Take a walk with me though the woods in January

Take a walk with me though the woods in January

Since we moved to North Carolina and we live in the woods I cannot stay inside anymore. It is so different from living in a garden house sub-division. My front porch beckons me. My rocking chair is so nice to just be in. I know the white wicker is not North Carolina style but that is what we had. We never see a car go by unless they are coming to see us. That is really one big difference from city living.

I love walking through the woods and I see where the deer have been. I can just follow their path through the pathways they have created. The rhododendron is very hard to walk through. You almost need to scoot through on your belly and that I am too old to do. It just fascinates me. We used to drive hundreds of miles to get to the forest when in a hiking club. We also used to have three different jeeps; CJ7's that we spent many hours with a trail of friends roaming the woods in Alabama. We went old coal mine roads and I loved having the top and my door off to just watch the mud holes as we passed. The frogs leaping and small flowers along with all kinds of greenery and mushrooms where to be seen only by wood wanderers.

Now, I can just walk out my door and there they are. It is hard to imagine this life is really true. We are really living our dream. It is not what we imagined as we aged, we thought we would own a house and not be so money strapped but we make do.

Anyway, come with me and I shall show you what I see:

You can also click on any on the photos to see them enlarged and closer for more details, Thanks!






The photos got out of order, this is the entrance to the woods from our road, our house in behind me as I walk.

Here are three different size pine cones all in one place so I really have a variety to choose from!

This plant( you see the root)had neat curly-cues on it and I could not pick one off so I decided to get a piece of it and it was very hard to pull with a long root system so I pulled on it till it put me on my butt as I fell backwards. I will have to search to find out what it is!  The curly-cues will be neat in my nature jars though and I will re-plant it at our house. I got many wildflowers last year when we moved to North Carolina so we will see what re-appears this spring and summer.




I found from a neighbor this is the brown dried fruits from a Sourwood tree and many make honey from this tree. It is very popular here and I had never heard of a Sourwood tree before we moved here.






Wow! What caused this?





















I wonder what made this tree grow this way?






My dogs on a road that was made to go to an un-built house. It appears to just be a gravel road to no-where except a short cut to another neighbor's house. They take it a lot to visit her dog.









I wish you could really see the glitter on this stone.








A knarley branch!



The deer kick up the moss and it is upside down, this is what I collect and I have put it in my outside pots and indoor ficus tree. I even have stored it in turkey roasters to include in my nature jars I make. It doesn't seem to ever turn brown. I started out misting it also but as time went by I saw I really didn't need to but now and then I do, just to be sure it stays lush and green.

I have been selling handmade things when I get the time to make something but I have decide to start sharing the moss I collect with you also. I also collect pine cones, a few mushrooms I have dried, pine knots, lichens, and just anything nature presents itself to me.

When I was in the grocery store yesterday, I saw a magazine , "Country Gardens, Early Spring 2012" that had moss gardens featured which helped me identify and find the names for the mosses I am finding. I am finding there are two types of moss,  The cute cottage house on the cover appealed to me to pick it up and it also features "Beatrix Potter" whom I adore. I don't get to many magazines on the store shelf anymore, but, this I had to have!

Here is where I go and what I see in January in our woods:





I am also very taken with oles in trees, maybe little gnomes and fairies live nearby.  I am still searching for a fairy ring like the one Steven Tyler showed in is Oprah Winfrey new show on OWN network and he also mentioned his visit to his special place with the fairy ring in his book, " Does the Noise in My Head Bother You"  I adored reading his book and love his music.




The broken branches show a larger animal has been through but many trees are down and growing fungi. It just astound me what is still live in winter in the woods. I can't wait for spring to see what it brings. The photos I share are just natural. I did not move many leaves as you can see. I just pointed my camera (I did find my Kodak Easy Share) as I had been using my cell phone for my camera the last few months. We will see how long it continues to work. I hope along time. I have to use the sport setting as I do shake a bit and sometimes the second photo I take is better than the first one. I guess age is showing itself, plus I take many RX for my neuropathy.


Yes, even Deer Poop!

This moss I have not been able to transplant, it covers a large area in the forest and then I end up in brown leaves again everywhere. It is just there to adore! 

More broken branches cover this area where the deer live, I suppose.




I had to add one selected bulb I am growing, the paperwhite flowers smell so DeLicIous!:-)

More deep Poop!

I do know I get carried away taking photos, everything is so magical in the woods. AS I also showed you my dogs, Emma and Bailey caught up with me now and then while I was out walking and then low and behold, my cat Lily also appears. She follows the dogs through the woods and knows them pretty well herself.

When we walk the road she comes along and gets ahead of us, like "Come On, you are so slow"! I do tend to watch where I walk since my neuropathy and I do NOT want to fall, so I always am stopping and lurking at something on the ground or tree bark, etc, even the stones and rocks! Just anything is so new to me being back in the woods after so many years.

Enough for today, I need to get to listing some moss in my Etsy " ByLightOfMoon" handmade and supplies shop!

See you later and many thanks for looking at my blog post. I really enjoy your comments and thoughts!
Smiles, Cyndi