Saturday, August 28, 2010

Birthday Mushrooms!

It was my birthday last Sunday and in the usual fashion we had a party on Saturday...and guess who forgot to take even one photo? Both me and Diego! Regardless, it was a GREAT party with about 30 people and the weather was perfect to be outside! As usual we cooked too much Mexican food (it was DELICIOUS!) but enjoyed it all week! I also want to say THANK YOU to all that came and for the AMAZING gifts! One of the gifts from Diego was a lovely walk around the neighbourhood (I LOVE walks!) that ended at this tree behind the Oceanography Department.
As you all know that with my new job came an in depth learning of terrestrial ecosystems and a deep fascination with mushrooms. But really aren't they gorgeous?!?!
They were large, soft, rubbery and BRIGHT yellow and orange with beautiful ruffled edges. They are called sulphur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) and young specimens are edible (with caution) but they were too beautiful to even contemplate eating!
I took about 20 photos, then we sat quietly under the tree and enjoyed their beauty and the cool shade of the huge tree in the hot afternoon. This was a perfect moment to top off a wonderful birthday weekend.I continued to look at the mushrooms every day this week, but even on Monday, just one day after we went to see them they had already started to fade. You can even see the top one in the photo below starting to loose its brightness.Now they are a mess of whitish yellow at the base of the tree. It's like they kept their splendor just for my birthday. I hope they remember for next year! :)