Beardy Guy Musings Profile Photo

Beardy Guy Musings

Living and working in a tiny house the woods. I freelance as Beardy Guy Creative where I design and create websites, newsletters, annual reports and and all manner of graphics and documents. I experiment with ways to live a low impact life and write about the climate emergency, Apple and the iPad. Lately I've also been posting often about Israel's genocide against the Palestinians. Living on the traditional territory of: - O-ga-xpa Ma-zhoⁿ (O-ga-xpa) (Quapaw) - Očhéthi Šakówiŋ - Kaskaskia - Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo)

Photography

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    Enjoying and appreciating the burning bushes scattered about the Missouri woodland. They're holding on but just days from giving way to rest of winter.

    Bright red leaves set against a bokeh background of brown winter woodland.
    The fall colors of a burning bush in the forest. A branch of leaves of pink, yellow and green, set against a slightly blurred background of small tree branches in a winter woodland.
    The fall colors of a burning bush in the forest. The small tree with leaves of pink, yellow and green, in a winter woodland of brown.
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    I've been enjoying my time on the trails this past week. So much color and the fragrance of autumn is overwhelming at times. Fantastic. These woods are home.

    A fat tire bike leans against a tree in the woods. To the right is a leaf covered dry creek. The leaves in the trees are mostly yellow.
    A leaf covered woodland trail passes under trees one of which is dominated by bright yellow leaves. Most of the other trees in the image have brown leaves in their branches.
    A fat tire bike leans against a tree in the woods. The leaves in the trees are a mix of green and yellow.
    A large cream colored fungi grows from the side of a fallen tree. The image is taken from directly over the fungi and it has a half moon shape. The texture of the fungi is highlighted by light orangish-brown that faintly extends as barely definable concentric rings from the center connection at the tree to the outer edge. The center stem connection is more solidly orange-brown. Below and around the fungi and tree are brown and orange leaves on the forest floor.
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    My three furry friends hanging out on the porch today.

    Two black dogs and a brown cat lay on beige colored carpeting on a porch. The dog closest to the photographer is looking at the camera
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    From Saturday's morning trail ride. 🚵‍♂️

    A fat tire bike leaves against a tree near a leaf-covered trail under a canopy of bright yellow and green leaves against a bright blue sky.
    A fat tire bike leaves against a tree near a leaf-covered trail under a canopy of bright yellow and green leaves against a bright blue sky.
    Looking straight up into bright yellow tree leaves. Blue sky and the sun are poking through a couple of small spots between the leaves
    A fat tire bike leaves against a tree near a leaf-covered trail under a canopy of bright yellow, red and green leaves against a bright blue sky.
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    From my morning walk a couple days ago. Such sweet pups.

    A black haired dog on a walk in the woods in the fall. The dog is sitting and looking side-eye at the photographer. The foliage and morning sun give the photo a golden tint.
    Side-eye!
    A black haired dog on a walk in the woods in the fall. The dog is sitting and looking away from the camera. The foliage and morning sun give the photo a golden tint.
    Two black haired dogs on a walk in the woods in the fall. The foliage and morning sun give the photo a golden tint.
    Cosmo on the left, Annie on the right.
    A black haired dog on a walk in the woods in the fall. The foliage and morning sun give the photo a golden tint.
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    A wheelbarrow of dark colored sand, gravel and rocks sits in a dry creekbed

    I'm not doing the Micro.blog September photoblogging challenge but thought I'd share a photo for today's Date in the life. For the past 22 days I've been working on our gravel road. Moving 5-8 wheelbarrow loads a day from our dry creek bed to fix a few washed out sections. 100+ loads total, 2+ hours of daily exercise, about 1,100 cal burned as a workout. I like getting actual, needed work done as a workout. Several more sections to fix, another few weeks of exercise. The road actually looks messier because now its a mixed up conglomeration of the original, uniform gray road gravel but with lots of dirt, sand and creek gravel all mixed in. In the process of digging out the shoulders to resurface the burried gravel, adding the creek materials I've raised the whole section of road an inch or two while also lowering the shoulders for better drainage.

    Obviously working with just hand tools takes far longer than using a tractor or other motorized equipment but I need the daily exercise anyway. 2 hours a day spent listening to music and working out in the woods to fix a problem makes sense. With two hours a day through September, October and perhaps a week or so into November I should have it done before the ground starts to freeze.

    Over the past 3-5 years we've been getting more intense, 7+" rainfall events each year. With each such event more excess gravel is left in the creek while more of the road gravel is washed off the road. Going forward I'll have to spend more time maintaining it but the work now should result in a more stable road and also better divert the excess water during storms. The goal is to have more water shed off the road rather than flow along it.

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    Copperheads are fairly common in my area and I see several each summer. They're beautiful snakes. Venomous, yes, but in my experience never aggressive. Just respect them and let them have their space, they make fine neighbors. And frankly, they're beautiful animals.

    The tail of a copper colored snake is visible while the rest of the snake is hidden under a silver metal trash can
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    Tiny little fungi! Witch's Hat, Hygrocybe conica.

    a very small, glossy red mushroom pushes through moss. Its cap is conical as it has not yet opened.

    two mushrooms, growing near each other. They have orangish, stems and red caps. Surrounding the mushrooms is a mix of forest floor debris, including small steaks, and leaves. 

    Unidentified mushrooms  two very thin and small white mushrooms

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    Seen on a morning walk, Campanula americana, American bellflower

    A blue flower with five pointed petals. The center is a white circle with a long, curved center pistil

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    I've found the most comfortable position when working from the bed/futon in my tiny house. Never thought I'd use a pillow stand but was given one and it actually works really well with the Logitech Combo Touch. Perfect eye level and typing angle and really stable when placed on a pillow.

    An iPad configured in a Logitech Combo Touch keyboard is propped up on a tablet pillow stand and is being used in a bed

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    Tiny little Splitgill mushrooms, Schizophyllum commune. So tiny but both the top and bottom sides are full of texture.

    The underside of several very small, cream colored fungi growing on a branch. The underside consists of deeply lined gills

    The top of side of very small, cream colored fungi growing on a branch. The texture seems fuzzy or spongy. The outer circumference is not smooth but rather looks like a bunch of small toes.

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    This morning I discovered a small group of pawpaws growing just 150 feet from my cabin! 🤗 I planted 2 in a different spot last spring but these volunteers are growing in the other spot I was considering. Which leads me to think there must be more in the area that I have yet to discover. 🤗

    A small tree/shrub about 2 feet high with very large, dark green leaves. The leaves are smooth, elongated coming to a point at the end. Leaves are each 2-4

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    Oh, this cute boy wants attention.

    An adorable black dog with beige jaws and prominent eyebrows his his nose rested on a keyboard attached to an iPad. The screen of the iPad is behind the dog's head. On the screen is a wallpaper of the Earth and several widgets.

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    A white ceramic bowl full of ripe blackberries sits on a wood shelf.

    My favorite and most eaten breakfast and snack is oatmeal. Simple, healthy, easy to prepare and so many optional variations. Most recently, it's blackberries because my bushes are covered. I just blend a cup of blackberries with a teaspoon of sugar, pour it over the uncooked oatmeal. Stir, add a wee bit of water if needed then microwave for a minute.

    A bowl of uncooked oatmeal with a black-purple sauce of blended blackberries poured on top

    A bowl of cooked oatmeal that has been mixed with blackberries making the oatmeal a pleasant plum colored purple

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    From a recent morning walk. Some beautiful sun rays and a tiny little wildflower. The sun shining behind several trees casting light rays onto a gravel road that is bordered with a mix of trees and grass

    Dianthus armeria, the Deptford pink A very small 5 petaled flower. The petals are darker pink on the outer portions, gradually becoming lighter and almost white at the center. The background is blurred greed leaves of the forest floor.

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    From the morning walk. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires has made its way down to mid Missouri, a bit hazy this morning, but a pretty sunrise.

    A red sun in a pinkish hazy sky rising over a field of grass and flowers

    Spotted water hemlock, Cicuta maculata, highly poisonous.

    A macro photograph of many clusters of very tiny flowers

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    Futzing around in my photos, these were taken a few years back.

    Panorpa helena, scorpion fly.

    A winged insect is perched on a leaf. It's long with clear wings with several black bands. Its body is primarily orange and it has an elongated snout, black eyes. It almost seems friendly.

    Unknown bee on Spiderwort

    A small bee gathering pollen from the bright yellow anthers of a vibrant purple Spiderwort flower.

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    A nice morning dog walk with all of the usual characters. I'm getting better at identifying bird song. Today: White-eyed vireo, yellow breasted chat, northern parula and cardinals.

    Also, flowers: Queen Anne's Lace A cluster of very tiny white flowers with a deep red magenta flower at the center

    Chicory and a green bee, perhaps Agapostemon virescens.

    A tiny green bee is collecting pollen from the center of a vibrant blue flower set against a blurred green field

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    Button bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis is always popular with the butterflies and bees. They have a very nice spicy fragrance too.

    Pipevine Swallowtail

    A predominately black butterfly with orange spots along its wings is perched on a cream colored ball that is covered with delicate white stems, each topped with yellow.

    Milesia virginiensis, known generally as the yellowjacket hover fly. They look intimidating but are friendly.

    A large intimidating looking hoverfly is striped alternately in black and yellow giving it the appearance of a stinging yellow jacket. The fly is perched on a cream colored ball that is covered with delicate white stems, each topped with yellow.

    Eastern tiger swallowtail

    A predominately yellow butterfly black wing borders. The bottom wings also have orange spots within the black borders. It is perched on a cream colored ball that is covered with delicate white stems, each topped with yellow.
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    From my archive, a buffet of Purple Coneflowers being enjoyed by pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor and monarch butterfly. Native wildflower gardens always bring the prettiest critters. 🥰

    A black butterfly with white and orange spots along the edge of its wings rests upon a purple coneflower gathering nectar. Other purple coneflowers surround it and woods are visible in the background

    A monarch butterfly with its predominately orange and black wings rests upon a purple coneflower gathering nectar. Other purple coneflowers surround it

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