Botany and Bookends

WELCOME!

A word maximalist.

I enjoy many aspects of life and find it difficult to wrap those interests in just a few words in order to fit them in the small boxes and short quips of social media. I enjoy reading interesting books, starting (and postponing!) creative projects, exploring our state of California, exciting thrift store finds, and caring for my ever-growing collection of houseplants. Oh, and food! Food, food and more food. These things connect me to our shared life experience as well as allow me to learn about the bigger world outside my view. Let’s talk about some of these things…and whatever else pops up along the way.

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LATEST POSTS

Really (really!) Fantastically Soft Gingerbread Cookies

I posted this recipe on my Instagram and Facebook today and had some people message me about a printable copy. So because I’m such an awesome person, here is the printable recipe version. These are seriously good gingerbread cookies. Soft center. Lightly crunchy outside. Just the right amount of spicy and sweet. (Wait. Are these […]
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Support a Creative

The most important thing you can give to the creative in your life are the words that say, ‘I did not see the discarded canvases. I did not see the proofread scripts. I did not see the crumbled clay or the wadded paper. I didn’t see the frustration or the doubt (……ever, the crippling doubt.) […]
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A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES by Shea Ernshaw

I was opening my Book of the Month box just as my dad called yesterday. I told him what I was doing and he (84 years old) immediately said he remembered the first Book of the Month they ever received: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) He also said he remembered ordering To Kill a […]
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ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Alice Feeney

“Shhhhhhut UP!” That is what I yelled into my empty home. It was just me, alone, reading the twists in this fast-paced thriller. “Wait. What?!”, I continue my one-sided conversation as I rapidly flipped back to the earlier chapters. I still have questions. I’ve never googled, so quickly, to compare plot ending explanations online. 1. […]
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in the in-between

I read an interesting description of Advent this morning in Common Prayer. While describing Advent as a time of waiting and expectation, the author wrote that ‘we are the midwives of another world.’ That sent me into a quick Google search of what a midwife’s responsibilities are: educating the parents before labor, nurturing the mother […]
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WHEN THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS AREN’T ENOUGH by Taylor Schumann

An excellent, excellent, excellent book. I have been following Taylor Schumann for a little while now on Instagram and Twitter. I was excited when she decided to write a book because I was interested in reading her story in whole rather than the bits and pieces I’ve picked up over time. What I didn’t expect […]
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