Lichens and Leaves

So much for our plans to return to Pine Valley this morning for more fungi photography! It was raining here in town and when I phoned the landowners who farm near the end of the Pine Valley Road they reported that it wasn't much better there.
We put our Pine Valley trip on hold and I spent time out at Brooksdale instead.
After the rain had ceased the cloudy skies produced a nice diffuse light, ideal for photography in the garden.
Dawn and I prowled around their garden with our small cameras and captured myriads of images of the swans and gloriously coloured leaves both on the trees and on the ground.
We then switched our attention to the many varieties of mosses and lichens that have colonised on old wooden posts and garden furniture. It is fascinating to shift one's vision from the far distance and even near distance to very close-up detail. It can be illuminating indeed to gradually see the magnificence in the mundane.
Today's blip exhibits this amazing variety of lichens side by side with some fallen oak tree leaves on a very old garden seat.
I am getting such a lot of pleasure from observing my friend Dawn becoming totally engrossed in her new-found interest... Close-up photography.