And Then There Were Two

This afternoon I found another baby painted turtle in the garden as I continued my tidying-up.



It's slightly larger than the first, and livelier. Are they from the same nest? That's my guess, but no way to know for sure.

I went into the woods and collected some water from one of the vernal pools--with larvae and dead leaves and organic matter--and poured it into the swimming pool. They prefer being in the water.

Haven't yet had time to research whether I ought to release them in the boggy area at the edge of our lake, in a vernal pool, or in the lake itself.

My legislative committee held an Executive Session this morning to dispatch two bills. I made the Ought to Pass motion on the second one, and wrote the blurb that will appear in a future calendar of bills. I was assigned to the four-person Performance Audit Review Subcommittee, which will examine the first three recommendations in the Fish & Game Dept. audit, and determine what legislative action should result. We are expected to make our report prior to October 1st.

We then took our Administrative Assistant to lunch, in honour of Administrative Professionals Day (which was yesterday). The chosen restaurant is conveniently situated next door to the tire store. So while I ate pan-seared scallops on a bed of wilted mesclun with an orange balsamic reduction, and socialised with my colleagues, our snow tires were replaced with the regular ones.

Here are some flower photos from my morning stroll through the garden.



Snake-head fritillary in purple...




...and in white.



Despite the blazing weather, we've still got a small island of snow in the shadowy place at the edge of the forest, and by the side of the garage a lump from the former snow plow mountain.

Ice Out was declared for the Big Lake today, meaning the big white boat that passes our cottage in summer is able to reach all five of its ports. As I was last year, I'll be on board for its "shakedown cruise"--and am looking forward to it!