Spring mushrooms

A few weeks ago I got the urge to hunt morels.  People were posting pictures on Facebook left and right, raving about their delicious, meaty un-meat meals.  I wanted to find a morel.  A few friends wanted to go disc golfing at a local course a few days later, and one had seen morels on his last trip there. 

I was going to find a morel.

While they played, I tromped through the woods, determined to find some glorious mushrooms.  Let's be honest, I had no idea what I was doing.  (Something about looking for dead trees, I think?)  Needless to say, I wound up with mosquito bites, and no mushrooms. 

I joined back up with my group and shortly after, my friend Molly spotted a morel, in plain view, directly off a path near a fairway.  It was kind of like a scene from a movie where a beam of light lands on a treasure chest- just a mushroom popping out of the green in plain view of anyone who'd walk by. 

We investigated the area with our group of five and scrounged up over twenty mushrooms!  Behold:

We looked around through the rest of walk, but only found one more mushroom.  At the end of it all, we split the morels two ways (one of our friends already had a bunch at home that needed to be eaten) between two couples.  Mark and I cooked them up with butter and garlic.  OMG.  One of the best things I've ever eaten.  I get it.  I get the hunt (for vegetarians!), the scarcity... the free (delicious!) food!!  I think our morel season is over now, but I'm anxious to try again next year!

Mushroom yard

I was outside the other day, trimming hedges so the sidewalk in front of the house would be walkable for our neighbors, and noticed some cute things around the yard.  It had been so hot most of the summer, that outdoor exploring time has been pretty limited.  Now that it's been cooler, I feel like I can leisurely stroll around and discover those little details.

When I looked down in the grass, I realized there were mushrooms everywhere!

I started picking them since the lawn mowing company was coming the next day, and then they'd all be smushed.  

I like the red and white ones best, but they'd crumble apart really easily when I'd try to pull them out of the ground.

Some were so tiny you can barely see them in the pictures.

It (finally!) rained today, so I'm hoping that means a fresh batch of mushrooms will be popping up this week!

Road trip 2012, part 2: Boulder, CO

After our night in the Badlands, we drove to Boulder, CO for a night in the mountains.  I had a few dear friends move there back in college, so I'd visited once, but not recently or long enough to know much about the town.  So, we explored, saw a few friends, and ate some delicious food.

First night in town, we walked up the creek to the downtown area for some dinner.  There were mushrooms!  Something severely lacking in out Badlands adventure.  I could not live somewhere without fungi. 

And yarn-bombing!  An entire tree!  It wasn't completely secured on the tree, but enough to make me smile when I saw it on the path. 

And then dinner at the Boulder Cafe- oysters followed up by shrimp enchilladas and trout with jalapeno corn cakes.  Yes, lots of seafood.  That seemed to be the theme of the trip- long days on the road with very few healthy pescaterian roadside options followed up by delicious, decadent fish and vegetarian dishes.

Then, one of my friends who used to live in Boulder came and met up with us for a little help navigating the bar scene in town.  It was so fun, and despite the time that has passed since we last saw each other, it was like we still eat lunch together in the student union every Tuesday.

The next morning we went discing with a view of the mountains.

Then we hiked in the mountains for a bit. 

After our day of hiking and further exploring of Boulder we went south to visit another friend.  We wound up back in Boulder for a lovely sushi dinner where I discovered a new favorite drink-an IZZE Hound: a twist on a greyhound with IZZE rather than regular grapefruit juice! Unfortunately, in the excitement of the evening, my camera went to the wayside, but it was a great night nonetheless!

More about the next leg of trip very soon!

Frontenac State Park excursion

If you visit my blog regularly, you may have noticed that my posting has been a bit sporadic and inconsistent over the past few weeks.  There's a good reason for it (I promise):  I've been busy packing and moving to Mark's place!  I finished the move faster than necessary- a full 58 hours before my lease was up, so I've been relaxing and unpacking a bit for the past few days.  I have been taking a lot of pictures, so now it's just catching my blog up to speed with the rest of my life.


Up first, our camping trip from a few weeks back.  I posted some of the meals we made camping, but nothing else til now!

We picked a random set of days to go, and they turned out to be pretty interesting weather-wise.  The morning we were leaving, there were huge storms at home.  It hailed when we were loading up the car (the biggest hail I've ever seen) and again on our drive; we had to pull over to a gas station.

When we got to the campground, the ranger warned that a storm was heading our way, so we better set up fast or just wait it out in the car.  We got our tent up and good thing we did; there were flash floods and storm warnings for the next 8 hours.  Better in the tent than the car!  We played mancala, Mark had his guitar, and I crocheted.  Eventually we both fell asleep until the next morning. 

We woke up early for a hike. 

There were trees down across parts of the trail. How lucky that none had fallen in the campground!

 
Big mushrooms from the rainy summer:

Lichens on trees.  I just love the colors!  So much complexity when you get up close.

After our hike, we went back to camp and relaxed for a while.  I crocheted a bit.  I love camping, because if I choose to do something, like crocheting, it's ok!  I have no other obligations, like cleaning or homework, so it's perfectly acceptable to sit and do whatever I want.

Later we went on another hike.  We were going to take a path through the woods, a boardwalk through swamps, go off trail for a bit, and wind up on a perfect sandy beach point on the river.  I did it last summer, and it was beautiful, but it didn't work out for us.  About a half a mile into the woods, we were being swarmed by mosquitos worse than I've ever experienced, so were forced to turn around and literally run back to the car. 

We opted for a prairie hike instead.  It was very hot, but better than hundreds of bug bites.

We got to hang out with butterflies feasting on nectar from milkweed and look at wildflowers.

On our way back to the site, we saw a mama deer with a tiny fawn.  In all my experiences with deer I don't think I've ever seen a fawn with white spots up so close.

It was such a great camping trip.  I love camping at festivals, but sometimes you just need a quiet break to relax and enjoy the nature of your surroundings.

April & May project progress + June plans

What I wanted to accomplish in April/May:

1. Homemade vanilla extract
2. Fabric mushroom topiary
3. Move perennials
4. Mini terrarium necklace
5. More terrariums

How did I do?

1.  Done and done! 

This is a picture from right after I made it, now it's super dark now- I need to get a picture of it and it hopefully find some cute little bottles to give it to friends and family.

2.  Mmmm... sort of.  I made several mushrooms, but didn't really like the way they turned out.  Then I threw them at cats, hoping they'd play with them since they seemed fascinated in what I was doing, but after that they lost interest.  I kept one for a pincushion, but it doesn't work too well, as the needles keep getting lost inside.  Oh well!  I will probably try again at some other point.

3.  Ferns have been moved to under the evergreens.  Some died, some survived.  Now I may try to pull away the creeping charlie, till the soil, and move a few bigger, hardier plants.  After that I'll probably move  on to the hostas and day lilies.  

4.  Yes!  This took some time, but I love the result and I want to make more with the rest of my bottles soon.

5.  

I made another terrarium, but it's had to be redone once.  The first time there was too much water sitting around the rocks in the bottom, so it started to grow algae and the moss was too dry so it died.  I replanted the whole thing.  I think the key will be to mist the surface with a spray bottle to keep the water where I need it. 

And here's what I want to do in June:

1. Pack, pack, and move!

Yes, the last day in my apartment is June 30th and then I'll be living with Mark.  I'm totally excited, but moving is rough, and even though I've been moving a few things here and there, I still have a lot to go through before I'm done.

2. Make a color sketch of what I might do with my tattoo.

Now that I think the black is the way I want it, I'm itching to add color.  I've been contemplating it for some time and think that it's what I want to do.  So, even if I can't do it for a while, at least I'll be ready for when I want to change it up.

3.  Decorate the porch!

I've added a few things so far.  It's a great hang-out space, but it's also so huge that I don't know what to do with it.  Mark added a hammock.  <3 <3 <3  So perfect!

4.  Granny style bunting

This is porch-related, but I really want to make this bunting.  When I started making granny squares, I wrote that I wanted to make a prayer-flag style granny square hanging, and later decided that I didn't really like it, but this pattern may be perfect!  I've also seen other more sewn bunting, so I may just make a whole bunch of varieties!  Like I said, it's a huge porch to fill!

5.  Decorate an old pair of plugs.  If you search on Etsy for decorative plugs, you're sure to find some plastic pairs that have a flower or something mounted to the front of the plug.  Well, I have loads of plastic earrings lying around, so I figure with the right glue and flower (or whatever I can find!) I'll be able to make some new, cute gauged pieces for pretty cheap!

I hope I complete these goals- the weather makes it hard to stay indoors... but I'm ok with that!