this is the season of arctic starflowers and herb paris, for me they are forest star and wolf's berry. summer is moving on and the jungle out there is getting wilder and wilder by the day. i like the secret garden vibe but enough is enough. time to introduce the scythe to the hay. but first, the whetstone to the blade...
a most welcome visitor today, beautiful water snake, made me happy. she seemed curious after the initial fright, and i asked her not to mind me but eat a lot of voles and pose for pictures, and we'd be fine. i hope she'll stay around. since they are not poisonous, these snakes have traditionally been favoured and even fed fresh milk every day to keep them happy. they can become quite tame once they get to know you. i don't really know how to tell the sexes apart but this one struck me as female.
a few summers ago we had a baby with orange 'ears' living under the porch and i thought we had gotten a house snake, but i never saw it grown up. this one has white markings, making her all the more special to me. too bad i don't have any milk to offer.
