Fred's photos from Wheaton Labs

Almost thirty years ago, my friend Chuck found a BIG puffball mushroom, in that ephemeral non-ethereal solid white edible state, while we walked underneath an elevated train track in Amsterdam in the wee hours of the morning (long story). The thing was bigger than a softball, smaller than a basketball. A volleyball, maybe?

We took it back to my uncle's place and sliced it up and fried it in butter. It made actual steaks that you needed a knife and fork to eat. It was delicious.

The first photo is of a female Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). It was flying from stalk to stalk of the mullein and i'm guessing it was eating the larvae of some Mullein Seed-Eating Weevils (Gymnetron tetrum) that i mentioned earlier. It wasn't camera shy and let me follow it around outside of 0.8.

The second photo is of a little snow. Well, maybe little isn't the right word. I know Evan said he saw quarter-sized flakes, but occasionally i would look and see flakes at least 1.5" across.

With the snow falling, it was a good morning to pickle some beets. I packed as many beets as i could into this fancy new fermentation crock. It has a water rim that is supposed to reduce/eliminate the mold that forms above the brine. It even came with ceramic stones to keep the veggies below the brine. I've never tried one of these before, so i'm curious to see how things turn out. I want to peek inside to see what's happening, but i know that will just let in the microorganisms (and oxygen) that the water is designed to keep out. I'll just have to trust that it is working and see what comes of it.

Snow! A few individual flakes i found in the driveway at basecamp.

Beautiful! We never see the 6 sidedness of snowflakes here in NZ. I guess it's maybe wetter snow than you have..or our temperatures are just that much lower, which maybe two sides of the same coin.

Thanks Sue! I was surprised to see individual flakes here, because the only time i would see them in Minnesota was when it was very cold and pretty dry. When the temp is warmer and the snow is wetter, they usually just form clumps. These were a little lumpy, but you could still see the distinct shape.

Today's photos are of a few more unidentified fungi.

The fungi photo in the middle struck me as Christmas personified... for some reason other ; Thanks, again, Fred!

Here's a few more photos crawling around in the moss.

The first is some kind of leafy lichen.

The second is a coral fungus. Something in the Clavulina genus (probably cinerea or cristata). It is thought to live in mycorrhizal association with conifers.

The third is some kind of spider egg sack that was on the underside of a log.

Kai is building a skiddable shed for drying some lumber he plans to mill. While we were figuring out how to use the tools to make a mortise and tenon, we made a huge hammer. The first photo is of Kai wielding this massive hammer.

The weather started turning chilly and there was some pretty ice in the puddles.

Now you can't even see the puddles, because everything got covered in several inches of snow. This time it is cold enough and there was enough snow that it didn't just melt immediately.

Kai-Thor!!

I am so glad Kai is able to use the jacket. Has anyone been able to use the madax? You may need it to get to water.