Fred's photos from Wheaton Labs

Here's an update on the much delayed skidable shed on my plot. I installed the 2x6 tongue and groove flooring. I cut notches where the posts will sit. After the floor was complete, i leveled the "building" and stacked cribbing under three points on each skid. These boards will rot, but will keep the skid off the ground and protect it from rotting. As the building grows and its weight increases, and as the ground settles and shifts with freezing and thawing, the building will no longer be level, but it won't be too hard to adjust it back.

Despite our best efforts to cut a level flat plane on the top of the skid logs, there's still a little bit of a dip in the middle of the floor. Sometimes when you make a flat side on a log, the log will warp towards your cut, as tension in the log is released. That might have happened this time. We used the logs with their natural crown arched down, and that is where the lowest point in the floor is, as well.

That T&G came out alright, Fred.

Beau,
I was surprised by how much strength the T&G added, even with just a few boards in. There's very little deflection in the floor...except the first and last boards, which are only supported on one side. I'll end up making a couple of steps to get in the shed and i'll make it so that the step framework will support that first board.

Here's another late bloomer from before the snow. An aster. There are many dozens of asters in Montana. Many bloom in the fall. Many are purple. I'm not sure what species this is, but it looks like it could be in the Symphyotrichum genus, as it looks similar to the Western Aster and the Western Meadow Aster.

Last night we got a few inches of snow. The temp and wind were just right to form perfect snowflakes.  As i looked around with my headlamp, there were millions of mirrors sparkling back at me. This morning we got some sunshine so i rushed out to take some snowflake photos. I just had to do a couple of chores first...then the sun went away. It didn't come back until sunset, and then only for a couple of minutes. I hurried over to get my camera...then back to the sunny spot. I was only able to get a few rushed photos to share. I think i could have spent hours looking at those snowflakes (but they like to melt when you breathe on them). Maybe these less than perfect photos will give you an idea of the beauty i saw.

The first photo i took was of some of the abbey hugels covered in snow. Maybe that moment of morning sunlight wasn't completely lost.

The rest of the photos were chasing those afternoon sunbeams. You might have to zoom in and scroll around to see the various snowflakes that caught a glint of sunlight. They were rather small and piled on top of each other in every which way, so only some few could be in focus.

Here's some photos from a spot on the lab near the meadow. I found a spot with another group of grand fir's. They're growing in just a few areas on the lab, and somehow i had never seen this patch of them.

In the mossy duff, near the firs, i found this very small mushroom growing. It looks to have formed a sclerotia at the base, which is an fungal energy storage mass used to survive a period of dormancy.

The second photo is a group of mushrooms i found growing near the grand firs.

I walked from there to check on one of the feral apple trees growing on the edge of the meadow. The old logging road was covered in ferns. Another new to me discovery. I haven't noticed ferns growing anywhere on the lab before.

These photos are from before the recent snow.

Probably the last late bloomer to post. Here's a few more photos of the blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella), which i posted about a little more than 2 months ago. This is after several frosts. The flowers didn't seem to mind the low temps. There's still pollen visible, though not many partners to carry it about.

The first photo is the flower with a few raindrops.

The second photo is a flower about to open up. It's still hopeful for a little more time before winter.

The third photo is a flower that has lost its petals and one that is now a seedhead.

These photos were taken just before the recent snow.

Here's some photos of some milkweed seeds i collected last month on my trip through eastern Washington. They were growing in an area that didn't get much water, so they should do ok here. I will plant some on my plot and in the meadow. I'll save some for Cedar because he expressed interest in planting them at basecamp.

The first photo is of the milkweed pod. If you want seed, it is best to harvest them just as the pods are starting to split open. That will ensure that the seeds are ripe, but they are easier to collect if they haven't gone totally to fluff. I followed directions from one of my favorite seed companies, fruition seeds.

In the second photo i peeled the pod open to show how pretty the seeds look as overlapping scales.

The third photo is one seed with its fluff intact, ready to sail to new lands. I separated most of the seeds from their fluff, so i can control where they grow. I also let some seeds with fluff disperse around the abbey, because that is so fun to watch.

The last photo is the bowl of milkweed seeds i collected. I estimated there are 8,934 seeds in this bowl!

Here's a few more mushrooms from before the snow.

I don't think my camera quite captured how purple the mushroom in the first photo was. I found this guy on my plot.

The mushrooms in the second photo were growing on a log near Zach's pond.

The last two photos are some more shaggy mane mushrooms from the Abbey. I skipped a day looking for them, and it was already too late. They only last a short time.

Not many critters out now, but here's a few photos of some from before the snow.

I found this grub munching away in my compost bin that i was emptying. Moved him over to the other bin that i will empty next year. His skin is pretty translucent. Not sure what all the things i could see inside him were, but some of it sure looked like compost. Hopefully his stomach is helping break stuff down.

Found this fuzzy caterpillar in the road. Didn't try to find out if those hairs are poisonous.

I bent down to pick up a piece of plastic on my plot, only it was a shed snakeskin. It was in a ring. Maybe it's an ouroboros, but probably from a garter snake.