December 30, 3020 – Mushroom Kit

 

         This Christmas I ordered a Mushroom Kit from Willow Mushroom Mushrooms.  It is a white button mushroom kit and it arrived on December 10, 2020.

 

         This is not my first Mushroom Kit – I have had several over the last 16 or so years.

 

         However, this one had the most complete instructions with the Kit and this had the best mycelium I’d witnessed upon arrival.

 

         Mycelium is pronounced: [mīˈsēlēəm]

 

         which is a fine white weblike structure from which the mushrooms grow.

 

         Today I picked my first mushrooms – several big ones and I immediately sliced them, sautéed them in olive oil and butter and used them for the base of a Mushroom and onion Quiche.

 

         You receive the kit and scarf up a giant handful from the top of the colonized agaricus substrate block which has the white mycelium running through it.  You mix that with casing soil that you’ve saturated.  Then you spread that on top of the block.  Then you pull up the plastic growing bag and fold the top over clipping it to the top of the carton edges so that the humidity builds in the bag along with CO2 building.  That process is 5 days.

 

         One thing about this project, it teaches you patience.  Of course you look in on the box every day to make certain the bag is still upright and clipped.  You spray it daily.  It is a great gift idea for the gardener during the winter. 

 

         At the end of the five-day period you “Flush” it.  Open up the plastic bag and pull it up and over the edges of the box and spritz the whole top with COLD water.

 

         This shocks the mycelium into fruiting – making mushrooms.

 

         Trust me, it is a fascinating process.  Visit www.willowmushrooms.com for more details.

 

         It has kept me entertained from December 10^th until now and will for several weeks.  I will be picking more tomorrow – they are getting bigger and bigger.

         I apologize that the pictures are in reverse order - but you get the idea - this is a fun project.

 

My first Box in 2007

Trimmed and ready for the kitchen

This one was three together

Two big ones

Big enough to pick - went after the big three

Few days ago - starting to look good

About a week after arrival of box

What the box looked like when it arrived

        

Mural Art in Forest City, North Carolina

 

December 22, 2020 – Mural Art – Forest City

 

         This county has charm at the most unsuspected times.  The last few times I went through the drive through pharmacy pickup at Smith’s Drugs, the prescriptions were not ready, even though I had placed them in advance.

 

         So, I decided not to be stuck in the 6 or 8 vehicle queue the last couple of times I picked up prescriptions, I parked out front and walked in.  I thought I would try the pick-up window today, as the line was short – maybe 4 cars instead of 8 or more queued out into the street.

 

         When I drove in, much to my surprise and delight, there is a new mural at the back of Smith’s Drugs near where the drive through window is.  I could see it about half a car length away.   How cute – a Dalmatian in front of an old timey firetruck has been executed on the rough brick exterior of the building.

 

         When I had a chance to move forward, I eased even with the dog and snapped its picture close up and then I snapped another with some of the firetruck.

 

         It lifted my spirits.  I hope it lifts yours.  So much doom and gloom this year with the Covid19.

 

         I haven’t been very optimistic and the last thing you want to read is a blog that is pessimistic – so I have stayed away.

 

         I am all decorated for Christmas and we have not invited any guests and don’t expect any due to the Covid19 situation.

 

         But, it would not be Christmas to me if I didn’t do the decorating thing. 

 

         The first thing I do in the morning when I pad out to the kitchen to feed the vocally hungry cat that owns me is snap on the Christmas Tree lights just at the crack of dawn.

 

         Sleep in when you are retired?  HA HA – tell that to my internal clock.  My eyes snap open just as sunrise is expected.  It has for years.

 

         I ordered a book recently mentioned in The Epoch Times newspaper by Donna Cameron, A Year of Living Kindly, for my Christmas reading pleasure.

 

         My Mom used to say to me, “get along to get along” and when I would dart my eyes at her – still a teenager at the time – she would say, “Kill them with Kindness if you have to.”

 

         The first thing I do when I receive a new book is read the Contents and all the chapter headings, then flip to the “index” and “note” sections.  I must be a dinosaur as I still call them footnotes.

 

         As I expected, Under Section III, Chapter 12 is Mom’s old saying, except it has been updated by the author as: “Kill Transform ‘em with Kindness. A Lesson from my Mother.”

 

         Possibly the author’s Mom and my Mom were cut out of the same cloth.  We shall see. 

 

         Stay tuned - Coming to you soon – a book review or two.

 

         I will be back soon with another blog or two to wrap up the end of 2020.

Surprise Gift I wanted to share

 December 1, 2020 – Surprise Gift I wanted to share

 

         It is not every day that I receive such an amusing gift that is a testament of the times – Covid19 and toilet paper shortages.  What was surprising about this little package – gift bag enclosed, with no indication who had sent it.  It was from a mystery Santa for most of the afternoon.  I snapped a photo of it, and sent it to various friends and asked them if they had sent it, as it had no gift card.

          Clever isn’t it? I had to share it.  A friend who is also an old boss of my husband’s sent this to us.  He enjoys a good laugh, or a good joke.  He has been as upbeat as you can expect in this Covid19 lockdown situation.

          We are in North Carolina and he is distant – Washington State.  Not only did he have the protestors, he also had wild fires in his area this summer and he still could send emails with political comments and great one-liners from our mutual, favorite Senator from Louisiana, Senator Kennedy.

          I imagine everyone has been wondering where I have been, I have had a health issue that has gotten me down.  It is a learn-to-live-with-it issue and I honestly am not doing well with the mitigation theory of self-care.

          Oh, well, I need to look on the bright side – I am still alive and doing things.

          I have finished the two greenhouses and I have finished the raised beds around them.  Now that all my new bulbs have arrived, I will start the planting.

          But, here is a glimpse of the “greenhouse complex” as I call it.

 

         And, I have started decorating for Christmas.  Today I did the dining room.  I have been searching for two things for the last 4 or 5 days.  I have jeweled fake fruit I want to pile up in an antique wood bowl on the dining table.  I swear they used to be in the bottom of a suitcase along with some metal shelves that you hook on the window ledge.  I was looking for the metal shelves too.  Finally after emptying out the guestroom closet, the master bath linen closet, and the master closet I decided I must have moved them to deep storage – the shed.  Last week I had already looked and didn’t happen to notice them.

         This time I took out an LED lantern and prowled around a little deeper.  Oh my, they were right in front of me and I’d overlooked those little metal shelves on two prior occasions.   But, the fake jeweled fruit . . . since the shelves were not in a suitcase anymore, then the fruit had to be in something else. 

          By theory of deduction I snagged a few spare carry-on’s and with just a heft could tell it wasn’t them.  On the third carry-on, I struck gold, gold glistening fake fruit that is.

          At the end of the day, dining room came together, the master closet looks so neat and clean I could hold a Christmas Tea party in there and I’ve two boxes of personal letters exchanged between me and my Mom to re-locate.

          But first, I think I will re-read them. Mom died few years back, but I can bring her back to life just re-reading her magical letters.