Summer has slipped away

Joshua and I made a trip to Ellijay, GA the last week of May to pick up granddaughter Ariel.  She spent the summer with us.

We didn't plan any exciting adventures for this year's visit.  Instead, I focused on teaching her some of the artistic skills I've learned over the years.

I bought several paper crafting and mixed media books at Barnes & Nobel's and Hobby Lobby.  These included:

Coloring Flower Mandalas

Coloring Your Prayers

Coloring Mandalas 2
 
She also got watercolor pencils, felt tip markers, origami paper, and some pastels.

We did our daily walks in the woods with the dogs.

This big oak came down over our lane after one thunderstorm.

We picked mushrooms...

 Chantarelle mushrooms in the woods.

After cleaning.













We did some sun dyeing on silk with our friends Gena Stout and Erika Schindler and Karna McFadden.

Sun dyeing is always so much fun!

I hatched out some chicks (in the incubator) just before we left for Georgia.  And while we were gone, our banty hens hatched out 10 chicks!

 Rhode Island Red chicks and 1 tiny batam chick behind.  We also hatched out 2 Black Copper Maran chicks.

 Bantam chicks are always so cute!

And a mama bird made her nest in the glove compartment of our golf cart.

Ariel and I went to The Pig n' Whistle in Hardy, along with Gena Stout and Erika Schindler, for a tea party.  That was fun.  Julie and Perry Morgan came in while we were there.  It was great to see them.

Sweets to go with our tea.

Erika and Gena

Tadpoles (pollywogs) in our "pond".

The addition that was built last fall is complete now, the cedar siding was put on by our friend Chris Graves in July.

Custom cedar siding on the bedroom/mudroom addition.

Our house, with the addition now complete.  I think it looks great!

Ariel sewed some aprons, and she did a great job on them.


Tammy and Rickie came to pick Ariel up the last Monday in July.  They stayed until Friday morning.  That was a teary day, here at the Teem household.  I really enjoy the summer visits.

I did manage to finish a few projects.  The tunic and sandals were for Tammy.  The alpaca shawl is for sale ($50).

Tammy's cotton tunic.

Cotton crocheted onto flip flops.  Tammy loved them!

Baby alpaca shawl in a nice, summery green.

Mushroom gathering

My granddaughter, Ariel, and I have been learning to identify and harvest mushrooms.  I invested in 3 books:

National Audubon Society American Mushrooms
Good Mushroom Bad Mushroom
Mushrooming without Fear

We also got a great Pocket Naturalist guide, Familiar American Mushrooms folding guide

After taking the field guide into the woods with us, we've discovered we have at least 6 different types of edible mushrooms on our property.  They are:

King Bolete (also spelled Blewit)
Chanterelle
Smooth Chanterelle
Cauliflower (also called Coral)
Giant Puffball
Old Man of the Woods

Wow!  I guess I'll be doing some mushroom eating!  We've  been dining on Chanterelles all week.  We picked another 1 1/4 pounds yesterday!  Happy, Happy!

Here's an update to my posting, one day's mushroom gathering on July 25th.

Chanterelle and smooth coral mushrooms.

We tried the coral mushrooms for the first time.  The Audubon guide stated they were very delicate tasting, and were good with fruit.  We tried them sauteed in butter, and they were bitter.  I don't know if they were past prime... or were cooked too long.

I finished knitting a tunic for my stepdaughter, Tammy.  I think it came out pretty well.