Mouse in a Teapot

[geopsych]

Now blooming in the garden: Allegheny monkeyflower, Mimulus ringens.

[mismedleym]

toward the sun, from the sun

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

After a pretty dreary morning the clouds parted for this glorious evening at a hidden boardwalk near York. The egret flew overhead, the wood ducks glided serenely by, and the red-winged blackbirds scolded.

[zandrapaints]

there's always time to start something new // watercolor & ink on paper

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Side eye from a gorgeous box turtle! Photo taken on maximum zoom from across the path; turtle friend noted our presence but didn't feel the need to hide or move. The trails around the Gettysburg Visitor Center were practically deserted tonight.

[homunculus-argument]

My problem with wrangling myself to do any kind of exercise is probably related to the way how every time I see someone running/jogging in miserable weather, I can only think "damn, how badly do you have to hate yourself to be able to make yourself do that?"

And every possible weather is a miserable weather for jogging.

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

The only time I ever seriously tried jogging was four months before I was diagnosed with anemia. I couldn't even do the thirty second jog part of the Couch to 5K and blamed it on myself being in such terrible shape. Now just thinking of jogging makes me feel breathless.

[dumpsterphoenixcombusting]

May 02 2026 | Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)

This wildflower is Native to North America.

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

A great caterpillar host species!

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Rhododendron maximum looks so tropical. Growing along creeks, it makes dense thickets here in southern Pennsylvania. A trail bordered by these is magical in June

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Every time I see a puddle in June I have to look for toad tadpoles. And sometimes I find them! (No worries that this toad's home will dry up, it is kept wet by the leaking water municipal water line) (They should probably do something about that) (But it's good for the toads)

[hannahlockillustration]

Added some new prints and original drawings to my shop!

[seleneisrising]

"...Certainly it's extra work! Fine things, fine ideas, fine people, require work! This entire age is indulgent and selfish and shortsighted, complaining that easy things are not as easy as they'd like." He lifted a hand before him, half shake of a fist, half artistic passion. "If you want quality, you must work for it. You wake and you strive and you make decisions to sacrifice. An easy life will never bring the kind of satisfaction the soul craves. I despise people who lounge all day as if there weren't more important ideas than comfort, complacency, and appetite. Stretch yourself! Be industrious! Do something!"

-The Pirate, Ben Chambers, in The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 7

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

I am obsessed with this series right now. Sigh.

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

I was at a library board meeting tonight. I was one of only two people there under 60. Everyone wrote notes in cursive. They use email with great effort. Not one mention of AI. It was a wonderful reminder of an analog past.

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Summer sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay, if you had been there you would have seen the sweep of the sky and the glimmer of the air, the faraway boats and the promise of the day

[thesweetiepienovels]

“No one is coming to save you.” I disagree ! I believe many people made up of many small moments come to save pieces of you , even if just briefly. The mentor who believed in you . The friend who said they’re proud of you. The family member that makes you laugh . The random person who held the door for you out of nothing but kindness. The teacher who took extra time to help you understand. The person who smiled at you when you walked into a store. The little kid who looks up to you. The person who randomly complimented you. Being “saved” isn’t about being whisked away and all your hardships gone, it’s about the people and things that remind you life is not all hardships, it is kindness, love, gentleness, softness, care, thoughtfulness. It is many moments made up of your lifetime that keeps you going and showing you the world is still beautiful, and will always be. Despite.

[hoot-alex]

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) definitely brings the drama to a woodland garden! This is one that I had to try in 3 places before I found the right conditions. Worth it!

[teapot-tulip-mouse]

Spiderwort blooms in the morning and closes up by mid afternoon, and spreads at a manageable rate. Perfect flower for this time of year, after the spring blooms but before the full summer extravaganza