A Versatile Blogger

On January 10, Jean at Jean's Musings gave me the Versatile Blogger Award. It took me a while to "pick it up," but here it is. There are rules, of course, and I'm going to do some of them.

I'm supposed to:

• Nominate 15 other bloggers (not likely)
• Inform my nominees (OK)
• Share 7 random facts about myself (hmmm...OK)
• Thank those who nominated me (thank you, Jean)
• Add a picture of the award to this post (done)

I will nominate a few other blogs, choosing to move outside of the circle of my most frequent commenters. I've given most of you several awards in the past:

Canadian Doomer a family trying to live in an extremely self-sufficient way.
Missing Moments where Reena tinkers with photos and writes poetry.
Along the Trail with Rochelle, who makes beautiful jewelry and takes wonderful nature pictures.
Some Assembly Required- John and I have a lot in common, although he does it all on a much larger scale than I do. Nevertheless I keep shaking my head over so many similarities.
String Too Short to Tie, because Vanilla's writings have become some some of my favorites, and he has been a frequent commenter, but I don't think I've ever given him an award.
Random Stream of Consciousness, where I've come to know John, whose hometown is just 40 miles from me.
Dickster's Random Thoughts, another blogger whose random thoughts appeal to me.
Right Where We Belong, because Karen and Gerard need something good to boost their spirits right now (Gerard and their dog Abby were attacked, Abby was hurt badly, and Gerard was bitten on the hand.)

I'll just close with snow on sumac branches- a typical image from my walk today.



Oh, wait! I'm supposed to tell you seven random things about me.

Are you sure you don't know it all already?

1. I bought a complete set of Gilbert and Sullivan DVDs with Christmas money
2. I have been bitten by dogs three times in my life
3. I've been practicing Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (by Leon Jessel) on the keyboard
4. I'm wearing PJs with flying cows
5. I'd like to clean up my house, but it seems pretty hopeless
6. I don't like to talk on the telephone
7. I was insanely in love with horses as a child- took riding lessons, but never owned one.

	See Sumac Times Three
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Color and Money

 


Money first, just because I'm so "proud." I finally sold a copy of Get Off the Couch with Joan! It's just $2.99, eBook format only, but you can get it in HTML, pdf, or rtf as well as formats that work with the fancy readers. I have NO idea what a typical conversion rate is, but this is one sale with 59 views. If anyone has any insight on this topic, I'll be interested to hear.

Now for Color! These pictures are from yesterday's hike. With the leaves mostly fallen, I was forced to look more closely for the gem-like details.


These little yellow mushrooms were split, and looked almost like flowers. I tried to ID them, but couldn't find a good match in my books, and I don't know enough about mushrooms in general to take me any farther. I got a picture, and then one of the dogs stepped on them!


In the midst of all the surrounding brown, one lone orange sprig of oak was curled toward the sun.


The red maple leaves seem to hold their color just a little bit longer. It was hard to pick just one to share, but I like how this one landed near some green moss.


Finally, I just have to share this one. Our hike overlapped with the one I did just a few days ago, Walking at Ward Hills, and this is the same small pine plantation that I mentioned photographing so often. No sun yesterday, but I think maybe I like this picture the best of all.


I liked it so much that I decided to play with it. You can click this one to make it bigger if you want.

See Walking at Ward Hills See Almost Good Timing at Timber Creek

Report on the Baby White Pines

 


Just a quick report on the baby white pines. All the conifers are showing their lovely new growth right now, but this is the year that I think the white pines are really going to shoot up. See how long those "candles" of new needles are? Those will extend and grow into bundles of the regular dark green needles.

See The Trees are Growing

The Tulip Tree

Yesterday, I showed you the overall shape of Liriodendron tulipifera. Today I'll show you more about it. I looked for some older pictures of the blossoms, but don't have any, so you'll have to wait and hope I get to that trail at the right time. They are really cool.

What I do have for you is last year's blossoms. Well, not really, but this is the seed case, which is pretty spectacular, too!



This tree likes sun and damp areas. It's usually found at the edges of woods, in wetlands. I think maybe this tree was planted because it is on a hill, and away from other trees.



At this time of year, the leaves were just beginning to unfold from the bud. It's like a secret... what will they look like?



Here is the bark on this mature tree. The wood was historically popular with furniture makers. It is light, smooth and soft. It was usually called yellow poplar, but it is not a poplar at all. It's actually related to the magnolia. It was used a lot for drawers and veneer.

It rained lightly all day. And, guess what? Flowers are blooming. Come back tomorrow and see the earliest blooms that have popped here.

See Shapes of Trees for the tulip silhouette