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I needed Ulrika, Queen of the Mushrooms, with me this morning. On my way to the ICA, in an expanse of green, down along the Trossen, a small copse of long, white fungi had suddenly appeared. Obviously, I had no idea what it was, but I took a photo and managed a bit of unsuccessful research. (I used to have a book on fungus back in the UK but, like the vast majority of my library, it went to a second hand shop.)
I really should have got closer and taken a better photograph. But, there you go. And so, I’m calling it a Long White Dude.
Anyway, the weather today was much improved for the majority of it. By the afternoon, a lot of scary looking clouds had floated in, covering the sun but the morning was lovely. And crispy cold to boot. It was a pleasure walking to the ICA.
There wasn’t a lot to buy today given I don’t always have dinner when Mirinda is away. It’s basically a return to OMAD (One Meal a Day) though there is a bit of grazing, particularly during Reading Hour.
Speaking of Reading Hour, today I finished the John Man biography of Kublai Khan. What a splendid book; easy to read, exciting and well researched. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I could have done without the Coleridge poem at the end.
I might be labelled as an unsophisticated and uneducated heathen but poetry leaves me a bit cold, I’m afraid. Particularly the romantic poets. I’m definitely a prose man. Except for nonsense poetry, of course. Nonsense, I love. I’m sure my wife would agree that nonsense is definitely my favoured genre. Of anything, really.
In other news, the wonderful and talented Prunella Scales died yesterday. She was 93 and a national treasure. In her later years, she suffered from dementia. Her devoted husband, Timothy West, died in November 2024. They were the ideal theatre couple. They also made some brilliant TV, floating up and down canals in the UK and Europe.
And, finally, just to lighten the mood a bit, here is a clump of mushrooms I spotted at the edge of the woods.
And, of course, I don’t know this one either. So, I’m calling it a Flathead Mushroom.
