Morning hugs

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Only Esme could get away with this.

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Autumn Biota

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  Nothing completes a delightful home cooked meal like some delicious and fresh herbs. Yet the nearest grocery stores only sells entire plants. I attribute this to the lack of demand for flavoring in Finnish cooking, but it's inspired us to begin a small home garden. Alas, with October finally arrived the temperature and daylight hours are diminishing by the day. Violet's valiant efforts have kept most of the plants alive so far, and hopefully when the Finns discover cilantro we'll cultivate it as well.  To take advantage of the lovely weather I've been spending lots of time birdwatching in local parks and the nature reserve near my campus. Many birds in Europe have cousins in the U.S. that are quite familiar, but there are plenty of new species to discover. I've made it a goal to spot all of the birds that appear in Wingspan that can be spotted in Finland.  The Whooper Swan, national bird of Finland. They have bright yellow bills (compared to the black and  orange ...
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