Chickens, Bats and Puffballs! Oh My!

After the Hen of the Woods discovery,  I simply have not been able to stay out of the woods.   I say I'm going for a run after work, but always end up running through the trails behind the track and exploring for Mushrooms.   Yesterday...  I went out again,   

I really REALLY wanted to find the Hen of the Woods. ( maitake or Grifola frondosa)   But ended up running around in circles and finding a bunch of old Turkey tail.  I was about to give up when I spotted this cute little Hoary bat near the base of a tree.   I simply had to pet him. 

As previously mentioned in this blog... I LOVE bats.   I used to build them bat houses and rescue them from terrified neighbors.  ( I don't know what all the fuss is about,  I would love to have bats in my house. )  They are super cute and eat bugs the bite me.   So they are a friend and ally in my book.

I eventually left him alone as evening approached.   I would have loved to bring him home with me, but I currently am a guest in someone else's house... so  Kind of a bad Idea.   I did manage to get his picture though, so that was a win for the blog. 

A few steps away from that area, I found some more Chickens!  I though they would be done, as we have not had any rain for several days.  But there they were!  Large and fresh!  I picked all that I could and spread around a few of the crumbs for next year.  With a little luck, there will be even more in the future. As it stands though, it looks like the Chicken of the Woods is firmly established in this forest already.  Still, a little help is always a welcome thing, right? 

I still wanted to find some hens so I headed to my next favorite mushroom spot and jumped into the woods.  Only to find a BUNCH of puffballs.    I might have passed on these guys, but they all seemed to be at the perfect eating size.. I simply could not pass them up.  There were /are so many puff balls in this forest I had to leave a bunch. Even with them being small, I already had more than I could carry.   I brought them home along with the chickens

This evening I enjoyed some lettuce with Maitake, Chicken of the woods, and cubed up Puff Ball over the top. The mushrooms were sautéed up in some bacon grease until softened.   Add some cheese, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and a couple tomatoes and I had  the perfect veggy dinner. ( with bacon grease!... So don't label me a vegan or anything....) Mushrooms are the perfect substitute for meat... but also go with any meat dish. Personally, I think they should be in everything!  But that is just me.   Yes!  Even chocolate!  Which I have done with Shitakes... It was not bad.  (Sorry Sara.  No pictures!)

Heading to Davenport tomorrow.   To see Cheryl.  I don't know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be an adventure worth blogging about.   We shall see. 

Hope everyone is ready for the Weekend!  Have a great night and thanks for stopping in.

Hen of the Woods!

I went out for some forest therapy and stumbled upon a couple of people who were out hunting mushrooms... What are the Odds?   They told me they had never met anyone else looking for mushrooms in the woods either... so we had a good long chat.   They old me they had been finding Hen of the Woods... Miatake!   Then... they showed me what they found!   

Several HUGE clusters of Hens.   They offered me a section of one and I happily accepted!   I could hardly wait to get back to the house.  

I didn't find much else in the way of edible mushrooms.  I found a couple meadows and a small cluster of Turkey tail.    As luck would have it,  Dave was prepping a spaghetti pasta dish for us.   He happened to mention of I found any mushrooms, to bring them home and we would add them into the mix.   Little did we know we would have a huge, Awesome edible mushroom to work with. 

It was awesome!  Fresh and clean, I don't think we could have asked for a better specimen if it had come from the store! Dave fried it up and added a little seasoning and then we dumped it into the sauce.  Wonderful!  

I also wanted to talk about  the other things we managed to squeeze in last weekend.  We both ran  at the Trueblood  trail while it rained.  I luckily had finished my laps before the rain really began to pour.  Cheryl managed to get caught out in the down pour.   

I also wanted to show off the cats as they helped up pack things up. This pic is not staged!  I think Rocket is trying to convince Hiro to get wrapped up in one of the boxes.  

The week is half over!  And I managed to get in a couple blog posts...  Not too bad.  Dave's Parents are planning a visit tomorrow, so there will be lots of activity here the rest of the week. I might not have another opportunity to post.... But we shall see.   Hope everyone is having a great week so far and thanks for stopping in.

A Weekend With The In-Laws...

Cheryl's brother and sister-in-law, that is.   That is correct!  Andy and Tonya came to visit our humble and almost vacant apartment in Wellman Iowa.  It was mostly fun.  There was not a lot of Entertaining we could do on our end, as Cheryl has either wrapped up or thrown away almost everything a cultured person could use to entertain guests.   So... Hurray!  

But they did not seem to mind.   (Which it a good thing to note for future visits....)  Either that, or they were both being extremely polite!  Either way,  we managed to revisit a couple of things  while they were there.  

Putt putt golf!  Remember the '80's?   When Putt Putt golf was good, wholesome and FUN?  And on almost every street corner in every town in America?   ( My Dad said it was too expensive.   Translation: Dad was not a golfer.   OR  He simply did not want to wait for us to play a game.)  Well,  Miniature golf is pretty much a thing of the past.   Unless you live in Iowa!   Where time has stood still in many small towns and in others...  Time has completely forgotten them altogether!

We went to the bowling ally for some putt putt and video game therapy.   Because....  We were kids in the '80's!   And video games and putt putt WAS our therapy.  Or at least the only ones our parents could afford. ( Unless your parents were like my Dad.)  The bowling ally was hopping with a bunch of kids and families.   Good thing we skipped the bowling part.  

But we hit the putting greens and even then, found it to be a little crowded.   There still seems to be a loyal following for the game  in Iowa.   It was a fun way to kill a couple hours.   Andy and Cheryl got a hole in one.   Andy won the game overall.   Tonya and Cheryl tied for last place.   

We played a little Ski ball and Video games for tickets.  Cheryl turned in her tickets to the front and bought me several cheap toys.  I guess that is what the tickets are for... 

After a grueling afternoon on the putting greens, we headed to the Wellman Restaurant for some burgers and pies.  Too bad the pies were pretty much sold out.   But everyone managed to find some food they enjoyed. so  that was a big win. 

Then...  Off to the Insane asylum! 

 

 

I should explain....  

 

Andy enjoys photographing old architecture and run down buildings.   Unfortunately,  this insane asylum was still operational!  

 So we decided to have Cheryl committed try to talk Cheryl into attending.  She seemed like the most logical choice.  She is a runner, after all.   

While Andy scoped out the grounds,  Tonya did her best to convince Cheryl that she was, in fact, insane.   And that the Asylum would be her "home away from home" with stunning views and pretty fields to stare off into the distance from the safety of a barred window.   I think Cheryl was warming up to the idea.  

We drove around and even offered Cheryl the opportunity to get out and walk around.    She explored the "Activity Center" only to find out it was closed.  Probably for several decades. I guess crazy people don't really need much in the field of activity while being dressed in straight jackets. Or living in padded rooms!  They really know how to put the Hospital in the word "Hospitality". 

Andy still wanted to make it to the Field of Dreams... again.   We went there before, but apparently, they have been working on a bigger field and more activities for tourists.   While we were there, they were having a game on the field.   We would have loved to stay and watch, but time was beginning to run out for us and we had to get back home before it got too dark.   

I KNEW those weren't  ghosts.

Which we failed to do.   BUT...  Andy and Tonya managed to find a hotel room in Muscatine.. and hang out with us for a little while before saying their goodbyes.  It was a  nice visit and we got to see a few familiar sites along with a couple of new ones.  

It seemed as if the weekend was over too quickly.   Time seems to fly when you are having fun, so I guess that must qualify last weekend as a fun one. Hope everyone had a great weekend last weekend.   I was unable to blog about it due to severe drowsiness after a long ride back to Kenosha.  With a little luck, I may be able to blog about the rest of our activities that did not make this post.  

What about us?

As for now,  this post is getting long enough, so I better wrap it up.   Thanks for stopping in!  And have a wonderful rest of your Day.

The Beautiful "Ugly" Mushrooms...

There are some mushrooms that are just plain gross.   Grotesque!   Disgusting and UGLY!   And they have names that add even more insult to them.   Names like "Stink Horn" or "Bleeding Tooth"   Hardly the kind of ice breaker you want to bring out at parties...  

However, to a mycologist,   these mushrooms have a certain inner beauty that others  can not see.   Yesterday, I discovered several mushrooms that I had previously never seen before.  However, I was able to ID them on the spot!  Which is always fun.  

First up, after those rain storms last Sunday, I figured I would give the forest a few days to spring some Fall mushrooms into action.   I may have waited a bit too long if I had wanted to gather up some Boletes.  It appears that many of the Boletes HAD actually popped up, only to be attacked by animals, bugs and slugs.   I possibly could have salvaged a few of them, but decided to give them over to the slugs.  Most of them were too far gone to be of any value as it was.  

I first noticed a Bleeding Tooth on the way into my favorite section.  It was mostly white with a few droplets of what I thought was just dew or rain.   I took a picture, but did not really think much of it.  

But after several more sightings, I noticed that the droplets were dark amber brown  or even red-ish.   I then knew it was a bleeding tooth.  I snapped a much of pictures.   But I kept running into it!  

Eventually, I kept the biggest and best of the pics.   I don't know if this mushroom is edible.   I doubt it is poisonous or toxic.. because EVERYONE loves telling you if a mushroom is poisonous or toxic.I imagine it is "safe" to eat, but so disgusting no one would want to try it. OR the texture, or flavor is terrible.  So  no one bothers to tell you that...  They would rather find pleasure in you discovering that it tastes terrible on your own.   And if you are brave enough to try it,  then you can endure that chewy texture. Heck, you might even like it.  

I found a Stink Horn popping up next to the trail.   Save the phallic jokes....  I have heard them all before.   These are edible!  And thought to be medicinal for... uhem.........  Sexual difficulties.   But there is not really any research on that topic that I know of.   I do know that they are not exactly the best edible mushroom out there.  and I have never really wanted to try them myself.  But it is good to know they will not kill me if I find myself in a survival situation. 

By the way,  the foul smelling slime on the tip is there to attract flies...  Who eat the spores and then, when they die, a new Stink Horn pops up in its place.   Pretty cool eh?

I found these yellow mushrooms at the base of a tree.   I think they may be Honey Mushrooms, but lack the scales on the cap.  They do have a veil and  grow in clusters near tree roots.   Honey mushrooms sound good, and are edible.  But I hear they are extremely tough and need to be cooked thoroughly to be enjoyed.  Perhaps in a good stew or Chili someday....

The Jack-o-Lanterns are still out.   I found several around the base of various trees as well.  They certainly are pretty, even if they are known for their toxicity. I still would love to see some of them glow at night.  

There is nothing like a good nature walk to calm the soul and recharge the batteries.  Having a  purpose to the walk makes it just that much more enjoyable.   I love looking for mushrooms while walking... along with any berries or wildlife I can find.  It is a very spiritual experience. And if you ever get caught up in the complexity of how things interact,  you will find more than just inner peace out there.   Too much for a single blog post, that is for sure!

So hurray for the ugly  and disgusting mushrooms!  They need love too.   And are just as amazing as all of the other pretty and tasty ones.  I know I was certainly enchanted with them.  And if you have read this far, thanks for stopping in and hearing my little rant on mushrooms.... again.   Thanks for stopping by.