[Gothic Mansion] Of Birdhouses and Mycological Specimens ...

thegeby.blogspot.com - Today's post is for Linnea-Maria of Linnea på landet who requested pictures of the spouse's birdhouse creations, and Tilda of Tea with the Squirrels who requested pictures of mushrooms.

The spouse originally started making his birdhouses with the intent of having one on every single fencepost surrounding the Gothic Mansion. His first houses were rustic in style, made from hollowed out stumps and scraps of wood, of which there was plenty to choose from - leftovers over from past projects, neatly **cough** stacked in the garage. The Scrap Wood Collection was so vast, back in January when we started downsizing, the spouse spent a solid three months burning stuff to avoid having to pack and move it. Although we did save the really good pieces and they are coming with us.

If a person didn't know better, they'd swear the insomniac and her spouse grew up in the Great Depression - that's how loathe they are to throw anything away that might prove useful at some point.

Rustic Birdhouse I

Rustic Birdhouse II

Rustic Birdhouse III

Once he grew bored of making rustic houses, the spouse started adding small bits such as cabinet knobs, taken from his Collection of Useful Stuff he stores in the garage. The insomniac seldom sets foot in the garage - she doesn't even have a key. If she requires something, she simply remarks, “Need a hammer.” or “Need a screwdriver.” and waits for it to magically appear in her hand. She worries if she were to attempt to look for an item in there herself, there's a very good chance she'd become disoriented and lose her way - never to be seen again. The spouse, on the other hand, knows exactly where everything is and also how to find his way out.

A drawer on the bottom for cleaning out old nests ...

Because there's a waiting list in the spring for the birdhouses, they will remain behind. Only two of the spouse's more recent and much larger creations have been relocated to the Spooky Forest. The Squirrel Jungle Gym/Birdhouse is a compilation of old door knobs and plates, cast iron statuary, pine cones, empty wicker suet holders, and pretty much anything else the spouse deemed Collection-worthy.

Front

Back

It was dismantled for the move and is now displayed separately. The Jungle Gym portion is awaiting repair to the verandas damaged by over-exuberant squirrel acrobatics before finding its permanent home.



This is the insomniac's most favorite piece to date, having a sort of Bavarian Steampunk vibe. Pieces of old lamps, what appears to be a foot pedal from an old piano (the candelabra off that piano will probably turn up on something eventually) - many items from the Collection have found their way onto this birdhouse; although the chipmunks seem to have already laid claim to it.


And while the spouse has been finding just the right spot for his creations (with only a few helpful suggestions from the insomniac), she herself has been attempting to gain some expertise on the local mushroom population in the Spooky Forest, using as her guide “Mushrooms of the Boreal Forest” by Eugene F. Bossenmaier. To summarize what she's learned thus far in this single, but extremely important, sentence:

“There are mushrooms in the boreal forest that, if eaten, can cause sickness and others that can cause death. Some safe mushrooms have deadly look-alikes; an error in identification can be fatal.”

The spouse has already indicated he will not be relying on the insomniac's sound judgement as to whether a mushroom is edible or not. Who can blame him, really.

Following is a small **coughs again** sampling of mushroom photos - there were literally hundreds to weed through. One has tried to showcase only the more unusual, eliminating any resembling those commonly available at the grocery store - even if it was the size of a dinner plate and looked to be the perfect spot for a hookah-smoking caterpillar.

Eat me. I look Toxic.

So do I.

Me too.

We originally thought the squirrel joined us every day at 3:00 p.m. for Happy Hour because he enjoyed our company so much - it now seems more likely he simply passed out from too many 'shrooms ...

2:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

You've heard the expression, “Can't see the forest for the trees.”? In the insomniac's case, she couldn't see the maggoty insect for the mushrooms, until she started sorting through the photos for this post. Probably a good thing, too.









Hopefully you've enjoyed today's rather hastily thrown-together post. Although the insomniac felt she'd done an admirable job of downsizing, after receiving the storage estimate last week for the remaining items in the Gothic Mansion, has now decided a lot more work in that department is definitely needed - by the end of next week. Although she prefers to blame the spouse for the astronomically high quote. It doesn't seem as though any of his Collections in the garage have been reduced in the slightest; hence the delivery of a twenty-foot sea can to the Spooky Forest on Thursday.

In his defense, it is a large forest and there's always a need for more birdhouses ... and realistically, there's no such thing as too much scrap wood. You just never know when it may come in handy.

Until next time, the insomniac wishes you nights of blissful sleep filled with pleasant dreams. Goodnight, my pretties.

IA

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