and the awesome crescent moon… lookin’ like the cheshire cat smile!!!
🙂
p.s. i love how you can see the outline of the moon, too!
both venus and jupiter will be visible through the end of february! so, make sure to look up! ❤
and don’t forget to get out in nature! it’s so healing!!!
these are one of my all-time favourite vegetables! i do enjoy beets, but i mostly enjoy these because of the way they look! from the outside, you wouldn’t know that they looked like this inside. but that’s part of what i love about them!
please meet the “candy cane beet” – also known as “chioggia beet” – aren’t they just magnificent?!
my two favourite ways to eat them are :
fun food facts :
also known as “bulls eye beets” – this unique specialty produce item has a sweeter, more robust flavour profile compared to its other beet cousins. they are named after a region in italy, where they predominantly grow. chioggia beets are an excellent source of manganese, folate, vitamin c, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. the leaves of this vegetable are also edible, and serve well sautéed, steamed, or as a chard substitute.
i thought this would be a good post to celebrate the summer solstice! 😀
i have always been somewhat obsessed with the praying mantis. for as long as i can remember, i just thought they were so cool, and when i was a kid i used to look for them everywhere i would go! i saw one giving itself a bath one time and it was just about the most amazing thing ever. until i saw THIS! something i have had on my “bucket list” for a while…
backtrack a bit – when i lived in north carolina, a friend of mine found a praying mantis pod {aka ootheca} and saved it for me. i, of course, totally freaked out about it and immediately went to read about how to care for it… then i took a bunch of photos of it and eventually put in my garden…
i did not get to see that one hatch at that time, but this year… i totally made up for it. i found at least a dozen of these in my garden earlier this year. and in late spring, they all began to hatch… and all of these baby praying mantids started to emerge!
IT WAS SO COOL!!!
fun facts :
baby praying mantids are called nymphs. they hatch by the dozens {or sometimes hundreds} a while after the mama creates her ootheca pod {which tranlates to “a place to keep.”} praying mantids are so good for the garden! they are beneficial predatory insects… which basically means they prey the harmful insects which would otherwise harm or eat plants! and i just totally adore them!
obviously i have a little theme going here, lately… 😉
all things strawberry!!!
upon waking {accidentally super early} this morning, i went down to the park and captured a few fotos of the beautiful full {strawberry} moon. while there, i made friends with a few ducks, and even finally got to see some baby ducklings for the first time this season!
please enjoy these lovely fotos!
i just love that gradient sky! good morning {and good night} moon! ❤
see the blue herring?!
i just love a pier on a summer morning…
mama and baby ducks… they followed me around for a bit… it was so cute!
baby ducklings splashing around…
aaahhhhhh, morning golden hour! the best!
how was your morning? have a great day!
this update is a little late… so much has been going on at the garden! we had a lot of rain here, and so the plants are growing and thriving so well!
i typically plant seasonally. so i started with my cool season crops like radishes, peas, beets, spinach, kale, arugula, and lettuce… most of which i have harvested lately. i also harvested the garlic and onions that i adopted from last year. the peas are starting to produce fruit which is exciting, and the lettuce is still thriving and i planted more this week. i started planting my summer crops – cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and more lettuce. i also planted flowers this year, which is kind of new for me – nasturtiums, calendula, and coneflower.
here is a progress report on what my overall garden plot looks like. i currently have a lot of seeds in the ground, and i take some pride in having beautiful soil and very little to no weeds. i am so excited to continue to watch the growth and progress! 🙂
do you have a garden? what are you growing?
nothing like a stroll in nature to clear the mind, connect with the earth, and welcome the new season!
it’s been a little chilly here lately {boo!} but just recently, i took a little walk with my cousin through a beautiful trail nearby and we both had our cameras in hand.
here are a few of my favourite images from the day.
happy spring, y’all – hope it’s springing where you are!
stumbled onto this along the way!
had a little fun taking pics of it…
these trees kind of remind of me aspens…
nothing like sunset over the water…
how’s the weather where you live?
y’all – i LOVE mushrooms! i always have. they fascinate me. i recently watched a super cool documentary that i highly recommend you check out – fantastic fungi. in discovering that film, i learned that mushrooms aren’t really a plant and they aren’t really an animal… they are like their own category. understanding that made me love them even more! i wish i could articulate just how amazing mushrooms really are. essentially they have an entire underground system in which they are all interconnected… and in some ways, mushrooms connect all of us, too! it’s just mind-blowing to learn and think about!
the weather has been just gorgeous here in maryland as of late. simply and purely perfectly autumn – warm sun, cool breeze, crisp air… the best! which means i want to get outside as much as possible! and so i went on a beautiful nature walk the other day and i must’ve seen at least 30 different kinds of mushrooms! i was constantly stopping and marveling at them. i snapped some pics with my phone and so i wanted to share what i saw.
i hope you enjoy and i truly encourage you to watch that film. i think i’ll watch it again and again!
just a lil’ reminder 😉
and also, i had the best intentions of updating this blog more…
and i still do…
and i will again…
and i thank you all for your patience and for showing up, even when my presence is a little more vague and sporadic than usual as of late…
and it truly means so much to me that you continue to choose to follow along in my journey, and read my blog, and engage…
and i’m thinking of my sweet cousin tony today… ❤
and that is all… for now…
i had the honour of fotographing this beautiful family a few weeks ago.
i love a good clean backdrop. nature provides the best, but so does a simple brick wall.
love that smile!
sometimes the “outtakes” are my favourite images… so candid and fun.
garden season is finally here! which means my happiness meter just skyrocketed! 🙂
i recently gave my praying mantis egg case an apartment upgrade by relocating it to the community garden. i {safely} tied it to a trellis in my plot.
the praying mantis serves as a wonderful addition to any garden, since they are a beneficial insect. they prey on other insects that may otherwise be harmful to crops and soil.
plus, they are totally fascinating to admire and watch! and i am hoping i am able to witness the case hatch and capture it on film!
i will be checking on it regularly, so stay tuned for more updates!
#farmeraudrey
a good friend of mine recently gifted me with this very unique and beautiful creation from nature.
have you ever seen such a thing?! do you have any idea what it is?!
i suppose the title of this blogpost gives it away 🙂
this is a praying mantis egg case!!!
as many of you may know about me, i am somewhat obsessed with the praying mantis. i had never seen an egg case before, but i was completely thrilled when this showed up in my life! {i think i even cried a little}
and so of course, i had to take some {perhaps too many?!} pictures!
i think the details are just so mesmerizing and are something to behold and appreciate! Continue reading
stargazer lilies are one of my favourite flowers! they are not only stunning to look at, but the scent is simply intoxicating!
i appreciate the intricate details within every flower blossom of the stargazer lily. i love to watch each one go through every stage as it blooms and opens. it makes me think of the phases and stages we as human beings go through in life. it’s like a flower blossoming… our journey may start by feeling closed off to the space around us… unsure of ourselves or “hiding” from the world… then in a divine way, we slowly start to open up and reveal our true inner beauty… and ideally as we grow and blossom, the world accepts and appreciates that beauty and all that we uniquely are, and we are ultimately embraced in all of our glory.
but just like a flower, it doesn’t really matter if anyone notices or appreciates or embraces. the essence of a flowers purpose is to simply be. it is beautiful with or without the recognition it deserves. and if we are lucky enough to be in the presence of such beauty, it serves us well to pause, notice, admire, appreciate, and absorb all that which IS.
and we are given that opportunity every single day.
i love a good soak in the tub!
… it’s so relaxing and comforting. i especially love to enjoy a hot bath when i have sore muscles or if i want to fight off icky feelings possibly related to a cold or germs, or LIFE, etc. i make time to enjoy a hot bath at least once a week, but i prefer to do it twice a week. it’s a crucial part of my self-care routine, and one i look forward to enjoying as frequently as possible.
i’ve been making my own bath soak for a while now. i choose to use himalayan pink salt because it is extremely mineral-rich. sometimes i add in epsom salts or magnesium salts for additional benefits.
soaking for about 20 minutes in a rich salt bath has many rewards. of course, it’s very relaxing but it’s also detoxifying and soothing to both the nerves and the skin.
i like to play around with different ingredient mixtures depending on the season or how i am feeling. sometimes i will make an oatmeal bath for extra moisturizing.
it’s very simple and easy to make your own bath soak, and you can get creative with the ingredients. there are a lot of different recipes out there, but this is my favourite go-to that i’ve been making for quite some time now.
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optional ingredients :
the details on the leaves of plants such as cabbage completely fascinate me!
i just never tire of experiencing the ocean… the sight, the smell, the sound… the feeling, the energy all around!
i also never tire of experiencing the moon… equally as much wonderful energy to behold!
i went down to the shore over the weekend for some {much needed} vitamin sea and to admire and enjoy the ocean and the full moon. by the time i got to the beach, the moon was just coming up over the horizon… and some hazy clouds initially obstructed the view.
still… breathtaking, right?!
it wasn’t long before the moon peeked out of the ombre sky and shared her beauty with us one again, in her final appearance of summer.
i walked around for a good hour or so, gazing in wanderlust as the moon took place high in the sky, illuminating all it touched…
… listening to the crashing waves, my senses engaged with the salty air, my toes wiggling in the soft sand…
feeling humbled and grateful for all that has been before me and all that is around me now. for all that will be, for all that i am, for all that i have, and for all that i have yet to experience.
just another reminder to stop and appreciate the flowers.
composition, light, contrast, details, depth, patterns, aperture, bokeh, simplicity, mood, moments…
these are some of my favourite things about fotography, no matter the subject…
anyway, happy 2018! is it snowing where you are?!
i drove down to columbia, south carolina to watch the total solar eclipse yesterday… and i’m so glad i made the trek! admittedly, i did not do as much preparing as i would’ve normally done… particularly because it kind of came together last minute. originally i had wanted to go to greenville, sc – which is where i was born {and supposedly where the highest totality and visibility would be}, but it all worked out rather nicely and i’m thankful to have been where i was… especially because it was also my mama’s birthday yesterday.
i didn’t have time to make a pinhole camera, which i really wanted to do, but of course i had a camera. if you follow me on instagram, i hope you saw the story… it was fun to create.
it was important to me not to get too caught up in taking fotos, because i truly wanted to enjoy the moment {two minutes, 36 seconds to be exact} 🙂
i shot these images with a 50mm lense… which, of course, isn’t ideal for something so far away… but i kind of liked showing the sky and having the tiny sun and moon fill up a tiny amount of space. i didn’t have a special filter, so i simply put my eclipse glasses over my lense. i thought about using my zoom lense, but like i said, i was more concerned with being there to truly witness the moment… it’s a hard balance sometimes, as someone who loves to take pictures… but i have been challenging myself to “capture the moment with my mind,” from time to time. this was one of those moments.
i took a few pictures of the crowd as well, but i wasn’t super thrilled with most of them. i think i was just too caught up in the experience to really take very many fotos… and i’m okay with that.
it was a truly incredible event and the sky was perfectly clear for the duration of {almost} totality. the crowd was wonderful, the vibe was awesome, the beer was delicious {i drank a special ‘black ipa’ aptly named, “blackout”.} i feel very fortunate to have been where i was during the eclipse. we reached totality around 2:30 p.m. in columbia, south carolina. the temperature dropped, the moon inched in front of the sun, making it as dark as night… the crowd went wild, people screamed and hugged and kissed… it’s kind of hard to truly describe how marvelous it was to see it all happen. the energy felt very intense to me… and as someone who has always admired and been in awe of the stars, it was a lot to take in… something for the history books, indeed.
i’m still buzzing from it all ❤
food & foto 