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Lots of other American flag themed products available, too!
If you’re an official “birder” or someone who loves to watch birds, you might just love this new design featuring a female cardinal!
Right now, it’s on binders (3 sizes), but look for it on stationery, cards and more very soon!
Mr. Snake popped up among the trout lilies and we had a standoff!
It’s only mid-April and I’ve already had two run-ins with snakes! You’d think I’d know one snake from another, but I had to look it up and decide if it was a ribbon snake or a common garden snake. I pretty much assume snakes I run into in Michigan woods are garter snakes, but I am never sure until I compare the photo to a guidebook!
Apparently, the red tongue with black tip makes it a common garter snake, although the source didn’t describe other tongues.
Close cropping from other snake photo
I set the camera on fast-continuous to try to capture the tongue sticking out at me. Every time I’d pull my eye away from the camera, the snake would stick its tongue out again and I would miss it! I wish photo was a little sharper, but you can see the veins(?) in the tongue very well.
You can tell I know a lot more about flowers than snakes.
With the first glimpses of real wildflowers this afternoon, I am now convinced spring is here!
Bluebells were up last week, although I’m not sure if they are a wildflower or a garden escapee. Today, in the nearby oak and beech woods, I saw spring beauty, bloodroot (an amazingly hothouse-looking flower), and another delicate pink and white flower that is TBD.
The bloodroot was in white bouquets that shone pure and clean against the refuse of brown oak leaves and leaf detritus. The trilliums are still a few weeks away here in southeast Michigan. As are the trout lilies and mayapples whose leaves have sprung up through all the leaf litter as well.
Finally! It’s been a long winter.