Little things beautiful

Just two weeks ago we had the hottest days in summer, 25 degrees C. And now, it's raining and getting dark, it's windy and cool. This is autumn!

I was prepared to go to the forest and pick mushrooms, loads of CEP mushrooms during the weekend. On Saturday, I equipped myself with a large basket and several plastic bags, a jingle bell to warn the bears - our neighbor said a bear has been seen in that forest -, a scarf to cover my head from elk flies and a water bottle to survive several hours in the forest. I killed at least 27 elk flies during the two hours I spent in the forest. Then it started to rain. 

To my surprise, not a single mushroom of any kind was there. Either it is still too early or August was too dry. So, disappointed, I had to pick some lingonberries instead. There's a lot of them, not quite ripe yet, but if you go to a sunny slope you will get red ones. And I killed some more elk flies when back at the house. They are disgusting little insects and masters in hiding.

My husband JD and his son Hank grilled us elk chorizos that were seasoned with juniper berries, bought in Helsinki at Chef Wotkins shop. With mashed potatoes and autumn vegetables that was an excellent autumn meal.

On Sunday I worked in the garden. I turned the compost and moved the almost done food waste from Biolan compost to leaf compost to continue the process. Next spring there should be strong black humus soil in the leaf compost.

The garden is full of beautiful little things. Roses are still in blossom and quite many perennials. All the herbs are blossoming: thyme, lemon thyme, mint, lemon balm, coriander. Northern highbush blueberry, black and red currants and gooseberry bushes still have some crop left. I removed the bird nets and now the thrushes can fiest with the rest of the berries. Black chokeberry is now ripe but I don't like the taste, so the berries will remain in the bushes.

Garden plums are almost ripe, and there's plenty of them. But what has happened to apple trees? There are no apples. Last year we bought a juicer and made tens of liters of apple juice. This year we cannot make a single liter.

Lession learned during the weekend:

• "Quand on a pas ce que l'on aime, il faut aimer ce que l'on a." Something like if you can't  get what you want, it's better like what you have.