'Shrooms anyone?

 When we looked for homes here, and read the information on this home, it noted that it was near a "soon to be removed mushroom farm".  The "soon to be removed" was a plus as apparently the odor was not very pleasant.  Since fall is officially here and the weather is cooler and more humid, our yard has become a forest of these toadstools.  That is what I remember calling them when I was a child.  My family did not have access to mushrooms I guess as I don't recall ever having a mushroom until I was in high school and the first Pizza Parlor opened in Greeley.  Anchovy and mushroom were the toppings I remember first and pepperoni came later.  I also remember the first McDonald's there and it was a walk-up only fast food place. Yep....I am ancient I suppose.

 I can't even begin to count the number of these and the middle one above is larger than my outstretched hand. Some are small and button-shaped and some are white and round, but these are abundant in my back yard. They are fascinating actually.  I wonder if some of the spores from the farm blew over and deposited themselves here?  Probably not. (I don't know if they are edible but am not going to test them.)

On Sunday afternoon, the doorbell rang and standing on the step was a young mother with a baby peacefully sleeping in a pack snuggled on her chest.  She carried a carton with a dozen eggs.  We invited her in and she is the gal who lives behind our next door neighbor.  Our street backs up to a greenway of trees and some of the houses are tucked back against each other while others have the green area behind them. From the day we moved in, we could hear chickens behind the fence next door.  It was funny to hear them clucking away on occasion and there were no roosters.  She offered the eggs to us and introduced us to her 2 month little girl, Charlotte, still sleeping.  We had a great visit and I have actually begun a quilt for Charlotte with sunflowers on it.  I offered to pay for the eggs, but she told me she just gives the extras away to neighbors.  We have the best neighbors and they have all been so welcoming.  There is a master gardener who has offered me plants, the neighbor next door loaned us chairs for weeks as we waited for the mover and he brought us a wonderful bottle of wine. The neighbor on the other side gave us a lot of wood and the grand daughter, Lisa has walked the dogs and she and her friend have made cookies and delivered them. 

"Life is too short to stuff a mushroom." ~ Shirley Conran