Wednesday, November 12, 2014

On the Forest Floor



Look down. There's an amazing world on the forest floor. Ashley is interested in learning about mushrooms, preferably the edible kind, so she had me taking photos of all kinds of fungi, from various angles. I had my zoom lens on my camera because I was planning to snap big-picture shots. But we made it work.
 

This is the only one we positively identified - amanita muscaria, or fly agaric - not edible but highly photogenic.
 

Lichens and grasses clinging to a rocky cliff edge with the sun dancing on the water in the background. 
 

A natural collage with leaves, sticks, moss, fungi and arbutus berries for colour. The hand of a master artist.


There were hundreds of apples fallen on the ground and more in the trees. Orchards planted by a settler family who once provided the area with fresh strawberries and plenty of apples. Crisp and delicious and now abandoned.
 

We hadn't brought any bags from the boat, so Tim tied his jacket into a carrying bag, and I suggested filling my hood. Ashley snapped this photo as we headed back. Tonight we enjoyed a salad with apples, avocado, grapefruit and pomegrante seeds. Yum!

26 comments:

  1. Such gorgeous photos, Lorrie. You've captured those natural vignettes so beautifully.

    Smiling to see your creative solution for carrying home those wild apples. Lovely.

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  2. You were real hunter-gatherers! How lovely to see all the bounty that the earth has to offer.

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  3. That's what I call a fall adventure! I kept looking for fairies in those photos. And the apples were a really nice bonus.

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  4. I love the last photo especially! Photographing the "sous bois" is one of my favorite things to do...

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  5. What a lovely trip you had!
    Beautiful photos!

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  6. Sounds like a great foraging expedition. :-) Nice photo of you two. I've always loved the forest floor. Your photos are superb.

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  7. Lucky Dog! Such great photos & a wonderful shot of the 2 of you together, apple "picking".

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  8. Last summer I saw for the first time the red capped mushroom on the forest floor high in the Colorado Rockies. They were so mystic and pretty. I supposed they require a rather wet season. Amazing what you find on the forest floor if you take time to look. And what a nice bounty of apples.

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  9. Gorgeous photos! There were amanita mushrooms near my office at UBC years ago -- they look as if they've popped right out of a children's fairy-tale book somehow, don't they? Except that they're quite toxic (well, hallucinogenic, at least). . .

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  10. I'm always poking around the ground when in a forest - looking for interesting things to photograph. You found some great fungi in the first photo. There are some good ID books available for wild fungi, a possible Christmas gift?
    Smart thinking to invent your own apple carriers!

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  11. Anonymous9:04 AM

    Lovely photo of the two of you! Where there's a will there's a way.
    So much to notice on the forest floor...

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  12. Such fun finding a whole new natural world beneath one's feet - and a really lovely pic of you two being so creative when it came to bringing home the apples!

    Hugs - Mary

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  13. Fun outing. I like seeing the different fungi when they sprout. Never have spotted those red ones though. Looks like you got a bunch of apples and enjoyed them too.

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  14. Great photos - and I love the hoodie apple carrier. This week has been wonderful for autumn photos - the rains will be back next week, but at least we are just far enough north to escape the big storm in S. WA and OR.

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  15. I like Elizabeth's comment...about you being the ultimate hunter-gatherers! Beautful pic's.

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  16. Your blog is full of life, I love it .

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  17. Your blog is full of life, I love it .

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  18. All the different types of mushrooms fascinate me! LOVE your apples in the hood photo:)
    Blessings, Aimee

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  19. Oh I do love the final image of you and your husby and yes, the Master Artist sure does it so perfectly and the nature colours all look superb together. the salad sounds yummy too. Happy weekend my friend~

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  20. Love the apples in the hood idea!

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  21. I LOVE the photo of you and Tim. You two look so happy and totally comfortable with each other. Two best friends having fun!

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  22. There certainly is a lot to notice. Beautiful photos, as always. I like the red mushroom one best.

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  23. Lorrie, your adventures are so much fun, and I always learn something interesting about the natural habitat. Having said that, it makes me so sad to hear that all those luxuriously fresh apples will fall to the ground and rot. I wonder if the animals will feed on them.

    Thank you for walking the forest floor, clearing the way for us to follow.

    Poppy

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  24. You two know how to improvise!

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  25. Anonymous3:53 PM

    Hi Lorrie. First time visitor here. Nice to meet you. Love your book selections. This time of year is just perfect for reading. I posted a pic of my reading books today too.

    I look forward to reading more on your blog.

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  26. What absolutely gorgeous images of Autumn with mushrooms, berries, and apples. Love the photo of you and Tim with the apples.

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