Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Look what the shovel dragged in...awhile back, Kim had a post about the treasures we discover underground while gardening. With all the bulb holes I've been digging, there's buried treasure here, too. First dicovery-rocks! Lots of rocks were unearthed in my first planting of 165 bulbs...two of these benches were covered, and I'm glad to have them to use elsewhere.Found a couple of these worms, too...likely some sort of moth or butterfly larvae.Then there are these weird little rock-looking things, half in and half out of the ground. Not rocks, though.......cut one open, it appears to be a fungus of some sort. It actually smelt like an edible mushroom, but no way is scent good enough for an ID!These two items were not found today, but they're the most interesting things I've unearthed to date. The doll was found in northern Indiana at my mom's place, and the button was discovered up here a few years ago.Being ceramic, I was shocked to see that she was unbroken... ....from the back, you can tell she's been underground. Rather detailed, eh? I have no idea how old this is...never seen anything like it before. We used to find fossils and arrowheads at my mom's too, but so far no Native American artifacts up here. This kind of surprises me, especially living on a river like this. Guess they never set up camp here.

This button is very pretty, and metal (maybe brass)...I wish I'd found a couple more so I could actually use them.
So that's all the buried treasure I've discovered....so far.



22 comments:

Priscilla George said...

What a weird fungus thing. I can't even image what it could be. The doll and button are unique finds. I have never found anything in the ground besides rocks and bugs. What will you be using your new found rocks for?

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Unbelievable that the little doll was still in one piece. A pretty little thing she is.

Those fungus look a bit like truffles. If they are you're sitting on a gold mine. ;-)

lisa said...

Vanillalotus-I want to use the rocks for my cactus area. My sand is too fine and tends to hold too much moisture for cactus, so I'm going to re-do the area with coarse sand and rocks...hope it works!

Yolanda-I'd love it if they're truffles! No way would I taste them until I'm sure, though. (I certainly made a mental note of the location, though! ;-)

Annie in Austin said...

Hello Lisa,
The button is really cool - the design sort of looks like Sweetgum leaves from here. I have a milk bottle from Illinois, not much else.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

lisa said...

Sweetgum? Cool. I think a milk bottle would be neat to find. My old BF's mom gave me a Clorox bottle she found in her yard, it's the first one that came out, brown with a tiny neck for a stopper. I have it in my laundry room with some old metal hangers and stuff.

MrBrownThumb said...

Very cool doll!

Last year I found a baby's ring. I'll have to ask my mom and see what she did with it so I can post a pic of it and join y'all on this sort of meme.

Ki said...

Great treasures. The fungus may be some sort of puff ball. Though they usually are ball like. The broken one looks like the cross section of a sweet potato. That little ceramic doll may be worth something. It looks quite old. You have all sorts of neat stuff in your ground. I dig up cast off bricks used to construct the front entry or rusted pieces of iron and lots of broken glass. I did find an iron fleur de lis once. It was probably the end of a curtain rod.

Unknown said...

I can't believe that the doll was intact! She does look quite old--like Ki said, I wonder if she's worth anything?

I like the button. I wonder if you can make it into a choker or something?

Anonymous said...

Well, I have to agree with everyone else, that doll is totally cool - Where's The Antigues Road Show when you need them, eh?
I've dug up a lot of stuff here - we live on an old 1930's farmstead.
The last thing I dug up was a toy giraff, but one of his legs was missing. At the moment, he's leaning against a poney-tail palm and seems quite content, though. I've also found old colored glass medicine bottles and I found a horseshoe, that hangs over our door.
We also found arrow heads on my mom's farm in KY., but nothing like that here.
Don't know what the fungus is, but aren't truffles black, or am I confusing that with some other kind? I be stupid when it comes to fungus...

lisa said...

Mr. Brownthumb-Baby's ring? That's cool and creepy at the same time...I'd love to see it, though.

Ki-Yea, I speculated about the value of that doll, but I'm not sure how to find out.

Kim-That's a good idea about the button...seems like I should do SOMETHING with it.

Vonne-Toy giraffe? Cool...I like old medicine bottles, too. You know, people used to hide money in jars buried in their yard during the depression...maybe you'll hit "pay dirt" one of these days! I'm not real sure about fungus, either...there are so many different kinds.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's a plastic giraffe though, about 4 inches tall. When I was a kid, you could get a bag of circus animals and it sort of reminds me of those, but older. The detail is great, and his tail is still attached, just barely.
I think your little doll might be worth some money. Does it have any marks on it?
BTW-I'm still looking for that jar of money... :) Sometimes I feel like buring my OWN jar of money, the way things are going these days, if you know what I mean.

kate said...

You've dug up far more interesting things than I have! A few years back, I unearthed a barbie doll missing an arm and a leg and most of her hair. Ugh, it was not a pretty sight.

I love that button ... you could use it in a piece of art.

lisa said...

Vonne-That giraffe sounds cool...I remember those circus animals now that you mention it. I looked at the doll and could not find any marks, but I will try again with a magnifying glass, since my eyeballs seem to be ageing ;-) I absolutely know what you mean about burying money...I saw an ad for high-interest checking with Charles Schwab, 4.3%, no minimum balance and NO ATM fees. I wanna try some of these new financial products, maybe stash some eggs in a few different baskets, y'know?

Kate-Yea, a mangled Barbie would kinda freak me out, too! I like your idea for an art project with my button...hmmm...thanks!

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean. We got our butts kicked with these last two stock market plunges... We're in our 50's, so hubby and I are discussing safe funds. The 4.3 sounds good... Sad, isn't it, when 4.3 sounds good?
Sort of makes you want to get "whiskey bent" as you said. Unlike you, whiskey was MY drink -Jack in particular, straight up. Now I have to settle for an occasional glass of wine or a beer. Gettin' old SUCKS.
Since I'm here I'll comment on your bulbs and your map. Wow! I thought I was a gardening freak!! Holy cow, girl, you got it bad! I can't wait to see everything this spring! I live on the blackland prairie in n/central TX. and I've spent the last 17 yrs. returning our 2 acres back to the native priarie grasses and wildflowers. It had been cultivated for about 70 yrs., but I was amazed at what came back on it's own. I won't write too much on here, but we could talk, let me tell you!! Friends are trying to get me to start a blog, but writing is just not my thing, you know? Some people are just naturals, like you. I'm not. I rarely even leave comments on other peoples blogs, I just lurk, mostly. I love your blog though and I love how you reply to your readers. A lot of people don't bother. And I love how you're ALL about gardening!
Okay, enough gushing. Have a good wkend. I'll be planting my measley 65 bulbs... haha

lisa said...

Heh...I'm with you on the gettin' old part! I saw a poster one time with a rough old cowboy that said "If I knew I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself" ...yea, me too. I'm only 45, but I let myself get pretty fat this past 10 years, after being thin and athletic before. Ah well, it took a change in lifestyle to get this way, so a change is due again. Too easy to take health for granted when you're lucky to have it. Very admirable that you're turning your place into what it used to be! Personally, I think you write fine...heck, I just write the way I talk, mostly. I know how it is, though...once you see other people reading, it seems you should be "presenting" something. And while I made my young co-worker teach me to hide clickable links, I'm not very savvy or formal otherwise. My philosophy is the same for my blog as it is for my garden: pleasure ONLY-no stress or pressure allowed! If either starts to feel like an obligation, I walk away for a few days. Work is enough pressure, y'know? Anyhow, I'm happy to have you lurking, and if you ever do get a blog, I'll read it! ;-) Have a nice weekend yourself...and fun with your bulbs!

MrBrownThumb said...

Lisa,

Yeah a ring for a baby. I guess would be something like a pinkie ring on an adult? Maybe it's an urban thing around here but my cousins all had one when they were babies and they held the birth stone.

Anonymous said...

Boy, I know what you mean about the weight thing. In the last 12 years, I've quit smoking, had rotator cuff surgery, then breast surgery-duct removal-benign. With each event I gained weight. Hubby eats like a horse and never gains weight. I hate him. He loves me - thank goodness -and after 28 of house training, I guess I'll keep him. :)

BTW-Do you have old fashion blood lilies and spider lilies in your yard? I have some that origonally came from west TX. in the back of a wagon with my husbands greatgrandma. She walked behind a wagon, as a small child, from west TX. to Ft. Worth. I'd be glad to share them with you.
Is there a way we could exchange emails or addresses without publishing it for the world to see?
If I send you my email, can you delete it quickly? Let me know, if you're even interested. I'm not a stalker... but, I guess that's what they all say, eh? heh

Anonymous said...

ps -- Hey Lisa, as I was deviding bulbs today, I was wondering what zone you were in, so I came to look. Holy cow, I forgot you were in Wiscnsin! I think the coldest zone for blood lilies and red spider lilies is zone 6, so I don't think you can grow them there. I sent some to my cuz in KY. and they're doing fine, but i believe she is a zone six...not sure tho. Too bad, cause I ended up with a half bushel of the things. I've got them everywhere. We call them Surprise Lilies here, because the flower comes up in the fall before you ever see any foliage. I love 'em.
It was a beautiful day here today, except for the occasional gun shot... It's deer season in good old TX. Sucks.

lisa said...

Mr. Brownthumb-My sister had a baby ring, but it was just a gold band with no stone. I still think that's cool AND creepy. Neat find, though!

Vonne-Hey yea, you can email me at the address in my profile...heh...I ain't scared. Too bad those lilies aren't more hardy, although I do have surprise lilies here that grow well for me. (Southern exposure and next to the house.) I'd be happy to try some if you think there are enough extra, though.

Sylvana said...

You could try this site for the "rock" identification. I thought that it looked like a potato or a truffle. There are white truffles and they do grow in the U.S. and have even been found in Wisconsin. Although yours here look more likely a Elaphomyces - false truffle.
Definitely worth a look into though!

David (Snappy) said...

Hi Lisa, that is so cool the doll, and it is intact too!I have never got anything as nice.The button is ornate too!
The fungus looks like a rock too, crazy!

lisa said...

Sylvana-Thank you for the link! I thought maybe false truffle, but the inside was mostly white like the white truffle, just starting to turn black...hmmm...

Snappy-Yea, I want to dig a small bog garden next year, I hope I find more cool stuff!