Lichen forests

 

Lichen is neither plant nor animal, in fact they’re organisms unlike any other on Earth. While most people think lichen is a type of moss, they are actually a combination of an algae and a fungus. 

Trees and flowers get their nutrients from soil and rain, but lichen rely only on the atmosphere. The many benefits of lichen include a food source and habitat for animals, insects and birds. They are rich in nutrients, including anti-cancer compounds. People consume lichen in some parts of the world.

Lichens don't harm the surface they attach to. They are also very beautiful, truly like mini forests viewed up close. You're looking at plain old wood rot above, not caused by the lichen that grew there over many years.

Lichen is a natural air quality indicator because it only thrives when the atmosphere is clean. In fact, scientists use lichen to measure air quality in different areas. That's a good sign, because lichen grows everywhere in Seattle.

 

 

We figure our old fence was built around 2005 because there's no mention on the blog, which I started in 2009. It was a budget job at the time, never stained much less pressure washed, so it held up pretty well considering.  

 

The new fence will be slightly shorter along that front sidewalk section on the right, more curb appeal, especially when the vines and roses grow over the top. The backyard is still very private, as we like it.

 

 

Oh, buttermilk sky. What a beautiful stretch of weather for fence building or anything else. 

 

Yesterday afternoon we walked to our local Admiral Theater to see "Asteroid City," the new Wes Anderson movie. We haven't been inside a real movie theater for years! 

 

We always just waited a few months until the new ones came out on Netflix DVD. Since that's no longer an option, maybe now we'll go more often. It was fun. Even though John said for the price of tickets, we could buy the DVD. And we didn't even have any popcorn.