The beauty and fungi of Juliet's Woods

Back in August, when we were in Northumberland, I was keen for us to have an evening walk and CBC suggested we drive to Slaley to visit a place called Juliet's Woods (however, another time I want to visit Slaley Forest).

We parked where you can see (spot the red car in the picture)

These photos are in a random order so enjoy my random musings.

CBC spotted this tree at one point

He decided to climb into it.

I wondered what he was photographing...

And later, I found out!

We came out the woods into a meadow at one point.

On the way home, driving along the Hexham Race course road, the sunset was incredible!

I thought this fungi's gills looked like a labyrinth. I am happy to know its name is Oak Mazegill- a very appropriate moniker!

This is what they looked like from above.

This tree had a beautiful heart-shaped hole.

Here's an old Brittlegill (Russula)- could be a Rosy Brittlegill or a Primrose Brittlegill more likely.

The light streaming through the trees was glorious and golden. Impossible to capture in a photo!

This Beefsteak fungus was easy to ID!

We saw a wealth of this fungus!

CBC spotted this very old and manky Chicken of the Woods under some holly! The brackets were unusually low down.

There were so many ebullient red berries around.

The Haws on the Hawthorn below looked tempting. You can make a lovely winter tonic from these or Ketchup!

Another little fungus- not sure what!

A view of the meadow again.

And here I am again!

Close ups of the meadow.

Here's a birch polypore looking a bit beaky.

This one even more so! Not sure what this was!

 Both CBC and I agreed it had been a magical walk, we even saw some deer and heard many squirrels. I even collected some hazelnuts! We must return!

I went for a walk in the rain...

It was dusk and I needed some solitude so I set out up the hill.  It started to rain but this didn't deter me.

I saw so much beauty, a few examples of which I will share.

 

Jelly ears

 You all know about the strange juxtaposition between my ardent hatred of eating mushrooms and yet my fascination with looking for fungus to photograph.

Well, during my walks this year, I've been determined to find Jelly ears fungus. I've seen pictures of it on the internet and it is so strange that it really does look like human ears. It's one of those things where you really want to see something with your own eyes to prove its true.  And this year, every single walk has involved me looking out for it. In all my Spring and Autumn walks, I've been disappointed not to see it. I've seen other fungus but not this.

It's true the way they say that you find something when you stop looking for it and that happened today.

As we entered a small wood, on the very first tree on my right, I spied some jellyish fungus which I stopped to scrutinize. As I took pictures, I suddenly realised that it was JELLY EARS!!!! At last!

Here are some pictures for you to behold the weirdness that is this fungus. It really has made my day, week, month, year! Strange the things that please us, eh?

What do you think of Jelly Ears?