I just went out to the home workshop to get a box to put some things in, but some silly sod (me) has put a load of spoons and ladles in there. Grab other box; the same.
Oh well. I picked this chest of drawers up for the daughter's bedroom recently. I replaced the plinth, because someone had used a few bits of old pallet in a previous restoration. A polish with some Fiddes and good to go. Minimum intervention is the best option sometimes. The top drawer is a writing desk for her studies. Definitely Early Oak, but she likes it.
I was going to make another bowl out of the other half of that Elm log, but nature beat me to it. This is Velvet Shank mushroom. It makes good eating. As well as being tasty, it also is notable as a winter growing mushroom. Never eat a mushroom unless you are 100% sure about what it is. There are two other mushrooms similar to this which are poisonous. To differentiate you can take a spore print; Enokitake has white spores, the other two don't.
Here they are, growing on another piece of Elm in the hedgebank bottom, a bit more developed. I don't mind if this log goes back to wildlife, and the added bonus of a tasty meal.
On my way back from the workshop, I grabbed some firewood and this piece of beech, which was near the edge and got wet, has Turkey Tail mushroom growing on it. Back in the hedge, into a pile of logs and cultivate this one also. Turkey Tail is known as Kawaratake (roof tile fungus) in Japan and Yun Zhi in China, where it is used in traditional medicine. It is apparently good for balancing immune systems, so you never know, it might help me with my joints!
The first shoot of this year's sweet chestnut planting, showed itself. Giving back what we take.
