Feb 20, 2014

Fungi, Fungi, Fungi

So, you may be thinking, what's with the "fungi"?
Well, I've recently been bitten by the fungi-bug. 
What is that you ask and how did you catch it?

It began with an innocent visit to the Barnes and Nobles book store when I casually decided to browse through the nature field guides section. 
   After perusing the shelves of guides on everything from insects to edible wildflowers, one in particular captured my attention.

A Falcon Guide to North American Mushrooms.
 
Two hours later I placed the book back on the shelf and volia', the fungi-bug fever set in!!  I never pictured myself as a fungi-loving kinda gal, but nevertheless I am officially hooked on mushrooming.  Warning, the above guide can be a bit overwhelming at first read as it assumes you are already familiar with fungi-lingo right from page one. 
 

 
For instance, did you know that a mushroom cap is technically referred to as the pileus or that the gills are called lamellae in Mycologese? 
 Well, I sure didn't!  
 
Consequently, I almost closed this guide after struggling through the vocabulary in first few pages.
However, I my gaze couldn't resist the beautiful, full-color photographs of mushrooms in all of their fungi-glory. 
 
 
 
So, now I can't wait for the snow to melt and for the warm, wet days to arrive bringing with them all of the amazing mushroom varieties that abound in the woods and fields of Pennsylvania.  







Transparent Nature

Ok, spring fever has officially set in!  I've been creating a Pinterest board to capture nature study ideas that inspire me.  While on a recent search, I came across this ingenious idea for creating transparent nature squares. 

transparent nature squares

All you need is clear contact paper, scissors, and masking tape. 
We will begin creating these eye-pleasing homemade light catchers as soon as the snow melts.