i decided to work with cattails today because i thought the dark brown flowers against the green stems would be so appealing. little did i know that the crooked alfalfa cowlicks sticking up from the tops of their heads would steal the show.

cattails from my backyard

turtle lake, saint paul, minnesota

i checked the minnesota dnr website today to make sure i could legally pick a water lily.  my husband thought they might be a protected species. it turns out you can. but i still promised him this would be the one and and only one i would ever pick for STILL blog. given our local environment here in lake country, i felt STILL blog was missing something important without water lilies.

white water lily and lily pads

lake valentine, saint paul, minnesota

a week ago i posted a bouquet of these black-eyed susans. then i left them to dry on my kitchen floor.  i’d like to say it was intentional, but it was just lazy.  anyway, the flower heads dried in these wild fantastic shapes.

dried black-eyed susan

saint paul, minnesota

we have a small group of pileated woodpeckers around the house lately.  we’ve seen as many as six together at once. we have never seen this behavior  before, and we know that pileated woodpeckers don’t flock. after doing some internet digging, i think it may be a male-female pair and their brood of four fledglings. whether flock or family, it has been a wondrous few days of sights and sounds.

wing feather of a pileated woodpecker

found in our yard, saint paul, minnesota