the sun peeks over the horizon,
golden beams winding through branches,
dappling the sleeping plants in glory.
dew drops rest on stems,
held captive in the hair of the plant,
shimmering and glinting,
like pearls ‘round a rich woman’s neck,
everyday magic so easily overlooked.
they stretch and reach their arms to the sky,
elegant smiles on their concealed faces,
coaxed back to life by a jubilant sun.
Officially into the 9th month of the year (in case you missed my 60-second August wrap, you can watch it here), and my Christmas senses are tingling, people. The lights want to be hung! The lists want to be made!!
But summer isn’t quite over yet, and I’m making the most of the last days of it.
(Christmas lights will be being hung within the next month)
hangin out with some beautiful girls 🥺❤
It was soon after I bought the Painted Lady caterpillars (mentioned briefly in my recent post) that I went down to the spring plant sale at the farm and had the tiny baby Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars pointed out to me on the dill plants for sale.
I’ll admit that as much as I love dill, the reason I got the dill plants was to try raising these butterfly babies.
The only butterflies that I’d ever raised up until that point had been Painted Ladies, so I was psyched to have another species to watch grow. I will say that at the end of this particular journey, I was very relieved to set them free, because it was a bit of a roller coaster. But I’ll also say that I think I learned a couple things, and I’d probably try it again if I find some more babies next year!
(you can watch the YouTube short that I made about raising them here!)
cutest lil face munchin on his dill leaves 🥺
July has come and gone (if you missed my July wrap, you can watch it here!), and we are well and truly into summer. As in, it’s frickin hot, and I don’t remember the last time we got rain. I’m giving my gardens just enough water to make it through these hot days, but they could really use a good soaker.
The pole beans are finally producing (I always forget how late they start, but once they start, the harvests are plentiful until the first frost), the butternut squashes are climbing to the sky and have quite the collection of babies growing, and the zephyr squashes have been as delectable as ever.
my friend Brandi sent me these marigold seeds (left) a few years ago, and I’ve continued collecting the seeds and growing them every year since!
It’s been a hot minute (literally) since I’ve posted on this blog — you have no idea how many drafts I’ve started in here, only to lose steam halfway through and never publish them!
When I disappear from one place, it usually means that I’m busy elsewhere, and that has definitely been the case this time around.
Although summer has technically just started, it’s been so much fun so far.
releasing my dear Painted Lady butterflies (more on this later in the post)
Goodness gracious. Officially half way through April, and it’s definitely been an emotionally tumultuous shift from the previous few months.
Spring has returned, and although it brings the joy of green grass, blooming flowers, singing peepers, and birds fighting over our nesting boxes (as cute as the bluebirds are, they are being just as problematic as usual), it also means that our horrendous neighbors have returned to their horrendous ways (unfortunately, it’s been a telltale sign of the changing seasons for the past decade).
the time of the crocuses has officially passed, but today our first mini daffodil bloomed
While January and February seemed to fly by, March seemed to go on forever.
Looking back on the month’s wrap I can’t believe that some of the clips were from the 31 days of March — it felt like they were taken months ago.
Although the weather is in its annual spring fickleness, the fam and I have been making sure to enjoy all of the warm days we get. Spontaneous afternoons spent hiking, laying in sunny fields, and listening to the spring peepers were a March staple (and are carrying into April).
The grass is turning more green every day, and buds are starting to pop on the trees and bushes.
So here’s a short photographic recap of the month:
I’m not sure that I’ve ever posted photos of this coat on my blog, but, FUN FACT: I made it out of my old bedspread last year
I bought the pattern from ReillyFitzsimmons, and it was easy and great, aside from the fact that I did have to downsize a lot because the pattern is unisex and created by a man
February was a really happy and fun month for me.
There was a ton of creativity, inspiration, exciting news, and talking to good people.
Although the winter blues have definitely been a problem for me in the past, I’ve thoroughly and completely enjoyed these cold months this year. I don’t think I’m ready for the world to get loud and active again as the weather warms up, but the first little snowdrop greens poking out of the frozen ground have definitely made me excited 🤍
(top left) February 10th, the nearly-full moon; (top right) February 28th, many evenings have been spent sewing and watching old episodes of Sex and The City; (bottom) February 25th, a juvenile hawk hung out in our yard for a while, Riley Mae identified it as a red-shouldered, and also got some photos of her own
January is officially over, and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter (i.e. he saw his shadow). Although his history of predictions is ✨questionable✨, he may be right this year, because there are still plenty of low temps and chances of snow on our forecast.
January has been a month of intense creativity for me. Work has been extremely slow (as per usual in January), and although I’m currently very poor, I’m always happiest when I’m not just sitting at my desk painting all day.
Although pet portraits are a great staple for me, I’m hoping for some new opportunities to come my way in this new year.
If you’ve found yourself on any girls’ social media pages lately, chances are that you’ve seen someone trying the heatless sock curls — and I finally tried them too.
I’ve seen a million different products being advertised for heatless curls, but I’m not willing to spend money on something that’s such a gamble. (and that looks to be kinda complicated to do by yourself)
I’ve tried my fair share of curling methods over the years; all heatless, of course, because I refuse to kill my hair again after I bleached it to death with hydrogen peroxide when I was 14. My hair was fried, broken, and stretchy when wet (a very weird experience) for a couple of years until I grew it out and cut it off.
Ever since then I’ve been scared to do anything that will cause damage to it. That means no straighteners, curling irons, or curling products.
ft. my support local street cats t-shirt from GOODVIBEQUOTESSHOP on Etsy
