Well the weather is very mixed but not really cold yet. All of our fields are full of parasol mushrooms which are delicious fried with garlic. I have dried some to preserve them and now I am picking them as required as they don't store well. The wild saffron crocuses continue to bloom and the leaf colours are wonderful.
Everyone is busily cutting wood for fires (next winter) which leaves me feeling rather inadequate. We don't have many trees on our land and so it is looking as though we will have to buy some again to lay down for next year. Although I am surrounded by woods, they all belong to someone and every farmer knows his wood resources intimately. It has often been said..."A Galician would rather you took his wife than his wood". At some point Tim and I want to grow wood for coppicing but the area needs fencing off first, which we can't currently afford.
Tim is slowly settling into life in Amsterdam but going back to a city after idyllic life in rural Galicia must be very hard. My puppy training is progressing slowly, they are still difficult at times but there are moments of joy as well and Scrumpy is developing a reassuring bark that keeps the bogey men at bay after it gets dark. It is rather wonderful to be so aware of the passing seasons here. I eat vegetables from local markets and therefore I eat seasonally which makes you appreciate everything. I am outdoors so much more than I used to be in the UK and starting to feel part of the landscape. Planning for next years vegetables is very exciting as well. I expect that the fantasy veg patch is much better than the reality but dreaming is what keeps us going when the evenings are dark and cold.
I hope you also have managed to find some Chanterelle mushrooms, we always considered them the best of the lot. The autumn crocuses that abound in Galicia are not the Saffron crocus so should never be used to cook with, the stamens contain colchicine which is poisonous.
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