My Mold Collection

Hello family and friends. Amber has encouraged me to "keep a record" more often so I volunteered to publish a blog once and a while. I decided to share with you something kind of special to me, and repulsive to Amber. My mold collection. Living in Milwaukee is surely something "unique." If you were to ask others who have gone before us in the Glen Courts apartments to describe their experiences with ten nouns, mold would be one of them. It grows so readily here and in such a colorful variety that one can scarce enjoy it at a glance before it is cleaned up, so I try to keep a picture record of the better ones. I hope you enjoy.

PS- Some of these specimens are due to forgetfulness or procrastination, which would embarrass Amber (she actually keeps things very clean around here, despite the efforts of the children). However, a good deal of them are sheer bad luck from living in a moist climate, poorly constructed apartments, and a seemingly perpetual winter creating that winners combo.

Specimen #1: I think this was leftover pumpkin pie filling after Amber made some pumpkin dessert thing. Delicious. The pumpkin dessert was good too.


Specimen #2: Or should I say specimens? What amazing color and variety in shape and size! I believe this was some left over whipping cream we made for some dessert. Maybe it went on top of the pumpkin stuff? Either way here it is for all to enjoy.


Specimen #3: So, there are the usual spots we have to clean a few times per year to get all the mold. It's usually in places like our closets down on the floor on outside walls where the moisture builds up when it's cold. And of course all the window sills. But what is this! We noticed a little darkness behind our bookcase (outside wall for a few feet) and look at what had crept in on us! We have been so blessed to have such good company lurking just a few feet away.


Specimen #4: Don't tell me you've never lost a spaghetti squash in your fridge before! Silly! This cornucopia of fungus was a delight to experience before Amber made us walk our different paths. In all fairness it really was lost deep down in there on a little ledge we never use, or do we? I should go check it right now for some new blogging material.


Specimen#5: This is one reason I don't care for the climate. It wastes money. I wore these shoes to church and put them away damp (apparently). The next week I pull them out expecting nice dry and snappy shoes and what do I get? Mold! I washed them with some different chemicals and then polished them up nice and black... but to no avail. It came back a week later. The Milwaukee Mold had won this round.


Specimen#6: Another refrigerator pleasure. This was some cream cheese I believe. You know, when you store things in these little color containers you can't really see through, it's easy to forget about them. Then you pull it out when you're curious what's in there, smell it, oh it's still good. Then one day you pull it out remembering you have some perfectly good cream cheese in there and you just happen to have a good toasted bagel ready to be loaded and wham! Mold! It just hits you like that! this stuff was still good after scraping off the top layer, which you have to admit no matter how hoity toity you are, it's pretty darn beautiful.


Specimen#7: This is one I had a strong suspicion was there, I just didn't want to look or else I'd have to clean it up. We have a little AC unit in the wall. I had my dad make a nice oak framework to fit around it so it looked pretty nice, and cover up the seams. Well, one day I did look, and presto! The little black fuzzy friend we kicked out earlier tried to sneak in through the AC! That rascal!


Specimen#8: This is the final offering I have for you (for now- I'll keep collecting but this took years!). Ten points to whoever can figure out what this container originally umm... contained. What word would you have used besides contained. Kept? Held? Stored? Whatever it was, let us all be grateful we still don't have to eat it and let us ponder just for one moment what it smelled like.


Thank you all. My next posting will be various pictures of roadkill I have come across in my travelings. Some of them I still can't find, they were pics from my mission I never converted to digital. Whatever the case may be please tell Amber this posting counts as a journal entry and my new years resolution from 2008 is now fulfilled.

Warmly,
Dennis George Ogilvie.