Bits of Life Wednesday

 Sunrise over the cornfield

Good morning, blogging friends. Thanks for stopping in today for another installment of my random bits of life.

One has to rise fairly early to catch September sunrise photos, but not nearly as early as in June. This summer has flown by, and now one can lounge around in bed until as late as 6:00 and still catch the sunrise. Makes one feel positively slothful!

 From the porch
Golden light and my favorite time of day

As I was standing near the cornfield to get that first photo, I turned around to look into the windbreak (where all our pets are buried - the dead ones, that is), and saw these incredible puffball mushrooms. Off the picture to the right are two others, and they're all standing in order of size, the smallest being about 4" in diameter (the one on the left) and the largest of the five about 8" in diameter. I believe they're edible, and these are at peak and fine specimens, but I'm still not doing it.

This is the blurry photo I got when I tried to take a picture of the goldfish I purchased while our grandsons were out for a visit in August. I mostly took it as proof to them that I'd not yet killed the fish. I did see one lying on the bottom of the pond this morning, and when I remorsefully stirred the water with a stick, he did not move. I was sure we'd lost one. But about ten seconds later he got a burst of energy and swam away. Evidently, he had been sleeping! (or playing 'possum). I was so relieved!

Our friendly neighborhood ladies' circle meets every morning at the edge of our cornfield and again every evening at the base of our big spruce. In between I think they still hang out together, but I don't see them then. I wonder if they sew or quilt. They're fun to watch, but you have to be very quiet if you don't want them to adjourn early.

On a very bright day as this, it's nearly impossible to get good photos, but I wanted you to see one of my volunteer sunflowers that sprang up near the birdfeeder. I see that the finches aren't eating from the thistle seed feeder, but that's because the fields and ditches are full of seed for them. The time is soon coming when everything will be covered in snow and then they won't hesitate to come knocking at our door. You just wait. (and we'll be ready). :-))

Mr. C. and I went on a lovely morning walk along a beautiful woodland trail yesterday. We'll take that walk again. It was so pretty. Not like our usual walk along the road, which is also pretty, but they're both pretty in very different ways. 

 All around me I saw God's glorious creation, and remembered in Genesis where God pronounces His creation, 'Good,' it was later the stewards of that creation, not creation itself, who went wrong. We're still to be his image bearers and good stewards of his good creation. He didn't place us on this earth to just wreck it or use it up (plants or animals), but to take care of it and them for Him, to receive His blessings and offer praises back to Him for his amazing love and goodness and generosity.

That is your sermon for the day. Please put a fiver in the plate on your way out.

***

From biologos.org website:

"It seems to me that God has put humans like an angled mirror in His world so that God can reflect His love and care and stewardship of the world through humans and so that the rest of the world can praise the creator through humans. And the way this comes out in many Biblical passages is to see God's people, you get this in Exodus 19, you get this in the Book of Revelation, you get it actually in Paul as well, see God's people as the royal priesthood, the priesthood because they are summing up the praises of creation, presenting it before God." - N.T. Wright

 Fungi (plural because there were several on that tree)

Looking back through my blog posts, it seems I was remiss in telling you about the wild hops we found. There are two places that Mr. C. and I spotted them (he the first and I the second), completely different locations, but both near willow trees and wet land. Evidently this stage (above) is about the perfect time for picking hops for making beer. The cones are very pungent, somewhere between garlic and skunk, in my opinion. I'm not sure who came across the idea of putting them in beer to prevent it from spoiling as it was shipped from England to India (for example). Really. Who thinks of this stuff? How many other things were tried first? and why were hops ever tried at all?? Anyway,  I found this little blurb on Home Brewer Association's website:

How to Check Hop Cone Ripeness

1. Give the cone a light squeeze. If the cone stays compressed, it’s not ripe enough. When they feel light and dry—and spring back after a squeeze—they’re ready to be harvested.
2. Pick a cone, roll it in your hands and smell it. If it has a pungent smell between cut grass and onion, it’s time to harvest.
3. Roll the hop next to your ear. If it makes a cricket sound, this also means they’re ready to harvest. If the lupulin turns orange and smells rancid, you’ve overshot your window.
4. The hop should be springy, dry and papery on the tips, and sticky to the touch.
5. Look for lupulin, the visible, thick yellow substance on the outside of the cone.

 ***

Was I supposed to do something with this stupid shoebox??

 Snuggly Tommy & Smokey,
but Tommy is hogging the picture.


***


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From Tommy & Smokey & Me

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