Saturday Wonderday!

A good day starts with a good walk if I can manage it. Sometimes the other half gets up too early and needs his coffee made and can get grumpy if it isn't taken care of. [I am smiling as I write this, because I know that I can get up at 4:30 now and enjoy quiet time for a while!]

I am trying to keep track of the trees alongside the gravel road to our house. The one below is a Grey Dogwood ~ I believe.

This year I am trying to keep track of birds...trees... and of course fungi. It is a means of keeping myself occupied and my mind stimulated.

My favorite Box Elder

Red Oak I believe!

Another one? Oak.

I think...not sure... Hazel nuts? I will have to wait for the tree to leaf out a bit more or some sort of elm??
Speckled Alder??? 
Gosh I don't know!

I found more amazing trees on the morning walk then headed to town and picked up Rhubarb Pie and Cherry Pie from the Farmer's Market and some fresh leaf lettuce. I've decided to just grow sweet corn in the garden this year.
When I can purchase fresh produce each week all summer for our needs and for freezing, it doesn't make sense to spend endless hours in a vegetable garden.

For example, the cost of the beautiful lettuce I got? $2.50, I can't grow it for that! 

MMMM. It gives me more time to play with flowers which I LOVE!

I went out just before lunch and found Morels with Charlie!

Charlie didn't feel so good, so I took him home. As I cut through a deer trail looking at the ground, I saw this...

Fawns do not have a scent when first born. They lay so still as to be invisible! I moved away with Charlie and we headed home.

BUT! Not before we heard a commotion in the trees about 40 feet away. An owl was having it out with some red wing black birds and crows.

I thought to myself...Dang where is Aurora with that lens of hers? I know she would have loved watching this owl watch us. [Taken with my pocket camera and cropped so you can see the owl.]

We had Morels with our steak and watched several squalls come through and ended the day with a rainbow. [A bit over the top with the edit, but the clouds were so amazing and I wanted to catch their strangeness as it cut through the rainbow.]

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.

Morel Madness!

About 20 years ago my husband said to me, "Let's go Morel hunting!"
I'd never heard of a Morel and thought it was some sort of joke.

"No," my wise woodsman husband said, "Morels are wild mushrooms that only come up in the spring and are delicious when fried in flour and butter."

I wrinkled my nose and thought this whole idea sounded disgusting. However, if it meant that we'd be out in the woods during early spring, I'd go.
We found these terribly ugly but cute mushrooms that looked like brains.  They were hard to spot and fun to find.

It was even more fun when we saddled up and hunted Morels.  Badger was always the patient mule and never in a hurry.

Rich cooked the first morels I ever tasted.
I was certain that I was going to die from eating them.

My grandmother always cautioned me against mushrooms when we were out foraging for things like lambs quarters or other wild foods.  "Most mushrooms are poisonous," she'd say.  I believed her.  Mushrooms and fungi were fun to look at but don't touch and definitely do NOT eat!

But.
I tried morels.  And they were so good!

And besides, hunting morels is just another great reason to get out in the woods during the spring time and explore.

Why yesterday I spotted one right away when I got near the creek bottom.  I was so excited.  No matter how long I stared, I couldn't see any more.

Until, I decided to set up Doe and Dino for some fun shots.

I thought this would be funny.  A Dinosaur holding a morel mushroom.  These are the early ones and they are so small!

However as I leaned in and set things up on this creek bank, my eyes spotted a pattern under the gooseberry bushes.

My assistant patiently waited while I leaned under brush and searched out more morels.

I probably missed quite a few, but I tried to be thorough.  I stopped to admire some Bishop's Cap and ...

found some more!

I was also very glad to have brought my Nikon with the micro/macro lens.

After searching some more, I decided to head home with my bounty.  It was warm in the valley and I had forgotten to bring some water along.

Besides I was anxious to show my goodies to my husband and see the delight light up on his face.

What is the secret to finding morels?  Good eyes.  I've read that you are supposed to look for dead elms, but I've found them growing near apple trees and pine trees.  I think the secret is just patience and persistence.

And knowing your morels.  Don't hunt them without an experienced person getting the wrong mushroom could be a mistake.

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.