mushrooms
2010
I have always known jewel coloured, fearsome looking mushrooms existed. They grow in clusters amongst the leaf litter, under giant trees, where it is dark and damp, and brownies, fairies and goblins live. You know, in Enid Blyton stories! I had NO idea they actually grew like this in my favourite picnic ground!
They just beg to be admired, photographed, picked … oops no! Definitely not picked. These are terribly poisonous mushrooms – eating them leads to permanent mental disorders, according to the mushroom field guide we bought from a nearby second hand bookshop! Thus a little bit of applique and embroidery will be needed to capture this magic and bring it home :-)
And there will certainly be forest folk under my magic mushrooms.
As for the ones you can eat … they’re a wee bit humble in comparison but mighty tasty … allow me to introduce you to the Saffron Milk Cap.
They are truly delicious, fried up in some butter, with garlic and parsley. Yum! And that funny brownish one with the yellow underside … that’s a slippery jack. Abby and I are quite content to NEVER eat one of these – apparently they are an acquired taste but very unique. We’ll leave that experience to our Julian, the mushroom hunter. Yep, he’s the one stalking through the woods alongside the Daylesford lake with a leather jacket, woollen cap, calico bag, and KNIFE.
As for the folk that CAN be found playing around the mushrooms of Daylesford … why I do declare it’s a Harajuku girl! Goodness me! Abby, I think your wee girlie must be a bit cold frolicking amongst the mushrooms in a BIKINI!
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The mushrooms on the top do remind me of Heather Ross’s popular print… those Saffron milk caps definitely look delicious, would be a perfect rainy day snack! The little girl on a mushroom cap doesn’t seem to be minding the cold so much in this whimsical woodland ;)
I adore looking at mushrooms and all things mushroomy in arts and crafts – but I truly don’t care for them on my plate. Zach on the other hand LOVES to eat them. When he was a tot, he’d use big raw white mushrooms to gum on to sooth teething pain. And he loves to hunt for and eat Morels. I should send him out with Julian :)
I always come home from hikes in the woods with tons of pictures of mushrooms–especially those that grow on the sides of trees. Hate eating them, love looking at them. I counted 14 different types of mushrooms growing in my gardens last summer, although none as colorful as those above. They’re wonderful! If you turn these into a quilting project, I can’t wait to see the results!
Such wonderful mushroom photos! The poisonous ones are gorgeous! For some reason, some TV show or other in the 70s put me off ever eating “found” mushrooms (which ones are poisonous? which ones are not? oh, the tension!). On the other hand, my grandparents were great morel hunters. I was too young to be offered any (i.e., too young to appreciate how dear they were). Have you seen Momiji dolls? They seem to be the preferred birthday gift around here.
I have to tell you I really didn’t think mushrooms like these existed. I’d seen them in fabric and in books but I thought they were a whimsical thing like unicorns or something. Not really existing. But then I saw some photos my in-laws had from being in Sweeden. I was so surprised. There are no mushrooms like this in my neck of the woods. Anyway yours are amazing and fabulous. I would love to see these in real life. Crazy about the poison thing. Mushrooms can be frightening I guess.
I had to smile at the Harajuku girl cavorting around your mushroom village. My 10-1/2 yr old niece has them too and loves playing with them (or another Japanese brand perhaps). She plays with American Girl dolls too, and I’m so happy to see her still enraptured with the girlishness of dollies. It pleases me to see that Abby does too. Girls and boys are forced to grow up too quickly, I think. Kudos, Lily.