love, february 💌

What I’m reading, what’s inspiring me lately, visual journals, and a February catchup <3

Mar 02, 2025

February is nearly always meloncholy. - Anna de Noailles

February, month of despair, with a skewered heart in the middle. - Margaret Atwood

A memorable piece from our trip to Phoenix Art Museum. Art by Shara Hughes

The birds are chirping again. I can hear them in the neighbour’s tree. I’m sitting in the sunshine, writing this and listening to them sing. Today was the first day in a while I was able to have my breakfast on the porch; indulging in the heat of the February sun that shines so strongly after a long winter. The air still has a slight chill to it, but the sunshine drowns it out. It feels good here.

February went quickly, as it usually does. We spent the beginning of the month packing and preparing for a friend’s trip to a hotter climate: Arizona. The middle of the month was spent lounging in the hot desert sun among friends and cacti. A welcome break from the cold back home. Then came the twenty-third of February: my 25th birthday. The day wasn’t an eventful one, though you could count the entire week leading up to the 23rd as a birthday celebration (there was much food and many drinks to back up that assumption). But the twenty-third was a slow Sunday of travel for me, staring out at Canadian mountains on a bus back home from Vancouver. It was slow, calm, and relaxing.

Honestly, a great way to spend a birthday.

I’m home again, and these last few days of February have been spent trying to settle back into routine. Remembering daily practices and habits that I had stuck to a couple of weeks before. Mostly dog-walking, morning meditations, work at the library, writing, and many hours in between spent scrapbooking photos from the trip and developing my animal crossing island (I’m randomly obsessed with this game at the moment).

February was a month of fun, chaos, routine, and spontaneity all at once. And now February is over, once again.

Everything I read in February:

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

I kind of devoured this book while taking a couple neighbourhood dogs on their walks. It was listed in the ‘available now’ section on Libby and it caught my eye. If you’re familiar with the 19 kids and counting family, you may find this interesting, too!

*adding a new section this month called: all the books I started and may not finish :/ because there were a few

Books I started this month but did not finish:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book was mentioned to me a couple of time by some of you moss lovers! I had read and enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s books before, so I was excited to begin this one. I got it as an audiobook, and listened to it on the bus and plane rides on our way to Arizona. It was good. I was intrigued. I listened to it while I stared out the windows and gazed up at the mountains. I’ve liked it so far — and I’ve just gotten to the moss bit. I hope to finish it, though it may take me a while! It’s a 20hour book!!

Here’s to Us by Erin Hilderbrand

This felt like the perfect read for the sunny Arizona days by the pool. It was. I liked the drama it offered and I just wanted to read more and more. I hope to finish this one too! Maybe in March?

Little lovelies — a collection of media I’ve felt inspired by

Drawing Botany Home by local author, Lyn Baldwin

Lyn came to my town’s library to host a program, talking about her book and her career as a botanist/artist. She laid out a spread of her creative journal pages of plants she’s documented over the years. It was inspiring to see and I hope to read her book in 2025.