Shoot Out the Town - Log Cabin - Loveland, OH

This log cabin is the oldest building in Loveland, Ohio - a small town just outside of Cincinnati.

Here is a picture of a plaque on the cabin.

This is an old gazebo...its not as old as the cabin, of course! But, its over a hundred years old! I am sharing today with "Friday My Town Shoot Out!" This week's assignment was to "shoot" historical buildings!

Twisted Nature Notes!

Look what my dad and I spotted while walking along the bike trail in Loveland, Ohio.

He thought it was corkscrew willow and I thought it was grape vine. And, now upon further investigation we both think that it is oriental bittersweet. What do YOU think? I am linking up to Nature Notes over at Rambling Woods.

Beneath Spring Violets

Behind the houses
Dead rattling cane thicket
Beneath spring violets

Floral Friday Foto

Haiku My Heart - Recuerda Mi Corazon

Fungus on a Stump!

Look what I found! It is not gross - its cool! I found it growing on a stump in Loveland, Ohio. I think it is called Auricularia cornea (Jelly Ear Fungus). I googled "fungus." Please do not ever do this. You would not BELIEVE the problems some people have with their toe nails(!) Anyway, it matched the pic of this type of fungus. Here is another shot!

I am linking with Ramblingwoods.com for her Nature Notes meme on Wednesdays! She is passionate about nature and has some awareness info at her blog about saving the frogs and the monarch butterflies.

Stone Tools - Ohio

Here are some pictures of some mysterious rocks that I found while looking for fossils in Loveland, Ohio (a small town just outside of Cincinnati). There are actually a LOT of fossils here because this was the site of a shallow sea in the Ordovician period, about 500 million years ago. So, there are great shells and corals and reportedly there are trilobites - but, I have not found any yet. I was questing for trilobites when I found THESE instead. Take a look:

I think that the above tool is (I am clearly just guessing) for breaking nuts. There are TONS of black walnuts down by the Little Miami River. Of course, I do not know WHEN these tools were made. I do think that they were made though, and are not just in these shapes by coincidence. I found an article about 'crude stone tools' Here:

http://forsakenartifacts.com/

Sorry, I have trouble with hot links -- so, far they are all cold. Anyway, PLEASE look at the article, because at the end there are pictures that are strikingly similar to mine. One of the pictures in the article is of a rock with a hole in it that they would have used to put a stick or something into and start a fire. I found one almost just like it! The pictures are below. There is a hole on the top and one on the bottom that almost lines up with it - the hole does not go all the way through.

The important thing I learned from the article is that the people would find a tool that naturally approximated what they needed, and then they would just have to "work" it a little bit to devise a tool. The article says that archaeologists often overlook these crude stone tools because many of their features are naturally occurring with only a few "worked" elements.

Great Blue Heron in Ohio

I was just running across the Little Miami River Bridge in Loveland, Ohio. To be clear, it is January...so, I looked down and saw...a great blue heron!! I know my birds, so I know what I saw, but I was really surprised! So, I looked on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website and got this cool picture, and the following info:

"One of the largest bird species in Ohio, populations of the great blue heron are widely distributed throughout the state. Native to Ohio, there was a time when heron numbers dwindled as these birds’ feathers were a favorite of the millinery trade during the 1800s. The great blue heron is often observed motionless, as it pursues its prey while standing in a stream, river or wetland. Unlike numerous other predators that actively stalk on foot or wing, the great blue heron takes the complete opposite approach–it stands still, watching the water for a fish. Then in the blink of an eye, in a sharp and seamless movement it will snare its prey."

Ok, so they do exist in Ohio. But, in JANUARY!?!

I read a bit further and came up with this quote from the same site:

"The herons will migrate to warmer areas with unfrozen waters in the winter; rarely does a great blue heron remain in the state at this time of year. They return to Ohio as soon as the ice melts mid-February in warm years and mid-March during a particularly long or cold winter."

I am thinking that this guy is hanging around because it is so unseasonably warm. I will look for him again!

By the way, and on a related topic, this place is TEEMING with Canada geese. Their honking sounds very similar to the crazy sound that sand hill cranes in FLA make...

Here are some pics of each that I snagged from Wiki(!)

Bloom Where You Are Planted - ICE STORM!

Right now I am in Loveland, Ohio. We just had an ice storm and most people wish they were in Florida! But, if you take a walk (carefully!) and take a look at the glaze ice it is beautiful. Here are two pictures I took - the first on Loveland Avenue and the second on the Loveland Bike Trail. Also, I have inserted a link to Wiki article about Glaze ice with more pics that are almost as good as mine - jk - pictures of grass with glaze ice are cool - I did not think to take pics of grass... My second pic is of seed heads on a weed. They look like jewels.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaze_ice