Just nuts...

Remnants of Christmas

Delicious, nutritious treat

Broken craggy shells 

Nod of approval  

Beans, beans, the magical fruit...

15-bean soup mix

Overnight-soaked, wrinkly-skinned 

Prelude to dinner

The finished tan-gray soup can never do justice to these beautiful, colorful beans, so appreciating them before cooking seems a worthy thing to do.

Adding ham, onions, garlic, and chopped carrots (pretty much according to my post here), Ham & Beans Soup was enjoyed this week, and extra was shared with friends.

I don't know why I only seem to make this yummy soup once, at most twice a year, but this week was a perfect time for it.   The last of it was enjoyed on this snowy, wet February day.  

Nature doing its thing...

Giving my back a break from weeding the strawberry patch I pulled up a chair and contemplated the nearby woodpile.

Nature's decomposers make interesting designs.

Smoothy time...

Seeing the cherry tree blossoming recently has put me in mind of harvesting fruit from it and the peach tree this summer, as did uncovering the strawberry plants and seeing a few blossoms there this week.  There is still some time before I'm ready to plant into the garden, but thinking of all of this reminds me that we need to finish up what fruit is left in the freezer from last spring and summer - so as to make room for new  fruit.  

The temps have also been unseasonably warm for much of April, though thankfully it cooled down again last night and we may return for a couple of weeks to temps in the 50's and 60's before heating up again.  That makes me very happy.

All of the blossoms and warm weather inspired me to pull out some frozen fruit and make a simple smoothy for a treat recently.  And I was reminded how wonderful a cold fruit smoothy is.  I don't make them often, but my typical smoothy contains frozen fruit, fresh spinach and just enough orange juice to make the concoction drinkable through a straw.  The smoothy below had spinach from the grocery, orange juice, frozen blueberries, and strawberries and peaches from our own yard.

The colors were so beautiful I had to snap some pictures!

Do you enjoy smoothies, and if so, what do you like to put in yours?

Quiet moments...

We kept the grand cats last weekend and were easily humored watching them do nothing much at all. 

On Tuesday, the day the cats left we enjoyed the company of out-of-state cousins visiting until the wee hours of the next morning.  After the cats and cousins left (separately, in two different directions) I was inspired to do some spring cleaning of the sunroom - vacuuming up cobwebs and cat hair.

And set up a spot to enjoy cross stitching and a view of the outdoors.

I'm going to make it a (loose) goal to spend some time out here stitching or doing something creative every day I can this spring -  when it is nice enough to do so.  With the sun shining in the windows, it's comfy out here once it's in the high 50's outside.  And I suppose a space heater might heat up this corner when it's cooler than that. 

And in a week or so, this Bradford Pear (below with the small white blossoms) will be a sight to behold when I want to sit back and take a stretch from stitching.

I'm feeling very thankful for spring, 

and for a pretty spot to experience it again.

How is spring looking where you're at?

Sunlight and shadow play...

 

I was sitting in the chair pictured above and just happened to turn my head when I noticed this terrific striated pattern of light and dark bands produced by the partially opened blinds as the sun had lowered to the exact position to create this fun shadow play on the wall and lamp.  I couldn't couldn't find my camera fast enough!

Seeing in the picture that the bands bend around the corner on the wall is bonus fun. 

At the ready...

 

Kitchen towels stored in the laundry room

Just for fun I tried the B&W filter in my photo app.  To be honest, I like both images, but for different reasons.  Interestingly, I notice things in the black and white picture I didn't notice in the color picture (until I saw it first in B&W).  For example, even in person, I'd never noticed before how some of the screws are covered with wooden covers, but most are not.  I wonder why that is, but mostly I wonder why I didn't notice before.

Challenge on (again)...

It's time for a new challenge for myself.

First off, my knitting socks is on hold for the moment.  I was (and still am) excited about sock knitting, but in the end I have decided I need to start them over and make smaller socks - socks that will (hopefully) fit me.  The thing is, I need a little time before I rip out (again) what I have done and start a new pair.  Partly that's because putting a little distance between my knitting and (I think 3rd) frogging will help me not feel so discouraged about starting over again.  And partly because my left hand needs a break.  It's been hurting for a week now, and I've decided when I pick the knitting needles up again, I need to pace myself better.  And maybe try to relax my tension...

So...  my next challenge? I'm considering it a collab between my Everyday Aesthetics challenge and a Photo of Daily Life challenge.  Actually, my Everyday Aesthetics challenge was supposed to be a Daily Photo challenge, but I don't think I even posted half of the days of August.  I'm also broadening my subject matter to include even the (seemingly) mundane things of life.  It will be interesting to see if they look so mundane in a photo.

So I'm trying this again.  Simply put, I am challenging myself to post a photo (or maybe a few photos, like today) of one subject in my world each day of February.  If you've been around here for any length of time you may have caught on that I try to treat these challenges as fun learning experiences.  In other words, life sometimes happens and if I miss a day (or a week) here and there I don't spend much time feeling bad about it. 

Following are the things I hope to gain from the experience::

To take greater notice of the details of my surroundings 

To recognize that every day contains things worthy of noticing, and worthy of remembering that I noticed.  Photos capture the memory.

To recognize that even ordinary things are notable, and worth remembering if they are important enough to have become part of the fabric of everyday life.

To sometimes capture in photos patterns, designs, colors... really anything interesting in my world that often goes unnoticed. 

To grow in gratefulness.  I didn't start out the Everyday Aesthetics challenge last August expecting this to be a result, but very quickly I realized that I developed a thankful heart over the lovely, sweet, sometimes just interesting everyday things in my world.  Especially with things in nature, it made me think how our Creator probably delights in all the marvelous things He has made and, and I think it surely pleases Him when we delight in them, too.

I'll let you know if before the month is over I come up with some other good outcomes of doing this.  Activities like this have a way of surprising me, I've learned.

So...  you've already seen today's picture above.  

Was it obvious what it was?

It's something that has had a place in the scenery of my life for so long I stopped noticing it.  

Today I pulled it off the shelf and started using it again...

It appears to need a bit of a sort, though.  I see scissors, watercolor pencils, water brushes, pens, pencils, a highlighter and even a tiny crochet hook in there.  A big sort isn't necessary, but I think I should relocate the crochet hook at least, so I'll know where to find it when I need it next.  

Early days of autumn...

The Pampas Grass blows regally in the breeze

Asparagus seed balls turn a beautiful shade of red...

And other things start showing themselves in the asparagus bed...

...like thistles - Yikes, these got big!

And I have no idea what these blue berries are.  Any ideas?

These sedum (planted on the east side of the house) started out so tiny in the spring, but have overgrown the area they began in:

Next spring I think I will divide these and plant some on the south side of the house and see if the color changes with full sun, and maybe dryer conditions.  We've never had Sedum (also called Stonecrop) before.  Given they got no attention all summer, I'm calling this a completely effortless plant.

I think I took this picture of the garden a week ago:

The dying tomato and squash plants have all been removed, and all that is standing today are yellow brittle cucumber plants (on the far right, front), the Kentucky Wonder pole beans in the back center, and a Marconi Giant Pepper plant (front and center).

At this point, I'm hoping the remaining Marconi Peppers will at least begin to turn red so I can bring them inside to finish ripening before we get some cold weather this weekend.  Every other day I'm able to harvest enough green beans for a meal (though I clean, cut and freeze them, usually).  I'm ready to just let the remaining seed pods dry out and then see if they are harvestable for planting next spring.

Editing this post just to be clear that I am not doing the work of removing dead plants.  I'm not doing anything I can't do one-handed.  While I give some direction on what is finished up and can be pulled, Hub is doing the actual work of cleaning up the garden.  

 

While autumn is my most favorite time of the year, and I always look forward to putting growing things to rest outside (even in our smaller in-town yard I looked forward to cleaning out the flower beds and pots, and cutting things down), I have to admit having only one reasonable-working hand puts a damper on my enthusiasm for the season this year.  I'm not complain' (much), just explainin'.

I hope you're enjoying your autumn wherever you are!  Or your spring if you're in the southern hemisphere!  The two most wonderful times of the year...  😊

Late summer glory...

 
Credit for this photo of a dewy dragonfly belongs to my dear friend, Lynne - whose old gate captivated me when we visited in early August.  Lynne sent this picture to me (several weeks ago now) with a note that said I had "reminded her to look for everyday beauty".  A wonderful compliment!

Thank you, Lynne!  I'm sorry it took me so long to post it.  Though I know you know I've been a bit distracted in recent weeks.

Oh...  And just for fun...  turns out flowers in at least one Walmart are intentional.

After a rainstorm...

About the time when the daylilies were fading this summer, I realized sunflowers were growing in front of them from seeds dropped by our feathered friends feeding at the birdfeeders.  I decided to let them grow and enjoy the show.  

While we temporarily removed the bird feeders for a few months since the birds really weren't needing the seed, it was a fun surprise to watch nature unfold outside our bird-watching window while the birds were finding their food elsewhere.

Finding joy in little things, I have enjoyed watching a different view of the cycle of nature this past year.

I sure like low maintenance...

I've had a lot on my plate over the last several weeks and am looking ahead to more of the same into the next month, so anything low-maintenance and pretty gets special mention.  

For a plant that went completely neglected all spring and summer, this clematis certainly didn't seem to hold a grudge.

Late in the spring it treated us to a beautiful flush of purple flowers.

Then it seems like I remember looking at it about mid summer and noticed the blooms had all died off.

Then just last week I noticed new blooms and all these wonderful seed heads.

While I love when something so pretty is low maintenance, at the moment I look forward to paying this plant a little more attention next summer.  

We'll see if I actually do...

An unexpected simple pleasure...

Restrooms and Walmarts (especially restrooms in Walmarts) aren't natural blog fodder for me, but this moment was a perfect example of capturing "everyday aesthetics" where it could have easily gone relatively unnoticed.  

Walking into the restroom at a local Walmart recently, I didn't expect to be greeted with sweet smells and pretty, fresh flowers.

  

In fact, I'm sure I would have forgotten all about it had I not told myself as I was leaving to turn around and snap a picture.

As I went to get a cart, I stopped and told the greeter how surprising and nice the flowers in the restroom were, and she smiled like the whole thing was her idea, though she said she'd relay the message to management.  Whosever idea it was deserves to know it was a lovely thing.

It was all so unexpected, it honestly had me smiling for the duration of my shopping trip.

~~~~~

Edited to add...  I dropped into this Walmart again recently, and decided to visit the restroom for the sole purpose of finding out if the flowers above were intentional or just a happy, maybe even accidental bit of serendipity.

Turns out it's intentional:

Yay, Walmart!

Hmmm ...

Normally I'd have instantly thrown a piece of rotten fruit away, but these days I find myself stopping to study a thing.  Not sure a rotting tomato is actually aesthetically pleasing, but if you stop to really look at it, it is kind of fascinating.

For a moment, I thought maybe I was just becoming a little too weird with this whole looking-at-stuff-with-a-different-eye thing.  

Am I employing  an artist's eye?  

I went looking for an answer...

You tell me:   https://fineartamerica.com/art/rotten+fruit

Finally turning...

Mid-August. After a week of more moderate temperatures than we've had all summer, the tomatoes are finally ripening.  So excited!