After a frosty early-morning session of pulling garlic mustard I decided to make a second visit later in the day.

a) to photograph the bloodroot flowers once they'd opened:

(they open up real purty)

And b) because at noon I watched a webcast about garlic mustard removal, sponsored by The Stewardship Network. I didn't learn anything new about GM but hey, a webcast! How cool am I? I was so inspired by being part of a bigger effort to control this pest that I just had to go back and pull another bucketful.

I learned a new bug today, too. This little guy was about the reddest thing I've ever seen:

A quick Google gave me its name -- velvet mite. They're a good thing!