Pretties on the way to the (unsuccessful) morel hunt

 Does this look and feel like Memorial Day weekend to you? No, no it does not.
Mighty chilly for a morel hunt, but let's go give it a go...

There are little streams coming off the mountains... too mucky to power through in the truck, so we hiked.
Nothing will deter us from our morels!!

 The forest floor is covered with so many pretty things. When one is bent over like an old person keeping an eye out for the morels it is easy to get distracted by all the sweet green details.

Supposedly, the fact that the violets and wild strawberries are blooming means the morels should be sprouting... no one bothered to tell the morels. 

An hour later, here is our bounty... 

 Even Chief looks unimpressed.

A little reading upon returning to warmth and a fire:

Some great tips on when (seasonally) to look for morels.

An amazing news story of giant morels. (Must click through for the pictures, really.)

More hunting tips.

We came to the conclusion that we're a little early this year (we've had good success at the end of May in the past...). Temperatures this year in the area, at this altitude (around the treeline in Joseph, Oregon), haven't been warm enough, consistently enough, to sprout the fungi sufficiently. So, we'll be back.

Between now and then, I'll be working with Chief on his hunting skills... he was a bit scattered, a little distracted by the nearby cattle, excited about streams and deer scat... lots of room for improvement from him, for sure!

A hunting we done went

A couple of weekends ago we went over Joseph way to enjoy a bit of time in the woods. It was lovely, and though a few weeks behind Walla Walla in terms of trees leafing and buds blooming, we were able to unearth a few morels along the tree line. Very cool. I must say husband has the best eye. Seth didn't do too badly himself. Me, apparently I'm not so much of a hunter--this is definitely a case of Him bringing home the bacon and Me frying it up in the pan. I wandered, I looked, I tried different angles, different places--under trees? in woodsy clearings? You name it, I tried it. I found very very few... But we won't dwell on it. It's not a competition, right? Hmmmm...

Seth the hunter!

Ruby ready to chase deer ghosts through the woods!

Once we got home, I did a little research on morel storage, recipes, and even some tips on how to find them more/better. Nope, not a competition.

Next up: What we did with them thar shrooms. Nummers.

Friday night grateful moment

Life is good! Another mellow day in the country... home tomorrow by dark or so. Even though we just had that special day yesterday chock-a-block with thankfulness and football and naps, I should be able to dredge up a few extra things I'm thankful for...

*Thankful for the wide open spaces. The dogs have had such a wonderful time running to and fro. There has been a great deal of gopher digging and mouse chomping and let's-get-as-muddy-as-possible (mostly Ruby). They run as far up toward the tree line as they can before we call them back. But even Ruby hasn't gotten lost-lost... I did have to holler quite mightily to call her back from chasing a deer into the next county this afternoon, though.

*Thankful for a boy who is willing to help out, and can kick in with a good attitude too if you ask just so (and he knows future computer time is hanging in the balance! Ah, motivation...).

*Thankful for yummy leftovers. I have had so many of those perfect bites--that amazing combination of turkey-stuffing-gravy-mashed potatoes-cranberry sauce-yams. I know it is startling to think that all those dishes could get on one fork and into my dainty mouth, but it happens. And it's heaven. (I almost took a picture of my plate yesterday as I was about to tuck into it, but then I thought, "Good grief, I don't want people to know how much I eat! It's a shocking amount!" and thought better of it. So you'll just have to trust me that it was divine.)

* Thankful for blue sky patches among the clouds, and temperatures that have been rather moderate. I guess I'm a wee bit sad that we haven't had snow, but the warmth has been welcome.

* Thankful for a couple more days of home-time.

* Thankful we can put the tree up on Sunday so it's ready to to be reclined around when the Goerlitz Jrs. come to town next weekend.

* Thankful I didn't go out Black Friday shopping... I mean, I went out, but to little shops in little Joseph... no wild crowd mongering for me. And extra thankful I'm not a Wal-Mart employee in Long Island, NY. (Aside: I don't usually watch a lot of commericals, as any TV I watch has been dvr'd (meaning zip-zip through ads, oh joy), and wow, did we get our fill of ads yesterday. Who exactly is out at 4 a.m. the morning after Thanksgiving? I can't remember which store was advertising this crack-o-dawn opening time, but I was particularly mystified by what exactly it is one needs that can only be gotten at 4 a.m.... I'm assuming it's something quite special that would be gone by, say, a normal 10 a.m. shopping spree?)

* On my outing, I was thankful to discover a very fun bath/body shop in town, with a day spa. Yipee. A girl needs her indulgences. I will remember that for future trips...

* And just so thankful for all the fun pieces that make up life--work, home, relax time, friends, family, food. Seth got a fun little lecture this morning about work, productivity/work ethic and what a big percentage of his life these endeavors will take up in the future. I feel lucky to have enjoyed almost all the work I've done in my adult life, and grateful to have had some of those suck-it-up jobs in my younger years to be able to know the difference.

* Thankful that this is my 4th Thanksgiving in Joseph--we somehow didn't quite make it over the year we got married ('05)! It's a wonderful place to retreat and come back refreshed to the world, ready for the holiday whirlwind. Whoosh--that was the sound of December going by!

Happy weekend, all. There were more pix I wanted to share, but this connection isn't about the uploading right now, so more later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't done a lot of research into recipes for moose steak... is that a done thing? Canadians, weigh in here... I just couldn't resist the sentiment in this sign.

We left the dense fog of Walla Walla this morning and rose out of the mist by the top of Tollgate, and enjoyed sunshine all the way over to the Wallowas. In quiet and peaceful Joseph, Oregon, it is cool (well, cold, really!) but clear. As I write this the night before Thanksgiving, it is 25 degrees F and going down. Nice to be in by the fire...

Internet connection is much more sketchy than planned, so we'll see what, if anything, gets posted the next few days... I take it as a sign to unplug for a minute or two, or at least just catch up on every gadgety show known to man on the Discovery channel! I sense a Mythbusters Thanksgiving Day marathon...

Wishing everyone, near and far, a very happy Thanksgiving. We all have so very much to be thankful for, today and every day. Again with the royal "we," but I feel confident that if you're reading this, then you probably are also clothed (I don't want to know about your nekid blog surfing, if that's the case...), fed, warm and dry and have confidence that tomorrow will bring more of the same. Right there, count your blessings. That's a gentle suggestion, not quite the order it sounded like...

Peace and joy, turkey and stuffing too!