A Beautiful Thanksgiving

We were treated, yesterday, (thanks to our helper/adoptee Anna) to a morning off from farm chores.  Naturally, given the chance to sleep in, we still woke up at the normal time - daybreak.  Knowing that all of our animal friends were already enjoying their breakfasts, we dressed in warm clothes and headed out for a walk with the dogs as the sun rose above the horizon.

 Forrest has become pretty good at finding fungi in the woods.

(bracket fungi on a rotting trunk)

We took the trail that leads from our driveway down through the "holler" and into the woods between our house and the barn.  The dogs ran with glee - the woods are their favorite place to go, filled with the scents of all the critters that pass through on a daily basis.

Even Bobby cat joined us for the walk.

We arrived at the barn right after Anna had finished up the chores, so we headed out the lane past our grazing horses toward the woods across the road, our 100-Acre Wood. (It's actually 88 acres, but we rounded up because we liked the name!)

Before arriving at the woods, we passed the outdoor riding arena which was still dotted with puddles from Tuesday's rain.  It's a favorite swimming hole for Forrest, and of course he jumped right in and ran with wild abandon, getting himself soaking wet.

That doesn't seem to bother him in the least, because he ran through the woods like crazy.... covering every square foot of that leaf-covered terrain. 

We've reached the time of year when the only green to be found in the woods is the moss that covers old stumps and logs and the club mosses that look like tiny pine forests growing across the ground.  Over the past few months, we've spent so much time studying the fungi in our woods, that we have pretty much overlooked the mosses.  It's time to pay a little more attention to them - there are so many varieties!  I find myself seeking out these little islands of green during the winter months - they give me what I crave most in those months... the energy of green growth!  No wonder green is my favorite color.

As we wandered the trails while the dogs followed their noses, we stopped to examine old stumps and all that grows on them, slowly consuming them until they are just a small hump on the forrest floor.

 This particular one caught my eye, and when I swept aside the fern that was growing in front of it, I found a fairy door.  

Thinking that this hole must lead to some tiny critter's house, I peeked inside and was surprised to see what looked like a tiny fairy room... complete with table and chairs - the perfect space for a forest fairy to call home,

 It was a rare sighting this time of year - found only in areas that are more protected from the cold.

The next hollow stump yielded more mushrooms. On it's side, amidst a blanket of mosses and lichen, were these tiny mushrooms...

up close...

That made me happy... like seeing old friends.  

Here are a few of the mosses that we often see in our woods.  Mosses are grouped within the plant kingdom.  There are approximately 1200 species of these unique plants.   They are non-flowering, and therefore do not produce seeds.  Instead, they reproduce through spores.  Their "leaves" are typically only one cell in thickness.  Amazing!

Fern moss

Shining Club Moss

Juniper-leaved Hair Moss

Pincushion Moss

Haircap Moss

A grove of club moss... like a tiny evergreen forrest

Staghorn Club moss

As we left the woods, Forrest immediately ran to the puddle in the arena...

running, splashing...

with wild abandon.

Our happy water dog... in his element.

Two hours and three miles later, we ended back where we started... home, and ready for a well-deserved breakfast.  I took the last two pieces of the baked pumpkin spice oatmeal that I had made earlier in the week and smooshed them in our hot waffle iron... warming them and crisping them into scrumptious waffles.  On top... a little nut butter and some maple syrup... delicious!

We had our Thanksgiving dinner in the early afternoon with our friends (our across-the-road) neighbors... it's been a tradition for years!