Here is a fun project that you might want to try: Give oak leaves the Midas touch!

I have Martha Stewart to thank for this idea. She collected oak leaves and sprayed them with silver spray paint. She then made Christmas garlands and wreaths with her sliver leaves to deck her halls.

Martha's silvery leaves were pretty, but I much prefer the warmer tones of gold or copper metallic spray paint.

Whether you spray yours with silver, gold, or copper spray paint, the procedure is the same.

All you have to do is collect fallen white or red oak leaves.

Try to find ones that are relatively flat, clean, and not too beat up.

You can press them between the pages of a book for a few days if you want them really flat.

Get some large pieces of cardboard and metallic spray paint. Take these and your leaves outside.

Lay all the leaves on the cardboard and spray with a generous coat of paint.

Let dry.

Then turn the leaves over and spray again. Once they are dry, you can bring them in the house and let sit overnight. 

Depending on how many leaves you painted, you can tuck them into a fall wreath or arrangement, or make an entire wreath of them. I just added mine to a silk arrangement without glue. They stay pretty well.

When it is time to put the fall decorations away, I gather all my golden leaves and put them in a shoe box until next year.

If making a wreath, dab a little Tacky type glue on the stem to keep them in place.

If you are fortunate enough to find some acorns, you could give them a spray with gold, copper, or even just clear coat and add those to your arrangements.

The golden or copper leaves would also look pretty scattered on your Thanksgiving serving table or added to a centerpiece.

I have tried painting other leaves, but they don't work. (They ripple because they are too thin and become brittle.)

Because oak leaves are thick and leathery, they keep their shape and hold up pretty well. I've had mine a few years.

Every fall I say I am going to gather more and make a garland for my fireplace. (Haven't gotten to that project yet!)

Hope you give this a try. It is really easy and I think they are quite beautiful.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

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There was a buzz of excitement amongst the adults in my aunt and uncle's Brookfield home, as they laid their treasures on the kitchen counter. The grownups had just returned from a mushroom hunting expedition at Kinsey Park and the 2 neighboring homes and had struck pay dirt.

Boxes of Puffball and Morel mushrooms were their prize.

This was back in the late 1950s and I was just a kid. What was so exciting about mushrooms I wondered? They were good to eat! (I was a picky eater back then and wouldn't touch even a button mushroom with a ten foot pole!)

About 10 years ago, the puffballs were out again en mass in the park and adjoining yards. They looked like volley balls strewn about the hillside. Since then I always looked for them but haven't seen any.

They are interesting and edible. BUT BE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEFORE YOU CONSUME THEM!!!  Check the websites below. They have good photos and compare the true puffball with the deadly, smaller look alike.  

Puffballs

Lycoperdaceae: The True Puffball Family

Wikipedia

American Mushrooms: Gem-Studded, Pear-shaped and Giant Puffballs 

Kids often like to find very mature Puffballs. They get quite large and more tan in color. When kicked, they spew a cloud of spores into the air.

Let me know if you have ever eaten them. I have never quite had the nerve to give them a try.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

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One of the things I love about living in our City in the Countryside is the variety of wildlife here. Last year, it was not unusual to see a Red Fox or the entire Red Fox family out and about in our neighborhood. This year I saw a coyote in my back yard.

Birds also abound here. When the fruit trees are in bloom and when mulberries are ripe, Baltimore Orioles are regular visitors to my yard. Hummingbirds frequent my perennial flower garden. I love it!

Kinsey Park pond (at the end of my street) often has Blue Herons fishing at the pond's edge. It is fascinating to watch them.

  But yesterday, for the first time, I saw a Green Heron. 

Two girls who were frogging at the pond edge said they saw it there last week too.

I often walk my dog past the park and pond, but this time this bird startled us by flying out from the weeds at the edge. At first I did not know what kind of bird it was--it did not seem large enough to be a Heron. Maybe a Kingfisher of some sort?

But then it stood in the shallows and stretched its neck out. Pretty comical looking, but not Kingfisher-like. This bird looked like it was all head and neck atop of a too small body! It also had a top knot. What was that bird? Wouldn't you know I did not have my camera with me. (This photo was from RioRVPark.com)

Once back at home I got out my trusty Audubon bird field guide and narrowed it down to the Green Heron. I also read that suddenly flying out from a weedy water's edge was a characteristic of Green Herons. But what about the long neck?

A look on the internet confirmed it. Cornell Labs All About Birds site explained that Green Herons often held their long necks close to their bodies. That clarified why the photos showed a short, stocky neck, but the actual bird had a long one.  

The Great Blue Heron's may have been in the news lately, but don't forget to look for the Green Herons too next time you are near a pond or wetland. After all, Brookfield's wildlife is one of the perks of living here.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna