Adventure at the Arboretum….

Last weekend Jeff & I were looking for something to do, and wanted to get outside, so we headed over to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum… a large place filled with all sorts of interesting plants & trees… run by the University of Minnesota.  Believe it or not I didn't take my camera (huh?!?) so these pics were taken with my phone… so the quality isn't what I'd have liked, but I just couldn't resist snapping a few pics…

Just as we got there we made a friend, actually Jeff made a friend, though by the end he was perhaps a frenemy….

Its a baby Snapping Turtle...

He was just walking on the sidewalk outside the Visitor Center...

Jeff kindly kept steering him onto the path so I could get pictures, in this picture he put his hand near so you could tell how tiny this little guy was….  But he's a Snapper… and he started snapping at Jeff… so we figured we'd annoyed him enough & let him go on his way…

As we were wandering the grounds Jeff was busy seeing what kinds of birds he could spot… among the variety was a Catbird - we'd heard its unusual call & eventually spotted it!!  Unfortunately they were too quick for me to snap any pictures :(

I did snap pictures of various flowers & wildflowers… and I'm thinking some of these might work in my gardens & even in the edges of my woods… The first two are cousins...

Native Minnesota wildflower: Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida)

Native Minnesota wildflower: Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis)

A lovely purple variety of Obedient Plant.

Minnesota Native: Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinals)... along with some sort of Aster or Black-Eyed Susan...

This looks like a Purple Archangel, in the midst of what may be some Bee Balm & other flowers…

We both love getting out into God's creation and seeing the bounty of life He placed in our beautiful world… adventuring together is such a joy & blessing!!