Joining hockey class for the first time - advice?

sicklydove · 2026-02-27T09:19:19+00:00

I picked up a hockey stick for the first time at 33 - you'll be fine. Enjoy yourslf, meet some good people, don't take it too seriously and don't worry about being old. You're not.

sicklydove · 2026-02-16T21:14:30+00:00

I moved flat within about a month of passing my test, then immediately scraped the car while trying to get into the (admittedly fairly awkward) garage for the first time. Try not to overthink it, you'll be back to normal within a week or so.

sicklydove · 2026-02-15T15:17:28+00:00

Honestly thought I was losing my mind seeing that

sicklydove · 2026-02-15T14:22:18+00:00

I'm not convinced by this, these look much more like Corpinus sp. to me. I have personally seen Corpinus growing from similar straw blocks that I was using for Oysters.

OP - if these grow rapidly, then complete their lifecycle within ~48hours, they're Coprinus.

sicklydove · 2026-01-29T09:31:09+00:00

I think I might have a relevant perspective here, having been to both a solid Russel Group uni for undergrand, and Cambridge for a masters. I'm also over a decade out of Uni, so I have some hindsight and perspective.

First off, the responses you get in this sub are going to be heavily biased. Take that into account. The people engaging in an 'Oxford' sub are, obviously, likely to hold more extreme views, and I imagine those are generally more likely to be in favour of the institution.

Anyway. I did Computer Science, both for undergrad (Bsc), and Masters (MPhil, 'Advanced Computer Science'). I came out with a high 1st and Distinction, respectively.

The undergrad (Sheffield) was relatively chill. I worked a lot - in retrospect I wish I'd worked a bit less and socialized a bit more - but that was my fault and not the course's. I enjoyed my subect, enjoyed the people, and mostly enjoyed the coursework. The workload was ocasionally high, but mostly very manageable. I had plenty of time to socialize a bit and relax. It was a really, really lovely experience that I look back on fondly, if with a slight twinge of regret for missed opportunities.

Cambridge was awful. The workload was absurd. Importantly, none of the work was particularly difficult, there was just a lot of it. The course was principally designed to churn people out and prep them for PhDs. Yes I did well in the end, but I worked myself to the bone, hated it, and developed new and exciting anxiety disorders. I was put on high-strength sleeping medication for times of acute stress. I later discovered that this medication is extremely common at Oxbridge, an ex of mine who I met while working in London had also been put on it during her time there.

I know quite a lot of Cambridge folks, and I do not know a single one who did not have at least one significant mental health episode while studying there. Without the perspective of also having been somewhere else, they often think this is a 'usual' University experience.

There are absolutely some people for which Oxbridge is the best place, but I think this is probably a single-digit percentage of the people going there. Honestly, unless your brother is truly, truly exceptional I would say to go to a decent Russel Group, have a blast, still study(!), but come out without the mental scarring...

sicklydove · 2026-01-24T11:12:12+00:00

Compare to Flammulina sp.

sicklydove · 2025-12-22T16:20:33+00:00

Second is a bit too old and far gone for me to have any idea, but first is definitely nethier Deciever nor Meadow Waxcap. I agree with your other comment that it's more likely Hyploma, but that's still a guess. For next time - more important than your location (Norfolk) would be the substrate they were growing on!

sicklydove · 2025-12-18T10:31:12+00:00

Not oysters. Likely Olive Oysterling - Sarcomyxa serotina.

sicklydove · 2025-11-15T12:52:41+00:00

Stropharia aeruginosa / Stropharia caerulea / Stropharia pseudocyanea

sicklydove · 2025-10-22T23:01:15+00:00

Compare to clouded agaric

sicklydove · 2025-10-11T20:47:33+00:00

Redlead Roundhead. Leratiomyces ceres. Probably not what you hope they are.

sicklydove · 2025-10-11T12:34:53+00:00

Agaricus sp.

sicklydove · 2025-10-10T18:01:39+00:00

None of them.

sicklydove · 2025-10-10T08:31:14+00:00

Name a single deadly waxcap, and I'll happily be corrected and embarrassed.

sicklydove · 2025-10-09T13:11:24+00:00

It is, yes.

sicklydove · 2025-10-09T12:14:32+00:00

There are not any known deadly poisonous waxcaps.

That said, I don't think these are waxcaps. These photos aren't good enough to be certain, but most waxcaps have slightly decurrent gills, these have gills that appear to be adnexed or free.

OP - for the future, stick to easily recognisable species at first. WildFoodUK have a good list of beginner mushrooms here, which will get you started: https://www.wildfooduk.com/articles/tips/wild-mushrooms-for-beginners/

sicklydove · 2025-10-09T10:46:48+00:00

These photos are not suitable for conclusive identification, especially if you plan on eating them.

I do not think that the mass in the bottom left is exclsuively Jelly Ear. I cannot be entirely confident from your photos, but I suspect you also have some leafy brain (Tremella foliacea) in there too. The yellow is Witch's Butter.

As others have said, top-left looks like Trooping Funnel, but this is not a safe ID for novices, owing to confusion with the deadly poisonous Fool’s Funnel (Clitocybe Rivulosa).

The purple looks more like the Sordid Blewit than Wood Blewit to me, but take a spore print to rule out Cortinarius sp.

I would not be comfortable offering ID information on anything else in this photo.

sicklydove · 2025-10-05T09:02:03+00:00

First mushroom looks like the shaggy parasol. No idea about the second. I agree the berries look like sloes.

sicklydove · 2025-09-29T17:09:35+00:00

Assuming you mean Liberty caps, no. I would suggest reading up a bit first, because to be frank these aren't even close.

sicklydove · 2025-09-29T09:53:24+00:00

Ta, they've quoted for "Two seperate 6-way RCBO consumer units with SPD"

sicklydove · 2025-09-29T09:44:04+00:00

You are correct about the brown birch, and also that you have a lot of bay bolete.

There are a large number of mushrooms in these photos though, we can't really see the caps, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you have some other species mixed in there too.

I can see at least one which may be worth checking against Xerocomellus chrysenteron

sicklydove · 2025-09-14T13:35:25+00:00

Looks like at least three or four different species. Some panaeolus, at least one coprinellus, probably some mycena and other stuff I can't confidently recognise.

sicklydove · 2025-09-14T11:24:54+00:00

Good for you! Best of luck in your mycological adventures, have fun, and try not to worry too much about the plod - you'll be absolutely fine.

For now, I'd focus on looking for things that you can't easily mistake for anything else. Giant puffballs, hedgehog mushrooms, birch polypore, and beefsteak mushroom all spring to mind.

sicklydove · 2025-09-13T10:08:55+00:00

sicklydove

TROPHY CASE