Friday, April 13, 2018

Melting Basket 120: All About the Mints


Wax tarts from the big old basket of berries that I would happily buy and melt again include: CFTKR Fresh Picked Strawberry (every day all day), Strawberry Cotton Candy, Strawberry Salt Water Taffy, Creamy Peppermint Serendipity, Serendipity Marshmallow Delight and 2543, Rosegirls Rosegirls' Garden/Raspberry Sauce/Vanilla Bean Noel and The Bathing Garden Painting the Roses Red.

Vintage Chic Scents- Central Park Snowglobe
Vintage Chic Scents- Pink Twinkling Lights
Candles From The Keeping Room- Peppermint & Cypress
Candy Panda- Wonderful Christmastime
Beezy- Pink Peppermint
Rosegirls- Winter Mermaid (Coconut, Shaving Cream and Peppermint)
Sniff My Tarts- Peppermint Swizzle Sticks and Lord of Misrule
Sniff My Tarts- Candy Cane/Marshmallow/Lord of Misrule
Sniff My Tarts- Peppermint/Barbershop/Ocean
Sniff My Tarts- Marshmallow Fireside/Peppermint/Christmas Pine

I have been craving peppermint like no body's business. If you are interested in hearing about any of these blends or scents just let me know in the comments and I will happily review them for you. 


So I am by no means equipped to take wildlife photography with my teeny zoom lens but I just had to share with you my very first wild owl experiences. Jay and I have chatted about our mutual love of owls in the past and when she mentioned seeing one in real life in the wild not too long ago, my heart ached. I have heard them many times when out hiking and even hooting from the woods in our backyard. But alas, these eyes have never seen them in their wild habitats. 

Adam, the girls and I went for our usual hike in the Circle B Preserve (you know... the place that made national news when a gator the size of Godzilla was caught on film) and I mentioned to Savanna how cool it would be to see an owl. As we were leaving we saw a group of people crowded around the path and a few of those big honking professional cameras set up on tripods. Sure enough it was an owl. My heart melted


It was a mama Florida Barred owl (I think). Isn't she the cutest?!

Want to see something even CUTER?!?!?!



This is her baby that was tucked into a tree about a 100 yards away from her. He reminds me of the grey dwarves in Ronja. Would you just look at his cheeky old mystical man face?!?!

And guess what? As we were leaving there was a bunch of red tape cordoning off this area of trees at the entrance and exit of the park so I got nosey and walked over to check it out with Savanna...


...and there was a baby Great Horned Owl in the tree! Look at his fluffy butt!



I know these owls weren't sent here for my own personal heart lifting, but it certainly did just that. 

I saw black bears last summer and owls two weekends ago. I would say it doesn't get much better than that, but I know I am hoping to see some whales in Maine in June. Cross your fingers for me please. 

Do you have any wildlife dreams? What would you love to see out in the wild?

14 comments:

  1. Julie, those owls are amazing! My daughter volunteers at our local Audubon center and works with a lot of the raptors there and the owls are some of her favorites. I was lucky enough to be vacationing in Maui during whale season, went on a few whale tours and saw a number of whales up close. It was thrilling!

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    1. I thought so too! I was shocked to see them and so grateful. How cool that your daughter gets that experience. Maui. Hawaii is a dream of mine and add whale watching to that? <3 Cherry on the top. I am not sure how close we will be able to get but I am excited.

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  2. Love the owl pics! I often hear them when I'm up before dawn to run or do laundry, and once a big dark silhouette glided over my head, but I've never actually seen one just sitting there. Gorgeous!

    Speaking of birds, Maggie Stiefvater's Twitter thread about her nesting finches is hilarious: https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/979790147716898816

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    1. How cool! I bet that was a heart stopping moment. The swoop. I love the sound. It is so mournful and poignant.

      What?! I need to check this out!! I love Maggie's story about the owl that came to her window while she was writing All The Crooked Saints. She talked about it at her book signing/speaking engagement I went to watch. I love Maggie. She is so cool. Off to read about her finches.

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    2. Ok. I just read the thread and she is hilarious. Thank you for the gift of a laugh.

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  3. Those owls are magnificent! How beautiful, what a sight!!
    I love catching a glimpse of red foxes in the wild. They're so gorgeous to me.
    I'd love to see armadillos or fiddler crabs in the wild. (My sis saw and filmed fiddler crabs on her first Hawaii adventure last year. I was delighted for her, but of course, I was quite jealous. I'm happy she shared photos and video with me).

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    1. My heart was pounding so hard!!

      I would love to see a red fox! I did see a bobcat once but that was a horribly sad experience. Armadillos are the funniest creatures ever. We have one that comes up to our house and digs under our house to hunt for grubs in the same spot every time. I laugh and Adam grumbles. They are pretty much blind so it is easy to sneak up on them. And fiddler crabs are just the cutest things ever. <3 Watch some foxes for me!!

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    2. Oh yes! Bobcats and lynxes are gorgeous lovely kitty cats. I'm sorry your bobcat sighting was unfortunate.
      I can't believe you have an armadillo by your home!! Did you name it? >:D hee hee hee

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  4. Greatest nature excursion possible. That baby horned owl is giving me so many feels. Beautiful shots,too, I especially love the barred owl baby photo--looks like he is having none of it!

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    1. Thank you, Jay. <3

      The Barred owl wee one was certainly looking mighty grumpy LOL! But his face!!! How cute is it?! I am smitten.

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  5. Awwww, so great you got to mark this off your list! How exciting. They really are such a sight, very majestic. Beautiful pictures to add to your bird watch/hunt for the year too!!

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    1. Thank you! I was extremely happy too. I was just working on my bird post today. The girls and I got the see an indigo bunting yesterday afternoon on our picnic bench. <3

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  6. I just dug into my second peppermint sheet cake from SMT for my birthday - blew out a candle on that one. :) I thought it was overkill when I got two peppermint cakes, but here we are into the second, so maybe not!

    Oh my gosh, that little owlet! Is that what they're called, owlets? Spellcheck isn't giving me grief right now, so maybe. What cute little fluffs! and I think your pictures look pretty fantastic, regardless of whether they're nature shots that took you by surprise. :)

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    1. YES!!! Happy birthday, sweet friend!! And two peppermint sheet cakes is never too much. Their peppermint really holds up well to age.

      Owlets indeed. The fuzzy cuteness was extreme and thank you for the kind words. <3 They definitely have urged me to step outside more often.

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