Amberglas

@amberglas

Weird (the good kind!) reclusive old lady who dabbles in art, cooking, and mocking Nazis. Fond of birds and gardens. Proud of my state of Minnesota. She/her. Please don’t post AI slop into my timeline. I will unfollow. Re-enchantment is resistance.

524 Siguiendo875 Seguidores3638 Publicaciones

YouTube Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y amberglas.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Amberglas@amberglas· 8d

I think this may be my favorite work by Jakub Kozalski. Peasants know who the real monsters are.

A peasant child, bundled up for winter and carrying a load of branches on her back, points to a knight and man at arms hiding behind a hay rick. In the distance is a large demonic figure who looks like it’s grinning.

Amberglas@amberglas· 11d

Stocking up before they become unavailable.

A pile of Nut Goodie candy bars in their classic red, green and white wrappers. A couple Salted Nut Rolls are also in the pile. Pearson’s Candy is closing their St. Paul facility.

Amberglas@amberglas· 15d

This weekend was a bust. In the hospital with a bowel obstruction and all the joys attendant thereto.

Me, a senior woman wearing glasses, a denim-blue print headscarf, hospital gown, and an annoyed expression lies in a hospital bed with a stylish tube dangling from her nose.

Amberglas@amberglas· 26d

Pictures with cats that have made me smile.

Two tabby cats stand on their hindlegs,front paws and tongues pressed against a glass door. Caption reads: My two brain cells getting ready to make a decision.

A dim room filled with mist or steam is lit by light pouring in rays through a window in the upper right. A white and gray cat sits on its hindquarters with upper body raised and right paw stretched out toward the window. The paw is spread wide like a hand, trying to touch the rays of light that backlight the paw to a delicate pink color. The mood is magical.

A grimacing Vincent Price holds a double armful of four large and extremely fluffy cats, two black and two grey. His expression is one that promises violence to anyone and anything threatening his cats.

Amberglas@amberglas· 28d

Ugh, back home in the grip of the season described as Hell’s Front Porch. Had to flee the North Shore this morning when smoke from the distant fires in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area turned the air to murk, with fine bits of ash falling.

View north on Hwy. 61 in Tofte, Minnesota. The air is full of a murky grey dinge, melding sky and distance.

The hood of a cranberry colored car dotted with particles of grey-white wood ash from distant forest fires in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

And this is why I’m glad we left this morning. Screenshot of EPA AirNow phone app showing the air quality index for Tofte, MN, at 2 PM was pegged at 700, top of the Hazardous rating.

Amberglas@amberglas· 29d

Beauty from the north shore of Lake Superior at Iona’s Beach Scientific and Natural Area. The beach is composed of smooth pink rhyolite pebbles and is known as a singing beach. When the waves are just right, a musical tinkling sound can be heard as water trickles through the stones.

A sunlit beach of smooth pink pebbles circles to the left before arcing back to the right while turning into pink Rhyolite cliffs topped with green in the distance. The lake is shades of blue that darken with distance, with a bank of fog coming in to touch the distant cliffs. The sky is clear blue with a hint of finger.

White daisies with golden eyes, orange hawkweed, and unidentified yellow wildflowers of various types along a trail near Iona’s Beach.

Orange hawkweed, and a yellow wildflower I think is Tall Buttercup along a trail near Iona’s Beach. Both non-native, alas, but still a joy to view.

More buttercups and daisies, and a couple tall stems with umbrella-like clusters of white flowers.

Amberglas@amberglas· Jul 4

I was bummed because the house in the neighborhood that always puts on a great Halloween display had a serious fire that took out their garage. Hubby walked by it this evening and I don’t think the fire is going to slow them down this year. #EarlyHalloween #GiantSkeleton

Photo of the edge of a house with a burned out attached garage with a chain link fence around it. A giant skeleton is emerging from a hole in the ground.

Amberglas@amberglas· Jun 26

It’s sort of a grunty sound, kind of soft. It appears they do make that kind of noise.

General Communication Noises

Grunting, Snorting, Churring, and Barking are all sounds that beavers make to communicate among themselves.

Most of them are thought to be warning sounds or invitations. They can also be signs of contentment or associated with social behaviors such as grooming or playing.

Some of them may even be subconscious, like the noises we make when sleeping.

Amberglas@amberglas· Jun 18

Name a TV show you’re positive nobody remembers but you.

Black and white promotional collage of images from the TV show Whirlybirds, featuring a heroic duo in a helicopter. Because helicopters were cool, I guess.

Amberglas@amberglas· Jun 15

Summer fruit galette, cooling on the pan. 😋

An open faced fruit galette, containing blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and a few strawberries is surrounded by crumpled aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. A little over an inch of lovely browned crust heavily sprinkled with turbinado sugar has been folded over the fruit all around the edge of the tart.

Amberglas@amberglas· Jun 10

Hollowing out root vegetables has a long and noble Halloween history.

Mom Jack O’Lantern: “Go ahead, say hello to your grandma Turnip. We didn’t come all the way to Ireland for you to hide behind me.”
Junior Jack O’Lantern: “But she’s super scary!”
Mom: “Halloween is supposed to be scary.”
Junior: “Not like that!”

Grandma Turnip Jack O’Lantern (scary voice): “Give Granny a kiss, child.”

Amberglas@amberglas· Jun 5

Saw this one at Lake George regional park, the radiant long horned caddisfly. Those antennae!

A pale gray moth-like caddisfly on a willow leaf. Its antennae are over twice as long as its body.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 28

Looks a lot like some kind of mayfly, but no clue as to exact species. Looks a lot like this guy.

Screenshot from a webpage about mayflies. Shows a picture of two pale tan insects with outspread translucent wings and black eyes.

Accompanying text reads:
Order: Ephemeroptera
Family: Polymitercyidae
Epheron savignyi

Amberglas@amberglas· May 24

Glad my iPhone has a decent zoom on it when playing the game of “Sandhill Crane or Bush?” from the other side of the marsh.

Two sandhill cranes stand among the dried remains of last year’s cattails. One is mostly hidden with just the neck exposed.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 24

Lake George walk wildflower observations; Hooked Buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus), Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), and Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus). #Flowers #Bloomsky Also saw bonus sandhill cranes! #Birds 🪶

Three tiny yellow flowers with green centers rise above sunlit light green jagged leaves.

A trio of small white five petaled flowers with yellow centers lurk slightly lower than stems bearing trios of leaves. A small cluster of future blossoms hangs near two of the flowers.

A sturdy stalk bears a cluster of flower buds, most of which have not yet opened. One has started, and one displays the small pale pink flower, with a green center.

Two sandhill cranes with grey/rust plumage pick their way through last year’s stalks in a cattail marsh. Young willows with new foliage line the background.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 23

Gotta go with Ladyhawke.

Still from the movie Ladyhawke, depicting the knight Navarre on his horse, facing the camera, right arm held out for a landing red-tailed hawk.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 22

Things are really starting to bloom, even in my neglected gardens.

A cluster of of white shooting star flowers nods over its green leaves and micro lime green hostas, with Virginia bluebells, more hostas, and ostrich ferns in the background.

Pale blue lupine and purple catmint blooms, with a background of way too much heliopsis.

A tiny prairie smoke plant with three pink flowers.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 22

Proof of squirrel. One finally held still long enough to get a snapshot.

A juvenile red squirrel on an ash tree branch, facing left with tail tucked neatly over its back like a blanket. It has a prominent white ring around its eye.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 20

No garden is safe.

Five white-tailed deer in our neighbor’s yard and gardens. My gardens are evidently still stinky from the last application of repellent, but with recent rains that won’t last long.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 13

Here are silly little sheep I painted on a ceramic cup. Happy Birthday!

A ceramic tumbler, painted with colorful trees, green hills, and a few silly sheep.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 11

A frame from Robin Hood Daffy animated short. Daffy, dressed as Robin Hood, lounges on a tree playing a mandolin. His bow, quiver of arrows, and a wineskin sit nearby. Two wanted posters hang from the tree.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 9

Lovely day at at Lake George today. So many yellow-rumped warblers, and heard my first Baltimore oriole of the year. Got a couple of nice (for an iPhone) pictures, too.

A couple dozen wood anemone flowers glow like little white stars against the green of their leaves.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 4

Couple of bird shots from Lake George today. The subtle elegance of a female redwing blackbird and a cute song sparrow. iPhone photos. #birds 🪶

A female blackbird perches on last year’s cattails. The sunlight reveals the rich variations of feathers in black, buff, and rich browns.

A song sparrow perches on a sturdy branch, with more branches and leaves in the background. The upper part of the chest is heavily streaked, with a prominent center dark spot. His head has two white stripes on each side.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 4

Moss phlox blooming near the path at Lake George regional park. First spring wildflower I’ve seen, other than ground ivy and dandelions. #BloomSky #wildflower

Pale lavender-pink flowers with five notched petals brighten a mix of old leaf clutter and new grass.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 3

Trying to get back into the art habit. Here’s today’s stupid wildlife info sketch, based on a breakfast conversation.

Pencil sketch of an acorn with wings and tail soaring above another acorn with squirrel legs, as well as a long fluffy tail where the cap stem should be. Scrawled between them is “How acorns get places.”

Amberglas@amberglas· May 2

Evening sketch of a forest spirit for May 1. Partly inspired by wonderful Jack in the Green costumes and the spirit of #Hookland.

Gray tone pencil sketch of a manlike figure with a mask woven of reeds and vines, crowned with oak leaves and ram’s horns. He is heavily covered in long hairlike grasses, and holds a staff bearing a three pointed antler. Hagstones and feathers hang from his garments and staff.

Amberglas@amberglas· May 1

Doctor I trust more than RFK Jr.

Amberglas@amberglas· Apr 28

Second to last round of chemo. I’d rather have been in a pub in England listening to a talk on folklore, old and found. #Hookland Re-enchantment is resistance.

Me, a smirking older woman in a denim newsboy cap, enduring the second to last round in my chemo therapy for lymphoma. A chemo line dangles down my chest.

Amberglas@amberglas· Apr 23

I hadn’t seen gulls with black heads at that park before, and only had my phone with me for photos, so the ID is very tentative. Not strong on which gulls with black heads are likely to be coming through. Heavily cropped photo.

Heavily cropped long distance photo of three white gull type birds with black heads and darker wing and tail areas float on a lake.

Amberglas@amberglas· Apr 23

Here’s a little tree frog on milkweed from a previous year’s garden. Hoping it brings you a smile.