“Not Much Room For Mushrooms”

Shortly after dawn this morning the sun, rising in the east, began to light the tips of the garden trees.

These views from the back bedroom windows particularly highlight the sweet smelling cordyline Australis; the blossoming eucalyptus; the yellow bottle brush plant; the Wedding Day rose draped over the Agriframes Arch; and pink pelargoniums.

From the front we look down on two different pink climbing roses and more pelargoniums.

Aaron having broadened the bed bordering the lawn yesterday, Jackie spent the morning placing her mushrooms in their permanent home. First she took some plastic pot saucers and pierced them with holes; the trays were filled with gravel for drainage to protect the fabulous fungi from rot; all three were firmly embedded. The daisy-like erigerons will cover the gravel to provide a natural setting. Gnomes will not be welcome.

When I mentioned to Jackie that I was struggling to think of an apt title, she said: “Not much room for mushrooms”, which I would have been proud of myself.

Later I e-mailed these two pictures to https://www.facebook.com/blackstonechalk/ who had made the carvings from recycled ash.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s toothsome beef and mushroom pie; crisp roast potatoes, some of which were sweet; crunchy carrots and broccoli; and tender green beans, with tasty gravy. The Culinary Queen drank Becks while I quaffed more of the Fleurie.

87 comments

  1. Your post is early today. You must be eager to show off those mushrooms. I would not have thought about the drainage angle–or a possible gnome infestation. ?
    Your views of the garden are lovely.

  2. My timing is excellent if I do say so myself. I’ve been offline for a number of days but making a return to normality again now and really happy to see the mushrooms in place. They are just beautiful!. The maker is talented and knows how to let the wood speak and Jackie has placed them perfectly. Happy, happy!

  3. The mushrooms look lovely in their new spot, Derrick and Jackie. What a beautiful place, especially in that angled morning light!

    Are you still getting unseasonably warm weather?

  4. I was going to comment that your mushrooms are all ready for gnomes or fairy folk. Oops, that would have been a faux pas. πŸ˜‰ Kudos to Jackie on the post title and rot-prevention measures.

  5. Just as I was remembering the necessary spell to turn myself into a gnome for a fragrant siesta near the mushrooms in your garden, you dropped the bombshell. No room for gnomes, sir?

  6. A gnome who intended to roam
    around and on top of these domes
    would find plans unraveled
    by those dishes of gravel,
    now recorded in Derrick’s fine tome!

  7. I think 3 is the perfect number for mushrooms. Maybe some gentle fairies or toads will enjoy them. Great idea for the drainage engineering. I like the garden views from above, too.

  8. The mushrooms are great. I share Jackie’s lack of enthusiasm for gnomes, however small. Two made an unwelcome appearance in my garden and now hide under the lavender bushes – is it my fault the lavender has grown so well?

  9. “Gnomes will not be welcome” may not necessarily be your decision. As Eccles so wonderfully used to say, “Everybody has to be somewhere”.

  10. Hello Derrick
    It’s a nice find that Jackie made with these mushrooms, I find them fantastic.
    But … why not accept that the dwarves come to them? Afraid they’d make houses out of them?
    ps: in your menus, I often see beef pie.
    Would Jackie be kind enough to send me the recipe? (via facebook it’s possible) Thank you very much

    1. Thanks very much from us both, Yoshimi. Jackie doesn’t use recipes but I’ll ask her to send you the method. Tonight’s post may answer the dwarves question πŸ™‚

  11. I enjoyed seeing how very thoughtfully Jackie’s new mushrooms have been ‘planted’. The makers will be delighted to get your pictures!

  12. The mushrooms have found a wonderful home…it’s like they were meant to be there!
    (((HUGS))) πŸ™‚
    PS…I was AWOL, but like The Terminator, ” I’ll be bach!” and now, I’m back. I explained in a blog I just now blogged. πŸ™‚

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