This is not a hat

I know I promised a hat this time but there was an inverse relationship between my week and my knitting fingers - one got busy and the others did not. However! I thought you'd enjoy a look at what's growing in our garden this fine January day.

That's right, it's our old friend lichen.

Also some lovely evergreen Sweet Woodruff and another plant I can't remember the name of. Note the moss between the bricks I used to eke out our supply of cement slabs. 

 

The slabs were here when we moved in, and they were in this approximate location, making a big patio at the back of the house. The rest of the yard was overgrown to the point there was only enough light to grow grass in the very middle of what was left of the property. Boy, that was a long time ago. We've been through possibly a literal ton of iterations since.

Let's not forget our many paths. I set out all of them and though there's one low point where I really need to lift bricks and scatter in some more sand on this particular run - you can just see it in the distance at the top of the frame - I can't say I'm highly motivated. I love the way this looks as it is. 

 

At this time of year, I even love all our pots tidily tucked to one side waiting for us to put something new into them next year.

My most favourite thing, in all seasons, is the mossy rocks under our cedar.

Apparently it's bad to pile rocks under a tree like this, as it hurts the roots, but they've been here a few years and the tree seems to be holding up okay. And I don't know where else to put the rocks. For me, they are a moss garden. For our local squirrel companions, they are cover for many buried nuts. We used to plant flowers in this bed but now we just treat it as nut storage and enjoy watching the squirrels not digging up our plants.

We watch the squirrels all day long from inside, but when I was out taking these pictures I took time to admire the view from our mini arbor area. 

The columns supporting the frame were from our original porch and this is how we decided to repurpose them, when the porch replacing it proved to be a different height. There's so much shade in summer in the cosy nook under this structure.

Speaking of cosy nooks, I've been hanging out a lot today at my downstairs desk, writing longhand with my entry-level fountain pen (a Pilot Kakuno) and trying to work out the plot details for my next project. I often write the beginning of something without an outline, but I find I need to work out details pretty early on to avoid drifting off into directions that don't make any sense. And oh my goodness... writing with a good fountain pen on clean smooth paper, what a delight! Something about that tactile experience makes thinking so much easier. 

Hope you've had something pleasant to do today! And I hope I get knitting time soon because I really do want to show you that hat. The yarn is knitting up so beautifully and I'm loving it so much.

 

Take care till I see you again, hopefully next weekend!