... in Margaritaville, where else? Last night we ate in one of our hotel’s restaurants; Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. And, of course we ordered the Cheeseburger in Paradise. You just have to, ya know? We noticed at a table next to ours they had a interesting contraption in the middle of their table that was a glass tube at least two feet tall filled with margaritas and a tap at the bottom. Wow, now that’s the way to go for a large group!
Our table was at the front entrance to the restaurant and this was our view:
A lovely, voluptuous figurehead on the ship that is permanently “docked” as part of the restaurant. It turned out to be a very entertaining place to sit. Watching people’s reaction to her prominent features was hilarious. Some men went by and had to put their hands on her breasts. One man went by and did a double take and I just started laughing at the look on his face. He saw me laughing, and grinning sheepishly he said “you caught me looking!” Some people, if they were tall enough came close enough to lose an eye as they rounded the corner without noticing at all. Some people were embarrassed (mostly women). One woman flung open her blouse (she had a t-shirt on underneath) and dared her husband to compare her endowment to the figurehead’s. My favorite of the night was a man who looked like he’d had more tequila than me that gazed at her longingly for few minutes before he whipped out his cell phone, put his head next to her breast, and took a photo of himself.
People seem to have left their inhibitions at home. Vegas; you gotta love it!
Home Sweet Home for the week.
This city’s energy is amazing, but we are three hours off our normal schedule. My real time is almost midnight, although here things are just getting started. We ate, drank, walked a lot and watched two fountain shows at the Bellagio. Now we are headed to bed. Five hours on a cramped plane makes a person weary. Who said “half the fun is getting there?” They didn’t know about today’s airlines, I’m certain. Maybe if they did, they flew first class.
The night before last we were rudely shaken awake by a rolling clap of thunder. It felt like an earthquake, and we could feel the house shudder. Within one second our bed was taken over by three large, panting, nervous dogs. It was pouring rain—at last. This pattern of heavy rain mixed with sporadic bursts of thunder and lightening that happened only when we had drifted back off to sleep, continued through the wee hours of the morning. We got over an inch and half of rain; but not much sleep. You won’t find me complaining though since our thirst-parched grass and trees really needed a big drink of water. I just wish it would do it during non-sleeping hours.
It feels a bit as if we’ve hurtled through space at warp speed to land somewhere completely different. This morning finds it 38 degrees F outside and we had to turn on the heat. Last week we had the air conditioning on. Can we finally call it Autumn? Has summer finally released her firm, hot grip?
The trees are slower to change this year by at least a week. Last year our trees were in their full glory by the 17th of October, but they won’t be there by then this year. The squirrels and bears are really foraging for acorns. I’ve noticed that we have an awful lot of acorn caps, but the acorns appear to have been “squirreled” away somewhere. Odd. Last year we had tons of acorns left all over the ground. Do they know something that we don’t?
I will be glad to finally put away my summer clothes and bring out my cute little cropped jackets I’ve been waiting to wear. I’m working on a new pair of fingerless mitts that I hope to have completed soon. They are from a free pattern that Clara at Knitter’s Review graciously gave out in her newsletter to introduce her new book, The Knitters Book of Yarn, which I have ordered.
But, photos of trees changing and finishing my mitts will have to be put on hold for a week. Tomorrow we are off to Sin City: Las Vegas for a week. Rick will mostly be working at a trade show while I have the difficult job of seeing how the Botanical Garden at the Bellagio has been transformed for Fall, lounging by the the 13 flamingo-inhabited acres of pool at our hotel, window shopping, and well ... you get the idea. I’m really looking forward to this little vacation. I plan to at least post a photo per day, so I won’t really be gone; just warped into the land of adult make-believe. I need it. I’ll meet you on the flip side of reality.
Sunday morning found us not mushroom hunting, but paddling our canoe. The morning was pleasant and not too humid or warm, like it would become in the afternoon. As we rounded the bend to one of the little coves, we saw a mother swan with her nearly-grown cygnets. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: who in the world came up with the word cygnet for a baby swan? It doesn’t fit at all! Let’s paddle a bit closer, shall we?
The youngsters are an interesting color at this age. Not quite white, but losing the brownish color they’ve worn for so long. I think they are quite lovely! I love the long reflections of their necks.
The woodsy reflections were lovely, too.
We disturbed a double-crested cormorant trying to fish.
All in all, a lovely fowl-filled paddle around the pond.
After our big mushroom find of the morning, we set off for our foray in the afternoon to Two Pond Farm. Even though it was hot and sunny, we had been told to wear long pants since we’d be walking in the forest through lots of brambles. Oh joy: more rose thorns, probably.
We were charmed the moment we turned into the driveway of Two Pond Farm. A rambling, old farmhouse stood proudly between two large ponds along with a barn and outbuildings scattered behind it. Allison came to greet us, and since we were the first to arrive and she wasn’t sure how many other people would be joining us, we sat down on the steps of her front porch to wait. She showed us a basket of mushrooms that she had just gathered earlier that day. This was our goal for today: delicious honey mushrooms! She explained how to identify them and we talked a bit about how to prepare them. She told us that there were not nearly as many as there usually are due to the weather, but hoped we’d find some we could take away with us.
We turned out to be the only ones that showed up for the foray. Before starting, Allison brought out a jar of honey mushrooms that she had pickled herself and some bread so we could sample their taste. They were delicious! We asked her how she made them and vowed to prepare them that way if we were lucky enough to find some. Knowing how good they were made us all the more excited to get started.
Past the turkey coop and up through the pasture we went. We started seeing older mushrooms right away, but they weren’t good for picking. Not ten minutes into our adventure and we were finding smaller, fresher mushrooms that found their way into our bag. Oh boy! We went through areas of blueberry bushes scattered with old oaks and the shrooms really seemed to like this environment. I had to be careful where I walked since they were hard to see through the scrubby bushes. I was glad for my jeans even though the sun was hot. Before long we had entered the forest.
Here are a group of honey mushrooms growing on an oak. Allison explained to us that the mycelium for the honey mushrooms usually takes over dead oak trees and spreads throughout the tree, so you find them growing on the tree itself or anywhere along the root system. When the tree can no longer feed the mycelium, it dies.
Somewhere along the way I met up with my buddies—the thorns—and they snagged my arm. ouch! It bled profusely (those thorns are so sharp!) and I had to grab a few green leaves to staunch the flow. I swear, those bushes just do not like me!
The mushrooms weren’t plentiful, but we found enough to suit our needs. We didn’t want to be too greedy and help ourselves to all the mushrooms we saw; after all it was her property we were searching for them on.
Back at the farm we explored her small organic shop operated on the “honor system.” People come by to purchase her home-grown organic veggies, eggs, and homemade marmalades, leaving the money in a lock box. We couldn’t resist a winter squash, some red onions and a jar of her Tomato-Peach-Ginger Marmalade. They also raise turkeys, lambs, and pigs for people. You make your purchase a year in advance and they raise it and butcher it for you. She has her own flock of sheep from which she spins her own yarn. I asked her if she would be willing to give me a few lessons as I would like to learn to spin and she said she would. How wonderful is that?! I plan to follow up on this before too long.
We came home and Rick started blanching the mushrooms before I even had a chance to photograph them! Oh, well. You can see the results of our foray; two jars of delicious pickled mushrooms, resting in their bath of olive oil and herbs.
The honey mushrooms are probably done for the year, but we’ll be going back to Two Pond Farm before too long I should think. If for no other reason than to get another jar of that wonderful marmalade. They also run a cut-it-yourself Christmas tree lot, and I can certainly see that activity coming up in our not-too-distant future!
