Lisa Cutcliffe 🍄🌿🍒🐚🌰🌳🐟🌹🦀🍏🔥⛺

🤍 STARFLOWERS & MOTHS 🤍 • I was admiring the simple perfection of arctic starflowers in bloom when I also spotted this beautiful moth, which I believe to be a dark marbled carpet moth, Dysstroma citrata 🤎 (do pls correct me if I'm wrong, moth folk!) #ArcticStarflower #LysimachiaEuropaea #Moths #DarkMarbledCarpetMoth #Lepidoptera #Wildflowers #DysstromaCitrata #Foraging #WildFood #Scotland #Highlands

M o r e I asked Quinn what we should put a photo up of today, and she said 'more mushroom'. Well, if a 1.5 year old wants more mushrooms, more mushrooms we will have. She chose this picture of a stunning chantrelle. We picked a nice bagful on Saturday with the lovely Lisa of @eduliswildfood - Quinn enjoyed seeing her again so much she has taken to just saying her name around the house. A good sign of a great human. A wee tip I got from Lisa some years ago is to gather a little moss while picking chanterelles, and put that at the bottom of the tub you store them in in the fridge, extending the shelf life. However, I had forgot my knife and couldn't clean in the field. It took FOREVER to sort them out post car journey, and reminds me why I am so strict with myself about doing it. What's your best mushroom tip? #foraging #fungi #wildfood #wildmushrooms #chanterelles

🏞🌲SAFFY QUEEN OF LOCHS🌲🏞 • my wee travel companion loves Scotland so much! 🐾🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 She takes in all the sounds of the forest & it helps that it's much easier to find quiet spots with no doggos about, for a relaxed catwalk 🐾🌲 I'd love to retake these pics when she has her full winter floof & majestic mane on, her coat seems very short to me at the moment (though she still has her adorable fluffy pantaloons, which I could happily follow through the forest for ever!) 🐾🌲 #Roadtrip #Scotland #Mainecoon #Foraging #Lochs

💜 WILD THYME 💜 • perfectly in bloom just now in the highlands, it's hard to spot it without the pink-purple flowers, which are slightly bluer in hue than the heather blossoms 💜 It tastes & smells like normal thyme from the mediterranean but I find it's more subtle & it doesn't have quite as much potency when dried as cultivated stuff, so I usually enjoy it fresh, amazing with fried chanterelles of course, especially when wild camping by the sea or in the forest! 💜 #WildThyme #Thymus #Foraging #WildFood

💛 BIRCH WOOD CHANTIES 💛 • collected a nice bunch of chanterelles for pickling, firm youngsters, a nice bite each! 💛✨️ I enjoyed relaxing wild time with Amy @amyrankineforager & the fam and May @maryemilyedwards while I was up north 💛✨️ Such a joyful gentle process of gratefully gathering a bagful of first chanterelles for this summer whilst having a blether in mossy birch groves 💛✨️ (Deftly avoiding the bloodthirsty mozzies...bzzzz!!)🦟🦟 #Chanterelles #Foraging #Fungi #WildFood #Gold

☁️🌌 NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS 🌌☁️ • amazing ethereal glow to the north when the sun dips about -10° below the horizon & scatters light back up into thin layers of cloud, which is quite late at night/ in the wee small hours around midsummer as it stays light so long! I'd have had to stay up till 2 or 3am to see this in the highlands this weekend, it was only dark enough for about an hour before it got light again! But back in Yorkshire this display was going on about midnight on my way home, so I had to pull over and try to capture it 🌌 They happen most nights in the summer, if the sky is clear of thick clouds & the layer of wisoy ones is present at the right time 🌌 Have you seen them near you? 🌌 #NoctilucentClouds #Midsummer #NightSky #UK

🌿🫐 BLAEBERRIES 🫐🌿 • yum, my first taste of bilberries or blaeberries for this year! They're still a little tart up here, but they'll sweeten soon! 🫐 I'm sure they'll be out already in Leeds, but they get so FAT up here in the highlands, I do enjoy gathering a few & gleefully staining my lips & fingertips... nomz 🫐🌿 #Blaeberry #Bilberry #VacciniumMyrtillus #Foraging #WildFood #Heath #Ericaceous #WildBlueberry

MOSSY BIRCH WOODS • our favourite haunts this weekend have been places like this, away from other folk & dogs, hoping for a few chanterelles along the way 💛🐾 Saffy loves these narrow deer paths & trails through mossy woodlands, she will happily trot ahead with her tail up 🥰🐾 #Fungi #Foraging #WildFood #AdventureCat #CampervanCat #MaineCoon #Saffy #TravelBuddy #Cats #CatsOnLeads #Chanterelles #BirchWoods

BAY BOLETES & VELVETS • I've seen several types of bolete this weekend, only one or a handful of each: bay, velvet, cep, pine, brown birch, mottled, orange birch, red-cracking, scarletina, larch & slippery jack... they'll soon be everywhere once again, but these are a few early ones popping their heads above the parapet 🤎🍄 Also spotted a few brittlegills, a few other little brown gilled mushrooms I'm not sure of the ID on, an agaricus of some kind, and loads of pinning & slightly larger chanterelles ✨️💛 #Fungi #Mushrooms #Foraging #WildFood #BayBolete #ImleriaBadia #VelvetBolete #SuillusVariegatus #Boletes

MIDSUMMER COASTAL COURSE • saltmarsh, shingle, sand dunes & seaweed, in glorious sunshine! 🌊 Wonderful day with a wonderful group, little wild tasters to enjoy with lunch of wild garlic pesto sea spaghetti, fresh chanterelles, sea veg & pickles, various habitats covered & fun had by all 🌊 Thank you everyone for coming! xx 🌊 #Foraging #WildFood #Coastal #Saltmarsh #Seaweed

💛 SOLTSTICE CHANTERELLES! 💛 #Blessed #Fungi #Foraging #WildFood #Chanterelles #Mushrooms #WildMushrooms #QuiteEarly

🧡 SOLSTICE BLESSINGS 🧡 • at 21:50 this evening the shortest night of the year begins, marking the summer solstice, tomorrow being the longest hours of daylight in 2024 🧡 I'm in the Lakes this weekend, teaching about saltmarsh greens & seaweeds, as well as having a much-needed poke about in the woods & along lakeshores to see if any fungi friends are already coming out to play after all this rain & some cooler temperatures recently 🍄 Blessings & peace to you wherever you may be, enjoy the sunshine & warm light evenings ✨️ And if you're up between 11pm & 3am in the UK, look out for noctilucent clouds, glowing in the north, when the angle of the sun is about -10° below the horizon 🌌 #SummerSolstice #SolsticeBlessings #LongestDay