Monthly Archives: June 2015

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Emergency Mushroom Hot-Line.

Munchkin.Unbelieving.LookWe were quietly having our morning tea with the sound of continuous rain beating down on our roof and the rabble of the early morning birds, when we were suddenly startled by the sound of the phone going off.  It was 7am…from past experience, we only received early phone calls for medical call-outs.  I picked up the phone and I recognised the voice of a guy that I knew from Punta Gorda.  He was obviously very agitated and addressed me formerly as “doctor.”  In my mind, I was thinking,” Yup…it’s a medical call.”  Then he garbled on about trying frantically to find my phone number on the Internet.  I acknowledged his efforts with some sort of noise indicating encouragement as I anticipated an ailment.

And, then out of the blue he blurted out,” I think I found a Stinkhorn Mushroom!”

I blanked out. Blinked twice.  Brain activity stopped for a millisecond as I processed this statement.

I glanced up at the clock…it was 7.05am.  In my mind I was thinking,” This guy is phoning me at 7 in the morning to tell me that he has spotted a mushroom in town?”

I don’t think that he even realised that I was taken aback by his statement and went into a frenzy with a description about a potrusion and a net-like thing.  He enthusiastically asked,”which part can you eat?” and, “how do I cook it?” and, “Oh, do the Chinese like to eat it…yes I ‘ve heard it’s rather gelatinous…”

I quickly recovered from my surprise and politely corroborated with his description of the Stinkhorn, giving him helpful pointers on the harvesting of the edible mushroom.  Afterwards, I put the phone down calmly and then guffawed silently at Gnome who had heard the whole conversation.

Gnome.FaceGnome shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, “I guess this is the emergency mushroom hot-line.”

Interestingly enough, in the last few days we have had many sightings of the Stinkhorn Mushroom on our farm.  Here are some pictures of this unusual looking fungus.

Stinkhorn Mushroom.
Stinkhorn Mushroom.
Double Stinkhorn Mushroom.
Double Stinkhorn Mushroom.

If you would like to read more about this mushroom, Gnome has written an engaging and humourous essay in the library on The Stinkhorn.

Belize, Energy Saving, Farming, Saving Money

Positive Sod’s Law!

Jumping.Munchkin Gnome’s last words before he went to sleep last night were, ” I intend to work all day tomorrow.”

Activation: Positive Sod's Law.
Activation Sequence: Positive Sod’s Law.

And sure enough, it poured down today so no outside activity was possible.  In a funny sort of way, we were trying out a new technique which we have coined “Positive Sod’s Law.”  This utilises a statement of intention, the Sod’s Law principle and the fact that the final result is what you inadvertently wanted but managed to get through the convoluted channel of a “Sod.”

Anyway, since the well-pump has “done broke” as they would say here in Belize, we have been on water conservation “red alert.”  This simply means that we are on bucket washes.

On a typical “Red Alert Day” we use the following amounts of water:

1) Bucket washes limited to 3 x day each; 30 gallons in total (120 litres).

2)  Washing Clothes; 20 gallons (80 litres).

3)  Washing dishes; 10 gallons (40 litres).

4)  Water for consumption; 5 gallons (20 litres).

5)  Miscellaneous; 5 gallons (20 litres).

Total water used up in one day is 70 gallons (about 280 litres as an over estimation).

We have two rain water tanks that store 660 gallons so that each tank gives us about 8 to 9 days of water.  This means, we can last about 2 weeks of dry weather before we start on the “Positive Sod’s Law” technique.  This is assuming that we get our water tanks filled right up to the top after each rain…this is not usually the case…more the case of one full tank.

Anyway, it rained lots today and the distant rumbling of thunder, grey clouds and flood flies indicate that there is more to come.

Flood Flies.
Flood Flies.

We are anticipating the invasion of the termite queens (the nuptial flight) in the house so we are getting ready for an early night.  This equates to a mass of crawling termites and wings a-plenty.  Just another Manic Monday!!