Don's Blog Calvatia gigantea 11-6-21

Calvatea gigantea is commonly known as a giant puffball. It is found in meadows, fields, and deciduous woods. I found this one near the creek bed and was amazed.

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It was so large that I brought a ruler with me to measure - it was a 6"  ball. As you can see someone "has been

eating my porridge" - I will bet it was a white tail deer.

 The inside of mature giant puffballs is greenish brown, whereas the interior of immature puffballs is white. Though large white mushrooms are edible when they are young you will not see me dead eating one. The fruiting body of a puffball mushroom will develop within the period of a few weeks and soon begin to decompose and rot, at which point it is dangerous to eat. Unlike most mushrooms, all the spores of the giant puffball are created inside the fruiting body. Large specimens can easily contain several trillion spores which are yellowish, smooth, and very small in size.

Visitors-Halloween 10-31-21

For Sunday morning brunch we had Kristi and Gus Joseph who are both in residency at different hospitals 

in Chicago. We were unable to go to their wedding in Florida this spring so it was great to catch up with them.

They are a delightful and energetic pair.

They were introduced to our Halloween Princess - Mabel but did not see her at night. You may

recognize that Mabel is wearing my mother's ball gown.

Rockwoods Reservation 11-1-21

Jan and I drove out to Rockwoods Reservation on a cool fall day. It is off of Highway 109 north of Eureka.

We took the quarry trail where we had all learned to rappel years ago with Lee's Explorer Post. The sign told us that today

we are not allowed to do anything in the reservation and expressly mentions bouldering, climbing and rappelling as strictly forbidden.

I hate places with signs where what you can't do far outnumbers what you can do.

Despite orders from  the Conservation Rangers we loved the Quarry trail.

The colors were spectacular as we approached the rock

outcroppings.

The leaves were falling. Here is a leaf from a red mulberry tree.

And our rappelling rock was still there.

The moss was extraordinary.

What a great day!

Final Flower for the Day Cosmos 11-2-21

We will end our twelfth year of Flower for the Day with the graceful and delicate Cosmos. In the sunflower family

cosmos has what it takes for success - amazing color, ease of growth, deer resistance, longevity, and an ontological 

feel. 

Swaying in the breeze

A bright and cheery — Ohayo!

Cosmos makes my day

  Lucy King