Rebecca

The FJIG Collective, Week 1

As mentioned in the first Tea Time post, I’m once more joining a “group project” hosted by the lovely Elisabeth. I discovered Elisabeth’s blog after the 2025 FIG Collective took place, but am fascinated by the idea and very excited to join this year. Check out more information and links to last year’s posts here, but in a nutshell, Elisabeth has challenged us to “Find Joy in Gratitude” during the month of February. Whether it is something small or something big, to find a moment – a glimmer – of JOY to be thankful for. This is something I try to do in broad terms, and look forward to seeing how focusing on glimmer-hunting daily will impact my mindset. While I did midmonth and ending posts for the Cool Bloggers Walking Club, I’m going to post my FJIGgy moments weekly. And so, without further ado, a week of finding joy in gratitude.

February 1st: After the biggest snow we’ve seen in years, coupled with dangerously cold temps/windchills, the power is still on and the sun has come out. And my chickens are still alive. Which means I can appreciate the beauty more fully.
February 2nd: We put together the most delicious pasta dish for dinner.
February 3rd: The snow cover + February’s full Snow Moon = super bright nights, and the wild things are roaming. Such a delight to follow their trails, see who came by in the night.
February4th: Spontaneous takeout for dinner {Chick-fil-A, our reliable standby}, after a grey and gloomy day. And I’m making good progress joining my book blanket together.
February 5th: An unexpected band of snow flurries! They did not stick/accumulate, but they were gorgeous to look at.
February 6th: The utter cuteness of my tiny Pepper girl sprawled out on a straw bale in the sun. She is all of us: so glad the sun is back, needing it to soak into our bones.
Bonus FJIG: the Olympics start today!
February 7th: Taking both cars through the carwash to remove salt/brine! Also meal prepping all the delicious things.

Because I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to taking or sharing photographs, here are some of the tracks I’ve been tracking in the snow this week.

Snow sparkles. Tail drag lines. Finger-y toes.
There’s a new possum in the neighborhood!
Full moon always means more possum activity, and I found new trails daily.
This one was right by the carport/my chocolate mint patch.
These tracks are about the size of a quarter, so we’ve got a small possum roaming.
As fluffy as the snow was, it froze hard: the bunnies barely made an impression.
I love that you can see the individual toes.
These may look like dinosaur prints, but they’re actually rooster tracks!
Popcorn tracks, to be precise. And that center toeline is as long as my pointer finger.

The things that spark JOY or thankfulness/gratitude are not always big or “important” in the grand scheme of things. But they speak to my heart, in this moment of time. I love the way it feels to actively look for those moments, and look forward to what the rest of the month holds.

Are you Finding Joy in Gratitude this month?
Have you ever done something like this before?

22 comments

  1. This sounds like a wonderful idea 🥰 taking time to think about the positive is definitely good for you. I love seeing the animal tracks and sparkly snow pictures. Its also very exciting to hear that the book blanket is coming along well. And I hope you enjoy the winter Olympics 🥰

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    • I was so excited about doing this when I saw Elisabeth post about it 😀 It’s going to be the perfect February/lingering Winter exercise I think 🥰 The animal tracks have been so awesome, and this was the sparkliest snow I think I’ve ever seen! 🙂 The Olympics are definitely a FJIG too 😀

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  2. What a joyful post. It’s lovely to be able to find the positives in each day.

    I can’t wait to see your book blanket all put together. I love this idea so much but it will have to wait until I retire. I’m already making just a simple granny square rug that seems to be taking forever.

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    • I am very excited with the way the book blanket is coming together! It’s working like I hoped it would, which is always a good thing, lol … Making the individual book cover squares didn’t take very long, but getting all those ends woven in definitely added up. I probably should have done them as I made the squares 🙃 It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been spread over a year+ now so it doesn’t feel as overwhelming 🙂 I bet your granny square rug turns out great!

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  3. Yay for FJIGs! It makes me want to dance a little.

    I am loving the Olympics. They really break up the winter doldrums. It’s grey, cold, and icy where I live in Eastern Canada today, so having something fun to watch is a real treat ❤

    Thanks for participating!

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    • The Winter Olympics are worthy of many many FJIGs! 😀
      Seeing the “FJIG” makes me smile, it’s just so fun and whimsical 🙂 Thank you for coming up with and hosting! ❤

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  4. Oooh I love the photos at the end! Those paw marks in the snow are straight out of a fairy tale book☺️ I’ve been practising gratitude daily as well. This month I’ve been grateful to be able to read some great books, hangout with friends and play a board game and be able to buy more books!

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    • It was so much fun finding all the new paw marks/animal trails! Most of the snow is gone now, and mud just doesn’t work quite the same, haha 🙂 Maybe I’ll get to find more, if we have more snow.
      Huzzah for practicing gratitude! 😀 Those are some really good ones too – reading a really great book is such a fabulous feeling, definitely worth celebrating ❤

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  6. Oh my goodness I love all those footprint photos! They are so cute!

    I love your gratitude list. I started a gratitude list in my journal in January but already wandered away from it. I’ll have to get back to it.

    Doing it throughout the month is a great idea.

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    • Chances are good the footprints will come out as a “the best part of a cold winter” 😉 hehe
      It’s really nice to have the monthly focus – and the community aspect helps with ^accountability^ in a way too. I want to be able to share my happy moments 🙂

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  8. I have bunny tracks but the funniest is the “bunny trail”. Our snow is so deep they floof down into the snow as they make their way to their home under one of my bushes. It is the cutest thing. I have waaay too many pictures of their tracks on my phone. 🙂

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  9. Yes, I agree- FIGS are not necessarily big things. As a matter of fact, I would argue that the small things are more important to look for. When all the big things are going well, we don’t need to look for joy- it’s hitting us in the face. It’s when we’re struggling that we need to look for the little things (which is probably why Elisabeth does her FIG collective in February!)

    I love how you’re embracing the beauty of the snow and cold. And those little footprints…. so cute!

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    • Very true. And sometimes those small things are hits of joy tailormade for us/our hearts, so while anybody could see the big things – the small are just for us.

      It was so incredibly cold I had to find the beauty and joy or I’d have cried 😂 But really: the footprints! The sparkle of the snow! It was a kind of beauty that demanded notice 🙂

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