Treasures of the Earth also known as Mushrooms

It never ceases to amaze me the things that we find in our yard. I think it's all about having your eyes open and just being generally observant. Isn't this the strangest looking thing!? It's a mushroom! Lactarius is the variety of this Mushroom. I've never seen anything like this before. Surprisingly, to me, this mushroom has gills under the cap. This second picture makes me think of a character that Jim Henson might have come up with as a Muppet. Can't you see it? A sort of friendly, green monster with a wide mouth...or something like that. I came across this one yesterday morning.

I have never seen red mushrooms! Have you? I was pretty excited when we found these growing in our yard last night. They looked just like the mushrooms that I remember from stories like Hansel and Gretel or other woodsy-type fairytales. I found out that these are a variety of Russula. I had so much fun taking pictures of them last night. I actually took about 40 pictures! LOVE my camera.

These cuties were deep in the grass, I had to dig them out to be able to take any pictures of them that made sense. They sort of just looked like red new potatoes laying on my lawn! Thanks to Darvin, SOMA Science Advisor at the Sonoma County Mycological Association for helping me to identify these.

It was such fun to discover these mushrooms...it really was like finding little treasures of the earth!

What have you found in your yard!?

Bounty of Summer

Does it feel like Fall is around the corner? I know that my Midwest friends really want Fall to be that close, and my East Coast friends have been sweltering too. Thoughts are turning toward Fall for the cooler temperatures as well as for sending children back to school. Friday I did a little watercoloring. I loved how these birch trees turned out. I could almost hear the cool breezes rustling through the leaves. However, August though it may be, it does not seem like Fall is on its way any time soon.

So, I bring you some of Summer's Bounty in these beautiful Dahlias that my friend Mary brought me today.

Aren't they lovely!? Thanks Mary for brightening my day!

Big Picture Scrapbooking Summer Idea Festival

This last picture is the full shot of the door knob cones, or Tussy Mussies that I made today for Day One of Big Picture Scrapbooking Summer Idea Festival. The design idea was from Elizabeth Dillow. The first shot shows a close up of the chunky pink glitter that I used, the second shot shows the huge flower embellishment that I did. I used an antique button for the center of the flower and about 15 layers of paper for the flower! For the next two weeks I'll be "in class" at Big Picture with a different assignment every day. I can't wait for each day's assignment! Come back often and check my progress.