The Shadowlit Realms
| Labyrinth of the Mind |
What I have learned about birds...1. They are psychic, or have telepathic abilities (that is yet to be determined)
2. They love to torment me 3. They really object to having their photo taken. While I have been suspecting for a while now that there was some conspiracy working against me among the world of my mischievous feathered friends I think today it has been finally confirmed that not only are they in an active pursuit to taunt me, but they also must posses some supernatural ability to so effectively put their plans into operation.
My suspicions that something was afoot were first raised when I was out taking my walk, upon a day on which I quite naturally decided to leave my camera behind, and there within the park I cut through perched upon one of the branches of a tree, which was only but a few feet away from me, was a hawk, whom appeared quite unphased by my appearance and did not in the least stir as I walked by.
Naturally, the next day I brought my trusty camera with me, and do you think there was hide or hair of that hawk anywhere around? Of course not, and ever since, they seemed to have developed the rather convenient way of not being present when I just so happen to be prepared.
Now recently for about week I have been mocked by this great white egret. He has taken to enjoying hanging around the creek upon which I walk by, and the first day I came upon him, perched upon a tree branch I as I prepared to take his picture he naturally takes off in flight.
The suspicious thing about this is the fact, that when I go out without my camera and see him, I will walk right by where he happens to be standing or perched, and he won't budge an inch. Then the other day I saw him again down by the creek, and the creek down this slope and I was at the top of the slope and I got my camera up and read, had the bird in the view of my camera, and at the exact moment that I was bout to hit the button to snap the photo all of the sudden he takes flight.
So today I was getting ready to go out and contemplated taking my camera, but I just had it the other day, and it was pretty foggy out, so I decided to leave it behind. And low and behold I happen upon my egret again perched within a tree, and this time he was like even closer then he usually is when I attempt to take his picture, and I was standing across from where he was in the tree, and he was just chilling there. I thought I would try and trick him to see what would happen, and I brought up my hands, as if I had my camera, and mimed taking a photo of the bird, and guess what? He did not budge an inch.
Well then later as I continue on my way, I am walking along this trail which cuts through the foot hills when up ahead perched upon a fence post, perhaps only a few feet away from me is this big beautiful hawk. I stop and stand right in front of him, and he is not in the least bit phased he just looks me.
You think that would ever happen if I had my camera with me? No, of course not.
12:05 PM - 1/15/2010 - comments {0} - post commentI may have found a rare species of mushroom...Yes, I know the odds that in my walking around the neighborhood I would so happen to stumble upon some notoriously difficult to find mushroom species, which experts who spend their time traipsing through the forest and know what they are looking for and where to look cannot find, but hey it is possible right?
I was out taking my walk today and I had my camera with me, for one because it had recently rained, so I thought that might help produce some interesting shots, and there is this egret whom has been tormenting me that I wanted to try and catch at last (I failed again there), and I had not been out with my camera in a while.
So I thought to myself since I was out walking around and had my camera why not try and see if I can uncover anything new in the mushroom world for my little project.
And as it happened I did come across this quite curious and rather cool looking mushroom that I had previously not seen before, there were two of them growing together, and one was quite large and round, and they had a sort of lavender tinge to them. I took some pictures and took the smaller of the two with me as a specimen I could study up close to try and identify.
First thing I did was look in one of the nature books I have to see if I could find anything that resembled it in there, and I found this type of mushroom known as Tricholoma that resembled the mushroom I found, so I decided to google it and I did a google image search when I saw a photo that was almost completely identical to my own photograph of the mushroom I found..
When I clicked on the link for the photo I found it was from a really good website that I have frequently used in my mushroom adventures called the mushroomexpert.com, and the page identified the mushroom on their website as being an American Matsutake.
While I was reading about the mushroom one of the things it said about it was that it had a very distinctive smell that was almost spice and foul at the same time, so I took a sniff of my own specimen of the mushroom and I thought that it did seem to have a bit of a tangy scent to it (perhaps that is just physiological), but to say the least I was skeptical of my findings, and I looked through several of the other mushrooms within the Tricholoma family but none so closely resembled the example I found, I even looked up a some different types of mushroom species but I couldn't find any others that looked as similar to the one I found as the Matsutake.
Though of course, in my amateur status I don't consider any of my identifications 100% positive, and there are so many different kinds of mushrooms and so many that do look so much alike there is always room for error.
1:31 PM - 1/14/2010 - comments {1} - post commentFun With FungiThough I cannot stand to eat mushrooms, ever since I was a kid I have had a certain fascination with wild mushrooms. There was always something about them which would draw me in, and that I took delight in. I loved traipsing around my grandma's backyard looking for mushrooms just to study and observe, and to say the least I never quite grew out of my "mushroom phase."I still have a sort of whimsical attachment to the mushroom, part of this reason is because of my ever present obsession with death, and the connection mushrooms have to death. In the literal and rather real since, if one is not careful mushrooms can be deadly as there are many highly poisonous species. As well in the more mythical sense mushrooms have a connection to the Otherworld, they grow up from the ground, and the darkness, and are rooted in the earth, so the come from the world of the dead and connect this world to the next. Along those same lines, another part of the appeal to mushrooms, is there is something arcane about them. They have played an important role for medicinal purposes as well as hallucigens within many different Pagan cultures, and have in old traditions been associated with fairies. So I have decided as a personal project to start working on what I call my Mushroom Book, part of the purpose of this project is, because I have such an interest in mushrooms, to in a creative and engaging way further my own personal knowledge about different types of mushrooms. My book is going to be a documentation of the many variety of different types of mushrooms I come across, which will include photographs of each different specimens, and for my own personal study I will collect samples of the different types of mushrooms in an effort to try and identify what they are. Once I am fairly confident in my identification of the mushroom, I will put together a brief fact sheet of the different properties and characteristics of that particularly type of mushroom. Within I am also thinking about including different legends, myths, and historical information relating to the mushroom. Though the identification part is going to prove to be quite the challenge, because there are so many different types of mushrooms and all look so similar to each other. I have already been stumped upon my first mushroom find. It bares a very strong resemblance to a type of Lactarius, but it lacks the milky secretions within the gills that the Lactarius is known for, but I have yet to find another species that resembles it. Though I am fairly positive that the 2nd specimen I found is a pear-shaped puffball. 1:08 PM - 1/14/2010 - comments {0} - post commentThe Harrowing Hummingbird AdventureI had the great fun of getting to chase a hummingbird around my yard, and climbing through bushes and plants, being poked by twigs, and feeling like some sort of stalker paparazzi at my own house, tucked back in a corner within the bushes with my camera.
I happened to be walking around the yard, with my camera, as I will sometimes to do, for particularly since I enjoy conceptual photography, one never knows just what they might stumble upon, and I happened to encounter this hummingbird. It proved to be remarkably docile (for lack of a better word) it came to land upon a branch within a bush only a couple feet away from me, and seemed not the least bothered by my presence, and would let me get quite close, it was as if it knew that I posed no threat and did nod intend the least bit of harm, so I could not pass up the opportunity. I decided to try and get some photos and that is when it decided it would be fun to taunt me. It would sit perfectly still and let me come right up close to it, and than the very moment I had my camera ready it would take off, and kept flitting back and forth between trees and bushes in the yard, would perch, wait for me to get close, and than go back the other way again. Finally it decided most generously to give me a photo opp and allow me to take some pictures of it, and than it was really cool, once it had enough and was done modeling for the day it took off, and stopped when it was up in the air on the other side of the street, turned around hovering so it was looking at me, and so I waved, and right after I waved it turned around and zipped off. So here are my best shots:      11:04 AM - 11/17/2009 - comments {0} - post commentWhat goes thump in the nightIt was a bit past 12 midnight and I was waiting for my computer to finish its virus scan, because it does automatic scans a few times a week, but sometimes I get annoyed with them and cancel them before it finishes, so I hadn't had a complete scan all last week so I thought I should wait for it finish up before closing down for the night.
There was pretty much nothing else going on and I was just hanging out waiting on it, when I heard this noise outside, it was some kind of animal, so I flipped on the back porch lights, and all I could see was a dark shape just around the corner of the house, but I couldn't really tell what it was. I thought it must just be the cats fighting, but the sound didn't sound like cats. I have heard plenty of cats fight before, and something about this seemed off, or it was a particularly viscous cat fight.
Since I was just killing time anyway, I decided to check out what was going on, I went in my room and got my maglite flash light, and then headed out, and just as I was coming outside I saw a racoon dart under the shed. Ok, it was the raccoons I thought, but then what caused it to be so agitated?
I am use to the regular visits of the raccoons, but they have before caused problems among some of the other animals. One of my rabbits got it by a raccoon, so now the hutches have pad locks on the doors and then there was the dove that got taken, I am pretty sure by a coon.
Well I thought maybe the raccoons got into a fight with one of the cats, which could be bad news, but in the past the cats and the raccoons have never been phased by each other. One time, one of the cats was lying on top of one of the patio chairs, and a racoon walked right past it, and they both seemed oblivious to each other. The cats probably know not to mess with the raccoons and the raccoons, don't seem to try and provoke them.
I am looking around, but I don't see any sign of the cats anywhere, nor any evidence of a fight, there were no fur scattered about nor any sign of blood. So I was left quite puzzled, and thought well maybe the raccoons just got into a tiff with each other.
When suddenly I spied the culprit and began to put the pieces together, and it dawned upon me, what most likely must have happened. Yes, the raccoon had a fierce battle with one of those inflatable lounge chairs, that are meant to float in pools.
One other night, when I was sitting here I had heard strange noise outside, and well the raccoons like to walk along the edge around the pool and sometimes they even get into the water to play. So one of the raccoon was up on the rim of the pool and the chair was floating in the water, and because of the wind kept drifting toward the raccoon, and he was totally freaked out by it, and came like hissing and backing away from it.
When the raccoons come around they usually come to eat whatever food is left within the cat food dishes, and at nights here it can get pretty windy, and when I went out I found the chair lying on the ground just in front of where the cats are fed. So what I think happened, the racoon was coming over for a snack and the wind blew the chair over fight in front of him and totally freaked him out because it was like some weird giant green dragon to the racoon.
8:51 AM - 7/20/2009 - comments {0} - post commentTotal Warfare: Insect StyleSo I got to have all sorts of fun today. [ note the sarcasm there] I get home from having dinner, and I have to feed the animals for the evening and I noticed in the shed there were these ants crawling around on the old cat food bags and didn't think much of it, the shed is outside, so as far as I was concerned so where the ants, and at the moment they were not really interfering with anything, so whatever, but I have a lizard who eats crickets and has to be fed on a daily basis so I keep crickets in the shed, and on the shelf near where the ants were was the box of cricket food, and I did not want them to get into that and eat all of that because it is a bit expensive to replace.
I take the box and go to set it down close to where my cricket habitat is, and I notice a bunch of ants over there as well, and as it turns out, the ants had all got into the container with the crickets and ants are militaristic and aggressive and pretty much committed cricket genocide. The whole container was filled with wants, so there really wasn't anything that could be done and it looked like most the crickets were already dead by then, so I just had to open the container and dump it all out and going to have get all new crickets now, and I hate having to kill any living thing but I don't have much of a choice now, because I can't just have the ants kill all my crickets every time I get new ones, and the shed is the only place to really keep them, so they have to be taken care of. I would have left them alone if they didn't go all Nazi on my crickets. 6:05 PM - 7/12/2009 - comments {0} - post commentSurprise!Well today I woke up to discover quite the little unexpected surprise, and I have to say at first it quite freaked me out. My snake has laid an egg. Though only it is snake Jesus it is not going to hatch becasue she has not been around any males, so the egg will not be fertilized, after having had this snake for years, this is the first time she has ever laid an egg before.
8:10 AM - 6/6/2008 - comments {2} - post commentDemeterHere is one of my cats Demeter, otherwise known as a big ball of fluff
6:53 PM - 1/2/2008 - comments {0} - post commentBanditThis is one of my rabbits, Bandit
2:04 PM - 1/2/2008 - comments {0} - post commentJavelinaI am reading this book called Skywater, just started it, but so far it seems pretty interesting and it takes place out in the middle of the desert in Texas, I beleive, and more then once they made a reference to an animal called a Javelina which I have not acutally heard of before, so I was currrious, it is not often I come acorss an animal I do not know about, and the way the decribed it in the book made it sound like perhaps some sort of boar or hog, so I looked it up. And they are quite cute little animals, I think, but then I know that does not count for much as I think just about anything in the non-human catagory is cute.
But here is what my research on the animal has turned up.
Though some people think javelina are a type of wild pig, they are actually members of the peccary family, a group of hoofed mammals originating from South America. Javelina are common in much of central and southern Arizona, including the outskirts of the Phoenix area, most of Tucson, and occasionally as far north as Flagstaff. Javelina form herds of two to more than 20 animals and rely on each other to defend territory, protect against predators, regulate temperature and interact socially. They use washes and areas with dense vegetation as travel corridors. Javelina are most active at night, but may be active during the day when it's cold.
During the summer, feeding occurs in the early morning and late afternoon, with the noon hours spent resting in the shade. They are very good runners, and have been clocked at speeds up to 35 kmph / 21 mph. While their eyesight is poor, peccaries have good senses of hearing and smell. Groups have individual territories which overlap at focal points such as watering holes and mud wallows, which are used primarily at night. These territories are usually 0.5-0.8 square kilometers in size. The inner territory (non-overlapping part) of each group is characterized by smell. Males often mark rocks and trees near resting areas with their dorsal glands. At these well-used resting spots and along the territorial boundaries are defecation sites which are visited by the whole herd. The main herd may split up inside the territory for up to two weeks. The group is completely closed, with no new members ever being accepted, even though one in every ten offspring born is rejected from the group. Population densities vary from 1-19 animals per square kilometer. Numerous vocalizations have been recorded, including snorts, squeals, barks, and rumbling growls.
9:44 AM - 12/14/2007 - comments {0} - post commentMy VisitorI have been graced by the most delightful little visitor. This is the secound time I have seen him? I am assuming that it is a he, though it could well be a she, as my research has indicated that there does not appear to by a physcial distintion between the male and the female.
At any rate, this is the secound time he has made an apperance within my backyard and seems to enjoy perching upon the edge of the pool, so if you have not guessed yet my little friend is indeed a bird, he is in fact a Black Phoebe which are rather odd but quite appealing little birds in my mind, and it really was quite a treat, becasue though they are native to this area, I really do not see them around where I live very often, in fact this is only the 3rd time I have seen one, and the first time was once last year. So I found it all very exciting the first time he appeared, but then when I saw him again today, it was quite lovely.
I do find him to be a rather charming little fellow, and I had tried to take a picture of him, but it was hard to get close enough as I haven't got a very fancy camera with zoom and all that upon it, and then when I was getting ready to take a picture one of the cats jumped up onto the fence and scared him off.
But I have found this image of a Black Phoebe online for those whom are currious.
4:08 PM - 11/5/2007 - comments {2} - post commentSound WavesBecasue of my beliefs, I do beleive that all living things have a soul and some form of conciousness and so I have had a long standing intrest in stuides reguarding plants becasue I do beleive that they have more awarness and intellegence you might say then most pople would think, and this is something the Druids have held to ages ago.
So I happen to be watching Myth Busters and they were doing this expriment with plants, and they were testing that old folk tale in which they say that talking to your plants makes them grow better, or as some say playing music makes them grow betters so they had 7 different green houses set up all with the same kind of plants and same conditions, but one of them had a woman's voice saying good things, and one of them had the same woman's voice saynng negative things, and then one of them had a mans voice saying good things and one had the same man's voices saying negative things, and then one had classical music and the other had heavy metal, and the last was the control.
So I did not catch the beginning of the episode so I do not know just how long the plants were left like that, but I think it was for a week or something, but at the end of it they came and took all the plants to compare thier mass and take mesaurments and it was shown that the music plants in general did better then the rest, but heavy metal was even better then classial, and all the talkling plants were better then the control, and there seemed to be no different between if it was good things or bad things that were said.
And well this made me wonder, if there is in fact something about sound waves in genereal and the vibrations caused by noise, and coices or music that acutaly somehow hopes simtulates the cells of the plants or is somehow good for them. Because that would examplain why the music did so well, becasue the music would send out stronger vibrations then just the sound of a voice would, and well Heavy Metal would be louder, and much stronger then classical and so it would send out even stronger viberations and waves then the classcial music. 4:06 PM - 8/31/2007 - comments {1} - post commentCorn PoppyDay 36
Well my garden is looking lush and green and has grown quite big, though I am a bit worried about the affects of the humidity, some of the plants are looking a little droopy, but hopefully they will pull through.
Corn Poppy
A hardy annual native to Europe, but has been naturalized throughout the United States. The large 3-4 inch blooms range in shades from white and pink, to red and are individually borne on erect hairy stems. The foliage remains inconspicuous allowing the flower to express its full beauty. Prefers well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade. Performs best if sown in late fall in the southern regions of the U.S. or in early spring in the northern regions of the U.S.
also called field poppy , or Flanders poppy (Papaver rhoeas) annual (rarely biennial) plant of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia; it has been introduced into Australia, New Zealand, and North America. The flowers are borne on stems some 25-90 cm (10-35 inches) long and measure some 7-10 cm across. They have four petals and are usually a brilliant red, sometimes with a black basal spot.
8:14 AM - 7/24/2007 - comments {0} - post commentSpurred SnapdragonDay 26
It has been a while I know, but I have been caught up in things. Well the garden is looking well, it is growing quite lush and green and the plants are getting taller, and now and then I still spot some new growth comming in. So it all looks good.
And now for today's flower. It is another one of my faveorties. I love snapdragons, and I was quite happy to see they were inculuded in my seed.
Spurred Snapdragon
An erect, slender annual native to Morocco, which has naturalized throughout the United States. Tiny, delicate flowers with long spurs glisten from short spikes. Flowers come in a multitude of colors ranging from yellow, red and pink to white or purple. Prefers full sun or partial shade, in various soils. Sow in early spring, seedlings are not winter hardy. Truly spectacular when heavily seeded in an isolated area.
8:16 AM - 7/16/2007 - comments {0} - post commentShasta DaisyDay 22
Shasta Daisy
A hardy perennial, forming dense colonies once established. Native to Europe, it has naturalized throughout all regions of the United States. The white petalled flowers with golden yellow centers are borne individually on single erect stems. Compared to its cousin, the Ox-Eyed Daisy, Shasta Daisies generally grow 6 to 12 inches taller and have a larger flower head diameter. Prefers full sun to partial shade in fertile soil.
Shasta daisies, with their white petals surrounding yellow centers, are similar to the familiar meadow daisy, but have larger and more abundant blooms.
8:26 AM - 7/12/2007 - comments {0} - post commentSweet William PinkDay 19
Well my garden is still growing nice and green, though some of the flowers flatered a bit in the bit of heat we have had over the past few days, but the weather seems to be cooling off some, and most the plants seem to be doing just fine and are growing in nicely.
Sweet William Pink
Sweet William is a biennial which acts as a 7:44 AM - 7/9/2007 - comments {0} - post commentBlue FlaxDay 16
Blue Flax
Pretty little sky-blue flowers 1/2" to 1" across bloom on light and graceful arching branches. Although blue flax will stand up well to heat, it prefers cool coastal summers, and it will bloom longer in cool coastal climates. For best effect, blue flax needs to be sown in mass, and is perfect for wildflower meadows and naturalized areas. If sown early enough, it will bloom the first year. Plant in spring, late summer, or late fall.
Blue Flax’s soft-to-deep blue flowers open early in the morning and close with mid-day rays of the sun. If there is no sun, the flowers stay open until late in the day and then sprinkle the ground with blue petals. Weeks later dozens of buff colored round seed capsules follow. Found in all but south-central North Dakota, this variety of blue flax ranges from James Bay to Alaska and south to Mexico and California.
Unlike the annual common flax grown for oil and fiber, blue flax is a perennial with a long taproot. Plants stand up to three feet tall; up to a dozen stems may grow from a single root. Dozens of bright blue flowers about an inch long occur in drooping branches at the tip of each stem. Leaves are narrow and very numerous. 7:02 AM - 7/6/2007 - comments {1} - post commentTree MallowDay 14
Tree Mallow
Tree mallow (Lavatera arborea) is hard to miss. It is a tall plant, up to 3 m high, with attractive flowers and big woolly leaves. Tree mallow is a Mediterranean-Atlantic herb of the Mallow family (Malvaceae). Tree mallow is biennial, i.e. lives for two seasons. It germinates and forms leaves in the first year and flowers and fruits in the second year before dying off.
Tree mallow has soft rounded velvety leaves that are 5-7 lobed and can be up to 20 cm diameter. It has woody stems that are up to 3 cm diameter and are hairy when young. The flowers are 2-5 cm across, and are lilac/pinkish-purple with broad deep dark purple veins. The flowers occur in clusters of 2-7. The dry seeded fruits are yellowish and wrinkled
Tree mallow is native to the south-west and west coast of the UK (see distribution map). It is thought that its occurrence along the east coast of Britain is probably due to escapes from coastal gardens. However, it was also probably introduced to seabird islands by lighthouse keepers, as it is thought to have been used for poultices and in the preparation of ointments to heal burns. Tree mallow grows on maritime rocks, cliffs, stony ground or coastal bare ground and can form dense stands that cover large areas. It is most abundant in nutrient-enriched soils, occurring frequently in areas with large sea-bird colonies due to input on guano. The species is frost sensitive and has been restricted to mild coastal micro-climates and is predominately lowland in occurrence. However, with climate change its distribution could potentially expand.
8:09 AM - 7/4/2007 - comments {0} - post commentPremennial GaillardiaDay 13
Premennial Gaillardia
Gaillardia aristata, Perennial Gaillardia or Perennial Blanket Flower is a short lived native perennial wild flower perfect for sunny locations and well drained soil. Gaillardia aristata Perennial Blanket Flower with it's showy flowers will be a nice addition to your butterfly garden and makes great cut flower. Gaillardia aristata prefers full sun but will tolerates partial shade. The daisy-like flowers of Gaillardia aristata (Blanket Flower) bloom summer to fall in shades of red and yellow. Blanket Flower is a native wildflower of our plains and prairies and is often used for cut flowers.
Gaillardia can be grown almost anywhere in America, and tolerates (enjoys even) poorish, well-drained soils. Blanket Flower is not difficult to grow, and it is somewhat drought tolerant - heat tolerance is excellent. Excellent in pots and as a cut flower. Deadhead to extend season of bloom.
Gaillardias are especially good for the perennial border where they start to flower in June and continue after many other flowers are killed by the frost. They are also prized as cut flowers and for this purpose should be cut when the flowers are slightly cup-shaped before the petals have reflexed. Without apparent harm the flowers may be kept. out of water in carrying them from one place to another.
7:21 AM - 7/3/2007 - comments {0} - post commentDwarf CornflowerDay 12
Dwarf Cornflower
Well I was not able to find any information about this plant but here is a picutre of it
10:47 AM - 7/2/2007 - comments {0} - post comment
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 For though All are not able to write books, all conceive themselves able to judge them. ~The Monk
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