Saturday, September 5, 2009

Blog Thrums

You know how with weaving you have odds and ends after you weave?

I have some blogging odds and ends that I'd like to wrap up in this post.

4 topics: Valuable Fungus, Cake/photography, Sock Mystery Solved and Camera FAIL at the beach

Valuable Fungus?

Please note, I am NOT a mushroom expert so do not take any advice from me about what you can eat that you find in the woods!!


Remember when I told you about this giant mushroom in our side yard? Well, after a few of you asked if it was edible, I did some checking around and I think it might be.

We'd already removed it when I checked into it. I haven't tried it. I wouldn't try it without some kind of expert help.

I did talk about it with a long-time NH resident and nature lover. She thought it probably was edible and that it might even be pretty unusual and valuable.

Not that I'll be going into business selling mushrooms that I find to restaurants in the area. I will add that one of the best things I've ever tasted was an open-faced wild mushroom lasagne at the Three Chimneys Inn in Durham. That was years and several chefs ago....and I haven't found it anywhere else since. But it was incredible!

The Massachusetts Audubon is holding an edible mushroom class in September. I might try to go.

Cake Photography

When I first showed you this birthday cake, the words were backwards. (I quickly snapped this picture narrowly missing the Doritos bag in front of the cake and getting a fairly decent background. Upside down and backwards words didn't bother me a bit!)


Well, turns out it's not hard at all to flip an image in Photoshop. Not hard for Jim at least!


Sock Mystery Solved

Remember when I rejoiced over a sock that had been missing for years resurfaced???

Well, I asked myself where it could have been hiding in my washing machine, and found the likely culprit!! So now I know where to look!

Fortunately, this favorite sock that says "Shebeest" on it has not gone missing yet!!

Beachside Camera FAIL

I told you in some comments that I'd be heading to the beach this week with my weaving buddies.

9 of us met for an oceanside day of weaving, spinning, knitting, gabbing, feasting, walking, resting, and polymer clay button-making.

I took my small digital camera and had massive camera fail. Not only was the battery in the camera dead, but the spare battery I always carry was also dead.

So no beach pictures for you.

I can offer this picture of the red scarf for K in progress. I made noticeable knitting progress sitting on a front porch rocker at the beach. Doesn't get any better than that!!!

Hope you're all having a relaxing and fun weekend!!! Glad I got this all off my chest!!

8 comments:

Theresa said...

LOL! That is pretty cool that you can turn that cake around. Of course it doesn't tell us what flavor it was on the inside!
Bummer on the beach pics, but I bet it was a perfectly wonderful get away day.
Lost socks....I don't think I've ever had them work themselves into that place usually they fall behind the washing machine out of the over stuffed basket....
No worries on me at least trying a wild mushroom, if it's not a morel I'm not trying it. It was a spectacular fungus though. You know there is a book about using mushrooms to dye with.

Delighted Hands said...

What a fun post-love the 'rest of the story'! The beachside knitting/weaving sounds like a wonderful time!!! The scarf looks beautiful.

Life Looms Large said...

Thanks for letting me know that I'm not just talking to myself this weekend!!

Dyeing with mushrooms might be more likely to happen than actually eating wild mushrooms (except in restaurants). Seems a lot safer!

Thanks for the scarf kudos Delighted Hands! I like it a lot too - it's a great knitting pattern as far as I'm concerned!

OK, I'm going outside bright and early armed with sandpaper to work on my new weekly Toika-finishing quota!!

Sue

Theresa said...

Yes, yes, yes! The time for harness sanding has arrived!!!

Life Looms Large said...

I have about 3 weeks I can work on it. I figured out a weekly quota: 4 lamms, 4 treadles and 7 heddle bars (AKA shafts). I have the lease sticks and other big warping sticks divided among those weeks too.

I can work for about an hour a day without giving myself wrist tendinitis. And today I finished 3 lamms, found that I have 6 lamms that need some repair and glue work before I can sand them.

Plus I too apart the other shafts that don't have heddles on them, so they're in the sanding pile now. I think my weekly quota will keep me busy, but it seems do-able also.

Before it gets too cold to work outside, I will have the sanding and oiling done!!!

Thanks for the encouragement!!! It's not really my cup of tea to do this type of work, but the results will be worth it because I love this loom!

Sue

bspinner said...

So happy you found your missing sock. I would never have thought to look for a sock behind the dryer door gasket.

Large mushrooms. I'm with you. I would never eat a wild mushroom. I understand they are good for dyeing.

I love the color and pattern of your scarf. Did you dye the yarn?

Life Looms Large said...

OK, so I'm not the only one who leaves the wild mushroom eating to people who are experts!

I wish I'd dyed the yarn, but it's Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Worsted yarn. So it was dyed, just not by me.

Some day I'll break out the dye pots, but I'm not sure it will be any time soon!

Sue

Anonymous said...

Love the mushroom - edible or not, it's beautiful! There was someone at the Newmarket farmer's market selling "organically grown" mushrooms yesterday - not sure the name of the farm - but that was the first time I'd seen mushrooms at one of the markets. Pretty neat!