Chicken in the woods

As y’all know Chris and I share a love of mushrooms. Well he texted me today with a huge find. 

He rushed over giddy with excitement. 

These are called Chicken in the Woods. Huge bracken type mushrooms. 

A little scale for you. 

Ok. Nothing can be serious. This one is for you Mamaw. 

I took them in and cleaned them. 

Sautéed them in olive oil and white wine. So good! 

Last night’s dinner. Squish a bobs, crash potatoes and roasted broccoli. 

And… sweet dreams. 

I love when the blue eyed grass blooms along our path. 

Is this not the cutest dog ever? 

However, maybe not the smartest dog. I bought them these dog chew bagels. She got it stuck on her bottom jaw. 

She wouldn’t let me catch her to take it off. Finally got and she did it again. She got it off herself. I called it her distraction bagel because I got it for them to chew when Amy and Lucy came over. It was so good to see real people. 

Some of the pumpkin seeds came up. 

Got to see sweet Cletus this weekend. 

Food

It’s funny when you are deprived of something, you think about it more. Since having COVID, I have lost my sense of smell and a lot of my sense of taste. How ironic that I read a delightful book about a food critic. On his death bed he is trying to recall one special flavor. He goes through many food memories and it was a lovely read. 

Well I made boiled corned beef , cabbage, potatoes and carrots. For St. Patrick’s Day. Next day I made Rueben sandwiches. All with our taste buds at half mast. Well today I took the remains of the pot(a La Candy) and made soup.  I added a bit of beef broth and some tomatoes.  I think my taste is almost back now because it tasted good.   

Another taste that was stirred up by the book I read was orange sherbet. I couldn’t get it off my mind. Well sweet sis Jan picked up a grocery order for us and look what slipped in there. And…I could taste it!

Just a little cuddle. Poor Ed.  He has been so sick with this dumb virus. 

Delivery

Sweet son in law had some of his pizza delivered to Covid jail. That was a nice break. I could even taste it pretty well. 

Since nothing is going on around here I’ll show you what’s happening on the St. C’s balcony. These are Mom’s Ranunculus bulbs and hyacinths. 

A little crocus. 

A striped tulip bursting out. 

Lots more tulips to come.  

Coco is obsessed with this brick column in our fence. She must have seen a squirrel go in the hole. But she is very diligent about watching for it. 

Inmate number 1 reporting in

As I feel better, Inmate number 2 feels worse. Had groceries delivered by sweet S&P. 

For some reason I kept thinking of potato skins. They were all the rage in bars and restaurants during the late 70’s and 80’s. My first ones were from TGIFriday’s. How we loved that place. The first one was in Highland Village which was about as cool as it got in those days. Anyway I made some and they were very good I think. Too bad my taste buds are at half mast. 

Sick times call for sick attire. Sat on the deck most of the morning yesterday. I’m missing the best part of spring. Today however cold and rain are coming back. Good thing I have no place to go. 

Sandy found a new place to rest her head. 

News from Covid jail

New prisoner here. Ed has it now. He was always a prisoner since exposure but now he is a fellow inmate. I’m afraid he has a worse case of it. Or at least that’s what I hear. 

Provisions have been good here however. This Costco lasagna that Sophie brought us is great. Unfortunately my taste is only about half there. And I can’t smell at all. Very strange. Cancelled our Lafayette trip. Rescheduled for April. Shoot. Well better hurry off to fall asleep in my chair. 

Souvenir

Well I brought home a little something more than memories. A little souvenir called Covid. Anna, Margaret and I all caught Covid on our trip. Anna believes she got it at a funeral last Tuesday. She passed it to us and Margaret passed it to Chris, who she graciously cooked dinner for Friday! This stuff is awful. I’m getting better and so far Ed is clear. 

Sophie and Paul brought us homemade chicken pot pie. They also brought lasagna, rosemary bread for cheese toast and tomato soup. Much needed help. Amy brought cough syrup and soup. Costco’s chicken tortilla soup tastes like On the Border’s version. Remember them? 

Sweet girls. 

Lucy is reading a book that both Candy and I read and wrote in the margins. She has enjoyed that. 

I told her she should read the book that brought Candy and I together. She said she prefers light, happy books. We do tend to walk on the dark side. 

More sweetness. 

Devil’s Urn on the way out. They sort of open up and flatten out. 

Sorry for the long post but what are you gonna do in quarantine?

Souvenir

Well I brought home a little something more than memories. A little souvenir called Covid. Anna, Margaret and I all caught Covid on our trip. Anna believes she got it at a funeral last Tuesday. She passed it to us and Margaret passed it to Chris, who she graciously cooked dinner for Friday! This stuff is awful. I’m getting better and so far Ed is clear. 

Sophie and Paul brought us homemade chicken pot pie. They also brought lasagna, rosemary bread for cheese toast and tomato soup. Much needed help. Amy brought cough syrup and soup. Costco’s chicken tortilla soup tastes like On the Border’s version. Remember them? 

Sweet girls. 

Lucy is reading a book that both Candy and I read and wrote in the margins. She has enjoyed that. 

I told her she should read the book that brought Candy and I together. She said she prefers light, happy books. We do tend to walk on the dark side. 

More sweetness. 

Devil’s Urn on the way out. They sort of open up and flatten out. 

Sorry for the long post but what are you gonna do in quarantine?

Devil’s Urn

So…came home after finding Devil’s Urn mushrooms near the cemetery and checked my own spot. Nature sent out the signal and mine had grown too. 

They grew in an arc about 3’ long. The pink line I drew shows the length. 

After a breakfast of toasted croissant the next morning…best croissants anywhere from Chicken Salad Chick, I headed out to see how much they had grown. 

A lot!

And they were holding water. Chris told me that is how they sporulate. As that water evaporates, spores get on to the wind. Isn’t that cool?

Got to see Pippin today. 

Cold snap. May be one of our last fires. 

Devil’s Urn

So…came home after finding Devil’s Urn mushrooms near the cemetery and checked my own spot. Nature sent out the signal and mine had grown too. 

They grew in an arc about 3’ long. 

After a breakfast of toasted croissant the next morning…best croissants anywhere from Chicken Salad Chick, I headed out to see how much they had grown. 

A lot!

And they were holding water. Chris told That’s how they sporulate. As that water evaporates, spores get on to the wind. Isn’t that cool?

Got to see Pippin today. 

Cold snap. May be one of our last fires.