Hiking in August

Still spending lots of time hiking and taking pictures, but I just don't seem to get around to blogging.  I usually allow myself a certain amount of time on the computer, and before I know it, I've run out of time and have work to do!  So this post, will be about several different hikes plus a little more.

Of course, I'm always looking out for my turkey friends.  On this particular day I spotted 4 of them.  However, as soon as I stopped, 3 ran away.  When I looked in my rear view mirror, a car was behind me, so I only took 1 picture.  I like the way the sun shines on his wattle.

I thought this bit of fungi looked like either a beautiful cup or flower.

I also liked this collection on both sides of this stump.

During this damp and humid hike, I also spotted this little guy right beneath my feet!  Can you see him?

And, of course, I can't pass up pictures of any deer that I come across.

And, finally, our new couch finally arrived!  It looks pretty average, but it's exactly what I wanted.  I wanted something that looked like it belonged in a ranch or cabin.  I like the nailhead decoration on the ends.  Kind of reminds me of something you would see on a saddle.  The two ends recline, so now we can both have a comfy place to sit.  More seating during the holidays too!

Fungi Time!

Still trudging around the trails.  It seems on days that I'm not really motivated to hike, those are the days I see rare sightings.  Unfortunately, I'm never prepared or quick enough to get a picture.  Just recently, a red fox darted across the trail about 6 feet in front of me!  Of course, as the old saying goes, "The quick brown (red) fox jumped over the old lazy dog (lady) who wasn't prepared to get it's picture."  Oh well, I did get to see it, and I was excited!

Now that school is out and the weather is definitely warming up, the trail is getting busier.  More moms and kids, couples, joggers, and even a guy who brings his clients to the trail to do some personal training...and I mean personal training, nothing more, nothing less.  Haha!  So sometimes my peace and quiet is not so peaceful and quiet.  I must strive to get out there before the rest of civilization wakes up.

One day, I did see the following fungi growing on the trail.  They aren't real exciting but I do think each one is pretty in it's own way.

On this picture, I not only like the fungi, but the different colors and textures also in the picture.

This is a different kind of fungi.

This next one is my favorite.  I didn't realize when I took this picture, that I had the fungi encircled in a kind of leafy frame.  Kind of looks a bit like a white flower.

Walking Through the Mist

Hiking the first thing in the morning accomplishes so much for me.  It gets me moving early, even if I don't want to move.  It works out all the kinks and stiffness pretty quickly.  I may be moving slow when I first start out, but as the hike progresses every part of me moves easier and quicker.

This picture is just as Finn and I came out of the parking lot to head down the path towards the trail.  What a beautiful early morning welcome for us.  I love the sun shining through the mist!

On the way home I spotted something at the bottom of a hill as we drove through the park.  I pulled over and made my way down this steep hill.  The park district left it unmowed and left natural.  As I started to make my way down I realized it was a pretty risky move on my part.  I certainly didn't want to fall on my new knee.  The ground was soft and lumpy and the grasses were high where you couldn't see what you were walking through.  I felt like the littlest daughter on Little House on the Prairie who was running down the hill and eventually tumbled down the hill.  Luckily, I didn't fall.  These pictures of the fungi are actually too bright.  But what a lovely find spilling out of the tree.

I was going to take a picture of the grassy area I had just plodded through because it had some pretty wildflowers mixed in, but I found a safer way to climb back up.  It was still steep but the grass wasn't as high.

The next two pictures are of an afghan project I just completed.  I saw the Whistling Duck on someone else's blog and I thought it's colors were so pretty.  His feet are orange.  So, I chose his colors to make an afghan: gray, tan, black, pink and orange.

I think my next project will be to make an afghan out of all of the left over yarn I have.  It will take me some time to plot out all of the color placement.  It will make me happy to use up some of the yarn in my leftover stash.

All Varieties of Nature

Today's post has a variety of things I've spotted over the last week on my hikes and in our yard.  It's been a fun week.

The weather has gotten a little cooler so I've really enjoyed the hikes.  Since I've written about the problematic dogs I've encountered during my hikes, I've met them 3 more times.  They really aren't bad dogs, just the owner doesn't control them.  Once the ranger drove by and mentioned to me and another lady to keep our dogs leashed because they've been receiving complaints.   So I know they're on the watch.  Funny thing, the lady showed up again just a few minutes after he left.  Darn!

I love these next two shots.  From the side, it looks like a little alabaster bird bath.  So pretty in form.

I didn't bother to look up what kind of flowers these are and unfortunately their pretty blue color doesn't show up in this photo.  They were nice to see along the trail.

My daughter came over on Saturday to collect some wood for their upcoming family Halloween Campout.  When she picked up the logs, she found this little critter.  He is a harmless Eastern Garter Snake.  Finn didn't pay any attention to him, so I think he's safe in our yard.  I wouldn't want a snake in my house, but I'm not freaked out about them as long as I know they're harmless.  I love his pretty colors and his eyes.

As Emily was loading up her car with the logs, she passed by one of our cars that we don't use very often and she found this pretty (?) little guy.This is a black and yellow garden spider, they are harmless and eat lots of pests like flies and mosquitoes etc.This one is a male..they weave the zig zag webs.

A Foggy Day

I love hiking in all kinds of weather.  I don't know if it's because the worse the weather is, the fewer people that are on the trail.  This day, however, it wasn't foggy at all when I started the hike.

It was good to start seeing fungi growing.  Lately there hasn't been much to see except dog feces that owners don't clean up, discarded water bottles, candy wrappers and dropped tissues.

When I finally came out of the woods, the fog had rolled in and it looked so cool.  I love it!

When I got back to the parking lot, I took this picture.   When I had started the hike, there was a man in this field looking for coins etc.  I'm not sure if he's still there or not in this shot. Hasha!

Sky, Trees and Nature

I haven't posted lately mostly because I don't think anyone is reading my posts...so why bother?

Today I'm posting for my own enjoyment.  There are times I long to get out alone where there aren't many people.  Out where there's nothing but sky, trees and nature.  Fernald Preserve is the best place for alone time.

The trails aren't really difficult, but can be challenging for me at times.  They are long (for me), lots of gravel to walk on...which can do a number on my ankles, knees and hips.  The trails have areas that are tree covered, but a good portion of the trails are out in the sun.  After this last hike I did on the Fourth of July, I decided to save the longer trails for cool weather hiking or at last be sure and take water along.  I did fine, but was glad when I could sit somewhere and cool down.

Here are a few pictures taken with my phone.

The beginning long path towards the wooden area. There is a little bird perched atop some of the growth there.  The sun was so bright and I couldn't get close enough to see what kind of bird he was.  All I saw was his profile.  I couldn't make out any of his colors, but he was singing a pretty song and I didn't want to scare him off.

A pretty but a bit green pond.  I like the reflection of the sky and plants.

Another pond.  I love to stand and just look around at the wide open spaces.  Nothing in sight but the great outdoors. Hearing nothing but birds and bugs...and my huffing and puffing after a while.

A picture of me in my "happy place" under the trees...about half way on the trail.

My view from a bench at the end of my 3.3 mile hike on Hickory Trail.  I didn't sit here long because it was not in the shade.  I just wanted to get in my car and turn the a/c on! 

I'll come back and visit this post when I can't get out and hike, just to enjoy the beauty and solitude of Fernald Preserve.

All Things Bright and Beautiful!

After overnight showers, and seeing a cloudy and gloomy looking day, Finn and I took a chance and went out for a hike this morning.  We were lucky and didn't get rained on. 

The ground was still wet and we dodged a lot of puddles.  Saw a few other folks who ventured out, and Finn visited with a cute little dog named Sadie.

Didn't see too much wildlife, except for these two Mallards and a Canadian Goose.

We also passed some beautiful trees in bloom and just had to capture their beauty.  The blooms never last long due to rain or wind.  So happy I saw them in all their glory.

This is a picture of the entire tree.

These last two pictures are of some blooms on a sad little apple tree in our yard.  The majority of the tree is dead and my husband wanted to cut it down a few years ago, but I wouldn't let him.  Cardinals, Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse like to sit in this tree during the winter.  It is close to all of my feeders and gives a nice waiting place for the birds to sit waiting their turn at the feeders.  I'm glad to see there are still some pretty blooms on this tree.

The "iffy" weather has kept the construction crew from working on our part of the street today, so it's been more peaceful. 

It's Going to Be a Busy Week!

This is going to be a busy week for me.  Our son, Paul is coming up from Florida tomorrow (Tuesday) night..I'll be picking him up at the airport at 10:30 pm.  He's only staying until the weekend, then he'll drive one of his vehicles we have here back down to Florida.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings are all booked spending time at church.  My daughter-in-law, Nikki is becoming Catholic and I am her sponsor.  I love church BUT with my son in town I really don't want to spend that much time in church.  Since that's the way everything timed out...that's where I'll be.  It's an exciting time for Nikki and I am happy to be her sponsor and walk with her through this journey.

I still try to get in my daily walks with Finn.  It's been 2 miles, 6 days a week.  Between the rain and the road construction really close to our house it's been a challenge just getting out and driving somewhere.  I try to only go out once or twice during the day while they're working.  Here's a short video of our street from today.  Who needs an alarm clock when they're here at 7:30 am every morning?!

 

Just thought I'd share a picture of myself that I took the other day.  Not the best, but it is what it is.

 This is a new area I visited on my hike.  If you look in the center, you can see a duck diving for something good to eat.

This is a spillway looking the opposite way.

I took this picture today of a daffodil along Kingfisher Trail.  I like all the shades of green in this picture.  I also saw a hawk, eastern towhee and an eastern bluebird.  Unfortunately, they were too quick and I didn't get any pictures of them.  Darn!

And finally, another video I took of the spillway. A much more relaxing sound than that of construction!

Wish me luck...I'm off to the post office to mail some bills.  Hope I can get out of the driveway!

 

Miami University Natural Area Hiking Trails

It's always nice to find a new area to go hiking.  My daughter led us to Miami University Natural Area in Oxford, Ohio.  It's not too far from where we live, so Herb and I headed out last Sunday.  We left our dog, Finn at home because we weren't sure how difficult the terrain might be.

This was the first sign we saw!  Cool!  I want to see coyotes!!  We're headed for Kramer Woods!

It was quite a trek for me...lots of ups and downs.  Not that they were unusually difficult, but I'm still careful with my new knee and my old knee.  Some of the terrain was iffy for me, so I was glad I kept Finn at home.  I didn't need him pulling me all over the place.

This is me, heading up hill on one of the many bridges we crossed.

 Lots more downhill pictures.

There is another bridge in the middle of this picture.

Here is Herb, taking a few minutes to look around.

We finally made it to Kramer Woods...we didn't see any coyotes though.  Maybe next time!

This is a deer exclosure.  Designed for a long term scientific study.

We came across this log just covered all over with the fungi...really cool looking,  I think.

We eventually found our way along a creek crossing over to several different trails.

The roots of these trees are definitely on the edge.  I wonder how long before they fall into the creek below.

We were nearing the end when we had this hill to climb.  My knees can take the up hills pretty well.  However, this hill just about had me beat.  The "steps" to one side were so steep, I had a very difficult time pushing myself up from one step to another.  I must work on my quad strength more.  It was difficult to move laterally from the steps to just the hill itself.  I was afraid of slipping downhill.  Once I stopped, I lost my momentum. It was a challenge!  I should have taken my hiking poles along.  Hopefully, I'll remember them next time.

Here is the map of the entire area.  The area encircled is the area we covered on Sunday.  We really did a lot of hiking.  Looks like we have a lot more to do!!!  Looking forward to that challenge soon!