Sunshine before the Gathering Darkness

Well, September 1st was a promising start to the month. Chillier temperatures for sure but the sun was out and there was nary a cloud to be seen. First order of business was walk with cats.

Then we set off to Lester's Farm to get some veggies and what turned out to be some amazing local lamb. While there I saw the first ads for Pumpkin Fest 2018!

Another walk, by myself this time, and more mushrooms!

Ended the day with bar-b-que and that amazing lamb from Lester's!

Go off the Beaten Path...

...or should you? As I've stated before people go missing in the woods here. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Cortney Lake; it is a tragic tale.  While true that disappearing people is not specific to where I live there have been a couple of recent disappearances to add to the province's list.

But if you are brave of heart and willing to experience some truly beautiful landscape here's a bit of info re: planning a Fall getaway to Newfoundland.

This place is also crazy mushroomy. Passed at least 5 different types on our walk this morning ....

Screams in the night...

We just got back from a weekend in and around Eastport, NL. We were staying with my hubby's Aunt who has lived there for the last couple of decades. She has a beautiful bit of property and the most amazing view!

We arrived late in the afternoon on Saturday. After a walk down the road and around a bit of coastline we returned to an amazing meal with my hubby's Aunt. After dinner she gave us a more extensive tour by car in and around some of the nearby communities and to witness a most spectacular sunset!

It wasn't long after arriving back at her place that we stumbled up the stairs to bed. It was a warm night and we had the windows wide open so we slept pretty well. The following morning, however, as we were headed out on another tour, a nearby neighbour stopped us to ask if had heard "the screaming in the night?" Whaaa! Apparently, at about 3:00 am, someone had started screaming for help from the nearby woods / shoreline. The RCMP were called and arrived to investigate but by then the screaming had stopped. Nothing has been found...yet.

There are bits of bog in the nearby woods and you can find yourself on solid rock with one step and in chest deep bog the next. I've written before about the stories people tell about being led astray and getting lost in the woods. In Newfoundland it used to be thought the fault of the fairies when people got turned around. Many of these stories and beliefs came with the people who moved here from southern Ireland.

"Most are not aware of the province’s fairy folklore. We’ve all heard a ghost story 
or two, but to most, stories of “the good folk” are seldom heard, especially 
amongst the younger generations. But our province has a past that was rich in 

fairy lore, particularly on the predominantly Irish settled , Avalon peninsula. 

Stories and beliefs from the homeland followed our ancestors to this rugged island, 

and there have been numerous self-proclaimed accounts of the Fae and 

their interactions with family members and friends of the community. 

 Most stories involving fairies have been collected through 

interviews throughout the 20th century. 

Barbara Reiti, folklore PhD and former professor at MUN, is the author 

of Strange Terrain: The fairy world in Newfoundland. Reiti gathered numerous 

accounts of Newfoundlanders experiencing encounters with fairies, from 

tales of horses’ manes being braided nightly, to fairies dancing 

in a circle and luring travellers through the forest with sweet music. 

Conception Bay seems to be a major hotspot, as well as several communities 

around the Avalon like Avondale, Ferryland, and Witless Bay. They’ve been described 

as everything from small children sporting red capes, to glowing balls of light." 

- excerpt from Fairy-Tales: Berry Picking and the Fairy Lore Connection

Summer so far...?

It's been rather...eventful. Weather wise it's been up and down. Started out promising during the first two weeks of a sunny and warm May but then it got cold and gloomy and stayed that way till the end of June. We had my husband's parents with us for several days which was nice. One morning, while having our breakfast, we heard a big boom which, I assumed because of the overcast skies, was thunder. Found out later there had been a gas explosion at a garage not far from us that blew off the sides and ceiling. Luckily not many people were there and no one was killed although there were a few injuries.

Last few days of June, summer came back with a blazing sun for a couple of days before more rain and gloom. Which is how things seem to be going this month. Been windy too. Been getting weather systems from down south including the remnants of Hurricane Chris and now Beryl, I believe. Despite the overcast skies and some rain today, it is rather warm and muggy.

I'm not complaining about the rain because it's been a pretty dry winter and spring. So much so that fires have been breaking out. Last week there was a bush fire not far from here that had us a bit worried. Watched the water bombers do their work and it was doused within a couple of hours. But not before heavy smoke forced part of a nearby neighbourhood to evacuate! Luckily damage was limited to the woods with only a few houses suffering melted vinyl siding and scorched fences / decks.



Our house is back onto a green space and though I often see the remnants of people's illegal fires in the woods, I'd still rather have the woods back there then a new housing development. Do you see how close together those houses are? And nary a tree on any lot unless the home owner plants one. Unfortunately, in April we discovered there are plans for a commercial/residential development behind us :(

Foggy woods walk

More Mat Night

Soooo...while on the other side of town yesterday we ended up with a flat tire. Luckily we had one of those cans of foamy sticky stuff that you can inject into the tire to get you where you're going. Which was home. That meant a change in plans for today. This morning we were up early to get the winter tires out of the shed and into the car. It's about that time here anyway so we figured it was a good time to get the tires changed. Also got us a good deal on a new set of summer tires.

Because of the tire problem and the fact that I forgot hubby has to work this evening, well, we changed up the schedule. Last night we carved the pumpkins and watched the two Tooms X-files episodes. Both episodes made me scream...heeee hee! We also watched two episodes of Stranger Things....cuz hubby can't watch one tonight. By the way, I'm loving Season 2!

That evening walk in the woods is off too. But not just because hubby has to go to work tonight. The weather's looking iffy for this evening -- calling for fog and maybe rain overnight -- but I won't be walking in the woods tonight mostly because of what happened on our last woods walk with the cats.

On Friday we harnessed up the cats and headed out the gate and on up the usual route. But both seemed somewhat reluctant. Sometimes the older one, Cat #1, will be but the younger one, Cat #2, is usually quite keen. By the time we got to our usual little loop both were acting nervous. Cat #1 stopped at the crossroads which is where I left hubby and her. I went on ahead with the Cat #2 who NEEDS the exercise. Well, we need him to get the exercise so he'll nap for a few hours instead of yowling at the door.

Anywho, I was going to take the loop back around and meet hubby and Cat #1 in the usual place a little further up the path from where I left them. But clearly the cats' could smell something. Even Cat #2 started acting nervous and stopped moving forward. At this point it was just quicker to keep going round the loop but to keep moving I actually had to pick him up and carry him part of the way. When I did put him down he went shooting forward at such a clip I actually had to run to keep up!

Hubby and Cat #1 didn't make it to the meet up spot but I could hear him calling. I met them back at where I'd originally left them because Cat #1 had refused to budge. Soon after I left them there my hubby told me something started moving fast through the undergrowth. It was moving away from them but towards where I was with Cat #2. Which explains why I had to pick up my little buddy and carry him. And indeed I could smell something a bit ripe on the air.

We hightailed it back to our place with the cats pulling us the whole way!

Could have been a fox...



So, today is candy prep and a bit more decorating round the front door. If the weather holds, might add some cobwebs to the cemetery out front.

Mirkwood

One of my two favourite chapters in The Hobbit is Flies and Spiders; the Mirkwood chapter. Nothing in any movie version has ever come close to my childhood imaginings of that dreaded, forbiding, dark, spooky place. I still find being alone in 'the woods' somewhat creepy. And thanks to Stranger Things, that has not changed.

So imagine my genuine delight when we bought this house and built a gate in our back fence to access the greenbelt behind it.  It's where we routinely walk our cats. There are trails in there for moose (yep, we've seen tracks), dogs, walkers, and mountain bikes, as well as ATVs (grrrrr !). There are also areas off the trails where the trees are so close together, well, very little could get through. We refer to those sections as Mirkwood. (You may recall my incredibly long winded post about people disappearing in the woods?)

Yeah, I bought this

Ghost Pipe

Been enjoying our walks in the woods out back of our little home. Came across something I'd never seen before. Discovered it is called Ghost Flower, Ghost Pipe, Indian Pipe, Corpse Flower or Monotropa uniflora. Thought it was a mushroom. But it's not.

Plants fit for a potion

Several days ago at our local park, I was taking some photos and felt a theme coming together. Something about the light at that time of evening and the unique plant names I saw made me feel like I was in a fairytale. The kind of fairytale where a witch lives in a forest and goes out to collect plants for her brew.

So after noticing a few unique plant names, I started looking for the most witch's brew-worthy ones I could find. If you're ready to use a little bit of imagination, you can take a fairytale tour of our local park and gardens with me.

Care to take a trip into the woods? Legend has it that there's a garden of magical plants on the other side of this forest. People say there is a witch who lives near these woods and collects the magical plants nearby for her secret potions. Let's see if we can find some of those plants...

Deeper and deeper into the forest we go...

There is a wise old tree gnome in this enchanted forest. Can you see him?

The tree gnome says "Just walk straight down this path and you will make it to the forest's clearing. You'll know you're in the right place, because you'll find a magic walking stick. Take it with you and you'll be sure to find all the magical plants you're looking for." Sure enough, at the forest's clearing it appears that someone has left you a walking stick for your journey:

And here is the herb garden!

What will we find here?

Our first find is The Wooly Woundwort:

Yes, this is as soft as it looks!

Sneezewort:

Sneezewort has some cool, patterned leaves:

Soapwort:

I wanted to see the results of boiling the roots/leaves of this plant, so I looked up some videos. You can get some pretty good lather out of these flowers! I was surprised to also find tons of recipes and soapwort products for sale!

Sneezeweed (not to be confused with Sneezewort)

Rough Horsetail:

It looks a lot like bamboo and has these cool little pinecone things:

Snake's Head Fritillary:

I love the name of this one, but it turns out I didn't take a picture of it! I took photos of three other plants, not knowing which was the Snake's Head. Turns out, this is a spring flower. So that's why it wasn't there. I had to look up Snake's Head Fritillary to see what it actually looks like. It's beautiful:

The Snake's Head Fritillary - A Chequered History

I'm trying to figure out the "Snake's Head" name. Maybe the checks on the flowers look like a diamondback snake? Those snakes have check type shapes on them anyway.

Dark Vader Lungwort

How threatening does this sound? Even the "Lungwort" part. It's a cute little polka-dot plant, though.

Primal Scream Daylily:

Prince Tut Papyrus

This made me wonder if there's a King Tut Papyrus that's maybe larger. I took a look and yes there is: King Tut Papyrus And yeah, King Tut is pretty big. The King can grow 48-72 inches tall!

Bonefish Coleus:

These really do resemble fish skeletons, don't they?

Dark Towers Beardtongue:

Dark Towers is a foreboding name. It makes me think of Dark Shadows. And the "Beardtongue" part is pretty creepy too if you visualize it. I wonder where that came from? OK, I just looked that up and got a result that has nothing to do with this photo. Supposedly, some types of beardtongue have the appearance of a hairy tongue protruding from a mouth. Eww.

It has a fittingly Gothic look for a plant named "Dark Towers".

Last but not least, Elvis Lives:

Appropriately, it looks like "The King" of hostas. It's massive!

So here we have what sounds like the perfect ingredients for a Witch's brew:

Wooly Woundwort
Sneezewort
Soapwort
Sneezeweed
Rough Horsetail
Snake's Head Fritillary
Dark Vader Lungwort
Primal Scream Daylily
Prince Tut Papyrus
Bonefish Coleus
Dark Towers Beardtongue
Elvis Lives

Wow, what do you think would happen if those were all mixed together?

Well, you have the chance to find out because guess whose house we've come across!

I think she'll be nice enough to cook us up some of our little finds from the garden. The kind old witch says we picked the winning combination for a lucky brew!

Well, after finding all these mysterious plants, and sampling some brew, it's time to head home. There are some curious creatures to see on the way back, like this friendly fish.

He looks so happy because he spotted that clover. The purple fish ate the clover right after I took this picture.

Another cool creature in the park was the hummingbird moth. If you've ever seen one of these, you know why they have that name. You'll see a large buzzing flying critter coming toward a flower and swear it's a hummingbird, but on closer inspection it's an insect.

I've seen orangish ones like in the first photo, but I'd never seen one with yellow stripes before. Their wings move incredibly fast, so they're a challenge to photograph.

Well, here's your entrance back to the woods. Hope you enjoyed this garden tour!

P.S. ~ A little piece of trivia: The word "wort" in a plant's name comes from the old English word "wyrt". "Wyrt" means "plant". You can go back further with the word and read a list of "wort" plants here: List of Worts

The Best of August and into September

Hope you all had a nice August! I don't think I checked in to blogger all last month, I've been so busy. So I thought it would be fun to do one of those "best of" the month posts with some photos from August and the first few days of September to show a little of what I've been up to. I'll stick with the generally spooky stuff.

So, the first thing I want to share is a series of photos from our local park. There's a nighttime concert series there in the summer and I brought my camera along to it.

 

That bridge pic is one of the spookier ones I think I took. You can't help thinking something is waiting down there. It's even a little spooky in the daylight because there's so much space under the bridge and plants growing under it. It's a bog type area.

These photos were taken into the woods that surround the park. I was randomly snapping pics while walking, so I wasn't even sure what I got. The camera had better eyesight than I did since I was using the flash. I half expected some animal to be looking back at me when I took a closer look, but I don't see any.

 At the bottom there, a bug?

I can't help thinking there's an animal in these woods, I just can't see it.

A little pond area that looks like a black hole

This is a park's waterfall in the dark. Don't those rocks on the walls behind it look like skulls? I never saw it that way in the daylight.

I also got a bat shot at the park! I know it's blurry, but it's hard for me to capture a bat. So this still feels like a success. They were dipping around so fast that probably the blurriness was caused by me trying to follow it.

Out of the park now... These next photos also felt like a success to me. I often hear crows but rarely see them when I have a camera handy. These crows nicely stayed put for me.

The garden spider was back again this year.

I was happy to get a pic of its web. Like bats and crows, spider webs are hard to catch at just the right time. The little droplets of water were a nice touch too.

Another little garden find was...

... an Ambush Bug! I learned that in the process of writing this blog post. This bug is much smaller than pictured, which is maybe why I never noticed one before.

So, what is an Ambush Bug you ask? Well, they earned their name by sitting and waiting for prey to come by and then ambushing it. I'm guessing they're usually better camouflaged than this one who is on a sunflower. Not that it's holding him back; he's snacking on an ant in this pic.

Also, it turns out that "Ambush Bug" is a comic book character I'd never heard of.

I took some more night shots during August. Those of you who follow me on Twitter might have seen these.

It's pretty dark around here, even with the street lights.

I was calling this "the evil cat eye moon". There's a even a "pupil" for the eye caused by a cloud that was passing by.

Besides walking around in the dark and observing creepy crawlies, the main thing that's been keeping me busy recently is genealogy research. I don't think obsession is too strong a word. I've been having a lot of success with it lately. It helps that our library lets us use Ancestry.com for free now! If anyone wants to talk genealogy, let me know in the comments.