flotsam and jetsam...

bits and pieces late in the week... excuse the random chain of thoughts...

>>> as mentioned i've been going for lots of walks lately. after work the sun disappears quickly, but if i'm lucky i can catch a glimpse of it through the trees while i walk on one of several woodsy trails i enjoy. last night's walk was very cold, the weather having cleared up after a morning of storm, and revealing the fresh snow on the hills, not all that much higher than where i walked. this weekend is the time change, and then it will be getting dark so very early. walking in the woods will have to wait for the weekends, which is just as well. with the darkness settling in, i know i will crave the open, windswept expanse of the beach instead, so quiet and empty where just a couple months back it was crowded with visitors.



>>> A came with on a walk on sunday, where we spotted this rough skinned newt on the trail. well really, i only saw him just as A nearly stepped on him! that actually explains his posturing, as he is in defense mode after the near-trampling. i was paranoid for the rest of the trail walk home, fearing i would step on another one.

>>> last saturday, i took a bunch of fungi photos on another trail. unfortunately though, i seem to have lost that set of photos, which has me a bit disgruntled. some of the shots i took included a growth of about 4 large red-brown velvety looking 'shrooms growing out of rotting stump. i was impressed with their size, with each cap equal to our bigger than my palm. i spotted another one growing on the ground behind the stump. yesterday i went to the same area, and was surprised that the grouping was gone. not "mushrooms have a short shelf-life" gone, but actually gone, as in someone made off with them. that got me more interested in what they were, although now i only had my memory for searching since the photos were also gone. i suspect that they may have been admirable boletes, so next time i will have to keep an eye out for them.



>>> i am stitching away this week on pieces for a bigger shop update on monday, november 7th. i will be participating in poppytalk's pre-holiday market starting that day and continuing until december 2nd, so i hope to keep the shop filled with lots of goodies, if my fingers hold up. and as you can see above, i'm bringing back the barnacle rocks!

>>> stitching for the shop also has me thinking about the approaching holiday season, and gifts i might want to make. okay, to be honest, i'm still working on the socks i'm knitting for my dad, for his birthday that was LAST saturday. oops. so if i'm realistic i am hoping to buy gifts handmade by others to supplement the few i might have a chance to make, plus probably some books. books are always good, in my opinion. Sonia had a recent post that had lots of great ideas for handmade gifts if you are looking for ideas.

>>>one little gripe...am i the only one finding that flickr's servers are having increasing problems and seem to time out constantly? it's driving me crazy.

>>> now back to my mug of tea. the sun is out so far today, but boy it's chilly. welcome to november.

-----------------------------------------

ETA: how great is this? i'm a big fan of wool, and a desire to wear wool that really is good wool, not blends with very little actual sheep in it. so i think the wovember project is a great idea. who knows if i would ever get to a completely wool outfit, but my socks today are handknit from local wool (by me) and my shirt is pure merino. good wooly times, i say.