Gorgeous shot!

Little stinkers. 🐈‍⬛

When a crow joins you for your morning cup of coffee, the day feels like it might hold a bit more mystical promise than usual.

For some reason this person’s handwriting made me pause and admire it. Also, this is my favorite breakfast sandwich that I would be getting daily if I had no self control.

The thrill of a new project. I finished the cross stitch I was working on (a mere two years and nine months after starting it) so I finally allowed myself to start this. I bought the kit for my birthday in 2023 and hopefully will finish it in less time than I’ve had it. Not holding my breath.

#Storygraph has inspired me through #JanuaryPagesChallenge. I’ve already had a better focus in the last few days leading up to this.

Time to tackle the bedside stand stack.

In the last few years I haven’t been able to direct my attention where I would like it to go, which has been frustrating. I would like this next turn around the sun to be different.

I used to be a voracious reader. Pretty much up until my boys arrived, I would be tearing through one book or another. In middle school I distinctly remember navigating the halls reading in between classes, using my peripheral vision to not knock into anything. I wasn’t always successful. (1/)

I saw more mushrooms in that area of the park than I ever had when I went in mid September this year. The variety was amazing.

The ice has iced everything in a really beautiful way.

I’m actually a little worried about how comfortable this guy is near humans. This was less than eight feet to where I was digging up potatoes in the garden. He’s incredibly adorable, but a relocation might be in his future.

I might have squealed when I found these tonight on the shed.

When the feeder station suddenly is extremely quiet it’s usually because Carl is stopping by looking for a snack. He’s been pretty successful in his pursuit of chipmunks, which I hope keeps him busy and not as successful with the songbirds. 🪶

🌱 Vine Magic.

The feeder station has been busy lately. #addbirder

Not a lot of my flowers for cutting are doing well, but this dahlia is the exception.

Note to self: plant more dahlias next year.

🌱More vines. This time two morning glory varieties.

What’s great about these is both are prolific self seeders. I’ve planted them once and the following years I just pull them if they’re growing somewhere I don’t want them to (like my pea stone in the garden).

I am loving the muted colors of the fledgling cardinals at my feeders.

🌱An absolute fascination with vines has me playing with vining flowers & plants in the gardens year after year. This one is doing better than its predecessor from the year before and I’m chalking that up to (shocking) mulching it. Bonus tonight was finding a swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley.

🌱This year’s plant that I picked to climb this trellis was supposed to be two. These birdhouse gourds and loofa. The “friends” in my garden decided not once, but twice that I didn’t need them and consumed the seedlings of the loofa.

The gourds are doing great and we’ll be awash in them come fall.

A few of the more interesting things from the garden. Lemon cucumbers and cucamelons.

I wonder if I’ll ever get tired of this view. 🌱

Called to sit outside under the full sturgeon moon. Saw a shooting star and heard bats chittering to each other. Feeling fulfilled.

The bird feeding station is hopping today. #cardinals #redwingblackbird #chickadee #sparrow

Aurora Borealis cross stitch, a cup of tea and watching some football with my football obsessed youngest. Taking some time to slow down.

Trying to bring allll the birds to the yard. My mom has always loved having her feeders and I grew my collection over the last year or two. Was time to build them a proper feeding station. Cataloging the little visitors as they arrive.

First year I actually harvested some lemongrass from the herb garden to try in teas. Smudge and Ash decided I had picked it for them and have been nibbling on it while using it as bedding in my harvest basket. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.

Some dried lavender bud harvesting with a side of vino. The two big and beautiful lavender plants out in the big garden outdid themselves this year. #lavender