Most mornings begin with a hunt for fresh mushrooms. Pulling
on my gumboots (wellingtons) I’m eager to venture out into the day, which might
find us wading through wisps of cloud, soggy fogs and glistening glass drops on
the tips of uneaten grass heads sparkling in the sunlight. Often the Bandycoot likes to recall mushroom
hunts on these same hills when he was visiting as a kid and share tales of
fields full of this natural delicacy. So far we’ve only found a few handfuls
but the pups (Jazz and Indie) love the opportunity run in the paddocks. Free to
roam where they choose (leash-free!!) they follow the fresh scents of rabbits
and other new and mysterious (to them) wildlife. The Bandycoot is trying to
train them to find mushrooms, similar to a truffle pig, but with no success as
yet. However he remains confident. The pups often end up soaked and muddy from
heavy dew on the soft green grass.
Today, however, was a new day with rings of mushrooms in
every direction. Our calico bags were loaded down with big, bold mushroom heads
shooting up after a couple of unseasonably warm evenings. While walking we
debate why mushrooms grow in one spot and not another, and is it true that you
will never find a mushroom growing in exactly the same spot twice? I’d never
picked fresh field mushrooms until we moved to the Old Dairy and could not have
imagined how much more delicious they are from store bought. The Bandycoot
fried up a whole pan in garlic and butter for our breakfast and cooked up
several containers worth to freeze and see us through the long Tassie winter. I’ll
admit, I get a bit nervous because I don’t really know good mushrooms from bad,
safe from poisonous or straight from magic, although the Bandycoot does seem
quite knowledgeable.
That afternoon I couldn't resist playing in the last of the autumn leaves with the pups in the backyard. They're almost finished now and the Bandycoot reminded me of my previously expressed wish to make a leaf angel. So out under the beautiful Claret Ash, with the Bandycoot hanging rather precariously from the low branches to take the photo, I made my best leaf angel. It's a tricky thing to catch the motion and movement in that type of a photo and the Bandycoot did mention that I looked rather dead in a few shots. I'm so glad that we did it, as a wild and howling Tassie wind blew in that night and left only the leaves not yet ready to make that final leap of faith still clinging to her majestic branches.
The mushroom haul!
Indie after a very wet mushroom hunt (that's my groovy gumboots behind)
Those are great photos.
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