Tag Archives: inspiration

recent pins – the bees are flying* edition

Despite what has been a mainly gloomy and wet week, I managed to get outside for a run one day. The rain has left the streets pooled and clogged with mud and winter detritus. The red-winged blackbirds, my March friends, were loud in the reeds and the sky overhead was changeable, one moment swollen and sullen, the next breaking with sudden and blinding sun. All of this made me feel, friends, that despite being in the teeth of winter for what feel like a long time, no winter, or freeze, or storm, or cloud, or desolation, can last forever. There is always hope and as that great wheel turns and turns, we shall have spring again.

And with that very solemn intro which does not at all match what will be a fairly fluffy post, here are a few recent pins to slake my thirst for the season ahead.

Believe it or not, I actually have two of these types of old lanterns in the basement. They’re so cool but I’ve never known exactly how to use them to their best advantage! Link here.

And here is the tutorial.

Similarly cute idea. I have been growing morning glories on a rusty old trellis on the east side of our house for a few years now and this would be a fun addition once they start filling out.

This is the general vision I have for the southwest corner of our yard, under our pine trees. I love hostas and ferns, and buy a few every spring to gradually fill in. I doubt we’ll ever have a water feature but I do want a nice stone birdbath for that space and the colorful birdhouse is sweet!

More gorgeous hostas.

*From the post title. The final line of this poem always feels so significant to me (probably also because it is the last line of Ariel, and this line leaves too much unsaid; her fate was coming fast to meet her), full of a mix of emotions as these tiny creatures are summoned forth again to rise with the spring, no matter what obstacles they face. Joy, despair, survival, fight, death, rebirth.

“Will the hive survive, will the gladiolas
Succeed in banking their fires
To enter another year?
What will they taste of, the Christmas roses?
The bees are flying. They taste the spring.” (Wintering, by Sylvia Plath)

pins of the week – the one before Valentine’s day that has nothing to do with Valentine’s day

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We are headed off for a long weekend in northern Michigan – we have a Frozen 5k to run on Saturday morning (it is going to be COLD), a rental cottage further north, and a couple of planned days skiing and snowboarding (and maybe knitting in the lodge for one member of the travel party who shall remain nameless). But I’ve had some really pretty images swirling on my PInterest feed and wanted to quickly share them before we leave!

I’ve been saving my Harney & Son’s tea tins to reuse as knitting needle holders in my home office but I also love this idea and this one as well. I’ve made candles in my old tins before, as well. (I may or may not have actually ordered tea from them because I loved the tin it came in.)

I’m going to have to knit these fellows for the same reason as I loved the fish tattoo a few weeks ago.

I’ve never had much luck with seed starting indoors. I don’t have the space for it, and Emmett is a voracious plant-chewer. But I wonder if this idea would work for just a few tomato plants…

The leather pants are nonstarter for me but I love the haircut, the glasses, and the scarf.

And lastly, don’t forget this truth.

third friday of january roundup, recent pins

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It’s cold here in Michigan. And not as dark as December, but still pretty dark. Cars and people don’t want to start. Work is work. It’s going to be even colder next week. That’s that. I promise that my Friday posts will get more substantial as 2025 warms up but in the meantime, without further ado, some more recent pins for your viewing pleasure.

I probably need to warn Brandon that I am pinning a LOT of hairstyles that look like this lately. I won’t do it until I get my braces off but that day is coming up in the not-too-distant future!

Could those be handknit socks there? I have those exact Birks, some olive trousers, and a whole lotta knit socks so I see myself copying this look.

I absolutely love this closet. I wish I had a window in ours but at the very least I’m thinking I could put down a cool rug and maybe add a small antique (or antique-looking) dresser or chest of drawers in ours, and maybe some baskets for storage. Maybe even a string of battery-operated fairly lights.

I absolutely love this and I think that even my very limited sewing skills could accomplish something similar. What a great way to add a unique, artsy vibe to an otherwise standard shirt.