Ghostly Hands

Bigger hands.

No, not ghostly hands, though appropriate for this week! Yesterday I'd spotted these Xylaria hypoxylon (commonly known as Candlestick fungus, the Candlesnuff fungus, Carbon Antlers, or Stag's Horn fungus). I'd already wanted to blip the fairy ring, but made a mental note to blip these today - they're another 'first' for me.

En route to the site of these in Bracondale wood I spotted a cute, lonesome parasol fungus sprouting up from a deep crack in a post.

Yesterday I'd also noticed a cluster of small, striated, parasols nestled onto the top of a broken branch.

Things just keep getting better too! Once I had my blip I decided to take a stroll to the side of the front area of County Hall, to the Beech tree where I'd blipped a solitary Blewit, still in pristine condition, on January 25th. The Beech is beside a Birch, and as I walked past the Birch I suddenly spotted a red blob - closer inspection revealed a juvenile Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric). Nearby was another and near that an older, broken and tatty open one. I'd been gobsmacked to find them growing so near to work when I saw those in Poringland wood last week - to have now found them in the grounds of my work place is amazing! The grounds are used by many from the adjacent housing estate, for dog-walking and children for playing (and these are very near the margins of the estate). So to protect them from being vandalised by children I gathered some fallen leaves and gently covered the 2 juveniles, hoping to revisit them next week for shots of them when more fully grown.
On checking around the Birch there are several beautiful Blewits, my blip for Monday!

Disappointing news today - the results of my ankle X-rays from last week are through - all quite normal, no sign of bone chips. So exactly what causes my sporadic periods of ankle pain is still unknown - a docs appointment is called for to discuss what, if anything, can be done to identify what's causing it. Hey ho ...

Hope Blipland has a great weekend xxx