Looking for food...

I decided to help Gail find some dinner last weekend. We are 65 miles from a supermarket when we stay at the Loch Torridon cottage, so my hunting instincts come to the fore. 

First, I tracked down some mussels. (Now that I'm getting on a bit, I do find that hunting is easier when the prey is fixed to a rock). 

The sheep looked delicious, but I'm not allowed to chase them. Something to do with a local farmer being handy with the shotgun apparently. And anyway, they can run away pretty fast, those sheep - longer legs then me, you know....

Now, much as I love bones, even I would have to admit that this skull I found maybe wouldn't make for a filling meal. (By the way, can any budding anatomist out there tell me if it's an ex-sheep or an ex-deer?)

Finally, in the woods, I found some of these yellow fungus-y thingies. Lots and lots of them in fact. Not my cup of tea at all, but Gail was unaccountably excited. 

Back at the cottage, I had a little snooze whilst Gail, drenched in super-strength insect repellent AND wearing a midge net over her head, went out into the garden to pick some more human-only stuff (cherries and blackcurrants).  

Well Gail seemed to think we'd gathered a fine old feast.  

But I checked the goods out quite carefully.

And then decided to opt for a liquid dinner....

A successful fungal foray

Every year around this time, Gail's hunter gatherer instincts take hold, and we go off into the forest in search of mushrooms. I used to find this boring, as it involves lots of standing around watching Gail root about, searching for stuff that I personally don't consider edible. Now with my poorly paw, I'm happy to just snuffle around amongst the trees, enjoying the change of scene. And at least Gail's looking for something you can eat, unlike certain of her colleagues at the university, who have devoted years and years to studying 'mycorrhizal fungi', and can give you the Latin name of each and every one, but can't tell you which make a good omelette! Wasted years indeed.

And today Gail hit the jackpot! Look at the photo above. Based on a tip off from one of her friends, we went out to 'a wood near Monymusk'. Gail has banned me, on pain of no cheese for a week, from releasing further details. But I will say that, should any of her friends out there fancy some chantarelles for supper, then I suggest you get in touch with Gail pronto. If she eats all these she'll turn yellow.