iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Lucky shot today. I usually don't take my mountain shot until around the middle of the crossing. I took the first one just outside the harbor because I wanted to catch the motorboat. The second one is about where I'd usually take it. 😂 #MountTahoma #MountRainier #Commute #PNW #WSF #PugetSound #Fog

Mount Tahoma rises above a thick bank of gray fog across Puget Sound. Its snow-covered summit and upper slopes are visible, while its lower slopes fade into the mist. In the foreground, a small motorboat speeds across the water, leaving a white wake. A navigation structure stands on pilings at the left.

Dense gray fog blankets Puget Sound, completely obscuring the distant shoreline and mountains. The textured blue-gray water in the foreground gradually disappears into the mist, leaving no visible horizon.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It's a sunny day on Puget Sound. The cormorants (and one seagull) are enjoying it. #Birds #BirdWatching #MountTahoma #MountRainier #Landscape #Autumn

A large group of dark cormorants perch in the sunshine on railings, pilings, and other ferry terminal structures, with a single white-and-gray gull among them. Sunlit trees with early autumn colors cover the wooded hillside in the background.

A snow-covered Mount Tahoma rises above a dark, forested shoreline, with a thin band of low clouds and haze around its lower slopes. Little Tahoma is visible as a pointed peak on the left. Dark blue water in the foreground is choppy with small whitecaps under a pale blue, slightly hazy sky.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It's a tear-jerker. I cried when I read it 40 years ago. I haven't read it again (I re-read most good books), but I'm glad I read it. ❤️

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, indeed. It's manageable for me. I can move online, but it's impossible for a lot of people. Especially scary for anyone who needs to cross for medical attention. 😕

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

• Restoring Safe Staffing Baselines: The union demands a return to legacy staffing policies. The union's previous contract required an extra engine room crew member beyond the required legal minimum. WSF eliminated that buffer, so if one person calls out sick, the vessel is barred from sailing.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

• Ending Forced Overtime & Burnout: Engineers are routinely scheduled for 84-hour workweeks. Many employees log more than 1,500 hours of overtime per year. MEBA argues that relying on exhausted, burnt-out workers to fill empty slots "courts disaster."

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

These two union demands are entirely understandable. I stand with the union.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

13 out of 18 boats out if service. There are rumors of it being a sick-out by the engineers, who are currently in contract negotiations. Or they could be sick. Flu and covid are hitting hard.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I don't think it has happened like this. I've been doing this commute since 1992, and this is the first time I've seen whole routes shut down. Sure, there are occasional reductions, but something like this is shocking.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Well, this is exciting. Ferries canceled system-wide due to crew shortage. My route is entirely out of service. Fortunately, today is my online day. 🫣 #WSF #Commute

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Jasper stuck the landing on the litter box in motion. (It stops moving immediately.)

Jasper, an orange tabby, balances with his front paws on top of a large white spherical litter box, leaning forward to investigate the opening. His tail is held straight up as he peers down, surrounded by rumpled blankets, bookshelves, and a warm yellow wall.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It's the preference for birthdays in my household. 🙂

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Mise en place for carrot cake. Those neat stripes aren't just decorative. The mise en place is the workflow encoded spatially on the cutting board on which each ingredient has related requirements for preparation. #Baking #Cake #MiseEnPlace

A large cutting board holds carrot cake ingredients arranged in deliberate rows: a large mound of freshly grated carrots, chopped nuts, pineapple tidbits, shredded coconut, and currants. A chef’s knife rests alongside them. Eggs, spices, cream cheese, flour, and a large mixing bowl are visible on the counter behind the board.

The ingredients are placed deliberately. Grated carrots first because they're the main ingredient and get all over during the grating and have to be gathered up. Nuts next because they have to be chopped and I need enough space. Pineapple followed by coconut because the nuts and coconut soak up the pineapple juice so it doesn't escape, and finally the currants. Those neat stripes aren't just decorative. The mise en place is the workflow encoded spatially on the cutting board in which each ingredient has related requirements for preparation. 😄

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It's that really strange aloe I found on the clearance rack.

Top-down close-up of a densely clustered aloe with many pointed, overlapping leaves. The green leaves are heavily textured with raised, elongated markings in pale green, pink, and rusty orange, with small pinkish teeth along the edges. Numerous offsets crowd around the central rosettes, and a slender flower stalk rises from the center.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The aloe buds finally opened. The first picture is 15 days ago when I brought it home, so it's taken a while. I've never seen an aloe bloom before. #Succulents #Aloe #Plants

Close-up of an aloe flower stalk with several elongated, unopened buds branching from a central stem. The buds are coral-red, fading to pale green and bluish-green at their pointed tips. The background is softly blurred, emphasizing the developing flower cluster.

Close-up of an aloe flower stalk in sunlight, with clusters of elongated coral-red buds tipped with pale green. Several flowers have begun to open, revealing creamy green interiors and protruding yellow-orange stamens. Terracotta pots, spilled soil, and a colorfully painted potting table are softly out of focus in the background.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Pooka is playing dead because she prefers lying in the sun to taking a walk. #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky #SunnyDay

Pooka, a tan-and-white dog in a pink harness, lies sprawled on her side in a sunny patch of a gravel garden path, eyes closed and legs stretched out, refusing to continue her walk. Her leash trails behind her up the path. Dense shrubs and flowering hydrangeas border the path, with deep shade on one side contrasting with the bright sunlight where Pooka has chosen to lie.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Same. Bruno favors Squishmallows.

Bruno, a black-and-white tuxedo cat, stands on a bed amid rumpled blankets, gripping a large, brightly colored Squishmallow with his front paws and biting its edge. A second turquoise Squishmallow is partly underneath him. Maps and hanging hats are visible on the wall behind the bed.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The look I get when I tell Pooka to go to bed in her own bed. #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky #Pathos

A tan-and-white dog stands on a colorful patterned bedspread, head lowered and looking sideways toward the camera with a distinctly reluctant expression. A large cat tree stands beside the bed and an open door occupies the background.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I live in North Kitsap. The county does a lot of habitat restoration, including constructing snags, which I think is pretty cool.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Whenever I have to cut a tree, I always leave a substantial snag for habitat. 🙂

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Brown creepers are among my top five favorite birds. 💜

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It comes in from behind at about 00:12 and lands on the far side stone by the top cascade then hops into the cascade.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chickadees, brown creepers, golden-crowned kinglets

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A retired EMT friend suggested they might have been standing by at an event.

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The Garden Hermit @gardenhermit.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

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

It's what we always say in this neck o' the woods. 😄

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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 · 28/09/2026

For the varied thrushes I leave some apples on the trees. They love apples.

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

I don't feed birds partly because I have bears. 😄

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

Oh, that's sad. I don't directly feed any birds. I plant natives. This year I put in serviceberry and snowberry. I'm in the process of encouraging native grasses, and discovered some native sedges moving in on their own. I have five acres to work with, most of it wooded.

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

I had an enormous flock of migrating robins take over the pond for about three weeks this year. I usually get a dozen or so captures on my long-range camera every day. Rarely more than twenty. I was getting 70-80 daily while that mob was hanging out. They've moved on now.

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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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