{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to India - Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh}

From Delhi, husband Pieter went to Lucknow in the Uttar Pradesh State.

What beautiful eyes!

You can see the Uttar Pradesh state with its capitol, right under Nepal...

Indo - Mongoloid origin can be found in this area.

The area is rather flat at only 123 m or 404 ft above sea level.

Pieter captured this photo from a crowded train!

Near a tannery he captured these WHITE-RUMPED VULTURE Gyps bengalensis...←click it.

Women doing hard labor and still manage to wear a gracious smile!

Life is NOT easy in that part of the world...

Young men looking for a job...

Coffee or Tea shop waiting for customers.

Fresh fruits and vegetables for sale.

Vintage sewing machines...

Some people are bare footed...

Woman gathering deadwood so she can cook her family meal...

Such a trip does make one very appreciative!

Related links:
{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to India  - Arrival in New Delhi} | previous post by me
{The Mission of H.R.H. Prince Claus - Husband Pieter's Trip to India} | previous post by me

{Toadstools Digest Lignin in Nature}

In nature's life's cycle, toadstools (mushrooms) mainly digest e.g. lignin, which is difficult to break down by most other organisms. Husband Pieter wrote in his book about Modern Mushroom Growing: 'Everything is Everywhere; Only the Environment Selects'.

So this is the result of the Lignin break down: mushrooms will start growing on decaying wood.
These are the Armillaria mellea or Honey mushroom and is edible!
To the right you can even see younger fruitbodies...

That's how eventually old tree trunks will be digested completely and that closes the cycle of life.

We have many in our wood garden.
Those spores are everywhere and if the environment is right; they will yield fruit bodies.

Related link:

Honey Mushrooms or Armillaria Mellea Recipe | post by me

{Our Staghorn Fern - Platycerium Bifurcatum}

Instead of having a Staghorn Fern - Platycerium Bifurcatum as a pot plant, we had ours outdoors during the warm weather.

Dear Friend Natacha who resides in Miami, Florida, provided us with this 'baby' from her huge Staghorn Fern.

She can keep hers outside year round of course...

But Pieter did put it with some rope around a cut off tree.

It was quite happy but of course we have a winter with frost...

When we had all our big oak trees trimmed up, Pieter asked them to cut off the Staghorn Fern so he could place it inside the greenhouse.

Here it is, on the newly built side shelf in the greenhouse!

Looking like a happy camper for the winter season!

Do you have a Staghorn Fern as a Pot Plant?