Welcome to day three of my advent calendar of ornaments so-to-speak. Since we’re not doing the Cheesy Christmas advent calendar this year, I’m replacing it with a tour of our hodge-podge of a Christmas tree – one ornament at a time until Christmas Day.

Let’s take a look at today’s ornament…

A Mushroom … how very French!

Growing up in Canada, and on the edge of the forest, I can’t tell you how many times we heard “Whatever you do, don’t pick / touch / eat any mushrooms you find! They’re poisonous!” As a result, the thought of picking mushrooms for consumption is about the furthest thing from my mind and the aversion is deeply ingrained.

Then we came to France, where “mushrooming” is as integral a part of November as apple pie is to the good ol’ USA.

I don’t know that everyone knows their mushrooms, but it’s possible to go to a number of the local pharmacies and have them check your mushrooms if you happen to be in doubt. They – apparently – are able to tell which are good to eat and which are not (quite a responsibility!)

Several of our neighbours are elderly and as such, are good at identifying edible ‘shrooms. Over the years there have been two occasions where we’ve had mushrooms growing in our lawn or at the foot of the hedge. They’ve pointed them out to us and voilà… we’ve eaten home-grown mushrooms.

This one on the tree is one that I found a crochet pattern for somewhere on the web. I honestly don’t remember where, but a quick google search produced this one – it’s free… so it could actually be “the” one I used because I’ll always go for a freebie when I can find one.

… so… In honour of France, and our knowledgeable neighbours… that’s today’s Christmas ornament.