Foraging

Our morning at the Summer House was very foggy and damp. Since mowing was on the agenda for the day, we had some time to kill before the grass was dry enough. So off to the forest we went to hunt for yellow chanterelles. Elisabet grew up coming to this area with her family and so she knows the exact spots where the chanterelles grow in profusion. However, it has been exceedingly dry this year, AND this is late in the chanterelle season, so she wasn't very hopeful about finding any. On top of that, we saw fairly fresh wild boar diggings, and the wild boars love to eat chanterelles. Her lack of optimism was accurate. We found NO chanterelles. A bit disappointing, but it still felt like a great adventure.

It also was a bad year for berries in the forest, (because of the late cold snap), but Alice found just a few bilberries, which she eagerly picks herself.

I found lots and lots of lichen (see extra photo) - it's everywhere! Growing on trees and rocks. So typical in Sweden - I've never seen it that abundant in the U.K. Do we have areas like that?

In other news - the sun came out, mowing was completed (I even did some!) and it was such a beautiful day we decided not to go back to the city until tomorrow. Chillaxing took place on the beautifully cut lawn, followed by another al fresco dinner. And ice cream. Of course! For both humans and canine!

See Alice's blip here.