Exploring the "back woods"

I spent a little time exploring our acre of woods behind our house this week.  I was checking to see if I could find any morel mushrooms but I think it is to early.  Perhaps this week I will have more luck.  Anyway, I found many interesting things while exploring so I thought I would do a little show-and-tell.  This creepy doll head was found face down in the dirt.  I put it on the stick to get a better photo -- but I think it looks like it is from a horror movie.  I am curious about how old it is and what happened to the little girl who owned it.

Next, I spotted some interesting plants.  This is a Jack-In-The-Pulpit...

some very fuzzy fern fiddleheads...

a marsh marigold...

and a mystery item.  I have no clue what this is.  Charlie thinks it is a young mushroom.  I'm not even going to guess, I'm just going to keep watching it to see what it does.

I also found this cobalt blue glass jar in the back.  The lid is corroded and falling apart.  These old items scattered about make me want to get a metal detector and see what I can find back there.  We live atop a ridge of sand about 50 miles long.  I've been told that the Native Americans would have had a road along this ridge ages ago.  Often loggers would have used these same roads in their pursuits as well.  I can really feel the history of that woods.  Particularly when I come upon this tree...

This is an old oak tree.  It's limbs are larger that most trees.  I know it is in rough shape, but it is still alive -- still growing.  Can you even imagine the number of lightning storms it has survived?
Anyway, as you can see, Sassy came with me to explore.  She followed me around fairly closely.  She is not an outdoors cat and a strong breeze can freak her out.  Other cats scare her.  Pretty much everything scares her.  So to have her come back this far with me is impressive.

The first of many?

Taken with my "new" camera.  TTV photography is fun!  I need to clean up some of the dust, and practice a bit -- but I think I'm going to like TTV photos.

Piknik in the backyard

I didn't really have a picnic in the backyard today -- it was too windy and cold.  In fact, today was downright nasty.  I guess I have been spoiled by all the nice weather we've had up until now.  I shot a few photos today on our property and then I fooled around with the photos on piknik.com.  I'm very happy to have found piknik.  It is a very simple way to get some interesting effects.  Some make the photos look old or from vintage cameras -- or you can come up with your own effects by combining a couple of effects together.  I am open to critique... please comment.

New sofa

My parents and my brother came over this past weekend to bring us a new sofa.  Well, a "new" used sofa.  My Dad's second cousin passed away (he was elderly) and the family gave away his belongings.  It is quite comfortable and looks nice in our living room.  Dad decided it was a good place to take a little nap.

They also brought a vintage kitchen cabinet that I am going to re-finish and use in the basement to store some of my canning supplies.

We had a nice day visiting.  The yard is starting to get greener and things are coming to life.  We have tons of pine trees on our property and there are lots of baby trees coming up as well.  We went around the yard and dug up several white pine and spruce trees for them to take home and plant in their yard.

My brother assembled my fire pot that I won at work last year.  It promises many good evenings socializing with friends and family.  I can't wait.

Spring is here

Rain, flowers, and animals are pairing up.  It is definitely Spring time in Michigan!

Ralphie -- the outdoors cat -- Part 2

I didn't want to post this, but Ralphie died last week.  He got very sick.  For a while it looked like he was getting better.  He had started eating again and rolling over for me like he loved to do.  Then he took a turn for the worse.  I brought him inside and put him in the basement (didn't want Sassy to get sick from him) because it was warmer down there than outdoors.  He wouldn't eat and he would barely drink.  He had a respiratory infection and was having trouble breathing.  I made an appointment for him at the vet as quickly as I could, but he passed away a few hours before his appointment.
I think he had gotten into one too many fights with other animals and got sick from an infected wound.  I'm very sad that he is gone.  He was a sweet cat.