iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 17h

In today's commuting news, I was driving behind a group of three ambulances in my semi-rural county. They weren't running lights or sirens. I wonder where they were coming from.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

So, I'm sitting at a red light in the left lane, which is the through lane. This guy (I assume it's a guy) is in the right lane, which merges just after the light, revving his engine and rocking, ready to run ahead and get in front. The light changes, and he pops his clutch. 😂 #IdiotDrivers

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I've been thowing bits of advice to a new teacher. I just explained to her how to schedule her computer lab time and pointed out we have two labs. She asked what the difference is, and I explained one is right here, and the other is way over there. It's the little things. #Teaching

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Mountain is out for my first crossing of the season. 😄 ##MountTahoma #MountRainier #Volcano #Commute #PNW #WSF #PugetSound

View across Puget Sound toward Mount Tahoma, its snow-covered slopes sharply visible beneath layered gray-blue clouds. A smooth cap of cloud rests over the summit, while patches of sunlight illuminate the upper snowfields. Dark forested shoreline stretches across the foreground beyond the rippled gray water.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Classes start today. Trying to keep my anxiety under control. You would think that after almost 30 years of teaching this wouldn't be the case, but you would be wrong. Every time I start a new class, I'm as nervous as hell. #School #Teaching #Anxiety #Introvert

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I repotted several succulents and brought in the ones that can't winter outside. I put up new shelves in my kitchen window and hung new valances. #Gardening #Succulents #InteriorDesign #Kitchen

A kitchen window framed by new white sheer valances with embroidered floral vines and wide scalloped lace borders. The valances sweep inward to form an open arch around clear window shelves displaying several succulents in assorted pots. More plants and decorative objects sit on the yellow windowsill, including a bearded face planter, a bright orange orangutan-shaped vegetable peeler, and a blue-green glass vessel. The open center leaves most of the window unobstructed, with trees visible outside.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I repotted some hardy geraniums today. I wasn't planning on dividing them, but I accidentally broke off a piece of Karen Wouters rhizome. It's in the little pot. G. Karen Wouters G. Summer Surprise G. Thurstonianum G. Rozanne #Gardening #ContainerGardening #Geraniums

Five newly repotted hardy geraniums sit together on a weathered white outdoor table in bright afternoon sun. Four larger plants occupy an assortment of black plastic, plain terracotta, pale weathered ceramic, and dark carved pots, while a tiny new division sits in a miniature terracotta pot at the front. Their foliage ranges from sparse and autumn-worn to one notably lush, bright green plant. Loose potting soil and a few dead leaves scattered across the table show the aftermath of the repotting session, with a wooded garden in the background.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Harbingers of Autumn The first pair of varied thrushes arrived from the mountains. The Swainson’s thrushes haven't all moved south yet. #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It was sweater weather today. Pooka does not like the chill. #Autumn #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky

Pooka, a brown and tan dog, stands alert on a stone garden path wearing a cozy striped sweater in cream, sage green, dusty pink, and brown, with her pink harness over it. The sweater covers most of her long torso and belly and reaches to the base of her tail. Her ears are upright and she gazes intently off to the side beneath the reddish foliage of a Japanese maple.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Here's a surprised encounter. 😂 Band-tailed pigeon and Red-shafted northern flicker #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Today's excursion to the thrift store revealed this absurd head pot, so of course I had to go find him a brain. There were lots of little succulents on the clearance rack. The aloe is blooming. I don't think I've ever seen an aloe bloom. Details in alt text. #Succulents #Cactus #Absurd #HousePlants

Four newly potted succulents arranged on a white-painted outdoor table. From left: a dark purple Echeveria in a plain terracotta pot; a low, toothy green Stomatium in a blue-and-white ceramic pot with saucer; a knobby dark green “Ming Thing” cactus emerging like a brain from the open head of a whimsical white bearded-man planter with large bare feet; and a large, densely clumping pink-and-green textured Aloe in a tall tan pot, with its slender flower stalk extending out of the frame. White porch railings and a sunlit green woodland form the background.

Close-up of an aloe flower stalk bearing about a dozen slender, tubular buds on branching stems. The buds are vivid coral-orange with green at their tips. The buds are tightly closed. The background of porch furniture and gardening supplies is softly blurred, emphasizing the delicate flowers.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Pacific wren dancing around a song sparrow and a Swainson’s thrush. #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A less common visitor at my pond, a hairy #woodpecker. He doesn't care about the thrushes hanging around. Thrushes: Swainson's thrushes and robins #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I got a rare nighttime capture of a barred owl. Oddly enough, they usually come by after dawn, not at night. #Owls #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I found these chairs at the thrift store yesterday (score!) and left them in front of the porch. I did not know I had bought a dog trap. This is me trying to go for our morning walk. We went, but she was back in it when we came home. Forget breakfast, apparently. #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky #Thrifting

Pooka, a tan-and-white, short-haired medium-sized dog wearing a pink harness, is curled sideways on a beige zero gravity lawn chair in a sunny garden. She rests her chin on one armrest and gazes contentedly toward the camera. A second matching chair stands behind her, and the chairs are surrounded by dense green shrubs and garden paths.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Jasper is quite pleased with himself after helping me make the bed. #GingerCats #OrangeCats #CatsOfBluesky

Jasper, an orange tabby cat, sits upright near the foot of a freshly made bed, looking intently toward the camera. The bed has a colorful paisley-patterned cover. Behind him are two large Squishmallows, a red-and-purple fox and a turquoise scorpion with shiny blue legs and claws, with a pile of pillows stacked behind them.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Well, that's an impressive recovery after being forgotten on a windowsill for who knows how long. I moved them outside on July 3rd. The after shots are today. #JadePlants #Crassula #HousePlants #IAtentDead

Photo 1 — Before, July 3: A severely dehydrated Gollum jade plant in a ceramic pot outdoors. Its thick trunk and branching stems are still upright, but nearly all the leaves are brown, shriveled, curled, and hanging limply from the branches.

Photo 2 — September 16: The same Gollum jade plant about 10 weeks later, now covered with plump, glossy green leaves. New growth fills the upper branches, and a healthy cluster of leaves has grown from the base of the previously bare trunk.

Photo 3 — Before, July 3: A second badly dehydrated jade plant in a ceramic pot outdoors. Its multiple upright stems hold sparse, leathery leaves that are dark, wrinkled, curled, and mostly brown, giving the plant an almost dead appearance.

Photo 4 — September 16: The same jade plant about 10 weeks later, with numerous healthy green branches and thick, fleshy oval leaves. Fresh growth has filled out the formerly sparse stems, with only a few dried remnants remaining among the foliage.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've been in a nostalgic cereal phase. Last week it was Apple Jacks, this week Corn Pops, which used to be more honest as Sugar Pops. It had a toy, but it was outside the bag not mixed with the cereal. No digging or patiently waiting for it to drop into the bowl. #Nostalgia #GenX #Cannabis

A hand holds a small, glossy golden-yellow Woody figurine from Toy Story in front of a Kellogg’s Corn Pops cereal box. Woody has an oversized head and cowboy hat, with his hands on his hips.

The Woody collectible has been taken apart to reveal its intended use as a spoon: his oversized head and cowboy hat form one piece, while his body extends upward into a large oval spoon bowl. Both pieces are the same glossy golden-yellow plastic.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In true PNW cat fashion, Bruno collected water from our first real fall rain and came to share it. Now he expects me to dry him off. Time to put towels at strategic points around the house. #TuxedoCats #PNW #Autumn

Bruno, a black-and-white tuxedo cat, sits on a rumpled quilt in the foreground looking disgruntled, his fur damp from the rain. Behind him, a floral sheet-covered futon is piled with cushions, and a brown and tan dog is curled up asleep at the far end.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Here's a nice little colony of mushrooms. Inkcaps, I think. #Mushrooms #Forest #PNW

A dense cluster of tan-brown mushrooms grows from the end of a decaying log on the forest floor. The closely packed, bell-shaped caps have fine vertical striations and overlap one another in a tiered group. Green sword fern fronds, fallen twigs, damp soil, and decaying wood surround the colony.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Battling my existential agony, I planted three snowberry shrubs. The power company dug up this slope where our private road meets the main road. Snowberry spreads via underground rhizomes and will colonize the space. Project details in alt text. #NativePlants #Gardening #ForestEcology

Last week I covered the slope in old straw to prevent erosion.

A sun-dappled roadside slope covered with straw, with bare sandy soil still visible on the flat top. Evergreen trees and dense vegetation border the disturbed area on the right. A paved road runs on the left with more dense forest on the opposite side. In the foreground is a gravel road.

I hauled the materials down today. I'll have to take water down there until the fall rains really set in.

A small green utility wagon sits on a gravel drive loaded with three potted snowberry shrubs, a clear plastic tub of water, and a rake visible.

I raked forest litter from under the trees to mulch each plant. I'll rake up the bigleaf maple leaves from my driveway to mulch the rest of the area on another day.

Three newly planted snowberry shrubs are spaced irregularly across the sun-dappled slope beside the road. Each small shrub sits in its own circle of forest litter mulch. A rake, a copper watering can, gloves, and a stack of nursery pots containing a hori hori sit nearby. A power pole is visible in the upper left corner.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Jasper came on our morning pee walk with Pooka instead of Bruno today. Unlike Bruno, he didn't yowl all the way, but he was puffy about it. 😾 #OrangeCats #GingerCats #Forest

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Good morning. I have been awake since eight roiling in existential agony. I finally got up and took a shower.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

A mob of American robins has taken over my pond. I usually get around a dozen 20-second captures from this camera daily. For a week it's been 70-80 per day, all robins all the time. The pots are #NativePlants twinberry and snowberry to be planted. #Birds #BirdWatching #Pond #GardeningForWildlife

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'm adding snowberry and twinberry to my landscape. I have a lot of berries: huckleberry, red huckleberry, blueberry, osoberry, serviceberry, haskap, raspberry, and blackberry, #NativePlants except blueberry. #Garden #Birds #GardeningForWildlife #EdibleLandscape

Close-up of an American robin among dense green red huckleberry foliage, its beak comically stuffed with three red-orange berries at once. More ripening huckleberries surround the bird on the leafy branches.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Your moment of #Zen Chickadees, Golden-crowned kinglet, Red-breasted nuthatch, Townsend's warbler #Birds #BirdWatching #GardeningForWildlife #Pond #Waterfall

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Some months ago, Kitchen Elf, my Roomba, stopped working. It would not charge. I got frustrated and gave up. Today, I took another look. I found the problem. The power cord was hanging on, but not actually seated in the base. I can hear thousands of tech support people saying, "Is it plugged in?" 😂

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Orange cats. What are you gonna do? Jasper, you're a little to close and personal for Bruno's comfort. 😂 #OrangeCats #TuxedoCats #Litterbox

Jasper, an orange tabby, balances on top of a large white automatic litter box and leans down to peer into the entrance. Bruno, a black-and-white tuxedo cat, stands inside staring out with a distinctly displeased expression, as though Jasper is much too close for comfort.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I just hauled our yard waste bin through the forest and down to the main road at nearly midnight. Pooka refused to come with me. She refused to leave the porch because it's damp. I could have been eaten by a grue for all she cares. She thinks she deserves treats. 😂 #Dogs

Pooka, a tan-and-white dog, stands on a colorful yellow, green, blue, and gray tiled kitchen floor, looking expectantly up at the camera. Her tail is raised and her large ears are comically mismatched, with one standing straight up and the other flopped sideways. Her wide-eyed expression suggests she is waiting hopefully for a treat.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

What is it with jumping spiders and fresh paint? Once again, a tiny jumping spider decides a newly painted piece of garden art is a good hunting perch. #Spiders

Close-up of a small brown-and-gray jumping spider perched on the freshly painted garden statue. Its fuzzy body, striped legs, and large glossy black eyes stand out sharply against the bright yellow and magenta paint. The spider faces the camera as though posing.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Bruno is annoyed because there's a DOG on the bed. 😾 #TuxedoCats

Bruno, a black-and-white tuxedo cat, lies on a colorful paisley-patterned bedspread, staring intently toward the camera with wide green eyes and an unmistakably displeased expression. His ears are upright and his long white whiskers stand out against his black face. A dark blue tote bag hangs in the background. Bruno is annoyed because Pooka is on the bed.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Today Pooka and I explored this municipal runoff water treatment facility that doubles as a park. It collects, cleans, and releases runoff from 100 acres of urban development. It uses natural mechanisms including soil, native plants, and microbes to trap and breakdown pollutants. It's pretty cool.

Pooka, a tan-and-white dog in a harness, stands on a gravel path looking across the thickly planted basins of Whispering Firs Stormwater Park. Low clipped shrubs, grasses, young trees, and dense wetland vegetation fill the treatment cells, with forest rising behind them.

Curving bands of pale and dark concrete surround two large circular concrete structures with manhole covers at Whispering Firs Stormwater Park. Gravel paths branch between densely planted stormwater treatment areas, backed by tall evergreens and deciduous forest beneath a cloudy sky.

Wide elevated view across Whispering Firs Stormwater Park, showing the extensive system of planted treatment cells, winding gravel paths, clipped shrubs, wetland vegetation, and scattered circular concrete access structures. Dense mixed forest surrounds the green, intricately patterned landscape beneath an overcast sky.

Informational sign for Whispering Firs Stormwater Park explaining how rainwater runoff from more than 100 acres of urban development is diverted into treatment cells, filtered through soil and plants, then returned to Clear Creek and ultimately Puget Sound. Photos and a diagram illustrate the system. The sign says the park treats about 100 million gallons of stormwater annually and is expected to prevent 100,000 pounds of pollutants from reaching Puget Sound over 10–20 years.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I worked my way through a very hard day that began in severe #CPTSD flashbacks. I didn't do everything I planned to do today, but I wasn't paralyzed either. Now I'm just tired and headache. Please send nice pictures. 💚

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I now have a ghostly gargoyle and flamingo pair primed and ready for dipping. #GardenArt #Art #HydroDipping

A small crouching gargoyle garden statue, freshly coated in pale primer, sits on cardboard outdoors against a softly blurred woodland background. It has pointed ears, short horns, large batlike wings, a broad mischievous face, muscular torso, long arms, clawed hands, and bent legs. Dappled sunlight highlights the statue’s rough, weathered surface texture.

A large flamingo garden statue and its chick, freshly primed entirely white, sit on cardboard outdoors in dappled sunlight. The adult has a long neck, large round recessed eyes, and a broad beak; the chick nestles between its wings and legs. Detailed feather textures are visible through the primer, with a shady wooded garden behind them.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Sometimes you just want chocolate pudding, so I made some (with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa.) You know how they always say put cling wrap on the surface so it doesn't form a skin? I don't do that. I like pudding skin. #Cooking #Chocolate

A large white bowl with a green patterned rim holds homemade chocolate pudding made with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa. The pudding is very dark brown and glossy, with a thick, wrinkled skin forming across the surface and bunching into folds in the center.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Tiny jumping spider, family Salticidae. It decided to lurk behind the ear of a gargoyle I just primed. Happily, it waited until the primer was dry. #Spiders

Close-up of a tiny brown and mottled jumping spider tucked into a crevice behind the gargoyle’s ear. Its two large, glossy black forward-facing eyes reflect the light, giving it an alert, almost startled expression as it peers out from against the pale, freshly primed surface.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Puttering around the thrift store, I found this absurd object which I will paint in some ridiculous way (not pink) and put in a surprising place in my garden. It has light-up solar-powered eyes, but I doubt they work. I'm requesting paint ideas. 😆 #GardenArt #Absurd #Flamingo #Thrifting

A large, comically serene pink flamingo garden statue sits in lotus pose on a small table. It wears oversized black glasses with a matching meditating flamingo chick on its lap wearing blue-lensed glasses. The statue is weathered and chipped in places. Behind it, a sunny deck is crowded with colorful flowering pots, chairs, and gardening supplies.

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