Bay Bolletes, Chicken of the woods, Butternut squash

After a few rainy days the weather definitely has an autumnal feel. The nights are cooler and the days clear and crisp with bright sunshine. The garden continues to supply us with our daily needs. The butternut squash are bigger than previous years, real monsters growing in the garden. The cucumbers continue to surprise, I found two hidden under the leaves which were more the size of large marrows rather than cucumbers, and they were still tender to eat - I must be doing something right this year.

Saturday we went foraging for mushrooms in our favourite spot and it didn't disappoint. We came home with enough Bolletes to dry some for the winter and enough to make a lovely sauce, which we ate on homemade tagliatelle.

That's me slicing the mushrooms for drying and laying them out on a tea towels to dry in the sun and wind.

Yesterday we headed off to the village of Lonlay l'Abbaye, which was holding its annual fete with 'Vide Grenier' No we didn't have a stall, I am still busy making chutneys and those that are made need to mature before they can be eaten. It was our first time at this particular event, we were amazed by the number of visitors and the number of stalls. We grabbed a few bargains which is always satisfying.

After leaving the village we took a road along the river and low and behold there was supper growing on a tree. A nice fresh Chicken of the Woods. This time I gave it an Indian treatment which was really delicious, see my other blog for more details.

A cricket sunning himself in the warm sunshine on the gravel in the courtyard.