Fungi, Frills & Fun

Hello again on this wet & windy Autumn Thursday (4th Sept)

Puffballs
For the last few week I have been gathering giant puffballs - to quote "Mushrooms - River Cottage Handbook (no 1)" by John Wright :
"If there is one edible fungus that cannot possibly be mixed up with anything inedible, it just has to be the wonderful Giant Puffball."
I found them on an old muck heap amongst the nettles & burdock - softly glowing. Now I'm not one for eating mushrooms of any sort - they just don't agree with me- but I am reliably told but my "significant other" that a puffball omlette is a culinary delight. So if it's "safe & legal" get out there & try one -even better share one with friends!

Bread Making (more fungi)
After years of complaining to those around me that commercial bread was horrible I went out & brought a bread-maker. With a bit of experimentation I have found it possible to produce - REAL BREAD. Not only has this stopped me moaning I have discovered how pleasurable it can be. I know all the books go on about how satisfying it is but it really is. Call it alchemy or science - it is fascinating mixing the wet & dry ingredients, adding the yeast (more fungus), letting the mixture sit & voile la - a frothy mass. I recently tried a new recipe that required a very wet mixture, I let it over rise & it became a creeping mass that nearly fell off the work surface! Then from this bubbly mass comes bread - with that wonderful aroma matched by taste, especially when spread with butter!!!

Gladioli (the frill)
Gladioli- no wonder the word "glad" is in there - they always make me smile: yes I know it's derived from word for a the roman sword. I have some at home at the moment, great spears of outrageous ruffled pink. They rise from the slim vase like an effervescent fountain or a placket of frills on a summer blouse! Absolutely no restraint - a most un-English flower- hurrah.

Fun on the TV
Still on a theme of fun, this week I watched an old episode of the "Good Life", I'd forgotten how good that series was. Of course the best part was given to Margo Leadbetter perfectly played by Penelope Keith. Later on in the week I managed to catch "Bride & Prejudice" - a Bollywood version of "pride & Prejudice" The music is infectious, the costumes jewel-like, the tone up-beat & the storyline comfortably close to the original. Get a pizza, frothy coffee & some friends round & get dancing to this movie!

So this week it's a "Thursday Thank You" to the wonders of nature (& science) and to the script writers/film makers/actors who have made me laugh.

Happy quotes, plants & dogs

Hi again on this windy, gloomy end of August day


Foundation For a Better Life.
I was directed to this site by a friend - what a great site. There is so much gloom in the news & so many people far & near in need, that is sometimes becomes difficult to remain positive & thankful. Get a quote sent your inbox each day & be uplifted!




Seeds
Imagine it is late winter & you have just put some great big seeds in pots, then you have put them to one side (in the greenhouse, on the window sill, in the spare room etc) and waited. Soon you excitedly see lovely shoots emerging & watch these grow into lushious leaves - time to pot on. Then one beautiful day you lovingly put them in the warm, nutritious ground & wish them well with a good watering. Jump to late July. Those seeds are now 8 foot monsters, leaves 6inches across, red flowers humming with bees & festooned with long green beans. Beans, beans everywhere!! However many times this pattern of seed - plant - fruit/flower/vegetable - seed occurs I am always thrilled & it is as if I am watching it for the first time. So Thank You to "nature"/nature spirits/God/the divine spark - whatever it is that makes it happen - Thank You.



Butterflies/moths.
Until this year, when I began growing brassicas for the first time, I had really looked forward to seeing butterflies. It has come as a bit of a shock to realize that those pretty, almost weightless fragile dots of life are MONSTERS!!! I find it hard to describe the mixed emotions I felt seeing my baby broccoli plants, with their rapidly expandly, dark-green healthy leaves, covered in eggs & holes! I have searched to strike a balance between the needs of the butterflies & my need for food!!!So this is it - fine netting over the brassicas except for one large unidentifed wild sown brassica & no attempt to save my nasturtiums. I now have a large leafy plant with great holes in it's leaves & lots & lots of leaf stalk but few leaves on some of the nasturiums. I don't eat the latter & have really enjoyed them for months so the loss of them seems a small price to pay for my peace of mind. (More on battles with invading creatures on another post).

Monday Moments
It gives me pleasure to tell you all out there that a good friend has re-started her Monday Moments slot. I really enjoyed that first batch so I'll be eagerly visiting the new site of these thoughts http://www.tinasdivadiary.blogspot.com/.

Dogs
just a few words on another of my enthusiams - dogs. Those hairy creatures that are always there for you with:
* paws that have stomped in fox poo,
* a back caked in horse-pat,
* a lick after they have just eaten a bowl of smellie dog food,
and not forgetting
* the unforgettable "arome de pond water" now all over the car!!!

The First real "Thursday Thank You"

This is a big

THANK YOU

to lots of medical personnel!

One week ago my much love, but very naughty dog, was spayed. I had been rather appreensive but these misgivings have thankfully all come to nothing. One week on & the scar is almost healed & she has managed a normal, if rather gently-paced walk on the lead. The biggest problem has been a nasty bit of razor rash but that's looking much less angry & sore.
So it's a big thank you to the staff at the Marches vet centre for doing an excellent job. The thank you is for my dog & for my horse who had a very nasty accident a few months ago).
I'm also grateful for Rescue Remedy, homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy oils & Reiki - all of which I put to good use to.

On Tuesday,the 90 year lady who owns the park where I currently live had a heart attack & fall which severly damaged her arm. The medical team spent an hour stabilizing her heart then she was air-lifted to hospital. The next morning she was reportedly sitting up in bed - marvellous news. I'll be visiting her later in the week.
Events such as this act trigger in me immense gratitute, gratitude to the large number of people directly & indirectly getting this lady safely to a hospital bed. From the people who put in-place the procedures for airlifting patients, the designers of the helicopters & ambulances, the producers of medical products to the more obvious medical personnel & concerned friends. What a huge interconnected web of people & materials & ideas all working positivly together to bring about help, support & healing.

I believe that healing energy is all around us if we choose to tap into it: it sometimes uses surprising vehicles. I've grown lots of plants from seeds this year & some of them I planted specifically to use for cut flowers e.g my dwarf sunflowers. But I have only been able to bring myself to cut one sunflower bloom, why? Well I have watched the bees feed from them & feel they need the flowers more than I do (bees are under serious threat globally). Every time I see the sunflower's bold, vibrant faces they make me smile, to me that means they are generating healing energy - an energy that I want to share with everyone who walks or drives past. Flowers are truely "spiritual food" & really do lift the heart & soul - so much from a £2 packet of seed- what amazing value.

The Thursday Thank You

This is my first real post so "hi" to the blog community.


I've been reading friend's blogs for a long while now & finally feel ready to have a go myself. I love the idea of a regular blog slot (Wellness Wednesday by Anna's World comes to mind) - making it a discipline/commitment rather than a random event, which I feel sure will not happen. So I'm going for a day of the week but not a necessarily weekly posting. Thursday feels good- The Thursday Thank You- to emphasize the positives in life.

poppy m