September 20

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Heading to Kansas for my niece's wedding.

This is the interaction of I-96, I-275, Michigan 5, and 12 Mile Road.  Goodness.

South Haven, Michigan, on the edge of Lake Michigan.

Burlington, Iowa.

Big sky over Kansas.

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September 19

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September 16

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September 15

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On our way to the farmers' market. 

Creepy fungus.  Having googled Michigan skinny red mushroom, I learned that these are always found in wood-chip beds, and are thought to have made their way here from somewhere else, thanks to people shipping wood chips around............  "What could possibly go wrong?"................................   We'll hope these are harmless to the local ecosystem!

Note dandelion plant -- that gives you some idea of scale.  I'd say these stalks, or whatever you call them when it's fungi rather than plants, were about 8" long. 

I read that the spores are in that brown slime.

Let us raise our eyes to something not creepy at all, that was deliberately brought here by people.

Aren't these eggplants pretty?  So many different shapes and variations on purple.........

Dahlia.

I went downtown for lunch with my work buddies on September 15.  It was a very nice day.

These are someone's front steps, with an intrepid snapdragon growing from a crack.  This is my kind of plant -- growing happily, all by itself, with no coddling.

One of the world's cutest puppies.  This is Mike.  He is a Newfoundland.  I first met him when he was about 10 pounds.  Every time I see him, he's four inches taller.

He is a sweetie, as well as being a cutie.  He is as soft as anything you can imagine...........

The fuzz on his head moved a little, in the slight breeze..............

I'm always happy to get a chance to say "hi" to Mike.



I went to yoga.  It was still a nice day.

And the sky, when I came out of yoga!  !!!  Looking west.

And looking east!  Totally different; equally amazing.

"Church Tower, with Sunset"   (tower at center, just above trees)  (As always, click on any image to embiggen.)

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September 11

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Looking northwest over West Park.

This is the same kind of flower we saw the honeybee on, a few days ago.  The plant is definitely NOT thistle-y.

Looking east over West Park.

I do not know what this is, but I'm glad for YELLOW in the landscape.......

Love the shapes and textures and subtle colors.....

Closeup of the acorn in the above.

I follow a couple of people on Instagram who use plant materials to make pictures.  (@flora.forager, and @sistergoldenshop often has such pics)

Looking at their work, I have been eyeing leaves in a new way.

This is extremely crude, in contrast to their lovely images.  I now have even more admiration for their results.  Every time you put something down, a bunch of other things move!

The times, they are a changin'...............

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September 10

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Farmers' market.

Zingerman's Bakehouse carrot cake for breakfast.  Mmmmmmmm...........

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September 9

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These are the self-same mushrooms we looked at yesterday (looking straight down at them, today).

On September 8, they were brand-new.  Fewer than 24 hours later they are almost finished.

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September 8

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I'm afraid the time is approaching when I need to wear glasses all the time.  Humph.

I can still see nearly all I want to see, but there are more and more times when something is too small (especially in poor light).

Sigh.

Looking for frames that are not totally boring........  I rather liked these, but they were too small.  The bows were too short, and the glasses felt narrow across, too.

Mushrooms.  Pretty sure the stringy stuff is the remainder of the last bunch of mushrooms to grow here.

Lots of texture.........

A different mushroom, in a different place.

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September 5

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Banh mi sandwich at the Bakehouse.  Yum.  Only available on some Mondays -- check first.....

Monday's chicken soup is also very good.

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September 2

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We walked downtown to do some banking.  Not at the Fairy Bank, but at the human bank.  Ann Arbor has a lot of Fairy Doors, all over the place.....  It's good that we have a bank for them, too.  :-)

Honeybee!

So much agriculture depends on these fragile wings.  Please, people -- less poison in our environment is important to all of us!

I have no idea what plant this is.  The flowers look sort of thistle-y, but the plants didn't, particularly....

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September 1

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Fancy grass seeds.

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