Muted Mycena

Another dreary grey day here in the east of England, and about ten degrees colder than yesterday. After an exciting start, which involved two ticket machines not working, and Alex catching the train by the skin of his teeth, the day was quiet but productive. I didn't even attempt to go out, but spent much of the day alternating between report writing (another one nearly done!) and washing down the living room walls in preparation for painting later this week. It's an exciting life at times!

This afternoon Ben and I mixed up all the ingredients for the Christmas pudding. We make a good team, and cooking is one of the few interests we have in common, so I try to encourage him to help me as much as possible. I have to admit he's much keener on helping with puddings, cakes and hand-made chocolates than main meals! After the cooking we had a good biology session, doing gas exchange in a very hands on manner - lots of deep breathing exercises!

What little light there was had almost gone before I went out in the garden to hunt a blip. My eye caught this little mushroom, lying in a mossy area. I've tentatively identified it as Mycena filopes, a diminutive species whose cap is about 1cm across. Its actually a soft grey-brown colour, but I thought I'd go for black and white as it seemed to suit the day better. Surprisingly one of the defining characteristics is the smell which resembles iodoform - not that I really know what that smells like, but it certainly has a whiff of chemistry labs or new plastic!