And Finally.... The Boletes Make An Appearance!

Boletes!  And me without my camera. 

Another  rainy day today, and Cheryl ran only 5 miles.   After 15 yesterday, I'm surprised she ran at all.  But she hinted at looking for some mushrooms in this cool wet weather.   I have to admit, I was a little less than enthusiastic about it.   I figured it was too late for many of my favorite mushrooms... but what the heck else are we going to do with all that spare time.

Not my pic, bu it looked like this.

I was slightly encouraged by a small find of Golden Oysters sprouting from a new location.   They were past their prime ( rain always causes them to "speed up" their life cycle.) But I grabbed a few just for seed dispersal purposes.  I had hoped that the Chicken of the Woods might still be possible if we scoped out a new forested area.  One we have not been to since mid summer. We headed towards the Corralville Dam.

Our table filled with Boletes! 

Russula virescens 
The Quilted Green Russula.

We immediately were greeted by a "Double Header" Bolete!  Two Boletes had sprouted up and merged their caps together to form one seamless cap.  Cheryl was excited, but I was skeptical.  I had never seen Boletes behave this way.

And a couple of Green CrackingRussulas. 

However,  a little further,  We found more...  and then more.

All fresh!  ( rare)  even then, some of
the bugs had a snack on them. 

Bruising brown.  A Identifying characteristic....

The Boletes have been very annoying so far this year.   they come out and we miss them, finding the old, bug eaten remains  on weekends or along trails as we bike.   Whenever we actively search for them, it has been too early, too late or just to dry.  We know where they grow, but timing is everything!

Wouldn't you know it was a day when I left the camera at home.  Cheryl says I should leave the camera at home more often if I want to find the good mushrooms.  I am beginning to see the logic in that statement.

Velvety Top.  

Pores on the underside. 

There were LOTS of mushrooms sprouting up. It was also raining on us as we searched.   I was happy we only focused on Boletes  ( And a couple green netted Russulas.)   There were Amanita "Destroying Angels" all over the place.   ( Deadly, but very pretty....) And lots of various red Russulas.  We even found a half -eaten Lobster Mushroom.  Had I had my camera, I would have taken DOZENS of pictures!)  Corts and Orange waxy caps were very striking in the dim light.  Very pretty.

Bolees Ready for Drying. 

So now that we have them home,  Cheryl is trying out an idea on how to preserve them.  Drying did not work very well with the Maitaki mushroom,  but hopefully,  things will work out with thinly sliced Bolete.   We are not even sure what type of Bolete they are:  The King,  Summer, or Pine Bolete are all candidates.   One thing is certain, they are all tasty.  I have sampled them  ( Cheryl thinks there may be three types here...  judging my color of the cap.) and found them all delicious.   So....No bitter Boletes in the mix at least.

Running out or racks and table space!

After I post this I will have to find how the "experts" do it.  I know some folks can or pickle the Maitaki and Chicken of the Woods mushrooms.  We are not equipped for that process.  So drying racks are all we have at the moment.

Hiro hides from Cheryl. 

As the rain continues,  the cats have been scarce for the day.  I'm sure they are warm and dry somewhere and will only arrive when they get hungry.   As for Hiro,  He has discovered that under the couch is a great place to hang out so Cheryl can't bother him.   He only comes out when I enter the room....  This makes Cheryl very jealous.


Hope everyone is having a safe, warm and dry day today.  Thanks for stopping in!  And if you have Boletes growing in your area,  get outside and give them a search.   They are totally worth it.

Cheryl's Long Run In The Rain.

Cheryl runs 15 miles in the rain. 

15 miles in Muscatine today.   And it misted on us on the first half of the adventure.    Cheryl has been itching to run longer than the half marathon distance for a while now.   Today,  she decided that she was going to do it even if she had to walk some of it.

Barges hauling in the mist. 

And she did.  A little.   It does not matter, because I would rather have her walk a little than get hurt trying to prove something.  Besides,   she pretty much held a decent pace most of the way even with the walking.   She forgot to bring water along, so she had to make do with the moist and cool-ish air.   At least there was no sun or hot/humid temps to have to deal with.

Along the way,  we saw a few things.  A few barges moving things that are not the typical grain bins.

Barges moving giant fins for
windmills. 

Most of the mist quit after mile 7

And also,  for the first time ever...  Two deer laying down near the trail.  I have never seen deer sleeping or laying down in all the time I used to hunt or trample around in the woods.   Today, was the first time.

No the best focus.   Let's zoom a bit. 

Two deer resting. 

I could tell that they are alive. ( as opposed to dead deer...  which there are plenty along the highway here in Iowa.  Nope!  Looked like they were just chillin' in the small woodlot along the dike.    Normally, we see them every now and then eating along the train tracks.   I'm sure I have blogged about it before.

See them now?  

Other than that,  it has been overcast and cool.  Cheryl completed her 15 miles and is happily resting on the floor drinking tea, eating cookies and reading a British magazine.   Sounds like a good time to me.

Cheryl complees the training run. 

Hope everyone is enjoying this fine day.  After posting this blog entry, I will most likely be joining her in her sloth-ness.   After, perhaps, I finish making my Ice cream.   I can't wait! 

Thanks for stopping in.

12 Stocking Day. 7.5 Mile Run.

Quick post so Future Ethan and Cheryl will have record of the Stocking Progress.   We sold 12 today.   I will simplify that and say that we are caught up for now.   It is difficult to see how many exactly we sell each day and what has to be made.  But 12 stockings is kinda big this early in the season. 




Add in that Cheryl ran a Little over 7 miles today and that the weather has been cooling ever so slightly, and things are beginning to look up here at the Allenbrite Studio. 
Other than that,  not much else to talk about.   Guess I will keep this short.   A rare thing for me, I know.    Hope everyone is having fun and staying safe.  Enjoy that fall weather if you're having it in your location.  Cheers!

Gearing Up The Allenbrite Studio.

6 sales right out of the gate! 

Yesterday we openned up the Etsy store and immediately got 34 conversations!   I was so thrilled, because I get to answer those conversations and I fancy myself as an undiscovered novelist who spends his time trying to find productive outlets for his prose.  ( This blog is one of them.)

Cheryl sewing things up. 

So I spent most of the day yesterday trying to reel in the fish on the other end of the Etsy Convo page.   Cheryl is always worried my strange and indirect methods of writing will confuse, offend or utterly scare away potential customers.   But I think my track record of being funny, but not too funny;  informative, but not too detailed; and entertaining, but not too familiar will entice enough people to hand over their hard earned money bills so that I can fix both the car and the outside cat. ( don't tell Cheryl my plans....)

Chocolate gills,  

With the Help from Hello Kitty. 

Other than that,  for the second day in a row,  the mornings have been cool here in Iowa.  We have started out bike rides in the 50's and ended them in the 70's.   Seems a lot like Fall weather.   Where was this cold front/morning when the Marathon was happening? 

Smooth top.   Meadow mushroom? 

Gills tightly packed. 

But there are Mushrooms.   A little weekend rain followed by cooler temps have triggered the Puffballs and other mushrooms to sprout up.  But with stockings taking some of that free time,  there are no longer the number of excuses I can use to go searching for them.   Looks like I will have to rely on the bike rides to do my hunting.   We shall see if Cheryl gets itchy for a forest walk any time soon.  ( And my Itchy,  I don't mean poison Ivy!  Both of us have had several bouts already this year.)

Yumm,  Puffballs,  (see the Yellow
bruising?  These are the BEST!) 

Black/brown spore print. 

Thanks for stopping in.  I'll keep this short and try to keep the record of the shop history for Future Ethan and Cheryl to marvel over.   Enjoy!

Cheryl's Quad Cities' Half Marathon....Swim... Complete.

Eager for more misery. 

 Today, it has been raining ever since we woke up at 3 A.M.  And that made for a very interesting and dramatic Event today.  In case you did not read the previous post,  Cheryl voluntarily paid money to practice pain and suffering in the form of a half marathon today.   As a BONUS...  She got to enjoy that suffering in the heat AND rain.  Lots and lots of rain.   ( It's STILL raining outside as I write this!)

She is shocked by the story.

I'm shocked by the story. 

But novelist, story tellers and bloggers LOVE drama.   It makes the story more interesting than : "Cheryl ran a half marathon...  The End."  And I would like to think that, next to Stephen King,   I fancy myself as having a gift for spinning a mountain out of an ant hill. 

Now we just don't believe the story...

Start/finish line.

But lately,  My blog stories about Cheryl's little runs are sounding more like Danielle Steel novels!   Formulaic,  predictable, and kinda, maybe, a little boring.    First,   Cheryl is eager to run.  Then,  Conditions are not as predicted...  Will she make it?   Then   She runs... but has trouble!   Will this be the end?  Will the conditions be too much for her??? (Trigger dramatic Organ Music: )Da Dummm.....!


But she recovers... somehow.   Digging deep and finding her inner Rocky Balboa.   She goes the distance only to not achieve her goal.  But she still is a winner to some extent.    Sound familiar?   Only if you read this blog frequently.

Well,  It is a familiar story repeated many times here, but this one will be different... ( maybe)   So let me begin with the tale.   Once upon a time.. in a galaxy far, far away. 






At a very early hour,  Cheryl and I woke up to travel to Moline...  The scene of the Crime.  It was raining the entire time.   And it was very dark!   So dark, most of those pictures did not turn out.  And the ones that did still ended up being blurry. 

But after a quick bathroom break,  we rallied our senses and got our bearings.  We found the finish/start line and I pushed Cheryl through the gate before heading to mile 5...  same place as last year.

But...  things had changed.   The area I had scoped out last year were blocked off this year.   I had to think on the fly and move my spectator spot to a new position.   Turns out, mile 6.5 was the next available location.  I set up an OP ( Observation Point) in a good location.   After almost 30 minutes,  one of the race officials discovered that I was in "too Good a Spot" and kicked me and a lady off to the "bad Observation spot."   One filled with swamp water, puddles, mud, and numerous other people with umbrellas... so they could block your view. 

An App that can't track runners.

Mile 8.2  where is she?

The App Cheryl downloaded for me was pretty much junk on this one.   It had predicted that she was ahead of where she actually was.   The first time, I managed to not believe it.  But the second time I did!  Causing me to believe that I had missed her at Mile 8.2. 

The spectators brave the rain.

I had not, but it did cause me to panic and rush over to mile 9.   Only then did I discover that I had not missed her and that she simply had not reached that area yet.  Which ultimately caused me to miss her at Mile 8.2.  Crumbs!

But Cheryl was having her own battles to deal with.   The rain had stopped just as the race started.   This allowed the heat to build up and crush her spirits.   She was looking for me at mile 5 so that she could drop out.... but by not being there as support,  I was able to inadvertently help her stay in the race.   She was not happy about that. 

It is rare that I capture an ENTIRE EXPERIENCE in one shot.... But here it is!   Look at her face and you will
see it ALL!  

Mile 9. something.   Rain is Really
bad. 

Cheryl is finally alone in front of me. 

As the pictures will show,  Cheryl was a little confused that I dropped the ball on her attempted failure.  Causing her to be successful!   This means that I'm reliable even when I'm not present to be relied upon!   How awesome is that!   Sometimes,  (Not often, mind you) I even impress myself!

I just missed her at Mile 8. something.

So After giving me her scathing look of disapproval,  She continued on to mile 8...  where I was not located ( see previous paragraph) and then eventually caught up with me at mile 9.   By this time the rain was pouring buckets on us.   I was thoroughly soaked by now.   At least the herd had thinned a touch so I could take a clean picture of her as she swam by.

On to the finish.   Once again, the App let me down with a less than accurate prediction.  It informed me that Cheryl had already finished the race and I had not seen her go past!  I scanned the area for her, eventually realizing that she had NOT finished and was approaching the finish line just as I snapped a few fleeting pictures.   I managed to get an almost focused pic of her crossing the finish with her time.

Now,  Cheryl had hoped to beat her 1:43:00 time of last year.   So 1:51:04 was not a very "happy" time for her.  However,  it turns out that the conditions for the race were not "Happy" for very many other people either.  Cheryl still managed to win second place in her age group.   She laments that she had to walk, jump puddles and not wear her Super Duper Nike Vaper Fly shoes because of the slippery conditions.  Add in the heat  never dipping below 70 degrees and I'm sure you can see why other folks might not even have bothered to show up for the run! 

Like she needs More water...

Plenty of water! 

But she did win a medal and an award.  And she made me promise to remind her to never run this race again.   She says that about all Summer races... and I DO remind her.   But she continues to spend money we can hardly afford to do races in places she hates.   I'm not sure if it is her personality of the effects of that "Runner's Drug."  Either way,  I'm not really a variable in this equation.

Showing off the medal 

 It was literally falling
out of the sky!  But no gatoraid.

The rain is supposed to continue until 5 P.M.  this evening.    The Sun might not even make an appearance at all, so it is a great time to make some Hot Chocolate and rest on the couch for the remainder of the evening.    Every now and then you have to have what we called in the Army.. "A Gut Check."  To see exactly the kind of person you are by experiencing something with less than stellar results.  Like Star Trek's Kobayashi Maru Scenario,  the situation is impossible to win.  ( But Kirk does... because Kirk is awesome... and born in Riverside, Iowa... so I hear.)   The point of the test is to see what you are made of.   Kirk had to Cheat to win, of course.  But in the Army, "If you ain't Cheatin',  you ain't tryin'. "   Sounds good enough for the Army and War and stuff, but that does not fly very well in the running world. 

Did she win a trophy? 

And that is why I'm here.   To tell the story in a way that turns losers into champions.   Because everyone is human after all.   And Rocky was a HUGE hit because everyone can relate to a flawed hero.  Just Like Cheryl...

Victory!... Kind of. 

Second Place? 

Whoa!  That got a little deep.   And that is the problem with Drama for any writer.   That is why I like to stick to comedy.   Everyone likes a good laugh now and then.   And I like to spin my "terribly disappointing results" into "unexpected opportunities for humor."   Because running really is a rather silly sport to dedicate your life too.   ( That and bowling....) I could even make the point that all sports are rather odd to pursue.  But sometimes chasing the odd and strange allow us to achieve bigger and better things.  We shall see how the results of running in the downpour will affect the future racing events.   For now,   Cheryl is mostly happy.  And that makes me mostly happy.... Mostly