fungus amongus

Today was a big day in our small town.

(Yesterday was too, more on that another time.)

{I know, I always say that!}

Today was the first day of the much anticipated Salmon/Mushroom Festival, celebrating two local culinary delights that our family is just beginning to appreciate for all they have to offer. We're still waiting for the salmon to start showing their backs as they swim down (or is it 'up'?) the river in our back yard. Our landlord and a few others have seen some decent sized trout from the dock, but we haven't seen anything more than ducks and the "nimmows" that Max really wants to catch and keep as pets. Paul got his fishing license today, and found out that from now until mid-November, only fly fishing is allowed. So even if he did have a proper spinner fishing rod, Max wouldn't be able to use it. And we'll never get to eat a fish he catches here, as it's only catch and release. Ah well, it's all about the thrill of the chase, right?

No big fish, but two pretty ladies were spotted on the dock a few weeks ago.

My {dearest, life-longest} friend Charis and I, who came to the Island to visit now that

she has TWO friends living in this vicinity. Come again girl, your visit was much too short!

More pretty?

Okay ...

Anyway, back to the festival. Local culinary delights, indeed. Paul has been out mushroom picking once so far and has been invited on another excursion! Maybe that evening he spent fixing the brakes on Sharon's quad helped win the favour of his mushroom picking guide? They're hoping to get back to a sweet spot they found last week and bring home an equally sweet paycheque.

Adding to the fun of this weekend is that my cousin Melea is here with her 3 kids! We're having lots of fun, and it's usually very loud in our tiny little house. More on that later. (There I go again!)

We didn't really know what to expect at the festival, with it being the first event we've been to since moving here. As we went past the guys bbq'ing salmon outside, we made the decision not to spend $5 each for a piece of fish. We were confident we have had (and will have again) tastier salmon than what was being served.

Once inside the hall, we saw a handful of tables set up. A few of them had mushroom kits for sale (not quite as fancy as what's found in that link), and other tables of handmade greeting cards, framed spider webs (oh, yes!) and some super cool glass beads - 'made of pyrex', the man said, and he didn't seem concerned with all the little fingers inspecting them. The kids got to play with a miniature town model that was to be used to do a presentation on storm drains. "Only rain down the drain!"

Apparently the real excitement was elsewhere, as the sign with a large arrow indicated "MUSHROOMS DOWNSTAIRS". Indeed, the mushrooms were downstairs. Several large tables with trays of carefully placed fungi, each with a sign stating the name of the specimen and its edibility. (I thought I made that word up but my spellchecker doesn't seem doubt me.) Red signs were posted with the poisonous varieties. That's when we made sure the kids weren't touching them then licking their fingers!

I wished with all my heart my Dad could have been there to see the display. He loves taking pictures of fungi. He might even enjoy harvesting them to help pay his way over here on the ferry, but he certainly would have no interest in eating any! Then as I rounded the corner and saw this beauty, along with the sign beside it, I knew I had seen all I needed to see ...

This one's for you, Papa!

After the festival we came home for a quick lunch then Melea and I took most of the kids (Max went with Paul to the shop at Camp) for a walk to the park, across the pedestrian bridge, through town to the grocery store where she bought us a big juicy salmon filet and a few other essentials for feeding 3 adults and 6 children ... then back home. Dinner took a long time to prepare but it was oh, so tasty. It got pretty late, so Jax was the first to exit the stage and he curled up into the little bed we set up for him in our room. Marty was not far behind him and Naomi's attitude deteriorated rapidly as her mother tried to eat dinner. The biggest boys finally went to bed shortly after 9 and were heard chatting for at least another 30 minutes.

It's been a good day.