I have barely left the fug of my studio in almost two weeks, needle felting like a thing possessed. Last Sunday was misty and murky and I needed a change of scenery, so we decided to pop over to the woods, to see if there were any mushrooms around. We have had so little rain that the fungi season has barely happened. The woods are beautiful at this time of year and everything was slowly dripping as if nature herself was quietly weeping.
It is a very late autumn, but at last the leaves are tumbling and things are bedded down and dying back for the winter. The trees take on a dishevelled witchiness.
We met a woman with a nice Red Setter dog and stopped to chat - she said that not only were mushrooms out in number, but she had seen lots of those 'red ones with white spots' in a particular corner which we know. A few days ago, she had met the chap who collects edible fungi for the nearby and oh-so-upmarket Daylesford Organics; he thought he had found some Chanterelles, which we have never spotted here. But there were plenty of things to look at - some good sized Wood Blewits which I wanted to pick, but Andy claims they are too woody for him. As I only had two paper bags, I left them where they were - these two were the size of a tea plate, about 7 inches in diameter. 
The fun of mushroom hunting (and taking copious photos) isn't just about finding edibles, but finding out more about unknown types and trying to identify them later - such as these pretties, which I think are Grey Milkcaps. The clue is in the name, but I didn't know that until I got home. Next time I'll try breaking a cap to see if it leaks 'milk'.
These little fellows were hiding in the undergrowth, just a couple of inches tall - I hesitantly think they are some kind of Scalycap.
Joy of joys, we found another Penny Bun, or Cep. It was absolutely perfect; this is only the second one we have found and they are the best, so delicious!
Penny Bun 2011
A proud moment and a text book example. Although something had been nibbling at it, it was still a good size.
Penny Bun 2010 
Death Cap 2010 
Death Cap 2011
Here we also found several Shaggy Parasoles - these are darker brown ones and best when younger, before the caps get leathery. These can cause gastric upsets in some people, but we've eaten them before and our only problem has been wishing we'd picked more! Their gills start to turn pink when they are picked, which is a good way of double checking they are what you think they are.
As usual, Andy found Puffballs.
Did we find the copious Fly Agarics - or red ones with white spots as the dog lady called them? Oh yes! Lots, to my joy! Make way for fairy toadstools (but don't eat them: the fairies don't like it).
Personally I can't look at enough pictures of Fly Agarics, as you may have gathered. But, onwards and another great edible find; a Matt Bolete in very good condition - often the slugs have got at them and they are useless.
Further on, a near relation, the Red Cracking Bolete. My first wild mushroom at the tender age of 11 was one of these; I found it in the woods, identified it in my little book, double checked with mum and fried it myself. It was delicious and I became hooked on mushroom foraging. Even though this one was a bit nibbled, it was still good enough to gather.
One last mystery - this clump of oddly textured, gelatinous looking toadstools. Can't find them in my books or online. 
If you look closer, you can see that they are bleeding a clear orange liquid. from the stems Most odd. I will not rest until I discover what they are. 
We ended up with two bulging bags of various mushrooms, which was far more than I had anticipated.
The short afternoon was already closing in and it was not even three.
Time to head home.
One last delight, the jewel-like Spindleberry, my favourite wild shrub.
Once home with a pot of tea, everything was checked in our 'bible' - Roger Phillips 'Mushrooms'. Not only matching up pictures, but reading the descriptions, what they look like when cut, habitat - just to be absolutely sure, even though we were pretty certain of most of them. I fried them all up and we had them with bread, eggs and bacon.
As I am writing this several days on, we obviously survived.
It's been a funny old gardening year. Started late, because of various distractions. Andy took a garden sabbatical (I think he was traumatised from the demise of our polytunnel) so I had to see to it all single handedly, in spare moments. And, at the risk of destroying any illusions that we live in a tranquil, rural paradise - we have been living next door to this;
The bush in the left hand corner is in our garden and the strip inbetween is our neighbour's garden. It began in late spring, and our little old terrace of cottages shuddered and shook as the wrecking ball demolished the ugly 1960's retirement home which had previously stood there. All day, nearly every day (even at weekends) since then, we have lived with the accompanying noise of big diggers, industrial tools, shouting navvies, chainsaws, drills - well, the usual cacophony. So time in the garden has been infrequent and as needs be.
But despite all that, we've had a pretty good year. Picking funny little harvests and wondering how to bung it all together.
Eaten string beans when we wanted. Lots of them.
Custard squash were a triumph: what a great little vegetable they are - and when they are young, can be eaten skin and all. If you store them, then just cut them in half, roast them and scoop them out of their rind bowl.
Potatoes were meagre and very disappointing; we have had barely any rain here all year. I tried to keep them watered with my bucket - no hoses here - but it was a sparse result.
So the garden quietly slips into scruffy dishevelledness. A few things linger, thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, but it is time for a winter rest.
Oh, but tomatoes - the tomatoes excelled! The seriously cold snap must have killed off any blight we had lingering, and they have thrived.
All the plants are now stripped back to stalks and fruit. Despite a night's frost last week, the plants are still strong and healthy.
And I continue to pick ripe tomatoes in November, which is extraordinary.
I also like to leave green tomatoes to gradually ripen indoors - they will last into late November at least, just left to hang.
We are still living next door to a building site, except that now some of the houses have been built - which means that this time next year, we will have new neighbours. The time to move has definitely come.
But at least I still have some last nasturtiums to enjoy.
Earlier this month I went AWOL on my orders again and made a little Halloween mouse, who is already well settled in her new home. It was my first attempt at a ruff; much spitting and swearing (well, mild cursing anyway) ensued, as I fiddled about with unruly ribbon.
And then, just as I thought I'd cracked the perfect technique, I thought of a better way of doing it and had to re-do the whole thing again the next day.
But we got there in the end. Her head and arms are thread jointed and moveable.
The heart I always put on my toys was popped onto her tail end.
I like ruffs a lot and now that I've worked them out, they'll be making more appearances. I searched for the perfect name, and found a miniature type of pumpkin called 'Baby Boo' ,which was just right.
By happy coincidence, the kind person who was taking on my fat little Halloween mouse, also sent me an unexpected present, which arrived just as I was about to post her off. Photo opportunity of course!
My first and only Halloween decoration, a sparkly glass pumpkin half which is now dangling with my best treasures. (Thank you again to the gifter!)
And here she is in her new home, suitably surrounded by other festive decorations, saying hello to Griselda the goose witch - quite scary to think that I made her two years ago.
Luckily Baby Boo had already left by the time this awesome hoard of American candy landed with a hefty thump on the doorstep - an incredibly generous box of sweets from lovely Sooz, who knows that we like Dove Promises and Jellybeans and threw *just a few* more things in as well. Had Baby Boo found them she might not have been able to fit into her mailing box.
Happily, this doesn't happen very often, but occasionally I get halfway through a piece and realise that it is wrong to my original intention. As with this pre-ordered hare, Willow. Yesterday I realised that her arms were going to be too long for her body; cutting the arms down, as I did, didn't help. She needed more neck length. She was looking too tubby anyway - more like a rabbit than a hare. Only one thing to do...find the big scissors...
(If you are Janet of the Empty Nest, you might want to look away now...)
Cut off her head. It gives me a rare chance to look at cross section of one of my toys and see how densely it's been worked. 
So the neck extending begins.
Once the wool is taking shape, I can hold the head on with a spare felting needle so that I can work on her more easily, in my hands.
About two hours after I cut her up, she is looking much better, but the joins are still weak and obviously showing.
So I tightly wrap some braces round the weak areas and needle them firmly -
- then carry on patching and smoothing. I also added more at her back, so that she didn't look too oddly tall. 
After about five hours, I have a shape I am happy with and pop some black headed pins in her, so that we can say hello at last. Her proper glass eyes will be added later, but I like to have my toys looking at me while I work on them, so pins will do for now.
Much better - see the improvement? (You can look again now Janet).
Penny Bun 2011 
Penny Bun 2010 
Death Cap 2010 
Death Cap 2011 
