Adventure of the foragers

Okay girls and boys. Thanks for making the switch! Hope it was not too much of a hassle for you!

Today's adventure: The weather was perfect because it rained yesterday so the ground was moist, and the temperature warm enough for things to sprout. Our aim was to gather morel mushrooms. The J-man had previously found a few near a dead elm, and so we went back to the same spot to look for more.




These honeycomb shaped mushrooms are tricky to spot. Even if you spot one, it's easy to lose sight of it if you take your eyes away for a second. Especially since the types of morels we found were so carefully camouflaged against the dead leaves on the ground. We spent hours crouched down looking out for these spaced apart fellas. They don't grow in a cluster, as a result, you'll have to look real hard and real close. But there're hot spots, so when you find one, keep looking and search in a circular radius around that morel. I did that for about an hour before I started going all cross-eyed and light-headed. So J and his friend Matt continued to search while I stayed home to work on my new blog! :)




Hope you guys like the new look! Comments much appreciated!

Penny Saver Tip #2: Reuse your egg cartons!

J and I finally started on our garden, it being spring time and all now. We bought some seeds, used some plastic cups for planters and started planting them a few days ago.



We planted broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, thyme, rosemary, Thai basil, onions, 3 different types of squash, snow peas, yard long beans and tomatoes. I planted some sunflowers, marigolds and lavender for flowers, so I can't wait for them to sprout! Being first timers, we were quite unsure of what to do, like how much dirt to cover the seeds with, how much and how often to water. We read articles online but still felt like fidgety first time parents (nothing beats experience over knowledge)

A lovely regular at the museum, a grandmother of triplets, gave me some advice when i approached her yesterday. Grandma Trips, we call her, had brought in some gardening magazines for kids to craft with some weeks ago, so i knew she did some gardening of her own. We got down to some serious gardening talk but the best tip that stuck in my head was to re-use egg cartons as seed planters. Why buy new ones from Walmart or Lowe's when you can easily recycle your trash? Don't know why we didn't think of that in the first place, so we didn't have to waste a gazillion plastic cups!

I love talking to Grandma Trips, she is a gold mine of information.



I think i actually saw the beginnings of the broccoli and sunflowers. Phew! So we didn't kill them with our overzealous watering after all! I do hope the weather gets warmer soon. We don't need sudden frost to put our efforts to waste now, do we?



The J-man also got down and dirty ploughing and tilling the field to get it ready for transplanting. He fenced the area with some leftover bricks in the garden shed so the neighbour's dogs won't get to it (hopefully!) With everything set, we're just crossing our fingers for a good start to a year of bountiful harvests!

Mushroom a-picking!

We found some oyster mushrooms while taking a walk. Who would've thought? Growing in a middle of the field in between a tree stump, see how big they are!





We brought it over to Matt's place and his mom cooked them in a killer cream sauce. She had bought some more oyster mushrooms from the store so there'll be enough for everyone, but none of them could compare to the size of the ones we picked!

But we also went into the woods because the day before Matt and J found a hawk's nest (or what seemed to be a hawk's nest). We didn't see the hawk this time, but we heard what we think was a baby hawk's cry. Then there were all these blooming blossoms all around!





Aren't they pretty?

Unfortunately, I think because of all that pollen in the air, I have taken to my bed today, and down with a nasty cold, or it might be the flu. Hate it. Wish it would go away soon! I don't want to miss work!

Speaking of work...

I dressed up as the mascot for our museum yesterday to welcome our 100,000th visitor since opening! And it has only been 6months! That was the projected total for the first year and we did it in only half the time! I thought wearing that mascot was going be claustrophobic but it was actually kinda of fun! I loved it when kids clamoured for hugs. But not those who burst into tears in fright.



That's me on the far right waving at the cameras!

Thrifting: Birds - Their Life, Their Ways, Their World

Matt, who had recently returned from Argentina, brought this book over to my place. He had found it in his house stashed away on a shelf, thought of me (how sweet!) and my newfound bird-watching hobby. His grandparents had given it to him as a gift 18 years ago. It's only on loan to me, but wow, what a treasure to own!





It's a Reader's Digest publication and printed in 1991. I flip the pages very carefully, while reading about birds, their features and behaviour. You can be sure I'll be on the lookout for birding books the next time i go Used-book hunting!

Thrifting: Or maybe not!

But I love my new NASA shirt!



For $7.99 could it be considered a steal?