Spring = Nature Consciousness

My day’s scheduled work for a neighbor, which involved a barge coming to the island, was rescheduled for early next week. Suddenly Jasper dog and I had the morning free. The sun was out, so we wandered the forest trails down to the beach. It rained heavily last night so there were many puddles, Jasper’s preferred drinking water. His preferred hiking snack, new grass, is also plentiful in the spring.

So much new growth these days, tender shoots, lush moss & lichens. What a treat to wander among the plethora riot of life. My life has been so consumed with building and working to build these past 4 years, I miss communing with nature on the daily like I used to do! This is my last year of the construction, or at least I should finish it enough to be livable. And boy, do I look forward to living again!

A garter snake on the side of the trail tolerated my company for a bit. I don’t think it was quite warm enough for her liking yet. I say ‘her’ because look at that spot of blush under her eye! So cute!

About Last Night...

Last night I was awoken by a pulsing light coming through the shed windows. There was a light in the clouds above the next island over that was rhythmically rotating from a central point, like a lighthouse light. I put on my boots and coat and went for a midnight walk in the dark to see it from a vantage point without trees in the way. After watching it for quite a while in the still of the night, I concluded it must have somehow been reflecting the lighthouse light at Cattle Point on the southern tip of San Juan island, two islands away. When I returned to my bed, I could still watch it through the windows. Eventually the clouds shifted and it disappeared.

Oh Hello WInter!

Winter is coming, the prolific mushroom bloom underway tells me so! I’ve been ignoring them (and social media) in favor of getting all my good weather dependent outdoor projects finished before winter rains set in. But these purple corts stopped me in my tracks, as they always do.

The seasonal rain begins in a few hours. I have one final project to scramble and get done this morning before the rains begin. But then begins the season of indoor projects and the time to share them here, despite my poor internet connection! Ok, gotta go - dawn is breaking!

Growing!

The ladies and the lads are getting bigger, and their feathers are starting to grown in! I made their pen larger today. We’re all looking forward to them going outside in a few more weeks!

Chicken coop almost done!

After several iterations, This is the final first portable chicken coop!

Although I built the coop from scrap materials, it features a purchased metal roll-away nesting box.

PROJECTS

Two projects have been at the top of my list lately: chickens & the wood stove alcove.

Heritage breed mutt chicks, hatched from a neighbor’s flock! In this pic, they’re one week old.

This year (finally!) I have all my garden beds, so I don’t have to build more. Now I have time for my newest yard project: chickens! Our HOA allows 6 hens. It’s looking like 3-4 of the 9 chicks will be roosters, but a neighbor outside the HOA can take the guys. As the chicks spend their first several weeks inside a pen in the temporary shed with Jasper and I, I’m finishing up their chicken tractor coop and have ordered the electric poultry fence to keep them safe from predators.

In progress! I try to do an hour or so a day placing large rock facades sourced from a neighbor, interwoven with smaller rocks sourced from the beach.

I should have all the alcove rocks placed in a few more days, and can then cut the wood trim surround in a neighbor’s woodshop when he returns from vacation, do the final grouting, place the wood stove and fire it up!

My bathtub arrives tomorrow on the water taxi. It’ll be a joy to heat the space while I’m working on the plumbing!

Winter Slow down

We’ve had freezing temperatures and clear skies for the past few days and for another few days, before we get back to the more typical overcast rain. A great excuse to stay inside, crank up multiple space heaters and get some artwork done! I’m working on an island summer deer-in-forest habitat piece that I began several years ago, but has sat in the flatfile drawers for several years while I was consumed with the home/studio build.

Mama and fawn. Possible Papa is also part of the scene, but not pictured.

Before the big freeze, I gathered goodies to make one last winter mushroom medley.

Mostly Laccaria, with some white coral fungi and black earth fingers, green lichen and (I think) yellow sulphur tuft mushroom centers.

House build update: Stairs!

This is the most challenging thing I’ve ever built: winder stairs to code. To meet code, measurements can only be 1/8” off. I’ve built and rebuilt each of the main components 3 times, sometimes because I got a measurement wrong, sometimes because I’d realize I could stuff more storage compartments inside. Whew!

New Year Forest find!

Three winters ago I was bushwhacking through the forest and came across a small patch of 4 winter chanterelles. I crumbled them into bits and scattered them in the area, hoping to increase the bloom in later years. Yesterday I checked the area. Boom! A bigger bloom! I’ll be making these for dinner tonight along with onions and garlic from my garden, and salmon I purchased a few months back from the reef net fishermen on Lummi Island.

TODAY'S FINDS!

Been busy working on the final floor plan for my home/studio build, but did manage to take a wee walk with Jasper this afternoon to see who was blooming!

Laccaria in the middle, along with yellow witches hats with dark grey gills, a mini orange-gilled hygrocybe, earth corals and white-tipped black wood fingers.

Late winter nights planning and replanning the home/studio floor layout, consulting Pinterest & drinking tea!

Purple!!!

There’s a certain spot on the island I found years ago that has a fantastic reliable bloom of purple-gilled Corts (cortinarius species) every year. Well, except last year. We had so many freeze-thaw cycles that the corts refused to come out at all last year. I’ve been obsessively checking the spot this season and was thrilled to see my purple friends popping up once again, although this year they are more pink than purple!

Purple Corts, and a few blooms from the garden.

Been Busy!

For some reason my laptop is the only device that I can update this blog, which I don’t use much these days! Telegram is easier for me to post to on my phone. Anyhow! This past holiday weekend my sailor sweetie and I went out on the sailboat. SO dreamy. I even began little watercolor paintings!

MORE!

Well I thought I’d uploaded these here already the day I made them, but now I remember that iCloud wasn’t working for me that day. That’s what happens when you live in the sticks and your technology is made for city people with abundant internet connection!

Always exciting to find those red hygrocybes and yellow earth fingers!

Earth Corals! Yeah!

between the storms

Yesterday afternoon we had high winds and then driving rain, so it was an inside kind of day. For weeks now I’ve been cleaning and sorting everything in the shed, the house, the outbuildings and the yard. The last two years have been a blur of collecting materials and building, so it feels good to take a break from those two activities to sort and assess what I have, and figure out what I still need going into this next build year.

By first light this morning though, the winds and rain had subsided so Jasper and I went out to explore some of the human forgotten parts of the island within walking distance from our place. I collected many interesting specimens, made a few medleys, and took lots of short videos. One of my winter projects is to begin a YouTube channel of short nature videos showing my process. Hopefully it’ll debut early in the new year, stay tuned!

Two huge stropharias, anchored by two blewitts with lots of other found bits and bobs!

Resting and Creating

Now that we’re heading into the darkest days of winter, I’m sleeping much more and generally resting and recuperating. I’ve been tinkering with new market product display ideas, drinking lots of tea (Jasmine green or Jasmine white are my two favorites), cuddling with Jasper dog, and going on low key walking adventures together. Here’s a round up of several recent medleys and happenings.

Medley made for my 92-year old widow neighbor.

Sometimes I get paid to make piles of things and set them on fire!

Found around the garden.

Jasper had to sit right there while I made this one!

Plentiful!

Another medley! Gathered these gems while Jasper and I walked the neighborhood. Last night was our first one below freezing. When mushrooms freeze they dry out and the gills get wavy. You can see this clearly on the second stack down from the top. I arranged these finds in one of my nasturtium flower beds, which will turn to goop once the freeze thaws and turns to rain. I’ll miss these sunny blooms!

Another Medley!

I’m taking advantage of the non-rainy weather to get some yard work done around my place and a few island client’s places. I’m finding mushroom and other nature gems as I do!

Hardy fuscias and hot pink sorrel from my garden, maple and cedar leaves from a client’s grounds, plus mushrooms from everywhere I’ve ben!