If our wall is not showing signs of decay, how did the lichens get such a toe-hold?  I’ll answer that question in a moment.

When I went out to water this morning, I noticed that our week of hot, humid weather had brought about some pop-up surprises!  Loner toadstools or tiny clumps of “fairy caps” were everywhere!  It took the humidity to bring the invisible spores to life . . . and overnight at that.

I’m not much of a toadstool.  I don’t thrive in heat and humidity.  I enlisted the help of two fans this week so that I could work in the studio without melting while sketching “Golden Reflections.”  Today I pruned a stem off one of the rose bushes to help draw the leaves.

To answer the question about the lichens, they are ceramic, and were purchased a few years ago at the Stratford Garden Show.  This spot by the back-door mailbox seemed just where they ‘belonged!’