Juner and Bec: Weekly Snapshots Week 2
A little mix of work in progress, shots from the garden and a few things I read on Substack worth sharing
It feels like Saturday but it’s only Friday evening… the grill is going, Juner helped make cinnamon rolls while my son napped and we had dinner on the deck where’ve we’ve been eating practically every single night for the last month.
Here in a few more minutes the kids will be hollering that they are all set for their bike ride to the park to play for a bit but for now I’m stealing away a few minutes to share some snapshots from the week. It was a week full of rain (nearly six inches fell on Monday alone annnd we got water in the basement… sigh) and lots of family time that felt really, really good and very much needed.
Anyway,
Paint palette the other night…
This week felt a bit rough in terms of work. There’s sooo much in progress and nothing quite finished and as of right now it’s pretty much just being seen by my family and some close friends.
Most of the time it feels good to work and I’m okay with it just taking up space in my house while I build up to create a proposal down the road but sometimes it feels more like I’m spinning my wheels for nothing.
But then I see my kids get excited as I piece things together, I watch them truck along on their little bikes but stop for flowers and shout back at me what they’ve discovered and hear their excitement intensify if it’s something they are familiar with. I’ve had more conversations with more neighbors than ever because they see me outside and are curious what I’m up to. My kids draw alongside me outside… they literally squeal in delight when they discover something new blooming and giggle at the sight of allll the butterflies dancing around them.
Our garden this year has literally more pollinators than it ever has before like this Brown-Belted Bumble Bee. I’ve never seen so much work going on from morning till night or so many different varieties of pollinators. Bear in mind our garden is also the biggest it’s ever been and filled with more native plant varieties than ever before. Seeing it shift from a space filled with non-native plants that had a few bees and not much else going on into this thriving snippet of land with so much biodiversity gives me goosebumps.
Being able to share it with my kids and learn more about all the things we share this land with together is so, so fulfilling. It makes me want to keep learning and doing more to repair not just for my kids and their futures but for all living, breathing things.
The best homemade cinnamon rolls, they are our absolute favorite and a fun thing to do together as a family (we’ve actually made them twice this week).
Also that tea towel from Phoebe Wahl that we used while the dough was rising and to keep any flies away while we ate outside. She is one of our absolute favorite author/illustrators and her tea towel gets a lot of use around here.
A double rainbow we spotted after leaving my brothers house and actually made u turn to get a better look at…
Fallen Cleome petals after a very early morning storm
Makeshift fort from an old sheet for shade once the sun finally started shining again… Juner read some books beneath it and her brother giggled up a storm.
These little Verbena flowers that come up every year lead to multiples pieces that are all in various stages but just as filled with whimsy as the teeny Verbena blooms themselves.
The sky tonight as we got back home from a good long bike ride…
Also, this post and this follow-up post by Jason Anthony are absolutely spectacular. Focused on the ways in which our roads break up ecosystems for wildlife big and small and what can (and in some cases is) being done to shift the tide on roadkill and ultimately make the planet better for everything that moves and breathes. They are both great, thought provoking reads and I can’t encourage you enough to check them out.
That’s gonna do it for my second round up of snapshots. Hope you have a good weekend…
Bec
