My Life in Legos

No lens envy here!

Black Tulip Fungi!

The ferns are coming up!

Time to clean up the garden!

Or stop to photograph insects!

See the Miner Bee?

Look at the arrow.
What a lucky shot!

Hostas!

Call out the 
heavy equipment to 
move rocks!

Go looking for Morels
Uh OH
Not False Morels!

Wow we found 

Pheasant Backs!

Wow, it is SO HOT

and NO breeze down here in

the Valley!

Let's just cool off.

What a marked difference from last week. It was rather cold and dreary with lots of rain.

Now? Hot and muggy! 

I don't know about any of you guys but I sure had a hard time adapting this week! 

This heat and humidity makes me feel like....

Whew! Turn off the heat and turn on the AC?

The Hunt for Morels

What can I say? I like hunting for Morel Mushrooms.
There are a few things that a person really needs to be successful.
Yes.
Know your trees.
In our area, know your hillsides too!

Most of all. Do not be in a rush. You must have a lot of time.
Time to squat near a place to just let your eyes roam about to look for the pattern of the Morel.

If you find some, the advice is ... don't move. You may be stepping on them. I found that to be true enough.

Slow is better. Take time, don't hurry. Be relaxed and listen to the birds. Enjoy the fresh air.
Or the gnats and bugs when it gets warm. [Not quite as enjoyable]
Don't pick the False Morels.
I've had people tell me you can eat those reddish ones.
Nope, I don't think so. It isn't worth the risk now is it?

I found enough early Morels to make a 'mess' for us the other morning.

Homemade Bread and Morels.
What better spring treat can there be?

These were the early ones. If we get some rain, the other trees further up the hillside ought to produce...


I'd put up a trail camera near one of the trees ---- what an active place it is!

Hmmm.
The person in the photo is someone I know and I sort of figured he'd drop over and check out the big tree that produced so much last year. I missed out on a rather large crop of Morels because 'someone' had picked them!

He's a good guy really but it is a bit irritating. I don't search his property for Morels.
I am conflicted in a way. About 7 years ago he called us to ask if we liked Morels and Rich said we loved them! He told us about another tree that on our place just over his fence that he had picked nearly 10 lbs at!
He offered to bring the Morels over and we just told them to keep them.

Since he lets me walk and take photos around his creek bottom I feel compelled not to start something. After all, I know I can call him if I need his help in an emergency.

I do have a surprise waiting for him under the tree though.

Evil laugh.

No, it will not be harmful. Just curious to watch his reaction on the Trail Cam.

Those are not real Morels, they are Candles made to look like them!

:)

Today was a random day

Since the rains have been off and on for the past few days and the humidity has come up, I thought that Morris and I should go check out the forest for interesting things.

Some days I have a purpose when hiking, today I didn't. I did follow the mule/deer trail that I keep trimmed and worked on some touch ups with my machete.

I stopped and admired the barberry bushes that have invaded the undergrowth and some I trimmed to the ground so Siera or I wouldn't have to brush up against them while riding or hiking.

The wild geraniums are just starting to blossom, soon the forest will sport purple blossoms as the violets and Jacob's Ladders fade away.

 Wild Geranium

Jacob's Ladder

Morris came along to keep an eye on me as usual.  He also is very helpful in finding hidden deer trails.  We explored one that I hadn't been on.  I had a lot of ducking to do, but the side trip was worth it.

We found some very odd mushrooms/fungi.

I have no idea what these are:

At last we ended up near a large dead elm tree and I began searching for morels.

I was not disappointed.

I found enough to make another delicious meal.

By the time I got home it had started raining again and the contractor's were putting away their tools.

Apparently the trusses are supposed to come on Monday!

I didn't take any update shots today as it was raining too hard by the time I got home.

And I had to make a nice late lunch and take a nap for my midnight shift.

It was a very nice and relaxing day.

Morels, Mothers, Mules

Saturday promised to be a beautiful day.  After chores were done, I asked hubby if he wanted to take the 4 wheeler and go seek out some morels.
He thought the idea over.  
Our week had been busy between my work schedule and his dealing with the work being done on the house.

We had nothing going on for Saturday that was important.
We went searching for morels after chores had been done.

We used the 4 wheeler, not my first choice of moving around but Rich said it would be much easier for him to climb the steep trail out of the valley if we used it.

I agree, anything to make things a bit easier for him to enjoy the things he loves doing.
We rode down to our creek bottom and immediately ol' sharp eyes found morels!

I found ONE!  But it was the light colored kind.

However I looked for other treasures as well.  We found a beautiful tall wild apple tree with the sweetest of blossoms.

I also found a plant I thought I recognized but wasn't sure of what it was until I got home and looked it up.

White Baneberry.  In the fall it has white 'doll's' eyes.  

I ran across many Jack in the Pulpits, they are so interesting!

Our hike ended with just enough morels for a taste.  The forest was pretty dry and we needed rain.  Rain would be good for the crops and the forest, but not necessarily for our house remodel.

Sunday promised to be another nice day and I saddled up Fred and Siera.  I conned Rich into riding Fred.
He hadn't ridden since last year and had convinced himself that the stroke he had which affected some of his finer balance skills would mean that he could never sit on a mule again.

Well.
Pictures are worth a thousand words.

We rode Sunday morning and he said it felt a bit strange but it also felt nice.

After our short ride, I took Siera out again. I figured since she was already saddled, I may as well.

She did a great job.  We wandered the forest hillsides and deer trails without much of a fuss.  Annually she gives me a hard time about leaving home each spring, and as I ride her more often again, she settles in nicely.

And of course, when I got home I called my mother.  We had a nice long talk and she sounded wonderful.  

And that was my weekend of Morels, Mules, and Mothers Day.

Rainy Day Hike

On Saturday the rains moved in.  
I had planned on going for a walk to look at wild flowers and hopefully find a morel or two.

I put on my Frogg Toggs and decided to stick a pocket camera inside my pocket and go see what I could find despite the rainfall.

I used my weatherproof Fuji pocket camera and hoped that it was still weatherproof after all of these years.

My Frogg Toggs got muddy but seemed to hold up pretty well, I spent almost 2 hours in the rain and didn't get wet.
However I did get muddy.

I found some False Morels, these were all over on a north facing hillside.
Very nasty mushrooms from what I understand.  

These should never be confused with Morels, their stems are solid not hollow like a morel is.

I also found strawberry plants that were starting to bloom near the creek.

To my horror, I found a large patch of Garlic Mustard.  

I pulled as much as I could, even though this is not in our woods.  

So I spent the day hunting for morels and found just one, but also discovered two patches of garlic mustard.  As I pulled them I found dutchman breeches under them.  
These are awful plants and this forest will more than likely become invaded by this plant.

No animals eat it.

Going Morel Hunting?

The first time my husband asked me to go hunt Morel Mushrooms, I had no idea what he was talking about.

Hunt wild mushrooms?
Little brainy looking things?


Ick.
Double ick, as I'd heard the picking mushrooms can be quite dangerous to your health.

18 years later, he doesn't have to ask any more.



Because I am out looking for them while hiking for wildflower photos.

I've also learned that you don't want the false Morels.

False Morel:

There are helpful articles on being able to tell the difference between the two.
The photos above are grey morels, usually they are not the giant ones that are found later on in the season after things really start to heat up.

Those ones are of a browner color and can get to quite a size.
I've posted this photo before on some other blog, but this happened to be the only thing I had to give the viewer an idea of the size of the morel I found.

Thank goodness you don't have to shoot them!

I know that I am looking forward to looking for morels very soon.