In The Forest

Had a weekend picking mushrooms in the forest. When I told people at the time many were somewhat curious and asked me where. At the time I had no idea because other people were organizing the trip and I was like whatever because I wasn't driving. Who knows where you pick mushrooms? Was invited by a person from BWMC because I had previously shown interested during a random conversation. Always interested in trying new things.

I didn't plan too well that morning on the Friday. Firstly didn't realise the bag I wanted to use had been accidentally donated ... Mum's boyfriend was cleaning up outside my room and thought it was my brother's bag so donated it to the Salvos. Wasn't too happy about it because it was pretty much new, used once. Took me awhile to buy because I don't often shop out and had spent a few hours to find it. Mum gave me another bag but it was smaller but least she tried to patch things up. Secondly I packed a lot of stuff. Don't usually pack for winter stuff but the new doctor bugged me about not looking after myself so I thought I'd try. Also packed a bunch of stuff just to be prepared as usual. And also stuff that were required for mushroom picking. The wicker basket and boots were from the opt shop I got last minute the previous day. However the pocket utensil is mine ... always ready to eat. Third I got my blood tested. Well didn't really think about it until after that I couldn't lift anything with that arm for the day. Not a problem if my other arm was working properly. Elbows still giving me trouble. So wasn't much help carrying food and stuff for the trip. Fun start to the trip.

We stayed in a nice house there in Daylesford. I didn't realize I had been before for coffee during a camp we had. I'd rather had played dodgeball but the Koinonia group were having bonding time over coffee ... don't even drink coffee. Pretty sure I still remember the place that took me away from playing games ... 

Shiny

Had 17 people on this trip but we comfortably fit in the place. We let the girls have the "attic" room as it had 4 single beds and we moved a double in because there were 6 girls so didn't want to split them up. Found myself a room across from the bathroom, useful. Most were double beds so shared with someone. I did bring my CPAP machine but only realised later that the filter needed replacing ... hopefully it wasn't too loud for the other guy. People piled in from just after lunch to after dinner. The place was beautiful and had a large piece of land. However the grassy area was all covered in poop, most likely kangaroo grazing. I spent some time walking the land the the dog (someone brought it down for their engagement photo shoot) and climbed some trees. Would of climbed higher if it wasn't for my elbow. The lounge room was small but cozy. Had birthday drinks for the youngest fellow in the group. Just out of High school and wants to drink it up. Got my nails polished ... no not because we had been drinking, they brought some polish to try for wedding planning. Spent the nights hanging out there in the lounge or in the pool room. Yes there was a pool table, not a swimming pool, but still fun. Hadn't played in sooooo long and had some really good games. Fun. 

Deforested Section

All these are poisonous or unknown so take only photos

 So onto what we had planned the trip for, mushroom picking. This was proper in the forest picking, not some farm. We had to listen to instructions proper so not to pick poisonous mushrooms and just some mushroom etiquette. The first pick was in the afternoon on the Friday so not everyone was there. The first forest we went to was the one they went last year however ... it had been deforested. The guy who organized the trip was so devastated ... poor guy. There were other places we could go to but apparently that was the best place. So we went elsewhere. I was typing some stuff but realized at the rate this post would be really long. So to the point I found the first edible mushroom. Had to ask a lot about the mushrooms I had found but the previous were all poisonous. So I was pretty happy I was able to do that. I got to cut down the first mushroom of the trip ... and was it addictive. Pushing that blade into that flesh ... you need to give it a try. Was asked if I had been mushroom picking before because of my mushroom finding but in general I'm just someone who can find things. Which is sort of weird because the previous day I lost 4 things ... anyways. From that point of the trip we found lots of these mushrooms. These were Slippery Jacks. Actually they are false Slippery Jacks, however apparently all the mushrooms in this family of mushrooms were edible. Well were ate them and we're still here. They have this really slimy top which glistens. Apparently has a laxative effect. That's why we shave them. I ended up calling them Slimy Jacks. The second species was called Pine Milk Saffron I think. It was so hard to find. Apparently they had been quite abundant the previous year. Might have been the rain or too early in the season for the reason we hadn't found much. I didn't find any until the very last mushroom and it was because I had given up hope and jumped onto the road ... onto the mushroom. It was small and was hiding in the gravel. But least I found one. Hopefully find more and bigger ones next year.

It was fun and quite the adventure. Sort of ended up by myself without my phone in the forest ... exploring too far. However not far enough that when calling out a group found me. Another group actually got separated enough that they had to drive around the edges of the forest to find them. The forests were all separated by roads on all sides so was not entirely possible to get lost. Just a long walk around to find the cars. Maybe drive the next time I'm on this trip. Give it a try if you like trying stuff. Just make sure you know your stuff or find someone who does.

Got bored so picked quartz