Our Own Nature Trail

Willow
It’s easy to overlook one’s own backyard when there are so many other options around.  But we do have nearly an acre and a half and Jim has done a ‘skookum’ job putting drainage ditches and trails in and lots of little fir trees he hopes will be Christmas trees one day… So I went back for a stroll the other afternoon…
Jim I know, that’s not me, but I was holding the camera…
Exhibit A……. what I think is called “Orange Peel Fungus”, for obvious reasons!
OrangePeel Fungus1 and for a closer look:
OrangePeel Fungus
So, when you think of Fungus, don’t just think yeast infections and athlete’s foot!  There are some pretty nifty fungi out there.
Here’s another, a frilly sort:
Shelf Fungus
A tour of our back yard would not be complete without a shot of a little fir tree.  There are 98 of these little fellows out here, and they’re not so little now as they were when Jim rescued them by hand from being mowed down at the roadside!  Each one’s been hand-plucked,  hand-planted, and hovered over by Jim’s watchful eye ( :
Fir tree
Need a rest yet?
Along the way you’ll find rustic benches crafted by Jim…
Benchandtable
This one makes a fine get-away on a sunny afternoon. It’s at the far back of our acre in an area cleared for the planting of… what else,  little firs, and pines too.
And now we come to the ‘burn’ pile.  A willow tree is a beautiful thing but ours is old and in a great windstorm the year we moved here a giant branch came down generating a lot of wood.  This is some of the remains that never qualified for the woodstove.  It will make  a great bonfire one day!
Woodpile

That about wraps up today’s tour.  In closing, may I wish you Season’s Greetings! with a photo of our very own holly growing wildly out back…
Hollyberries

Sloggin’ up Scout…

Salal
Well, the sun was shining this afternoon. No excuse not to get out. So I tromped off up Scout Mountain–

This is salal. Its stiff, waxy leaves make it a good ‘keeper’ for using in flower boquets. My old Italian neighbor and her friends used to make money on the side cutting bunches of it to sell to the florist shops in town. I’m told it is even shipped as far as Japan. Here, it is commonplace. The bush is thick with it and it can grow up to shoulder high…

firbark
This gnarly, moss encrusted fir bark caught my eye… what texture.

louieonscout
Louie, of course, beat me to the top. But he’s nice. He keeps checking up on me to make sure I’m following… I love this little toadstool, glowing with the afternoon sun from its spot all nestled in moss…

mushroom
And here is our neighborhood. Excuse the haze… we really have very clean air…If you want to see our house, just look for the biggest willow (the yellow trees) and beside it you’ll see a blue house…. The red roof is our neighbor’s…

ourneighborhood
And of course the walk, no matter how tiring, is always worth the while for the refreshing view of things…….Here we are looking out across Malaspina Strait.

skies
And that’s the latest news and views from my neighborhood…. No philosophizing tonight.

thestrait
“How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory! How plainly it shows what He has done!
Each day anounces it to the following day… No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; yet their voice goes out to all the world!” Ps.19:1-3TEV

Up Scout Mountain

It was one of those glorious Fall days when the air is crisp and the sun is shining and you simply must get out and do something!
Heading up our local little ‘mountain’ is always its own reward.  Today was no exception!
Louie and I met Jim up top.  He prefers the direct route up the face and I the meandering one that gives you time to think and sing and well, to trudge I guess.  The process is part of the joy for me.
The song resounding in my head today is a new one to me
Hallelujah to my King! by Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown
Funny thing was, instead of singing out loud I was practicing a little sign language (I’ve been teaching myself  Sign Language using worship songs) as I traipsed along, unawares there were a couple hikers at a viewpoint I was passing.  Hmm… not sure what they thought I was waving my arms about for.  Oh well.  Probably it was only me that thought anything of it.  Almost never anyone else on the trail…
 October up Scout 027October up Scout 032   

At the top we shared snacks–orange chocolate truffles! (Jim’s idea) and an apple (mine)… then I huddled up against a rock in the sun but out of the breeze, and listened to the wind in the pine boughs and squinted out at the brilliant dimpled surface of the sea with the sun reflecting off its face and thought about God’s glory and other more down to earth things, like creating a blog to record my ponderings…
October up Scout 025
“…Oh what peace the Spirit of Jesus brings
through the trials He will carry me…
One day, in Heaven, our eyes will meet
Filled with wonder, all the saints will sing…
Hallelujah ! What a Savior/ I owe everything to Him
Hallelujah! What a Savior/ Hallelujah to my King.”