M-m-m-Mushrooms!

What a gift my dear friend Sue gave me today! She knew a place where Black Morels had sprouted by the dozen, and she took me there in person. And lucky for me, since Sue won't eat wild mushrooms, she let me have them all. My husband and I ate them for supper, dusted with flour and fried crisp in butter tempered with a little olive oil. What a treat! Sue, you really ought to try them. (Except then there'd be fewer for me!)

Here's another wild food that Sue will eat, and I agree with her that the new leaves are tasty -- crisp and sweet, with a flavor a bit like green beans. It's a sedum called Live-forever. With a name like that, I bet it's really good for you, too. They're certainly pretty to look at, even before they bloom. The leaves themselves look like green roses.

While picking those mushrooms, we came nose-to-nose with this pretty Tiger Moth caterpillar with the unpronounceable name of Ctenucha virginica. This is one of our spring caterpillars that has wintered over as an adult and is feeding furiously now.

Such a pretty caterpillar, with that yellow and black and white fur. And whoa! Get a load of those Cherry Twizzler feet!

Do you think that this is a face that only a mother could love? Is that why I find it adorable, since I am indeed a mother?

Nah, this Garter Snake is just plain cute, with a face as sweet as a puppy's. Or maybe ET's. A very curious little guy, too, who at first disappeared under a rock, only to pop his head out to look at me. (And taste the air with his lovely red tongue, which I took a couple of dozen photos of, not one of which was in focus. Darn!)