the river is frozen

the potomac river is frozen...very frozen, from one side to the other. this shot was taken from the george washington parkway in mclean, virginia looking toward dc, a little above fletcher's boat house...looking forward to the melting happening this new year's weekend.

an unkindness of ravens

need to add some whimsy to your newly diy-ed terrarium? head to doodle bird's etsy shop for an unkindness of ravens, or a skunk.

how to make a vivarium

while contemplating whether to do a terrarium or a vivarium, i stumbled across tortoise loves donkey, supplier of tiny bromeliads and succulents. precious!

how to make a terrarium

as winter settles in, so do you. keep your inner gardener happily gardening indoors all season with a diy terrarium...i might do one with the tiny-est of bulbs.

lunar eclipse

so i stayed up for the eclipse last night and it was awesome! i was still writing stuff at 1:40am when i realized it was on! the rare cosmic coincidence of the winter solstice and a total lunar eclipse hasn't happened for three centuries, so i ran outside and saw a quarter of the moon consumed by the earth's shadow...i checked it out an hour or so later and saw three quarter of the moon hidden: it really was awesome and i am sorry if you missed it! catch it again in 2094.

winter solstice

at 11:38 tonight, everything aligns, creates the longest night of the year and reverses the shortening of days: yeah! spring will be here before we know it!

ham & eggs

it has been a long winter so far, and winter doesnt officially begin until tomorrow! i found a surprise while out on a walk with the dog: a huge shrub verbena a.k.a. lantana with blooms still in full delicious color! often called 'ham & eggs' in the south where it is considered an invasive species, this lantana was in virginia near the chesapeake bay on the back side of a building creating a 8+ zone sub-climate for clearly a long time...very delicious!

downtown holiday shopping

i am a little behind on everything right now due to the confluence of holiday shopping, holiday entertaining and work: i have been selling my wares at the downtown holiday market! if you need a lovely gift for a gardener, birder or fashionista, please come visit me at this wonderful annual event in front of the national portrait gallery/museum of american art and buy something or eat something or listen to the wonderful musicians...its a great event and you will leave feeling the spirit of the holidays once again! i am in booth 38.

first snow storm

it is not yet winter, but temperatures here in dc have been 10-15 degrees below normal for weeks now and yesterday we got our first snow fall of the season: it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!