Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Home remedies

It's been raining off and on for a couple of days, and I'm down with a bit of a cold. Time for comfort food, a good book, and idle playing with the camera's settings. I made my lazy-day stew (leftovers, ground beef, and all the veggies in the fridge), and Richard Dawkins' latest book, The Greatest Show on Earth, came in the mail yesterday morning. So that's taken care of.

As for the playing with the camera, I experimented with RAW format, discovered that it doesn't help - much - as long as I'm using Picasa for editing. Besides, it takes forever to save a photo in the camera. Maybe I'll use it in the future; not for now.

Here's a sample of the photos, after Picasa "fixed" them, with a bit of cropping and resizing.



Dried pearly everlasting. Harvested on the Sunshine Coast a month ago.


A dried, rolled leaf off my prayer plant.


The business end of a Venus flytrap, through dewed glass.


A carpet beetle larva. I've had this one in a bottle for several months, with a wisp of wool and a piece of feather. He's doing fine, growing and chomping away. 4 mm.

And now, to take an aspirin and head to bed. Just what the doctor used to order.
.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009

A visit to Oyster Bay Plant Works

... still catching up on our vacation photos ...

On an after-supper walk near our motel in Campbell River, we discovered a gate with a sign; Oyster Bay Plant Works - Open 9 AM. Through the bars, it looked green and inviting. We hurried over right after breakfast the next morning.



Laurie surrounded by beauty.

The gate opened on a wide, bricked path with gardens on both sides; there seemed to be no-one about. Laurie disappeared down a mowed trail to our right, and I dawdled, taking photos of an old Austin in a garden shed. (I love old cars.) Before I was done, the gardener, Linda, had appeared, gloved hands still holding her tools. She was very friendly, and invited me to wander freely around; she would be handy if we needed her. I thanked her and followed Laurie into the shrubbery.

This quadrant is planted mainly in a variety of rhododendrons and azaleas. Flowering season for these was past, but other plants took up the slack. And the green was soothing after the harsh sunlight of the highway. The paths meander, always hiding what lies ahead, but tantalizing us with glimpses of colour.


Astrantia


Native rose, above my head.


Magnolia variety. When the light hits it just right, it looks really blue. The underside of the leaves wears a cinnamon fuzz.


At intervals, carvings and sculpture add interest.


Allium. Notice the bulblets at the base of the flowers.

In spite of the shade, the day was heating up already. I was glad when we came upon a small pond, with a bench under overhanging branches. I sat and rested, lazily taking photos from the bench. Laurie, more resistant to heat than I, scrambled around, getting the perfect angle.


The pool, from my shelter.


Small blue flower.


Tall pink flower, three-petalled.


Stone turtle, on moss and ground cover.

Back on the main path, we met Linda again. I asked about growing conditions for a pitcher plant that I had discovered by the pool. (More on that in a later post.) She took us under her wing, and gave us a tour of the rest, including the view from the front porch of her house. (Gorgeous!)

Then we went to look for plants for my deep shade garden at home.


The hosta garden. Deep shade. Garden sheds and office in back.

I wanted an epimedium; they retain their beautiful warm colour right through the winter, snow and all. And a hellebore for their early spring flowers. Linda found me both of these, and added a bonus; a small pitcher plant. I also wanted a Spring Snowflake, but try as I might, I couldn't remember the name, nor describe it accurately. Leucojum vernum. Now I've got it memorized, too late.


White lilies, like a flock of butterflies among the rhodos and ferns.

Laurie caught up to me, and we said our goodbyes. At the little office, while Linda toted up my bill, I noticed this tiny delight:

Red and cream. Unidentified.

I had a hard time choosing photos; there were too many. Another dozen are in the Flickr Oyster Bay Garden Works set.

And Linda, if you're reading this, the plants made it home, two hot days trip in the car, in perfect condition. I kept them inside the car, with the air conditioning on, and shaded. When we parked, I draped a wet towel over them to keep them cool. They're doing fine in the shade of my garden. Thank you!
.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Ambition. Perhaps unrealistic.

At a pay phone outside Edgewater Motel, Campbell River:


"Come on, make that phone call!"


She hung there the whole week that we stayed. She never caught anyone. I kept the cell phone charged.
.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Summing up: Rock Flipping Day 2009

The last entry for Rock Flipping Day 2009 has come in, I think, and it's time to do a bit of a wrap-up.

Stats:
  • 35 people posted photos and/or wrote blog posts. A few others flipped rocks, but didn't post, among them my niece and her kindergarten class. Great excitement, lots of bugs, no camera, no blog. E., at Cicero Sings, flipped "lovely rocks" on the riverside, but didn't get home in time to make Sunday's list.
  • The youngest Flipper, as far as I can tell, was almost 2 years old. The oldest? Maybe me, weighing in at 67. (Challenges welcome. Please.)
  • Countries represented: Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, and the US.
  • Biggest critters? Several snakes, including a cottonmouth in classic ambush position. (The 14th photo in the post.) Scary!
  • Smallest? Springtails, probably.
  • Most of one kind. Ants, I think. Almost everybody found ants.
  • Mystery solved: Dr. Omed's beetles have been identified. Still a mystery: Ange's egg masses. And I think my eggs are slug eggs. Or maybe snails. I'm keeping an eye on them.
Overall, it was a fun time again this year; a great line-up of enthusiastic Flippers and interesting discoveries. Special thanks, again, to Cephalopodcast, who made the Junior Flippers badge after a midnight appeal on Saturday. And to Dave and Bev, who came up with the whole idea in the first place.

I'm looking forward to next year's Rock Flip already!



Plenty of rocks here, just waiting for 2010.

A Skywatch post.

.

Off-topic; Fed up with Spam.

I don't know what got me on a list somewhere, but I have been receiving one or two "Dear friend" letters every day for the last few weeks. Sure, they go automatically to Spam, but I found out that letters from real friends have been also sent to Spam, so I still have to check it every day, anyhow.

And I'm getting a bit fed up. May as well have a bit of fun with them before I delete them. So, here's the latest, with my comments in red:
Dear Friend. (Hello? Do I know you?)

Good day and God bless you. I feel quite safe and satisfy (sic) dealing with you in this charity project.Though, this medium (Internet) has been greatly abused, I choose to reach you through it because it still remains the fastest, surest and most secured (Really!) medium of communication. However, this correspondence is purely private, and it should be treated as such.

Sorry about that. You should know by now that there is no real privacy in a public medium.

As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday. My name is MRS.LILIAN JONES, a merchant in Dubai, in the U.A.E. (Not Nigeria? What originality!) I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer . It has defiled (As in, polluted, adulterated?) all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts.

I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone(not even myself)but my business. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. (I'll remember that.)

I believe when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that God has called me, I have willed and given most of my property and assets to my immediate and extended family members as well as a few close friends.

I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul so, I have decided to give aims (sic) to charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on earth. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations in the U.A.E, Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore. I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and distribute the money which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria and Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what I have left for them.

(Would you have been? Aren't they following your example? Assuming that you have been telling the truth so far. Which, I imagine, is an unwarranted assumption; I have no evidence that you have.)

The last of my money which no one knows of is the huge cash deposit of TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS $12,000,000,that I have with a finance/Security Company abroad. I will want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to charity organizations.

(Ooooohhhh!!! What trust you have in me! You must know me well, from somewhere. I find it odd that you haven't given any hint as to when we've met, or how you know about me.)

I have set aside 25% for you and for your time if you want to help me to collect this Funds and also invest this money.

(That would be $3,000,000. For a few hours work. I could write one or two cheques, maybe to something like Doctors Without Borders and/or the Canadian Red Cross, and have done with it. A million bucks an hour? Sounds good. Too good. Maybe there's a catch.)

N.B-PLEASE I WILL ADVICE (sic)YOU TO CONTACT THE LAWYER IN NETHERLANDS IMMEDIATELY, HE DOES EVERYTHING ON MY BEHALF AND HE'S VERY UNDERSTANDING AND I BELIEVE HE WILL LEAD YOU TO YOUR
SUCCESS IN JESUS NAME AMEN.

Name: BARRISTER.JOE BENSON

(Hmmmm... Googling this name and title brings up, at the very top of the list, the identical letter, down to the signature of "Mrs. Lilian Jones". So much for "Dear friend," and "purely private" correspondence. I wonder if maybe -- just maybe -- the $12,000,000 bucks is also a fiction. I find no other mention of a lawyer named Joe Benson in the Netherlands.)

Email: joebenson1111@aol.com

(On aol? Not his own firm's domain? That's so reassuring.)

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.

(Thank you for your good wishes, Lill. I may call you that, right? Seeing as how we're good friends and all.)

Yours in Christ, (No comment.)

Mrs.Lilian Jones
Well, I am really sorry, "Mrs. Lilian Jones"; I will have to disappoint you. As you said earlier, "there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world." I agree. There's sleeping at night. There's a good day's work for a good day's pay. I'm sure you understand.

(There! Will that somehow make me persona non grata to these spammers? I wish.)
.

No, oranges do not grow on pear trees.

Sunday, taking a breather during a very animated birthday party at my son's house, I wandered among the fruit trees behind the garden to see what was on offer. A large pear tree caught my attention; from a distance, it looked as if it were bearing small oranges.

No such luck. Not even orangey pears. This is what I found:


Gymnosporangium, the pear-juniper rust.


These mounds grew on the underside of the leaves. Out of each, one or more nipple-like, slightly hairy, pale growths sprouted. Where the sun shone through the leaves, the whole mound glowed a brilliant orange.


Closer view of a couple of mounds.

Topside of a leaf

Some kind of gall, I thought; some insect growing inside. I Googled "pear gall" and got nowhere. "Pear disease" turned up Gymnosporangium sabinae, the European pear rust. This one is probably Gymnosporangium fuscum, the pear trellis rust, introduced to BC around the 1960s.

It's not an insect, after all: it's a fungus. And it has a surprising life cycle. The fungus overwinters in junipers, in the form of orange, jelly-like swellings along the twigs. When the warm spring rains arrive, it produces spores, which float in the air to the nearest pear tree. (All varieties of pear seem to be susceptible.) The pear develops, first, orange spots on the leaves, then the mounds. At the end of the summer, the "nipples" appear, and produce new spores, different than the ones that attached themselves to the pear trees. These are carried back to the junipers on the wind, re-infect them, and wait for the spring.

The recommended remedy is to remove any junipers from the vicinity of the pear trees, up to 100 feet away. (This site suggests 100 metres.) Fairly simple, if the junipers are on the same property. In this case, the pear tree is near a wall that borders an apartment complex. The landscaping (we can't see it) is probably mostly junipers.

The other solution is to remove the pear tree. Or put up with the spots and the occasional damaged fruit.

.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The humble sunflower

Showy sunflower head:


Blooming


Wilting


Ripening

Sunflower florets:


Where the real work is done.


Disc florets atop the rows of fruit.

All photos taken yesterday, in Tsawwassen.
.


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cave dwellers

Rocks and stones intrigue me. They follow me home, riding in my pockets or, if they're a bit bigger, in the trunk of the car. Most end up living in my garden or around my potted plants. So, looking for rocks to flip, I first go to a little cairn under the rhododendron.

One stone in particular stood out this year; it's a piece of volcanic rock, about 6 inches long, rough and pitted. I don't remember where I found it.


The crevices serve as hiding places for small critters. Saturday, I found a few baby slugs, a miniature harvestman, a tiny red mite. A millipede took off running as I lifted the stone. And of course, there had to be a sowbug; there always is.


Half-hidden sowbug.

In the deeper pits, many tiny snails, some barely the size of a large grain of sand, sleep away the daylight hours.




As I explored the caves under a bright light, a few snails fell off in my hand. Here they are, with a Canadian penny for size comparison. The letters are about 1 millimetre tall.


Probably a grove snail, Cepaea nemoralis.


Most had these long cone-shaped shells. The light shines through the bottom whorl.


"Show me the way to go home."

After the photo session, I carefully replaced the snails on the stone, and took them back to the garden.
.


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I discover a hoax. And some eggs.

It's been a busy weekend, what with company and making the list of Rock Flippers, (What fun I've been having! And I've met so many new - to me - great bloggers!) but I'm finally getting around to posting my own IRFD report, in two parts.

I stayed close to home all weekend, dashing out every time I took a break to see if I could find a good rock. My first forays were a bust; interesting wildlife, lousy photos. Saturday afternoon, though, I noticed a rock beside our street, a big rock I had passed hundreds of times without ever looking at it. It was far too big to even consider tipping over, but I was getting desperate.


Big, chunky, fake rock.

Then I noticed that white edge. It looked like a coating of barnacles, but here? I went closer and touched the rock. It was just painted styrofoam. How had I missed that before?

A nudge with a couple of fingers, and over it went. And look what I found!


They must be eggs, but what laid them, I don't know. I can see something inside, looking mostly like a bubble of air.


This blurry photo gives an idea of the size; that's a fat earthworm. The whitish thing on the right is a dead woodbug. I'm wondering whether it is warmer under the fake rock than it would be under a real one; I'll have to monitor it over the winter.

A few hours later, I was out again. I crossed the street to our productive vacant lot.


Big slabs of debris from building sites, now almost hidden by the weeds. Too big for me.


Smaller chunks. I could handle these.

Here, I found the ever-present woodbugs, slugs, and earthworms. And the spiders that feast on the woodbugs.


Dead weed stalks make great camouflage for a leggy spider.


Funnel-web spider with packed lunch; a beetle wrap.

And I began and ended with the next generation. These were cocoons containing ant larvae. The adults were frantically collecting them and hauling them down cracks.


All in all, a good haul. And Sunday's flipping yet to come; that will be next post.

.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The early bird gets the worm: IRFD 2009 - 1

... or snails. Or maybe a spider or two.


Leftover shells from bird breakfast. Not under a rock.

Rock Flipping Day 2009 is underway! Posts and photos are coming in, a few as early as Saturday morning, and we've got a great line-up of flippers waiting in the wings.

And there are prizes! Even not completely imaginary prizes! Cephalopodcast, the creator of the original IRFD badge, has made a Junior Award badge; if some of your crew of RockFlippers are under 7 or thereabouts, add this badge to your post. (It might be a good idea to print out copies for each kid, to stick on the fridge or hang on the door ...)

Junior Rock-Flipper Award
Badge, by cephalopodcast.com, under a Creative Commons license. Original, and other sizes, in Flickr IRFD pool.

And now, without more ado, let the show begin!

First up, in the early bird category:
  • From The Natural Capital, hailing from Washington, DC, a grand collection of critters, including a video of frantic ants, with birdsong.
  • Bill Murphy, blogging in Fertanish Chatter, (NY) found an interesting greenish spider with grey socks.
  • Sadly, Pablo from Roundrock Journal, flipped his rock and found nothing at home; just an open front door. I wonder what's living down there?
  • I was out early, too, flipping the landscaping.
  • Julie and her family, Just Playin' Around, flipped paving stones and discovered what they've been walking on. The kids are 2 1/2 and 5; don't forget to add their award to your post, Julie!
Sunday:
  • The Science Goddess, in western Washington, discovers that "the rock is providing habitat services for any number of organisms. I will now have to stop thinking of it as an eyesore by the road." She writes about it in What It's like on the Inside.
  • Kris Abel, CTV's tech expert, checked out a rockbed in the Toronto Music Garden, and found low-tech, silent residents. His photos are also in the Flickr pool.
  • The latest (as of noon today) photos in the pool are by BugLady, of Bug Safari. She is not thrilled with her finds, but I like her spider. I guess what you see every day becomes old hat after a while.
  • Sofia_Alexandra, in Sweden, found ants and loaded them to Twitter. #rockflip The cat doesn't say what he found.
  • Ted Simpkins added photos of a redback salamander to the pool.
  • Roberta, of Growing with Science, found a change in the under-rock habitat after a dry summer in the Sonoran Desert.
  • At Chicken Spaghetti, Susan finds an earthworm and gives us some handy book titles to go along with it.
  • Laura, at Natural Notes, says her photos are Not Much to Look At. On second thoughts, however, they are "kind of neat in their own way."
  • Elizabeth, blogging at Yips and Howls, looks at piles of Oregon basalt, and finds "small critter turds".
  • Hugh, of Rock, Paper, Lizard, makes a determined search through Rip-rap & rubble. He is finally rewarded with a well-camouflaged spider.
  • Nothing. Sort of, says Kate, after flipping rocks in two counties. The dry weather worked to her advantage, though.
  • Andrea, the Dog Geek, found slugs. And more slugs. No dry weather for her!
  • Glass snails from the garden, in Dave Ingram's Natural History Blog.
  • Dave Bonta, at via negativa, weighs in with videoetry: Advice for Prospective Troglodytes.
  • Sarah (at Unplug Your Kids) and her family explored the woods, looking for perfect rocks. She describes the ones they found as, "quite beautiful, volcanic, and full of holes."
  • Ange, from Quebec, added a photo to the Flickr group; are these egg masses? If so, what laid them there?
  • ORCA: Observar, Recordar, Crecer y Aprender, blogging from Barcelona, Spain, found "escarabajos y hormigas,"* and, I think, some springtails. (*That's "beetles and ants".)
  • Will Rees, in North Carolina, goes out herping/'shrooming/rock-flipping. Among his finds; a cottonmouth and other snakes. He also has a valuable tip for anyone hiking in snake country.
  • And here's Seabrooke, at The Marvelous in Nature, with some good info about ants. (She found several species.) And how to tell a centipede from a millipede.
  • From Aotearoa, New Zealand, Pohangina Pete sends the story of a walk in search of rocks (in a drowned totara forest). The garden turned out to be a better bet.
  • MrsJurus, from Centerville, OH, added photos to the Flickr pool The evidence shows she was accompanied by at least one kid.
  • Ontario Wanderer found "a worm in the worm" in one of his flower gardens.
  • Candeiasleal added a woodbug from northern Ontario to the Flickr pool.
  • A couple of toddlers, with Bare Baby Feet, discovered the Ant Queen of Okemos, Michigan, big, red-and-black, and beautiful.
  • And the Pickle family turned up a Spiderman disk and a nickel. That's besides the earthworms and a cool slug.
  • Crickets and a handful of worm. At Crazy Maize World.
  • Dr. Omed broke all the rules. But his beetles are worth looking at, so we'll forgive him. This time.
Late entries:
As the rest of the posts come in, I will update the list. Refresh this page occasionally to see what's new. And don't forget to check the Flickr pool, as well.

.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The 19th, already!

One more day. Or even less, if you're on the other side of the earth; it's almost the 20th of September, and time to get out and flip some rocks!


These look like they might have something living underneath. Kwomais Point area.

I sort of promised, following Dave Bonta's lead, to think of handing out prizes. Purely imaginary, of course, but in his words, "highly coveted". This year, the Very, Very, Extra-Special Grand Prize will go to any and all kids, oh, seven years old and under, who flipped a rock, with or without help from big people.

(In case you've missed the earlier explanation, the history and rules for this event are here. Send the links to your Rock Flipping blog posts to me as soon as you post, at wanderinweeta AT gmail D0T com; I will then compile a list, post it on this blog, and e-mail you a copy of the list, ready to be posted on your blogs as well. You may, if you wish, add your photos to the Flickr group, as well.)

I've cleaned my desk and calendar; I'm anticipating great things. Be careful, be gentle, and have fun, everybody!
.


Friday, September 18, 2009

A handful of weeds

I'm still plugging away at my hundreds of Vancouver Island photos. These are a few of the wildflowers in the Campbell River to Comox area:


Gumweed. The name fits: this stuff is sticky!


Gumweed on the beach. It likes dunes and dry, disturbed land.


Dying tansy, with a happy bunch of freeloaders.


Queen Anne's Lace. The flower head, opening up, forms a deep bowl at first.


The whole flower head is an umbel; the individual clusters of flowers in the umbel are umbellets. They turn white as they open.


Silverweed. A cinquefoil. It likes wet creek banks and beaches.


Rockweed. At Oyster Bay.


A different rockweed. Oyster Bay.


Hardhack. One of my favourite dried flowers. Dries to a quiet brownish mauve colour. Grows in wet ground.


Canada Thistle. Grows everywhere, but likes good garden soil.


And for good measure, a cross spider enjoying the morning sunshine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The countdown begins: two more days before Rock Flipping Day. These, underwater at Crescent Beach, would be interesting.


Rocks and fractured light.

.

Powered By Blogger