Little caterpillars in my kale, your clever camouflage somewhat backfires when you're hiding from someone who only tries to find you in order to not eat you.
The cucumber situation is getting out of hand. All hail our cucumber overlords. Eight out of eleven of my chillis are now bearing fruit! Also courgettes, beets, broad beans. Tomatoes are ripening. Planted some less functional but pretty things in my crate planter to make the place look more presentable.
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
Dad came back. I took him to Furniture Plus, and against all odds we got a chaise long into his car. Also to Harbourmaster's Cafe.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Sunshine in Edinburgh. Wander around Murrayfield, mushrooms in Dalry Cemetery, lunch on the Meadows. A long run up Arthur's Seat.
Amy added 38 photos to https://i.amy.gy/202108-edi/
Afternoon in Edinburgh to see B&J. Food from Seeds for the Soul and Black Rabbit, and a nice sit on the Meadows.
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Work on the ensuite uncovered an exciting floor void, and rotten floorboards that the step ladder fell through. Tiles went up, a new floor went down, toilet from ebay and sink unit from Freegle were installed, and existing towel rail was moved. The wooden shelf was yet another piece of beautiful wood, ash this time, scavenged from R's shed, that was almost exactly the right dimensions already, and I sanded down and varnished it. Dad left, and I repainted the walls with white bathroom paint. Two weeks later Dad came back, and installed the heated towel rail to replace the radiator, and fitted a new ceiling as the old one was rotting a bit. The mirror had been an issue as the window interfered with the space above the sink, and we need one that works for people between 5 and 6.5 feet tall. Astonishingly at the last moment I picked up a mirror with a frame to match the shelf from the secondhand furniture shop for £3 with a swivel stand, so we bolted that to the windowsill and it was perfect.
Amy added 20 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
I needed a cabinet to cover an unsightly pipe in the ensuite. I thought I'd have to modify something, but I found this fantastic thing in Castle Furniture in Glenrothes. It has already been modified, so the base fit perfectly over the pipe, and perfectly in the gap available. I'll paint it white, but I also look forward to Dave's deeply offended reaction when he sees the farmyard animals.
Amy added 1 photos to https://i.amy.gy/diy/
I walked all the way into town for one specific thing, which I did not achieve. But in some random grass near the train station I found a bunch of good russulas, and loads of field mushrooms. So, not a completely wasted journey.
Amy added 8 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
Espresso machine started working! Mushrooms, fried, grilled, gooped. Mushroom and spinach muffins (not a hit). Berry cakes and apple crumble muffins.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Carrot muffins in Community Kitchen. Soft chocolate cookies and berry pies and crumbles at home. More mushroom pies and mushroom burgers.
Amy added 12 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Not-sausage (and mushroom) caserole. Soups, burgers. Waffle's with R's waffle press. Wild berries for berry and applie pies. Chocolate coconut cake with ganache.
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Chanterelles and boletes! On toast, in pasta, on pizza, in chilli.
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Breaded chicken of the woods is the absolute best! Battered puffballs are a juicy explosion. Grilled hen of the woods goes black and blue with a rich taste. Made some things with boletes and chanterelles and oysters too. Froze mushroom lasagnes and chicken-of-the-woods and sweetcorn soup. And bottled more when making actually dishes got too much. Chocolate cake at Community Kitchen. Courgette choc chip cake at home.
Amy added 41 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Fried chicken of the woods, and chicken of the woods parmigiana. Also scones.
A very successful afternoon of mushroom foraging around Kirkcaldy-adjacent woodlands, and Aberdour. Featuring: Many different russulas, nibbled on site to decide whether to keep them. A variety of boletes in reasonable condition, mostly yellow/orange cracked, and a few brown birch. My first porcini! A bolete with a brown cap and a fat red stem. It could have been a lurid or a scarletina, but we left it. We got one mature one that after triple checking is definitely a scarletina. A good haul of chanterelles. What we thought were puffballs, but turned out to all be earthballs when we got them home. Most common cause of poisonings in the UK, I expect because the rule of thumb is earthballs are dark inside and puffballs are white. But actually some earthballs can be cream and it's easy to think you have a puffball. But the giveaway is the texture - earthballs are much firmer. Lots of blushers spotted (poisonous). A variety of to-be-identified mushrooms, including some funnel caps and milky caps.
Amy added 64 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Foraging in the local oak woods. Today's find of the day is beefsteak fungus! An absolutely gory bracket mushroom, with a solid, fleshy texture, veins and oozing red blood. Plenty of russulas and blushers around, too.
Amy added 20 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
A trip to the oyster woods, for more oysters. But also, our first larch boletes.
Amy added 19 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Perfect oysters, and chicken of the woods.
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Another boatload of oyster mushrooms.
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Earthball mushrooms in Edinburgh cemeteries.
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More chanterelles, and orange birch bolete.
Walking in the woods near my Mum's place near Alton, and picking up mushrooms... Loads of earthballs (not pictured) and lots of amanitas; definite blushers, and pretty sure not death caps, but some other kinds. Very old boletes, scattered russulas, stinkhorns, and some big 'uns in a field that I'm not sure about.
Amy added 33 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
Wandering the fields near my sister's place in the Lake District, and picking up mushrooms on the way. Mostly not edible, apart a couple of field mushrooms, but fun to try to ID them all, familiarising myself with the book. Also borrowed a sundew to take home.
Amy added 25 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
An epic Fife fungal foray. The very local oysters are still flushing, plus some puffballs coming up nearby. A few good scarletina and yellow/red cracked boletes. A milk cap, probably not a good one, but haven't learnt much about those yet. Went to check on a baby chicken of the woods to see if it had grown, and alas, something had eaten it.. but then.. out of the corner of my eye.. down a muddy slope and through several feet of ferns something was glowing orange.. my conscious brain said "almost certainly some trash" but my subconscious brain knew... I slid down the bank.. and sure enough.. a chicken of the woods as big as my torso. What a feast! Plus, blackberries on my doorstep.
Amy added 27 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-foraging/
A jaunt into local oak woods to look for more chicken of the woods after last week's exciting discovery, and was not disappointed. Lots of small ones, mostly the right age. And some very high up a tree! Alas. Lots of beefsteak fungus too, but didn't harvest any because though it's pretty I wasn't impressed with the taste and texture of the last one I tried. Got a ton of hen of the woods though, a new one for me.
Interesting clump of mushrooms growing with one of my broccolis. Haven't identified them yet. Everything is getting eaten by caterpillars, but rescuing as much kale as possible before I surrender. Cucumbers and chillis are starting to explode.
Amy added 12 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
Capsicum, chilli and tomato polytunnel excitement. Excessive courgettes. Harvested the turnips too late and they're not good. Got a second freezer to start bulk processing some of this produce and storing for winter.
Amy added 13 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
Surprise visit down south for Mum's birthday. Crazy Golf occurred. Preceded by a stay over at H's in a hammock.
Amy added 43 photos to https://i.amy.gy/202108-en/
Hen of the woods in the middle of Kirkcaldy town. And misc.
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Too many variables to know what is causing these weird shapes. Poor light, poor air circulation, temperature, remixed substrate...
Amy added 4 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Inside Ravenscraig walled garden (Greener Kirkcaldy volunteer social bbq).
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
The Oak Pond in Wemyss woods, and the beach on the walk back.
Amy added 3 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2021-fife/
I have too many emails. Thunderbird is refusing to accept more. So I guess that's it. No more email for me. I accept the situation.
Final ensuite wrapup... More harvesting.. mostly cucumbers. Epic mushroom foraging expeditions locally. And made mushroom pizza, mushroom stew, other things. Lots of work on internal Co-op policy stuff. Watched The Vast of Night and Black Widow. One more night in Edinburgh, then down to my sister's in the Lake District, and on to my Mum's for the weekend (found mushrooms..).
Finished The Foundation and started Foundation and Empire. My giant tomato is a failure, it's gone all gross. Footpath garden generally struggling. Various more wild mushrooms. Beautiful skies. Afternoon in Edinburgh to see friends. Greener Kirkcaldy volunteer social. Prepared and ate, bottled or froze yet more mushroom dishes.
Made rhubarb blackcurrent crumble muffins at Community Kitchen. Ensuite tiling finished, and I did half a wall of grout. Everything functional, just a few things left to do - which Dad will have to return for a third trip for. Various touchups myself, including sticking on some missing tiles. Plus started work on Dave's bedroom wall. Potted on a few things. Carrots are sprouting. Tomatoes started. Harvested chillis, cucumber and broccoli. Orchid who seems to be dying has opened a new flower, despite all the others and buds falling off. There's hope? Went foraging in the oyster woods and on a mushroom walk through the woods near Dysart. Found various brittle gills, lots of boletes all eaten up by slugs, a bad puffball, and, excitingly, a small beefsteak! Made mushroom muffins, mushroom soup, mushroom porridge, mushrooms on toast... Finally tested then gave away ye olde washing machine that was in the flat when I moved in, to make space for... another freezer.
Went mushrooming again again again. Got oysters and larch boletes, plus an inedible brittle gill and unidentified fairy ring mushrooms. Time in the garden. A couple of nights in Edinburgh, eating all of the vegan takeaway. Made carrot muffins with jam centers and the Community Kitchen, and a cashew cheese sauce for the vegan enchiladas. The orchid that I thought was dying has opened some more flowers and is growing a new leaf, hurrah! Second vaccine achieved. Watched Avatar for the first time. Got another freezer and made trillions of pies and mushroom burgers to go in it. Grouted.. Am I done grouting now?? Please??? And painted the bathroom walls.
A jaunt to Edinburgh to eat many things. Found mushrooms, saw Kit and Mariette and Lowenna, and ran up Arthur's Seat. Finished The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K Le Guin. Started watching Kingdom (Korean zombie series). Helped with pizzas in the Community Kitchen, plus not-entirely-successful apple and rhubarb puddings. Made more successful apple and berry pies, among other things. Harvesting tons of stuff from the garden. My tomatoes are struggling, but bearing fruit. One is putting all energy into a single tomato the size of my head, and dying off at the top. My Dad came back for final work on the ensuite and industrial estate adventures. With help, started filling the holes in Dave's bedroom wall. Mushrooms growing... Co-op staff welfaring, mostly.
This weekend's bathroom refurbishment jobs include the ceiling, and sealing. My Dad and I have found ourselves talking past each other more than once.