Busy Week

Charlie digs the little hammock I have for our summer afternoons of laziness under the Hickory tree. He can lay on my chest and watch for squirrels and birds and I can swing slowly in the breeze and watch the sky.

Thursday morning was one of our typical foggy mornings were it was warm and sticky. I thought I'd be smart and walk down through the woods and check for Chicken of the Woods or something interesting before it got really muggy.

I found these!

Chicken of the Woods! Now I've seen them before and even tried a tiny bit last year. But since my neighbor Olive raved on about them, I picked some and then sent her a photo asking if this was what she was talking about. I picked them, afraid that the slugs lining up would really mess them up.

She started texting back at how THIS was it and they were delicious! I said I could bring it to her and she asked if she and her son Aiden could come down in the afternoon and I could show her the other ones. 

Of course!

Ever take a two year old on a hike in the woods? He really did quite well. When she set him down, he grabbed sticks and scooted around on logs and even helped pick more Chicken of the Woods. We ended up with a really big pile.

I took them down into the Meadow and a short way down the forest trail to see some fungi she'd described.
The books describe it as False Coral Fungi and it has a horribly long scientific name. Though it looks like bird droppings when it first starts, but generally grows on Oak roots from under the ground.
Cool beans, right?

Aiden saw the mules and ran with his toddler legs. The mules all stood quietly and watched. All of them have been around babies and toddlers before. [Mom caught him before he got to the fence.]

Aiden's face when he saw the mules...

I really get a kick out of some of the common names of fungi. The one below is perhaps...White Cheese Polypore. Not necessarily something you would want to eat though.

 

The thrill of the afternoon was Aiden discovering our 4 wheeler parked in the yard. He just had to sit on it and 'drive' it. Boys and machines!

I walked with Olive back home while she pulled Aiden in the Radio Flyer. I carried the big loot we'd gotten and she said she'd prep it and freeze some for us. I told her to make sure she had enough for them to enjoy and freeze too.

She commented on how fun it was to meet someone who liked doing what she did. And how hard it generally was to ask anyone to go into a messy forest on a hot day and look for fungi.

We sure had a laugh over that.

Olive said she had wanted to walk down to our place and meet us, but never wanted to be a bother. 

I guess we got over that part rather quickly. We know that we both are busy people. Her with her job and her son. Me with my hubby and critters.

But we may find some time here and there to do things both of us enjoy.

That is a win-win for for the both of us. Let's see what happens.

Today is a day for appointments. I have to see the eye doctor again. My vision has changed again since March.