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!

A (finally!) spring-ish Saturday

We woke up early yesterday.  Mark brewed beer and I investigated how my plants are doing so far.  The pansies have recovered from a rough start and are full of blossoms and buds!  My other flower seeds are sprouting and I can't wait to get them into the gardens and pots.

After breakfast and a bike ride we went to Craftstravaganza at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and I ran into my dear friend, Diana, who blogs over at :dianapantz:!

My haul:

I wish I'd done better at remembering where I got what, but I grabbed so many business cards for vendors' websites and Etsy stores I wanted to check out, that I can't figure out where I got each item.

1. Amy Jo: cute cat print on wood.    2. Little flower hair clip.    3. Felt owl pin.    4. Squirrel pin- I got to make this myself at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts!  They had books and magazines that you could cut a picture from and make your old little free button (although I did feel guilty cutting up an old Disney storybook).    5. Burlesque of NA:  fruit and veggie print.  I have several prints from them, and generally love the stuff they make, and this will be perfect in our kitchen!

I saw so much stuff I would have loved to buy, but stayed way under my budget and waited till I saw everything before I spent any money.  I also got inspiration for things I can make on my own with supplies I already have!  After we were crafted out, we went for a walk, beers, and snacks.

Yummy cheese plate outside at one of our favorite restaurants and chalk art by us. 

What a great way to spend a Saturday and I'm sure we'll have many more like it this summer!

How to: May Day Basket

 

May is almost here and this coming Tuesday my students and I will be delivering tissue paper flowers in paper baskets around the neighborhood, so I was inspired to make my own more permanent version of a May Day basket! 

Here's how to make one:

 (Mine was 8"x8")

 

 (I did a blanket stitch along the edges of each point for a finished look.)

 

I added buttons to my stitches! 

 

To find out how I made my flowers go to my tutorial!

Add flowers, a note, or whatever and deliver to a special person or surprise someone!  I'd love to see what people do for their own baskets.  Happy May!

MWMF

 

We spent this past weekend away in Winona, MN for the Mid West Music Festival: three days of music, beer, food, nature, and otherwise exploring a town we weren't too familiar with it. 

Disc golf on our first afternoon.

the 4onthefloor

The first night we saw Charlie Parr, Rogue Valley, The Feelin', the 4onthefloor, and a bunch of others. There were so many venues it was hard to figure out where to go at any given time, but once we got the layout of the downtown area it was smooth sailing.

 

The next day we went on a hike and then to the Winona Earth Day festival for music, snacks, and free seeds from some of the vendors. 

 

The town and lakes below the bluffs.

We missed the llama obstacle course.  Bummer.  I think it was probably awesome.  But we did see some good sidewalk chalk art, Koo Koo Kangaroo, and laid on a blanket in the grass in the sun!  I also got some rad wire earrings from a vendor that I will definitely be wearing daily.

We spent a lot of time looking for good food.  Our first hunt for breakfast was a brutal disaster that wound in bad food from a chain, but later we found a few good coffee shops with great vegetarian food. I wanted to hit up a local donut shop that had rave reviews from the only person I knew who lived in Winona... nearly 30 years ago, but it happened to be closed the day we tried to go. 

The weekend ended with a Kimya Dawson- you know, from the Juno soundtrack and whatnot.  It in a Masonic center and everyone sat on the floor.

Well, that's just the start of summer festival season... I can't wait for more!

Nature walk & celebrity status

We went to the Maplewood Nature Center today. It was a beautiful 65 degree day and the tiny bit of snow from this winter was turning to a slushy muddy mess (in a good, spring-is-coming way).

Cattails.



Fungus.







After our walk we stopped in the visitor center. I used to take a lot of kids' classes there so I thought it would be a nice walk down memory lane. Well, turns out, more than I expected: my mom and I were photographed for their brochure 20+ years ago and they're still still using our pictures. So, if you ever go to the Maplewood Nature Center, pick up a brochure and see my mom and me.