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Lichens

I love taking photos of them. They are often ignored, but looking up close, they come in all kinds of funky forms.

Unfortunately, there are virtually no books around in here for lichen identification, so I’m not 100% all the following names are correct.

Pics 1&6 - Xanthoria parietina

Pic 2 - Cladonia digitata

Pic 3 - Rhizocarpon alpicola

Pic 4 - Cladonia pleurota

Pic 5 - Parlmelia sulcata

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Hydrangeas blooming splendidly this year.

Plenty of rain this summer.

To think when I bought them some seven-ish years ago, they were tiny little things in two flowerpots...

I love these plants. The feel of their leathery leaves is so refreshing. Touching hydrangea leaves early in the morning is the best <3

(In the last photo, there are also Japanese lanterns. Their husks are still green, but every autumn they turn bright red and very beautiful)

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Prachov Rocks

Famous sandstone towers located in the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic.

I went there for the first time in some twenty years or so, hoping to escape the heatwave which plagued the entire country. I did not escape it. At all. Only when I was within the rocks themselves did the temperature drop by about ten degrees. I think I sweated out my entire weekly water intake on that trip.

Also, travelling while being mildly hungover was probably not that good of an idea.

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Images from around the garden but from the garden.

1 - Germander speedwell

2 - Meadow geranium

3 - Woodland forget-me-not

4 - Comfrey

5 - Speedwell again

6&7 - Blossom

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East Frisia

I realized I’ve somehow forgotten to post these photos from the vacation I took towards the end of last September.

No.1 - A walkway on Juist, one of East Frisian Islands (and a part of National Park Wattenmeer)

No.2 - Two black-headed gulls (winter plumage)

No.3 - White dunes of Juist’s seashore

No.4 - The red streets of Juist - note the absence of all motor vehicles. Only two means of transport are allowed on Juist - bicycles and horse-drawn carriages

No.5&6 - A wonderful sunset over Norddeich

No.7 - The windswept skies over the island Norderney

No.8 - Norderney’s lighthouse

No.9 -A preening purple sandpiper (possibly)

No.10 - The grassy dunes of Norderney

It was always my dream to visit East Frisia (probably saw one too many Jever beer commercial during my childhood), so last autumn I’ve made a trip all the way up to the North Sea, where I stayed for a couple of days in a small town of Norddeich. The weather wasn’t that good, but I still visited two of the seven East Frisian Isles, Juist and Norderney.

As is usual for a person from a land-locked country, I took hundreds of photos of the sea, of tiny little scuttling crabs, of any birds I came across, seaweed, odd-shaped sand, waves, breakwaters... I brought home two empty jars of Rote Grütze filled with shells - I’ve even managed to bring an undamaged sea urchin one. (Yay!)

I’ve also experienced first-hand East Frisia’s famous “Schietwetter” by getting drenched several times and then blown dry. Luckily, it was just my trousers. I wore a poncho and water-proofed my shoes before leaving home.

So - yeah, quite an adventure. (Especially once the storm Mortimer arrived and almost prevented me from returning home by causing havoc in the railway timetable.)

...and the fish was delicious.

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Krkonoše Mountains - a trip to Bílé Labe (White Elbe)

No.1&3 - Views from the Woodcutter Trail

No.2 - A small blockfield overgrown with (dying) blueberry bushes (the ongoing draught plaguing most of Czech republic is noticeable even here)

No.4 - Dactylorhiza fuchsii aka common spotted orchid - protected species placed on the IUCN Red List

No.5 - nothing special. I just liked the way that rock looked

No.6-10 - White Elbe - the first bigger tributary of Elbe, which rises just a couple of kilometres farther up north

The climb from the town of Špindlerův Mlýn was pretty steep and left my shirt drenched with sweat, but the subsequent views from the Woodcutter Trail were really lovely. I usually laugh at the English name of Krkonoše - which is Giant Mountains (I mean, really? They peak at mere 1 603m) - but these views made them look really massive and impressive. I just wish there weren’t as many downhill skiing tracks mutilating the forests.

When I reached the lodge of White Elbe, I’ve ordered half a litre of pretty pink raspberry lemonade and it was so tasty... (I always carry enough water with me - as well as a well-stocked first aid kit and a fully charged phone, since hiking alone is not without risks, but nothing can beat chilled lemonade on a warm day)

The day wasn’t too hot, but when I washed my face in the river (at the place where I shot the last photo), it was still the best feeling ever.

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A trip to peak Paličník and Mt. Smrk - the highest point of Jizera Mountains

No.1 - the cross on top of Paličník 

No.2 - the road from Paličník to Smrk

No.3 - the ‘Heaven’s Ladder’ leading up on the peak of Smrk

No.4 - the view from ‘Heaven’s Ladder’

No.5 - the marker on top of Mt. Smrk with the lookout tower in the background

No.6&7 - views from the lookout tower

No.8 - the lookout tower

No.9 - the road from Mt. Srmk to Nové Město pod Srmkem

No.10 - the contrast of various types of forests with a beech grove in the foreground

First sunny day after several weeks of rain and strong winds. It was still very windy, especially on top of Paličník. I kept my travel diary, in which I logged the types of plants and animals I’ve seen. The altitudinal vegetation zones were very noticeable, since my trip began on the altitude of app. 430m and peaked on 1165m.

First I passed through acidophilic beech forests (that’s the kind where the ground is covered by fallen beech leaves with an almost non-existent herb layer - the ground is very acidic there and the leaves rot very slowly, which hampers the germinability of other plants) with the occasional birch. As I climbed up there were more and more firs and spruces mingled into the beech growth. Finally the spruces took over along with a number of dwarf pines and rowans here and there (their leaves only just began to sprout).

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Bohemian Switzerland in October. Our youngest national park, famous for the ‘Gate of Pravčice’ arc, the passes of the river Kamenice and the gorgeous beech forests.

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Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town.

A wonderful experience. Loved the kelp forest exhibit. Kelp forests are amazing.

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Autumn in Slovakia

Western Tatras, more specifically, with their amazing tarns and gorgeous nature. As I visited just before the end of the season and the subsequent closure of the trails, I had the mountains more or less to myself. The weather was perfect for a Thermos of tea, sandwiches, an apple and a chocolate-coated biscuit. (Though I did end up with swollen knees and 3cm blisters.)

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The back alleys of Prague.

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Czech vistas No.1

The ruins of a 15th century sandstone keep Vranov, nowadays also called Pantheon, with the surrounding woods and a lovely view of the river Jizera below (pronounced as “Yizerah”), muddy after a recent rainfall.

Vranov can be found in northern Bohemia, near the town of Malá Skála, county of Jablonec nad Nisou.

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Tonight’s mood: Plants on the Rocks.

(The rock in case of the first five being the top of Table Mountain, with a scenery from Robben Island being the last.)

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A 2009 exhibition in the South African Museum, Cape Town. 

...oh, found the artist’s name. It’s Fritha Langerman.