Researching Mushrooms
I’d like to grow my own mushrooms. I bought a kit a while back and was disappointed with the yield. Inspired by a book*, I set off to buy some inoculated substrate to make my own mushroom farm.
I was told about a local Saturday morning market where a variety of mushrooms were sold and some seemed to be growing in kits. Found the grower and had a good chat! He sells already inoculated pink oyster and white oyster kits. I bought a tray of pink and white oysters and some king mushrooms.
Research dictated I cook and eat them, one type at a time, but quite quickly as they’re fresh and it is still very hot in Perth. I’ll be back at the market for one of his oyster kits next week. My husband will be back for the German sausage with onions and mustard in a bun.
The long mushroom on the left is the king mushrooms aka Erygii the KIng (genus Pleurotus erygii) The other two are pink (Pleurotus djamor) and white oyster mushrooms.
This delicious plate of king mushrooms on buttered toast was a real surprise. The grower had said they’d taste a little like scallops and they do, cooked in butter and served on toast with a light sprinkling of Himalayan salt and fresh parsley.
Like the pink oyster mushrooms the white ones had a very delicate flavour. I am going to try growing the King Oyster mushrooms which have a distinctive flavour.( I have just discovered the kits are not available until it is cooler, maybe in May)
*MILKWOOD, Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar, Murdoch Books 2018
My Own Repair Shop
I watch a British program, The Repair Shop, on ABCtv every week day afternoon at the moment. Extremely talented crafts men and women repair and restore family treasures. The range of things which are repaired is amazing. Less landfill but mostly, these repaired pieces are of huge sentimental value to their owners.
My repairs are far more modest but I like maintaining the things we have in good shape. I wish I had paid more attention to my Father when he was working out in the shed as he seemed able to repair anything and had a huge stock of bits and pieces to do these jobs. He collected nails, screws, bolts, leather, rubber, glue, even bits of wire in various gauges plus useful bits of timber. The shed was a lovely place to poke around for a creative, crafty little girl.
So, this week I have re-glued the patch in my husband’s panama hat, originally intended to keep hair oil off the top of hats. He doesn’t use hair oil but I didn’t want to lose the patch. I gently peeled off the existing strip of glue, which had failed and squeezed another narrow stripe around the protective piece and held it back in place. Job done!
Collected my bag of glues and gently eased the old, spent glue from the patch.
Glued it and held it until it was secure.
My second job was repairing a hole in the kitchen floor tiles. Something had been dropped and chipped the porcelain. I cleaned the hole then over filled it with all purpose Polyfilla. Protected it with a faux witches hat while it cured! Later I saw Kirsten, the ceramics specialist on The Repair Shop, repairs ceramics with car/auto body compound, a flexible putty which dries to a strong mend. I’ll get some this week to try.
Next I sand papered it flush with the tile then painted it. I painted the repair with a layer of Dulux Antique USA , then I touched it up with some colours I mixed myself from sample pots. Now smooth and matching the surrounds and difficult for anyone else to see.
I know where the repairs is but it is hard to see….good!
The final repair was treating and re-painting a few rusty spots on an outside metal door frame. Firstly, a rust converter then two coats of paint to finish the job. Matching the white paint was the hardest bit as the existing white has discoloured with age. Took a couple of tries to get it right.
Sculpture at Bathers
This is the fourth event since 2013. The intention is to establish the presence of local sculptors and increase their opportunity to been seen and appreciated. There are 95 sculptors represented in this beach side exhibition.
Richie Kuhaupt Man of Steel
I can’t find the name of this very beautiful and textural sculpture which looked like an octopus. Swaying slightly in the sea breeze and the movement of people it was lovely to look at from the distance and close up.
Greg James Bolte and Co. These bronze Indian Runner Ducks are amusing.
A popular exhibition, it was difficult to see most of the pieces due to the number of people there, enjoying the works and the weather. The beach at this time of the year is an ideal setting for exhibitions, especially when the sea breeze comes in.
This is Bathers Beach in Fremantle. A beautiful stretch of beach easily accessed via public transport and private vehicles, there’s a lovely park nearby plus restaurants, coffee shops and bars. A very pleasant environment to visit the sculptures.
Later we meandered around Fremantle, enjoying the old buildings, the wharf and the ocean. A lovely afternoon.
Today is Friday 13th! Are you superstitious? Historically, the number 13 is considered unlucky, probably resulting from 13 people sitting down to the Last Supper. Actually, the Mayans considered it a very lucky number. Friday the 13th only happens once to three times a year. To be fearful of the number 13 is to experience triskaidekaphobia.