Probably a long, rambling nature post... come along if you'd like!

[rubyelf]

So this post includes pictures from yesterday's walk at the lake... not very many, since a thunderstorm showed up, and pictures from today's walk in the woods around my house. Honey was a bit concerned about me wandering around the woods, since we currently have a rather alarmingly outgoing black bear in the area who likes to sit in his parents'

Comments

[koulagirl666]

Boo is so pretty!

How is it that I live where we don't have wild bears (koalas are not bears and drop bears are not real and I had to clarify because we do have teddy bears) and I know what to do but local people don't?

[rubyelf]

We only have black bears around here, but farther north there are grizzly bears, and they are MUCH more aggressive and dangerous than black bears, so the same rules do not apply and people sometimes get conflicting information. Grizzlies are much more prone to unprovoked attacks, and the recommended strategy is to drop to the ground and pretend to be dead.

[bluegerl]

What a walk today. What a load of TREASURES!!! Bless you gel. And I'm so glad you found out about that Japanese (it looks it somehow) fungi..medicinal and edible what a mess it is now. Shame. but that Fly Agaric you found.. gosh, you did examine it.. so did we! funny texture they have on the top, slightly sticky resistant. And Plaintains, they are such darling plants. Hold their heads up come what may. (my garden is BALD right now, they came and took all my goodies away... place looks AWFUL but I did find two small garden daisies doing their best

[rubyelf]

Hehe... thank you for coming with me! In my mind, all of you are always with me on my walks

[bluegerl]

"pulling it like taffy..." oh gosh... glass all semi-toffee....aaaah taffy glass. THAT made my mind explode! The picture of that vast lake of soft glass like... soft melted sugar...aaaahhhh and that texture that makes/allows it of bend and stretch... oh RUBY!!!!!!!! I'd spend ALL day just watching Taffyglass being made!!!!

We have tulip trees here around the square of the Church.. but ours are trained and don't have the competition here. they're allowed to grow tall and FAT and shelter cars. The flower are all, of course, out of reach unless you stand on the retaining wall of the Church and peer dangerously into one that MAY be on the backside of one of the trees. I've not done that yet!!

Taffyglass...oh god... the colours of that............all my favourite turquoise from deep darkness of prussian blues from midnight dreams to that greeny depth of unknown waters and then the purpley green edges...oh stop liz. go buy your froot! The cold is just a sudden coff every now and again! I can breathe again! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[rubyelf]

It's a long, long ribbon that goes the entire length of the factory and it's about thirty feet across... they have laser scanners that check for flaws in the glass so the machines that cut it can cut around the defects. The glass can never stop because the ribbon has to always keep moving, so if there's something wrong with the glass or the cutting machines they just end up with huge piles of broken glass at the end of the line! Of course, that glass can go back and be melted back in with the materials that are always going in at the beginning...

[offski]

Lovely and interesting and informative and too much for my poor brain to take in in one go. I shall have to come back and read again later!

[rubyelf]

I hope your brain gets the rest it needs!

[moth2fic]

Those mountain laurels are lovely - I have never seen one here, even in specially planted parkland. I have seen tulip trees though, in special arboretums. At first your photo didn't show up then when I saw Looloo had seen it and commented I scrolled back and there it was

[rubyelf]

We have plantains everywhere here too, even though they're not supposed to be!

Boo-cat is getting old but he loves being outside and laying in the sun and meandering around looking at things.

The snake head fritillary is quite stunning and I wish we had them here! It looks so exotic and tropical!

[resonant]

Very nice ... thank you.

[rubyelf]

Thank you for reading, and you are very welcome!