New England's Narrow Road

Finding Fall Mushrooms

I bought a great mushroom book. It’s written by David L. Spahr and has awesome photos, descriptions and information concerning “Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada”.

Even though his photos are great and his explanations of what to look for almost convince me I could find these for my dinner, he warns that many mushrooms have look-a-likes that can be poisonous and I think I have found some of those poisonous ones in my yard.

But all I want to do is identify the ones I see around here, so the book is very helpful. I only buy mushrooms from the grocery store and they have recently begun to offer some new varieties like the Shiitake, Crimini and Black Trumpet which I am planning to try.

mushroom on a tree — Some sort of mushroom

I don’t know what the one in the picture above is. It looks a bit like a deformed “Chicken of the Woods” but I don’t know.

white mushrooms — Little White Mushrooms

I think that the ones pictured here are Coprinus atramentarius. The author talks about the “Shaggy Mane” mushroom and has a photo of others that look similar and I think those are like mine. He says that within a day or 2 they will be “black, inky goop”, so I’ll have to go back out into the woods to see if that’s what happened.

How to Read a Knitting Colorwork Chart

How to read colorwork charts for Fair Isle and mosaic knitting.

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DIY Felted Wool Seating Pad Knitting Pattern

Knitting a simple wool chair pad to use up some heavy weight and worsted wool. This DIY pattern uses Fair Isle, colorwork that is simple and can easily be changed.

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Five Cozy Scarf Knitting Projects For Fall

Five cozy scarf patterns to begin knitting this Fall. Keep for yourself or give to friends and family. The selection has small and long scarves, with many free patterns included.

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Searching For Fall Color

I’ve been watching for the leaves to change and so far I am a bit disappointed. I do see some very vivid colors in places, but not much around here where I live. The past couple of years the trees were so bright and I’d walk down by the lake almost every day to get some new photos.

So far, there isn’t much to see at the lake and when I took a walk this past week I got a shot of one tree that seems to always have good color, but it was only partially turned.

sun through the trees — A walk in the woods

I’ve read that hot, dry summers are not good for producing great Fall color and that is exactly what we had for summer weather this year. So far, I think it might be true. I meant to take my camera and get some shots of one area where I saw some beautiful trees, but I forgot the other day and now the wind and rain has come, so I don’t know what’s left. I guess I’ll just wait and see how the color turns out.
But it is possible to get nice photos of green trees as well.

One Beautiful Day

This past week has been very rainy. With the remnants of tropical storm Nicole dumping over 5 inches of rain here yesterday and a few inches the day before, the gorgeous day we had Wednesday was just a good memory.

It was so beautiful that I took the cats for a walk. My landlady recently had someone come out and cut some trees for her to use as firewood so they made a path through the back of the yard in the woods. It’s a nice place to go for a quick walk and my two cats love to follow along.

They run and climb the trees chasing each other and then just flop down on the rocks watching me. I am not as graceful and they probably wonder why I am so slow, but I stopped to get some photos of some mushrooms I found. I had wanted some foliage photos, but it’s just not a great year for that. Or maybe it’s too early, but I don’t think so.

When we get to the end of the man-made trail, I cut into the trees where it’s easier to walk, except for all the branches that have fallen, and that’s where Fontana decided to rest on a mossy rock.

black cat on green moss — Beautiful Fontana

She looked so regal with her long dark fur on the bright green moss. I am a terrible animal photographer and I thought for sure she’d hop down before I got a decent shot of her, but I am very happy with this one. I even caught Richie in the background resting on his own rock.
It’s hard to believe that we adopted them 9 months ago. Instead of spending their days in little cages, they now have the whole big woods to roam. I think they are happy. And it was a beautiful day.

More Antrim Home & Harvest Fun

I am finally adding some more photos of the Antrim, NH Home and Harvest Days celebration.
Our Main Street Pizza parlor, “Rick and Diane’s” Brick Oven Pizza, always has a float – that’s Rick (on the right) and someone else twirling the dough as the float goes by. Rick also goes to the elementary school and lets the kids practice making pizza. At least he did when my son was there. I used to live in the house where he grew up, and his father built.

Antrim parade float — Rick & Diane's Pizza Float

Each year skateboarders come from all over – I’m not sure where they were from this year – come and compete in downhill timed events on Summer Street. It’s fun to watch and although the hill doesn’t seem too big, they really go quite fast and with all the weaving in and out of the cones, they are out of breath at the bottom.