After Sunday night’s chestnut scare we managed to salvage the night by carving the tiny pumpkins we picked up at the store. Aren’t they cute! I decided to not over think mine (as I have a tendency to do and end up carving my pumpkin for over an hour) and Walker carved a beer stein into one side and en elephant head into the other side. Adorable.
I was a little bummed that our pumpkins were so small that they didn’t contain any seeds to roast but Walker was fine because, apparently, he doesn’t really like the seeds. Wha?! He’s nuts!
Remember when I said I like to forage for food and that you shouldn’t eat something unless you’re 100% sure it’s edible? Well I guess that bit of advice was meant for me.
Walker and I kept seeing this great big chestnut trees all around the neighborhood and recently I had seen a recipe for chestnut puree and was all excited to try it with some foraged chestnuts. I was on a walk yesterday afternoon and saw some great big chestnuts on the ground. I gathered them up excitedly and proudly showed them to Walker when I got home.
I scored each one like the recipe said and put them in the oven to roast. Maybe 20 minutes in one exploded! We took a look and decided we better take them out before another one exploded. They didn’t quite have that sweet chestnut smell and when we tried a little bit that had exploded in the oven we immediately spit it out. It tasted bitter and not at all good. That’s when we started to question what we were actually eating. At first I wondered if uncooked chestnuts were bad for you but upon a quick google search realized that the type of chestnuts I had were poisonous to consume. Ah!!
So just to be clear horseshoe chestnuts which seem to be all over Seattle are POISONOUS! Do NOT eat them! Luckily we had only touched a small amount to our tongues but we called poison control just to be safe. I’m thinking this time of year they get this particular questions a lot because he answered so quickly. He said you would have to ingest quite a bit to get sick but since we didn’t ingest any a mouth rinse and a tooth brushing would be good enough. Phew! We were both sweating it out for a bit and refusing to swallow. Oy!
What did I learn? Even if you’re sure it’s edible it won’t hurt to double check before you try to eat it. I won’t stop foraging but I will be extra, extra careful next time. Maybe it’s time to find an edible foraging guide. Anyone know of a good one?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately, having many hours to myself each day leaves me a lot of time. I keep thinking that the big change I need to get used to is living in Seattle now. Of course that is a pretty big change for me and being that it’s the largest city I’ve ever lived in it’s taking some time to adjust. I think I’ve been a little hard on the city though because it certainly isn’t the only change in my life recently.
When I decided to move out to Seattle it was because Walker got a job out here and we were at that point in our relationship that I felt comfortable following him. To help with the transition I went home for the summer and had such a wonderful summer visiting with friends and family. Then in September I made the big move, and don’t mean moving to Seattle. I mean moving in with a boy. Ah! Right! It’s actually been pretty fun despite the usual annoyances. A sock here and there and everywhere. I think we’re both doing a pretty good job and making it work but despite that it’s a huge change and takes some time getting used to (the other day he said he wanted to put hooks everywhere,really?).
One of the biggest changes in my life is a pretty big deal and it is pretty exciting. What am I talking about? Right, when I left Texas and knew Seattle was in my future I figured what better time to see if I could turn my little side business into a full-time job. It had been on my mind but I couldn’t see any real reason to make the jump. I enjoyed my day job and was able to juggle the 2 quite well. It just seemed that everything was lining up for me to pursue my real dream full-time. I left Texas and spent the next 2 months basically on a summer vacation and working when I could instead of working and taking trips when I could. It was a bit anti-climactic.
When I finally did get to Seattle I think that’s when it really hit me. I left my day job to pursue my dream job and am now self employed and work from home. It’s super exciting but also scary and sometimes I feel unsure of my decisions and with all the other changes it’s easy to think this to often. My daily to-do lists have been helping keep me on task and I feel like I learn something new every day. But just as much as I get done I feel like there is that much and more yet to do. It can be weary at times but what’s great is I’m the one calling the shots and if I get overwhelmed I just take a break or the afternoon if I must. As I’ve heard from many other inspiring stay at home business owners it can be lonely and that’s about where I am now. Most days I’m busy enough but I have my days.
I have been really enjoying Gussy Sews-Handmade business in 31 days. It’s been a nice daily reminder that I’m not alone in this, some great tips, and just a little break from my day.
