The stars aligned and told us it was time to collect mushrooms and make spore prints. On our backyard hunt we found more treasures than we anticipated. Two banana slugs, deer vertebrae, and Ev's find: a sodden $20 bill.
Later a slender salamander turned up beneath a rock in the side yard. He was playing dead but when I gently turned him into my other hand to look at his belly he quick turned over. He did it so fast that we couldn't see him turn. I'd flip him from hand to hand but he was always right side up and unmoving as a stick. We laughed and laughed and Evelyn called him a double sided salamander.
Greta cut the stems off the mushrooms and set them on a piece of paper. We left them over the weekend. Only two made good prints. A third made a cream print on white paper, visible only in the right light. I'm glad I took pictures as Greta, in an attempt to make notecards, chopped them all into tiny bits with her scissors. We meant to bury the bits in the yard to plant more mushrooms, but the bits have vanished. Greta said she dreamed that mushrooms were growing on the walls of our house.
I hope that particular dream does not come true.
or this 
7 comments:
I'm with you on the dream. Maybe she means "house" in the sense of "world." At least she didn't dream some of my more lurid ones.
Those would have made stellar notecards, had they not been subdivided into teensy bits. I have never seen a salamander in the wild -- maybe some time this spring.
What a great day! I love hands full of fun like that!
It was a delightful half hour. I love how a blog post can make your whole day seem like a long relaxed mushroom hunt.
Ok, I have a question for fellow blog moms. Do your kids complain about you taking photos?
On this walk Evelyn said, "Mom, why do you look at life through the lens of a camera?"
I think her dream suggests how incredibly engaged she was in the activity since it imprinted upon her brain--and even the walls of your house.
Re: taking photos of family: it is weird documenting one's life and family and sharing it with strangers. Bloggers are trying to share their perspective, but it may be misconstrued that a blogger's viewpoint is the "only way" or "best way" and that may not be the blogger's intention at all.
we did spore prints many times and they are cool. sounds like a fun day.
Oh, I'm so behind on reading blogs this week--but I sure do love that collage of photos! It makes me want to get back out in the yard immediately!
Mr. T doesn't mind having his photo taken for the blog--hence so many blog posts about him. The older two are much more wary--but I manage to sneak a few in. My own sudden fascination with photography has actually inspired Lulu. She's been taking lots of photos herself--and she has a great eye.
Love the spore print idea! I visited with Elise, Luke and Honor and Elise said that she has done two mini hunts with Luke and he loves them. She introduced me as the Hunt starter in Bayberry - the fun carries on but you've taken it to another dimension .
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