*Thursday, 19th of January 2023 [30]*

I know, it’s Thursday and I’m posting in #WednesdayWalk , but I had a comment chat with @tattoodjay a few weeks back and he said it was ok to post on others days too, if Wednesday is inconvenient for me. It really is. I have a lot of mid-week activities, plus JOB of course, so I post most of my content at the weekends, except for those lucky times when I managed to make a draft for mid week. 

Thursdays are usually even worse, as I come home, eat something quick and drive to a nearby town to dance till late at night. The past couple weeks however I have put all those activities on hold. Some things happened that shook me to the core and I decided to take a step back and reevaluate. 

So here I am - writing a post on Thursday! For earlier mentioned Wednesday Walk, as well as #MakeMeSmile by @elizacheng 
💙

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmTuL6dfNmYsPd5LS7h4BRUtFERfJocw4VHkiJWWxDvYEb/img_8702.heic)

Let me start with a flower that I told you I’ll write about another time in [this post from couple weeks back.](https://www.ecency.com/hive-151327/@fantagira/first-forest-walk-in-2023)
Well, it’s another time now and I’m happy I will finally be able to close the tab in my laptop browser with the name of it - Mahonia Japonica. Good job I left it open, as Japonica was all I could remember 😂

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmRrimerQW6MzqrDBdSKZc7zaoPt1CQAhjmLQMmwyPZRSv/img_8773.heic)

Miss Japonica is actually a bush. Such a common looking one, that when it’s not in flowers I don’t even notice walking past it. As you can see, the flowers aren’t all that significant either. They kinda get lost in the greenness of it all and only when you look closer can you see the amazing detail of the flowers. 

So how did I even notice them? Well, I didn’t. They ‘spoke’ to my nose! My sense of smell is my superpower and super-curse at the same time. It’s really, really sensitive. I walked past the bush and the scent hit me as if I walked through invisible wall into another Universe. I has to stop and look around, until I found these yellow cuties. The scent is very sweet and intoxicating. It reminds me of Lilly of the valley. Simply heavenly 🥰

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmeT4ZDeEbP7atPszBRZqwRQX6a7pTCnhy5MTjycQ9288w/img_8705.heic)

Right, enough smelling, time for walking! It takes around 20-25 minutes to get to the part of the forest that is civilised, with nice, wide paths like this. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPLvXD8TawJUgorGw2H7w5N3NQLkSnpKpm1ogEtke48CA/img_8719.heic)

While it’s lovely to take a picture and maybe meet a few dogs with their owners there, I very rarely pick those nice paths. I love to walk through the tiny paths, with little streams around and hopefully many mushrooms. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVR2x8JNPxrKSYbQbtfsrPZoVC48RuPCuoEfj73irgZJN/img_8730.heic)

This time of a year it’s really wet in the forest and little paddles of water can be found everywhere. Without my old wellies, I’d have no chance of coming back home with dry feet. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVk2hunHaxt2XyLoBfLEgaFhHbrvcpTmLLSVvjtuk1B6L/img_8725.jpg)

Some areas are more dry then the others. And much more orangey too. Mainly needles all around. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWaXZiHduWobcojxHM5QfpL5iMGKe2uFhrDuAwZq1vifq/img_8720.heic)

The quiet forest as we named it. Otherwise knows as coniferous forest. If I’m lucky I stumble across some nicely exposed root systems. I guess I can be ‘lucky’ often, cause I know where to find them 😉

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmQK9Hqhf6KAwrbHb69eUqsBFVHYokV9yJY7kvTqBHQXd9/img_8731.heic)

I can also pretend to be very focused on another mushroom, while secretly still admiring those roots. I hope the mushrooms don’t know what I’m doing! They’d get jealous and we don’t want jealous mushrooms 🍄 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmV9d8hSzEjr5ap7Tqh9KZGUynsQ5euGN2k1DXckJx3a5Y/img_8734.heic)

Then we’re back to the mixed part of the forest again. This little tree looked so striking amongst the greens, but once I took the picture, I am not impressed at all. Our eyes are still so much better than the cameras. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYifAjv4di7SkKLXMsPxAzN2L3gJwgQW6MYwgLFWUjQHx/img_8753.heic)

Time for a funky photo! Do you ever find pictures in your photo camera, which you wonder how did they even happen? Well, here is one of them:

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmQQhBsFYNW5u1Tj3ifmTtf3ACgDsrGv7BPEKZ9PJGhXUp/img_8752.png)

I look and look and I seriously don’t know how I managed to take this one. There is my scarf on it, as if I was taking a selfie, although I can assure you I had no intention of taking the selfie this particular time. There is also my camera menu, which is never visible and there is a tree. What a weird combination. Like a photo/selfie/screenshot modes all in one. **HOW?**

It’s a mystery! I would not be able to take such a picture if I tried 😂


![](https://images.ecency.com/DQme5p717hKRseqUNfSDroPYUTx8E2r4ingaqoFdSnJWwNZ/img_8761.heic)

And then there is Ivy. I have a love-hate relationship with Ivy. I love it in the forest and I very much dislike it in my garden or on my house. Look at those strong branches! Have you ever tried removing it from the side of the house? It’s not fun, I can assure you. I do love watching it climb around the trees in the forest though. It’s quite a sight. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXPsuxccAHWNj3rmToHh66hi6tJJVjkfzZ6e4Gm7YCsyk/img_8764.heic)

Well, time to slowly walk back. And when I say slowly, I really mean it. You can not walk fast on the path like this, unless you wanna end up with your bum in this mess. I guess it could be fun in the summer, but right now it’s a bit too cold for this. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmURPe5L2aqpo5G2evM4tH3aGgbZmbf6LWA5UHjFPSVb7P/img_8769.heic)

I’m a little madam and even through the dirtiest patches I like to keep my wellies clean. I know, it’s weird. You wear wellies, so you can walk freely in all weather conditions and through the biggest mud, but if there is a cleaner path to find, I will find it. I like my wellies clean, cause later on the mud is allover my dining room, where they live under the table. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmZ9B4ZcPjUQPGp6b4P771v5kskX7yK7ZSKqVdaGPVPq9u/img_8770.heic)

Alternatively there is a stream. It’s my dining floor saver that stream. If I happen to make my wellies dirty, I will end my walk in this stream. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmT3mJNyWLmb9AFT78kM7m6xQpsz39yUDwUsEB1u13Tzhm/img_8771.heic)

It’s as if momma nature organised it all for me perfectly. The stream is right on the way out of the forest and past the stream the path is paved and no much chance to get dirty again. I love this. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmUNMSdDKgGfBwdquxa8Sf3qEPpLEFEQJnJNJ7jSL8HN1L/img_8772.heic)

And back to Japonica’s, right were we started. While in the forest there are many paths to take, but to get there and back I usually take one route (unless I go shopping later) and that route leads by the bridge above and these sweet scented bushes. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmdZVdfN9ybvr766PP4qnX2w7ywyXrNk3QiosUn6yVtxtQ/img_8774.heic)

I usually can’t help myself and I take a little piece of it home. I love its scent so much, that I want to take it home and enjoy for even just one more day. They don’t last long, but one piece like this is enough for my sensitive nose to detect the scent around the kitchen. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWymqvE4Ak1txXW7D1JBNma3wTXJYFpZaKk1mDPRbabS3/img_8775.heic)

While on the first picture it looks very warm yellow, the second picture is much closer to how my eyes see it. It has a tiny bluish tint to it, looking almost unnatural. When I look at the whole piece, it looks almost like a sort of rainbow, although without all the colours of the rainbow- just yellow, green and blue. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmSnK8fqDUaaMraNhZ6YdsxmipLdnxid1knfHiCNR2Xbs5/img_8777.heic)

Right, time to go, good people. Despite my greatest attempts at writing smaller articles, I struggle to keep it under 1k still. Sorry! 


<center>![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmRpKSXtWDBsFgGYTjMQGAA53KJWU3bQeks59gkuWudEjn/img_2746.jpg)</center>


Until next time 💙




|Camera:|iPhone11|
|------------|------------|
|   Photographer:    |     @fantagira  |
|   Editing apps:   |     nada|