Neat Things You Find on a Simple Walk

Each morning I wake about 6 am and walk out to the barn to do chores.  It involves feeding the dog and cat, chickens, goats and cows, opening up nesting boxes and making sure the water troughs are full of water.  I get the pitch fork and scoop up some piles of cow poop and throw it in piles on the wood chips that are stacked in the back of the garden.  I also check the round hay bale in the hay ring and make sure the bull and goats in the bull pen have hay to eat.  

As I walked back by the garden something caught my eye that was glittering in the morning sun.  Check it out!  Overnight, a spider had done a magical job of constructing an ornate spiderweb.  The dewdrops decorate the strands of web like jewels.  The intricacy of the web is amazing to me.  How long does the spider labor to build out this detailed structure?  No plans, no blueprints, no building codes or permits paid.  No YouTube video to learn how to do it.  Nope, God gave them the ability to do this wonderful craftmanship.  To top it off, the spider built this web at night!  After a few hours, the dew will burn off and the web will be almost invisible, allowing a fly or other insect to fly into the web and end up being supper for the industrious spider.

Next, I walked out to check on the four bee hives.  It's been warm in the mornings the past few days and the bees are active early, flying to the sasanqua camelias which are in full bloom to gather pollen and nectar to bring back to the hives.  In just a couple of months we'll be splitting the hives, hoping to turn four hives into eight.  It's good that the bees are building up their stores so they'll be ready to grow out come springtime.

While walking to the hives, I stopped at the base of an old willow tree that had died.  About six or eight months ago, I cut off the top and made a cross in the back yard.  It has since fallen apart, but the upright part of the cross still stands.  Dead willow trees are famous for their perfect environment that oyster mushrooms love to grow on.  And what do you know?  On this particular morning, there was a HUGE oyster mushroom feeding on the base of the decomposing willow tree.  I just had to cut it off and bring it inside.

Tricia washed it up and cut it into pieces.  It would go perfectly in the dish she was planning on cooking that evening - Shrimp Victoria.  Here is the recipe, if you're interested: Shrimp Victoria Recipe  We ate it over rice, but it goes equally well over pasta.  Those succulent gulf shrimp, accented by the fresh oyster mushrooms from the back yard was the perfect meal!