to Bilbo, one of the many they trade back and forth in the heart of the Misty Mountains. I have always loved those riddles, so I used the one I was thinking about as the quote for today. (If you don't know the answer, it can be found here: Lord of the Rings Wiki: The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien Explored on December 4, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

3 more pictures and a note above ! :) It rained most of the day but I kept checking to see if it stopped, and finally it did, if just for a short time. I left the house without the dogs because I didn't want to spend 20 minutes drying them and wiping off mud! And since I was off on my own, I made a bee line for the lower forest, since I won't take the dogs because there's no fence to the main road. As I left the house, I knew it was windy, but I didn't realize that stray droplets were coming down and spraying everywhere, so I ran inside to get a plastic bag to cover my camera while I crossed the smaller meadow, bracing myself against the chilly draft. Immediately upon entering the dark and moist lower forest, the wind dropped down to a slight breeze, and I was comfortable again. Ah, macro heaven! Where do I look first?!! :D I immediately began finding little mushrooms, but they were buried in leaves and were too much work to excavate, so I moved on. I found some beautiful moss-covered stumps with wonderful sporophytes and pretty lichen. Then I found some beautiful Orange Jelly fungus and some itty bitty baby shelf fungus, and also some interesting white fungus that looked like rows of molar teeth! FASCINATING! I took pictures as I went along, and then arrived at a favorite area with many rotten logs and plates of bark. Everything was bristling with tiny fungus, moss, and lichen species, and when I found a large chunk of bark, I dropped down onto my knee pads and carefully turned it over. "OHHHHHHH!!! Look at all the little white mushrooms!!! WOW!!! SO AMAZING!!! All over one section of this bark were dozens of extremely tiny shell-shaped mushrooms in various stages of development. I spent moments slowly gazing at all of them without my glasses, delighted at this stunning microscopic show I was able to enjoy. I noticed that many had miniscule, period-sized dew drops on them, and suddenly I found a droplet on the edge of an absolutely perfect, heart-shaped mushroom! Happily, I took many pictures from various angles and apertures, hoping I'd get that impossibly tiny droplet in focus. When I got back to the house, I discovered that only a few were in focus, but to my delight, the one I was most hoping for was exactly right!! HOORAY!!! :D Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. Wikipedia: Aristotle Explored on December 3, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) We had to go into town today for groceries, and I asked Steve if we could stop at a little nature area on the way so I could take pictures off the property for a change of scenery. When we got there, I spent about 15 minutes looking around and in that time I found some very beautiful small shelf fungus as well as a pair of HUGE shelf fungus that measured about a foot or more across! Incredible! I also found some really cool tiny opaque/translucent mushroom-like fungus under a log, extremely tiny BLUE fungus with white edging, and some baby pill bugs! I was really happy with my pictures and looked forward to choosing one for my Picture of the Day, but when we got home from our errands, I took a look outside, and saw some really fascinating clouds in the sky. As I stood looking, the sun set over the far hill and then I was RUNNING for my camera! HOLY COW THE COLORS!!! The colors were so intense they were coloring the walls in the house!! First I took pictures of what you are seeing here, and it just got prettier and more amazing as the seconds passed by. And then I looked out towards the south and nearly dropped my camera...HOLY SUNSET ON FIRE, BATMAN, THE SKY IS A RAINBOW OF COLORS!!! As I charged from room to room, looking for the best window to shoot from, I yelled at Steve to come and see, as I bounced out the back door and out onto our upper deck for pictures of the sunset over the Table Rocks. I've never ever seen colors like that over the Table Rocks before, and you can see that picture above as an inset or in the next picture. WHAT INSANE COLORS!!! Greg Anderson is the founder of Cancer Recovery Foundation International, a global affiliation of national organizations whose mission is to help all people prevent and survive cancer. Greg Anderson Explored on December 2, 2013. Highest placement, page 1 (#26).

6 more pictures and many educational notes from Wiki above ! :) It was a lovely afternoon, so the dogs and I did another exploration climb up the hillside, looking for anything interesting as we went. They found all kinds of yucky dead things to chew on, and I found all kinds of interesting subjects to photograph! When you have a macro lens, an acre is more like a mile or more, so there are many possibilities to discover as I amble along. First I found some interesting shelf fungus. Then some strange orange-brown fungus that was very interesting to look at. Keeping an eye on the dogs, I saw Moosey chewing on a stick and Molly and Zoe investigating something terribly intriguing to them. :D Half way up the hill I found a wooden surveyor's stake laying on the ground, and when I carefully turned it over, I found a wonderful brown spider with a lovely furry abdomen! Making my way around a tree I remembered a year ago, I looked down and found a rock encrusted with clear and white quartz crystals! FUN!! Moving up the hill, I saw a rotten oak tree and noticed something large at the base, and it looked suspiciously like fungus. Creeping closer, I gasped in delight. A FUNGUS ON MY BUCKET LIST!!! HOORAY!!!! I had found a Bearded Tooth Fungus!!!! SO COOL!!!! (You can read more about this fungus in notes on the picture above!) The fungus was a group of three clumps, taking up the space of about two feet. Each clump was about 1 foot in diameter (one of them overlapped another) Funny enough, I spent about 10 minutes excavating the lowest one because I could photograph it more by itself, but when I took pictures of this second one, which is attached to the oak tree at the left, I realized that this one was much prettier and better to show. It's actually a good thing I found these today, because they are showing age and damage from the frost, but are still in fine condition for a picture to share! :) (I also have a close-up as an inset, so interesting to look at!) By the way, something surprising happened while I was cleaning up the area for my picture. I heard a heavy "WHOMP" sound next to me, and I looked up to see a large bird which was very surprised to see me. Before I focused on the bird, it immediately took off and flew over to a tree within sight, landing on the side and identifying itself as a woodpecker of some type. The thing is, I'd never SEEN such a HUGE woodpecker before! I only saw a flash of red on its head and its slate grey back but when I got back home, I found that what I had seen was a Pileated Woodpecker !! I really had no idea that a woodpeckers could be so big, what I saw was even larger than a Northern Flicker! (Pileated Woodpecker: 16-19", Northern Flicker: 11-14"). What's also interesting is that the fungus was covered with chunks of rotten wood ripped out of the tree and it appeared to be recently dug out. I'd actually looked around to see if there were any signs of what might have been doing the digging...and what do you know?! I found the source! I only hope that my presence didn't make it leave for another possible home. I left as soon as I got my pictures taken, so hopefully it came back to finish working on its now abode. A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe. Mieder has concluded that cultures that treat the Bible as their "major spiritual book contain between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible."[1] However, almost every culture has examples of its own unique proverbs. Proverbs

3 more pictures in notes above ! :) A couple of weeks ago, I finally started going out with our Canon macro flash and forcing myself to get used to the extra weight. It's been tremendously rewarding and every day I've been able to take pictures that I wouldn't waste my time with previously. When working at a macro scale, your depth of field needs to be very deep if you want to get an entire object in focus, and that's simply not possible without a tripod or a flash if you're as close as possible and the subject is tiny. Believe me, I've tried to be stubborn, but it's a waste of time. Even though my camera handles very high ISO extremely well, a tightly cropped, extreme macro is not usable with ISO higher than about 600-800 or so (depending on various factors). Needless to say, lower ISO is better. I know it, and I was just TIRED of fighting with light constraints. I'm still learning to use this flash (and I know I have a lot to learn!), but I'm comfortable with it now and my reward is being able to look at everything with a high potential of getting a great picture! Suddenly, the zillions of tiny things in darker places are now available to me. Talk about EXCITING!! Today the dogs and I went up onto our ridge again and I made a bee line down to the end of the trail because that's where there's a high percentage of conifers and a moister environment. I found lots and lots of mushrooms and other interesting non-macro subjects (like some cool oak burls and a cute picture of Molly glowing with happiness), and enjoyed peering closely at countless logs, bark and rocks. I got images of 9 different mushrooms in groups of 1-3, and as I was about to head back, I looked down and saw this crazy lichen! I've seen one similar to this, but not so ornate and beautiful. Next to this lichen I found another very odd type of lichen too, and I will share that another day. I'm so happy that I was able to get a crisp picture of this cool lichen to share! :) (By the way, I think this lichen is called Cladonia cervicornis) Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands. Marcus Garvey Explored on December 2, 2013. Highest placement, page 8.

3 more pictures in notes above ! :) I hope you all had a lovely holiday, if this was a festive one for you! Steve and I celebrated quietly and had a very wonderful day! He played video games and I took the dogs up the hill for another exploration picture hunt! WHAT A DAY!! So many wonderful mushrooms and interesting fungus, I can't wait to get them all processed. Unfortunately I'm rushed for time so can't write much this evening, but I had a great time finding subjects. :) Today's Pick of the Day is an impossibly tiny mushroom I found inside the crevice of a rotting log. The only reason I saw it was because it was white against dark brown bark and had shiny droplets on it that caught the light. To my amazement, I found that it was on a stick and so I was able to carefully take it out for more pictures. One of the insets shows a picture of it before I took it out--LOOK AT THE DEWDROPS!!! AMAZING!! Joyce Meyer (born Pauline Joyce Hutchison; June 4, 1943) is a Charismatic Christian author and speaker. Meyer and her husband Dave have four grown children, and live outside St. Louis, Missouri. Her ministry is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri. Wikipedia: Joyce Meyer Explored on November 29, 2013. Highest placement, page 3.

3 more pictures in notes above ! :) Yesterday I wandered up one part of our hillside, and today I decided to take the dogs with me up the other side and then along the ridge line trail. I'd originally planned to take better pictures of a lovely little lichen I found yesterday but I decided to explore instead. The dogs and I went up behind our shop and disappeared into the forest above the house, the oaks almost all devoid of leaves now. As the dogs nosed around, I puttered along, looking under logs and examining everything that looked interesting. So many cool subjects to photograph today! I found some beautiful amber droplets under a log, a cute little insect nymph of some sort, and ten different mushrooms in singles and doubles! :) Creeping off the trail and examining rotting logs, I looked down and suddenly found the magnificent, huge pair that you're looking at. Easily 4-5" in diameter, they were just barely poking up through some leaves, so I spent 10 minutes carefulling excavating around them, pulling off leaves and twigs, clearing out the fore- and background to get a clutter-free picture. Regarding this pair, I think that just about every mushroom out there is pretty, but some of them are truly magnificent. To me, a frilly cap and lovely gills are just so amazing and I will never tire of a sight like this! :D (I've included another view from above to see the color of the cap: inset image only) Khalil Gibran (full Arabic name Gibran Khalil Gibran, sometimes spelled Kahlil; (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer. Wikipedia: Kahlil Gibran Explored on November 28, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Today I decided to explore a bit of the side of our hill that leads up to our ridge line. This area is many acres in size and yet, I have rarely wandered through it. Other than the trail leading straight up the hill to the top, there are no other proper trails, but the deer trails are very helpful, leading me around the countless thickets of bushes and dead trees with their grabbing branches. Sadly, the dogs didn't go because I wanted to concentrate on exploring this place and not keeping an eye on dogs. Before I entered the forest on the hill, I came to a thistle plant, which was covered with seeds about to fly away on their parachutes. I captured some images and got very lucky when one flew away while I was taking pictures! As I wandered up and into the forest, I studied branches and took pictures of many kinds of interesting lichen. Under one log I discovered two wonderful prizes: the droplets of water above which are trapped in spider web--don't they look like a beautiful earring?!--and when I was pulling away some leaves, I discovered a tiny mushroom, which I'm also sharing tonight! :) On my adventure I also found an interesting spider, a beautiful wasp gall, a baby centipede, a cool little beetle running over madrone bark, some beautiful droplets bristling on a blade of grass, and a very special find: I discovered a lichen just like the British Soldier lichen I shared the other day but instead of being red on top, it's black! I want to take more pictures before I share these--the ones I got today are crisp but I want less clutter! :) Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BC), commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Wikipedia: Titus Maccius Plautus Explored on November 27, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#38)...

3 more pictures in notes above ! :) The forecast last night said it would be cold this morning...they weren't kidding! When I went down to the gate at 7am to open and close the gate for Steve as he left for work, it was 27°F (-2.8°C)!! We stepped outside and the cold just hit me in the face. WOW, take a step back, Jack Frost, you're freezing my face with that frosty breath of yours!! I was bristling with sweaters and a coat, warm socks, hat, boots, gloves, and I had my camera with me too as I waved goodbye to Steve. I wanted to get some images of frost while I was down by the fence that borders the main road. However, I also knew I didn't have much time, because no matter how bundled up I was, that cold would find its way in through my worst defenses: my gloves and rubber boots. Knowing the clock was ticking, I quickly went to the fence and started snapping away, admiring the amazing crystals on the barbed wire along the top of the fence as I moved this way and that. Soon, my fingers started to tell me they were cold. Then I noticed the frosty pine needles on the Ponderosa Pine tree nearby and challenged myself to try for some good dof images. (Fail!) Looking down I saw pine cones with frosty edges and managed to get some nice pictures (I'll share that picture in the next few days!). At that point, my fingers were really beginning to hurt and my toes were beginning to yell. Making my way back up the drive way I stopped to take pictures of frosted gravel (I got a really great picture but...the gravel looks too much like...frosted doggy doo...*cackle*...so I can't use it! :D), and on the way I couldn't resist a few more pictures of frosted barbed wire, and then I couldn't stand it anymore and rushed up the hill and into the house, and got my hands under hot water to warm them up again...I can't believe it. I was out there for TEN MINUTES and my body was screaming from the cold!! Unbelievable!! It took a long, hot shower to completely warm up again. Totally crazy cold out there!!! Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon". Service is best known for his poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee", from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough (1907; also published as The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses). "These humorous tales in verse were considered doggerel by the literary set, yet remain extremely popular to this day." Wikipedia: Robert Service Explored on November 25, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#41).

5 more pictures in notes above ! :) I left the dogs behind today because I wanted to go to the lower forest to look for mushrooms and other interesting subjects, but this area of our property is not fenced to the main road. I can't concentrate on both photography and the dogs at the same time and I will not risk their safety, so they had to stay at home. Veering off into the darker part of the forest, I came to a stop at a very special log which I call "The British Soldier Log." On it grows a beautiful and tiny, red-tipped lichen that I have not found anywhere else on our property except on a log along the ridge line. I'll never forget how excited I was when I first found this lichen a couple of years ago. Who ever heard of red-tipped lichen before?!! SO COOL!!! :D Since I had my macro flash on my camera, I knew I'd be able to get some good pictures, and I also had some time to spend, so I decided to really study this log carefully. I took off my glasses so that I was essentially blind, but for what I was doing, I could see better than most. I spent about 20 minutes looking very carefully all over this log to see what other treasures grew there. I found other groups of British Soldier Lichen that I hadn't seen before and many types of fungus and lichen, and I even found acorns that had been hammered into a tiny crack by some woodpeckers! As I was looking around the log, I noticed a crack, which I peered through. On the other side, the perfect form of a beautiful British Soldier stared back at me! Grabbing my glasses and grinning broadly, I knew I had my Picture of the Day as I positioned my camera for a series of pictures! Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill" Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970) was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. He fought in both the First and Second world wars and was wounded in action three times. During World War II he led the 14th Army, the so-called "forgotten army" in the Burma campaign. From 1953 to 1959 he was Governor-General of Australia, regarded by many Australians as an authentic war hero who had fought with the Anzacs at Gallipoli. Wikipedia: William Slim (British Soldier) Explored on November 25, 2013. Highest placement, page 2 (#41)...

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) It was very cold this morning but the sun was shining, and this afternoon it had warmed up enough that I decided to take the dogs up on the hill for a proper walk and photo hunt! What a lovely time we had, with a smiling Molly in the lead most of the time (remember she has just 3 legs and it's a steep hike up that hill!), tail held high and waving grandly! While the dogs had fun romping, I found many fun things to take pictures of...a really cool stump with lots of texture, a bunch of mushrooms, lovely pine needles, a baby centipede, a black beetle, tiny white fungus with tiny pores and I even found bird's nest fungus in two stages: newly formed and showing its nest! I found these cool mushrooms under "Snakey's Log", which seems to attract all kinds of interesting things to it. (snakes, lizards, scorpions, insects, etc...) Today there was a beautiful black beetle which I photographed, and as I was about to put the log back into place, I noticed this curious family of mushrooms growing on its underside, leaning out to get a better look at me! HOORAY!! Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a English rock singer-songwriter and one of the best selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. Wikipedia: Rod Stewart Explored on November 25, 2013. Highest position, page 5.