This has become our favorite little late afternoon drink on the weekends.

The “Autumn Evening”

1 oz. lemon vodka
1 oz. apricot nectar
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 to 1/2 oz. vanilla extract, according to taste

Mix in a shaker. Pour over ice. Sprinkle with some cinnamon.

I know it might sound a bit odd, but oh my goodness, it’s GOOD!

My last post covered a delicious edible mushroom. The following mushrooms have also sprouted (or the proper term is actually fruited) over the past two weeks with all our rainy weather.

I don’t know what these are but I call them my ghost mushrooms because they are transparent. They grow in the mulch in the planting bed right under the front windows. They only last a few hours.

This type of mushroom grows in our compost pile of leaves and grass castoffs. I love how it’s veil is still partially attached.

There are a variety of mushrooms that fall into the polypore category rather than a true mushroom. I love them because they come in all colors. They fruit on dead wood and pop out literally overnight sometimes.

This one is called Turkey Tails.

Sometimes most of the tree can be consumed by hungry fungi, like this one.

I’m always keeping my eye out for interesting mushrooms every time I venture out into our yard and woods or on a walk. You never know what you might find!

There once was a little mushroom called Hen-of-the-Woods. It lived on an old dead oak tree in the woods behind Rick and Lynne’s house. It went unnoticed for quite some time until one day last week.

Rick found it and showed Lynne. She could not believe her eyes. A highly prized edible mushroom growing in their woods? They decided to leave it alone having no plans in the near future for a mushroom meal.

So the Little Hen was safe and breathed a sigh of relief. Safe for now, anyway.

A couple of days ago Lynne went to check on the Little Hen, only to find that Little Hen had practically doubled in size. (And added on a few little admirers I might add that are not edible!) She had turned into Big Hen.

Lynne told Rick and yesterday he decided to harvest Big Hen. Here she is cut loose from her tree home.

Glorious, is she not?

Bella was not as sure as we were that it would be delicious!

Big Hen at rest in her new home.

Big Hen after a slimming makeover.

In the pan and smelling amazing!

And finally on the plate and into the mouth. Yum. Woody. Earthy. Absolutely delish! And very rich, like eating a beef steak!

Big Hen was joined by Chicken-in-a Pot, Mashed Potatoes (using our new antique potato ricer we found in an antique store yesterday), and glazed carrots. (If you want to see the Chicken-in-a-Pot recipe broken down follow this link to Rick’s blog. Totally worth checking it out if you enjoy cooking.)

And, yes, I lived to tell this tale today!

PLEASE NOTE:
(We do no eat any mushrooms that are difficult to identify or that we are unsure of. Hen-of-the-Woods have three different varieties that are all edible: there is no mistaking one for something else.)

Well, maybe for giants!

I found these “croquet hoops/wickets” at another haunt of mine, Ringwood Manor which is just down the road from Skylands. It’s an odd place and I use the word “haunt” pretty literally. In my opinion, it is haunted. The house itself is anyway. We went on a tour of it years ago when we first moved here and I did not get good vibes from it at all. A very unhappy place.

Anyway, I stay outside on the grounds now!

The owner used to own the iron forge at Long Pond** where I’ve taken photos in the past so there are lots of iron “things” scattered around outside and the giant wickets are just one of those things. I don’t know their purpose. Maybe they tied horses up to them??

Maybe I’ll go back soon and take photos of the outside of the manor itself so you can see it.

{**Long Pond Ironworks has two forges: one from the Revolutionary War of which there is not much left of and one from the Civil War. Here they churned out gun barrels for the war among other things.}

I took the dogs for a walk in-between rainstorms yesterday. As I walked down our street I saw different things I wanted to take photos of, so after depositing the dogs back in the house I grabbed the camera and started off on my own meandering way.

As I leave the house the tiny acorns that the big oak in front has deposited on the driveway go crunch crunch crunch under my shoes. Wet leaves lay in a thick carpet and I kick them as I walk. I think to myself that as soon as the ground dries out some I should run Johnny and start picking them up.

It’s been pretty gray, rainy and dreary this week so I needed to find some color!

The wild concord grape vine is so pretty as it changes.

I love the freckles!

As always, the creeper vines give a brilliant showing.

I came across a tree literally covered with mushrooms but that is for my mushroom post. These two bright leaves were beneath it.

I continued down our street and couldn’t resist a neighbors’ pumpkin by the side of the road.

I came to the main road, crossed over, and walked down to Green Turtle Pond. It’s just now starting to change.

Like I said, it was a very gray day with little or no contrast.

I know you aren’t supposed to split the photo right in the middle, but sometimes you have to bend the rules. I just liked the rock formation and its reflection. Plus, the one orange tree still draws your eye (right?) and at least it is off-center.

Here the trees look like a big fuzzy multicolored caterpillar.

Soon we’ll get the canoe out and paddle around when the trees reach their peak.

I walked home in the 71 degree/95% humidity, came in the house and turned on the air conditioning! In October! The dogs were all lying around panting, splayed out like black carpets on the tile floor. I have to say I was ready to join them.

One hour later a thunderstorm rolled through and we got over a quarter of an inch of rain.

This weekend is supposed to turn cold and they say we will struggle to reach 60 degrees next week. Bring it on! Oh, and Mother Nature, could you please turn off the water works and up the color volume? Thank You!

ONE LAST THING ...
This morning’s sky! (Taken at 8:30 a.m.)