Wednesday, August 26, 2020

My Mycological Experience


I love the above: A world-weary yet passionate French (cat) chanteuse sings from the heart. A soulful cello offers exquisite support (played by Yo-Yo Ma). Semi-helpful subtitles are included. Song written, animated, and performed by Sandra Boynton. Plus, there’s a surprise accordion cameo by Weird Al Yankovic.

Back to watering gardens. And because it’s so much cooler, it was nice to sit or lie in the sun for my breaks yesterday—breaks from scraping and brushing more surface area of the deck, which is what I did all day until having lunch and then going, with Sheba, to meet Eoin to hunt for Chanterelles.

Shrooms of different species were coming up everywhere. Armed with my knife and mushroom bag, I kept my head down and stayed on high alert for the glint of soft yellow-orange light amidst the moss that I sought. Sheba sniffed everything whilst Eoin and I slowly searched carefully in the little glades, the oases of light in the forest and along the lesser-used pathways.

Eoin filled two bags; he probably harvested two kilos of Chanterelles. I got enough for a nice side dish, but I’ll get better with more practice. I sautéed them in butter with Shallots and garlic and a bit of Thyme. They were extraordinarily delicious and I’m still alive today!

I’m going looking for more!

I taped some Styrofoam over the windows of my studio yesterday because the birds fly into the windows due to the reflection of the forest they see on the panes. I found three dead beauties in my garden as I watered in the morning. I have never had this happen before with these windows, but then I have never had so many birds in my yard before. It’s the fountain. I covered the windows as soon as I found the birds.

The clock is ticking now; yard work is winding down. I’ll continue with the deck scraping and brushing today, and likely for a couple more days. It’s been a huge project that no one notices except me.

















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