more sick day play
Author: Hashi
forest
I’m sick with a cold. Instead of going anywhere today—the groceries can wait!—I hunkered down with a box of tissues and played with pencils and paint.
Omphalotus olivascens
We saw these huge, gorgeous, rich orange-gold mushrooms growing among the roots of a coast live oak. Apparently this species is bioluminescent! And poisonous. Says Wiki: ”while not lethal, consuming this mushroom leads to very severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea.”
Ojai P.O.
purple
For Ma
Card for my MIL, who turns 88 today (even though she thinks she is turning 80).
persimmons
I think Transparent Pyrrol Orange was developed specifically to paint persimmons.
making the leap
resprout
We spent the afternoon on our burned-out lot, and I did an assessment of the many trees we’d planted, to see what was worth salvaging. The fruit trees are sprouting from their root stock, which means the graft is dead and who knows what kind of fruit we’ll get from them. The leaves on the mulberry suckers look remarkably like fig leaves, and a little research tells me that yes, mulberries can be grafted onto fig rootstock, so that’s what I’m seeing. Invasives are taking over. The usual suspects like mustard and spurge are thick on the hill, but trees and shrubs too—there are now acacias sprouting in the cracks around the pool.
The hours spent looking closely at the changes grieved me in a way that my previous visits have not. So many days and years of labour on that land, undone.
nature miscellanea
Instead of hiking on Friday, Kim and I decided to do our own nature journaling while chatting on Zoom—a private version of “Pencil Miles and Chill” (thanks Yvea, for that name and concept). These are all items in my nature bowl, collected in the neighbourhood.
hashiworks 