Nov 21 clear

Not a cloud in the sky this morning. Droplets of water adorn all greenery. They sparkle in the sunshine. The holly tree is starting its mid-winter showing of red berries. I put on gore-tex pants and  and a rain coat so I won't get wet if I am tempted to forge into the brush, take a wine bag which separates and supports mushrooms, a knife to cut them at the ground  level, and a camera. I let the chickens into the garden and give them some  beet greens and bread. They ignore the basket of beet greens until finishing the bread.

 My favorite chanterelle patch  100 feet from the house has a dozen or so mushrooms in it-enough for dinner. Sunbeams penetrate the  pines and huckleberry; steam rises off the the sal-al ground cover.
 The intense red bark of madrone and manzanilla contrasts with the sparkling green leaves.

I keep failing to capture the elegance of madrone, its claret-colored bark, scaled in places and slick as bare wood in others, a crimson side trunk is mottled with olive green in true cammo fashion.I will keep trying, one of these days I will get a decent picture. But the reason they are so dramatic is how the madrone tree stands out against the green and black of the forest backdrop.
Coming back to the house, I decide to continue with the raised bed project. a front moves in with a cloud cover in  varying shades of grey so,  spending an hour until the rain and wind discourage, I cut and mount more hoops on the raised beds.
I was hoping for a bike-ride today but the rain continues and I make popcorn and read a John Stralely mystery.