What inspires you? What makes you turn the page in another day of your life? What is it that get’s your heart pumping, your passions flowing and your desires brewing? There will probably be no two answers to this question that are exactly the same. The pages of this blog are a product of my passions. A spark that ignited the day I discovered a migratory bird (that I didn’t even know existed) had landed on a post in my yard. My eyes got really wide, my heart swelled with enthusiasm and I was bowled over in ambient shock. What I did not know at the time, some ten years ago, was that moment was the tipping point of what eventually would become Flutter By Meadows.
So what is it exactly? It’s like a homonym of sorts of my home. It’s the name of this blog yes. But it is also the nameplate on my mailbox. It’s the place I call home with my husband and young daughter. It’s also my name on Instagram where I share pictures that inspire me, 90% of which are taken just steps from my house. (The other five percent from actually inside my home, which my camera in tow from the kitchen, and another five percent from places I visit or trails I walk along.)
Flutter By Meadows is also home to Blue, Red, White, Prime, Hummy, Meatstick, Maude and Bun-bun. Yes, our wild creatures have names. So do sections of our landscaping. We have the White Pine Grove, an Opportunity Garden, a Mini Meadow and countless more named areas. Blue, Red, and White are our newer additions, having arrived around the 4 of July and for whatever reason these (3 bachelors we presume) have a very unique way of letting us know that the bird feeder is empty. They perch and wait, looking adorable and starving at the same time, until we pop open the door and toss out a nut. Though Red seems to prefer the seeds. Why the colorful names? Blue came first. The ONLY Blue Jay I have ever known to come to our feeders alone without an entourage of other Blue Jays. Red, because he’s a male Northern Cardinal that joined forces with Blue as a wing-man, always 2 steps behind. And White, well, he’s a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, and the name just seemed to fit. Blue, the only one that also knows his name. I swear he does.
The outdoor spaces around our house are constantly in motion. Whether it’s a butterfly, bird, or a summer firefly, our house is “abuzz” as they say. After we transformed a vacant boring detention basin into a wildflower meadow, a domino effect of change took over our yards. Over the following few years we slowly transformed other sections of our landscaping as well. We have a butterfly garden, a bird garden, a puddle garden, and two other mini meadows. Implementing native plants, trees, and shrubs with a purpose. A purpose not just for the pollinators and animals that utilize the plants, but also a never-ending stream of inspiration to author this blog.
This blog is for the creatures we share our space with and the joy it brings to our family. In the pages of this website you will find plenty of articles about native plants, birds, and any other topic that perhaps catches my attention. It is my hope that by reading it you too can find some simple joy in reading it, maybe even laugh out loud a little. But more importantly, take some time the next time you’re out exploring your own yard to see it differently, and see what whisper of wind you feel, or what scent in the air that the seasons bring. Take a detour on your way to the mailbox. I always do…finding small things along the way.
