collecting green

Today we went to get evergreen on top of the mountain.  Today was the day to do it because tomorrow will be opening day of deer season, and yesterday was still bear season.

 

We hiked up the old washed out township road to an area where there are some beautiful old pines.  There is an abandoned estate up there, and the owner has given us permission to hunt or take firewood etc. 

The first place we check out is the bear trees.  These are trees that the bear like to mark. There is little data available about why bears mark trees, but I think it has something to do with their territory.   Sure enough there were some fresh markings.  The photos are a bit dark, but the light areas on the trees are where the bear has been biting it.  From the looks of things, the bears must be standing on their hind legs to mark the trees.  They are taller than I am because I could not reach the marks with my teeth.

We looked around and notice bear scat.  We made a lot of noise, and headed down to clip some evergreen.  We pass an old wishing well.

We collected evergreen, shadberry, rosehips and pine cones.  On the way down the mountain, my husband was hard to keep up with...he was dragging the tarp, while I was busy taking pictures...

I found several specimens of tree fungi (Ganoderma or artist fungus I think)

And I took a picture of the mighty oak and its reflection in the pond.

Now I have enough evergreen to fill the window boxes, and make some wreaths. 

 

Started making a mobius on the triloom.  Well, actually, I have made two 3 foot weavings, which I assembled, but now I think I need a third which I will work on tonight.  I was going to work on it last night, but wound up watching Braveheart instead.