Hi ho, Hi ho......... it's off to woods we go !

The above fungi photos were some of the very first of their kind I took when my interest was piqued in 2006. They show from left to right Amanita citrina (False Deathcap), Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) and both Sparassis crispa (Cauliflower Fungus) and Calocera viscosa (Yellow Stagshorn).

(I have not captioned them individually because I have discovered that by doing so, using this software, it eliminates the facility to click on the thumbnail images and enlarge them. The process of inserting, sizing and positioning  images on blogger is extremely and unspecifically hit and miss and irritating for me. I would appreciate if someone has some tips and guidelines to pass on or a method they have discovered of creating picture albums less chaotic than mine. It would be nigh on impossible, I would think, to change horses in mid stream and find a more suitable package to accomodate my requirements)

Passing another milestone along the bridleway to purgatory today, I realised, when showering this morning, that, along with the awareness that not only had the time on my 'five o'clock (in the morning) shadow' stopped, but also clumps of hair from my head were irritatingly washing into my mouth and slithering, hesitently and mockingly down my body to rest on the anti-skid mat on the floor of my bath; followed swiftly by tears of remorse at the start of the loss of my long admired crowning glory! With only a short time to wallow in self pity I rapidly recouped my composure, grabbed my titfer and readied myself for the day's task of leading a fungi foray for like minded enthusiasts joining me and the The Minley Mushketeers in the woodlands around the environs of Hawley Lake in northeast Hampshire. And what a splendid day it was, culminating in lunch at my local hostelry, The Crown and Cushion, where the chef prepared an extra 'dish of the day' on his menu in the succulent guise of Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle in White Wine Sauce; using the bag full of freshly picked Chanterelles we had gathered during our wanderings. For a fungiphile there is no better occasion and what is more, after a few pints in the company of friends new and old, it truly was a day to remember.

A Cep sunbathing in Penny Lane, Minley Wood, Hampshire

Long may days like these continue and I toast you, raising a glass or two of medicinally approved Guinness (so varying the selection of fluids consumed in contrast to the ever reducing choice of foodstuffs I can manage), and wish you all similar happy memories in association with your own passage along life's footpath through the rustling litter and under a canopy of autumn leaves!

Helvella elastica - White Saddle

Helvella lacunosa - Elfin Saddle

Collybia dryophila - Russet Toughshank

Chlorociboria aeruginascens - Green Elfcup

Pholiota highlandensis - Bonfire Scalycap

Laccaia amethystina - Amethyst Deceiver

I know I have skipped some fairly significant red letter days such as last Wednesday when I completed a marathon sixteen hour session which started before 07.45, the time I dropped Geraldine at Ascot Race Course before continuing on to Windsor for a breakfast coffee with my daughter. Caught up in the chaos of a typical family routine, I volunteered to do the school run with the grandchildren en route back to walk the dog around Englefield Pond. Later I met up with a group of friends at Caesar's Camp for a two hour perambulation over heath, through woods and up hill to the ancient fortress, working up an appetite for lunch at The Forresters in Church Crookham with Anna; fellow dog owner and former worldwide explorer, traveller and, of late, curvaceous bunny boarder. After a two way crossing over the territory of Velmead Common, in order to walk off a healthy repast and see Anna home, it was time to head home for forty winks prior to cooking supper before the arrival of visitors in the shape of pseudo-expats from Spain, Lyn and Graham, who helped us empty the contents of a newly opened Pinot Grigiot winebox.

"On a clear day (you can see forever ......forever more)" by The Peddlers
(or in the above image, all the way from Caesar's Camp Fortress, Hampshire to The Wembley Arch) 

There followed a couple of precious rest days, during which I not only attended my GP's surgery for a visit to the phlebotamist in order to relinquish yet more of my now thinning blood (I think from symtoms of lightheadedness the chemo is doing its worst as far as the platelet count in my bone marrow), but also received a home visit from Kay, the representative and advisor at The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice at Farnham;  a pleasant interlude, though Geraldine still finds the connotations hard to accommodate. In Friday morning's misty sunshine I had a wonderful walk around Warren Heath with Caroline and her nutcase doggie charge, Angus, the Hungarian Vizsla and play mate of  Chaka's. That evening Geraldine and I made our way to a wonderful supper rendezvous with my daughter's former husband Duncan, (still very much a son to me as well as my friend, ally and father of my grandchildren), at what can only be described as the recently rediscovered oasis of a wayside inn at Virginia Water named the Rose and Olive Branch (the only pub of this name in the land apparently).

 
Me..... knackered?  Who are you kidding? But seriously as I look forward (only in the literal sense) with trepidation to next Wednesday's second bout of the intravenous elements of my chemotherapy regime, I am amazed that my constitution is holding up so well save for the anemic dizziness and the totally inexplicable constipation, which defies all logic in view of the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables which are passing through my newly acquired juicer (now working overtime)..........but apparently not quite so readily through me! (Thank you, Caroline for the bottle of 1000mg Vitamin C capsules and the well meaning advice, in connection with relieving my problem, about the efficacy of overdosing. And by the way they are the biggest pills yet in my ever increasing arsenal of pharmaceutical and health supplement stocks). Whilst on this banal subject I must relay to you the best quip from Duncan delivered when I was regaling the assembled company, including my wife, with thoughts of going with my kid brother to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup next year, and couching it in terms of "it might just finish me off, but what a way to go!.......scenery, rugby, beer, parties with grass skirt glad Maori maidens etc etc.,". He quickly dissolved the bacchanalian notion by reminding me that by that time they would probably be more likely attending to mopping my dribble and wiping my bum. (Apologies to you all, and any fellow diners that may have been ear wigging, for the extreme poor taste, but it made us roar with laughter). Well as my saying goes 'If you don't laugh you'd slit your wrists!' 


C'est la vie avec le cancer !


And it just goes to show that life would be a ball if it weren't for Goliath tagging along.

The before picture taken on 10.10.10

P.S. Just noticed that the hair falling out on to a sheet of paper, on which I am making notes in front of me on the table, is not even my colouring, so Goliath can't even get that right. Stupid bastard!