so it's poison mushroom season again. false morels are popping up and i keep hearing them calling. i only go on warm days, because when boiling the toxin out of them i need to be able to air out the house properly. with a little furry critter on the premises i am extra vigilant with that. this was only my second forage, but now my freezer is stocked with a year's worth of gyromitra esculenta, so i don't think i will go looking for more. i would love to find actual morels, though, but they are elusive here.
false morels aren't always that easy to find, either. but sometimes hey are hard to miss. here are some examples of both cases:
i have been making only short trips to the nearby woods lately, and while i love them dearly and there is always something new to find, i'm planning on a longer hike to explore some new territory beyond my usual haunts. overnight camping is not an option because i can't take the rat along, nor leave him alone, but he sleeps most of the day so an afternoon's adventure is soon to happen.
today i tried to take basu out on the lawn, to take a nice photo to send the vet a thank-you card. it was sunny and warm, but somewhat windy, and basu got a bit unnerved i think. he sniffed at the dandelions from my lap a little, but then crawled back inside my shirt where he thoroughly bathed himself before falling fast asleep. all the while i was crouched in an awkward position, getting chilly sitting on the damp grass. so i just took him back in, no use trying to force it. i'll send that silly yoghurt-nosed shot i posted earlier instead, and basu can only blame himself...
back indoors, basu decided he wasn't sleepy after all. he ate his leftover breakfast porridge and had another long grooming session. i took tons of photos of him in action and some of them are just too funny. here, i think he is sneezing while scratching his nose. i'll just leave you with that, i have no words...
