Jo Simons (she/her)

@josimons.bsky.social

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Dr. Jo, Pākehā, Academic Librarian in Aotearoa NZ, Plant enthusiast, fibre crafter, hoarder of pens, herder of children and cats Working with Digital Library team at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, opinions mine not my employers

Close up of a single red clover flower among the trefoil leaves
Illustration showing children helping adults to plant flowers in a garden and look for birds through binoculars. Everyone is dressed warmly as it is early winter in Aotearoa New Zealand. A banner reads: New Zealand Garden Bird Survey 27 June to 5 July
Two tabby kitten cats asleep on a fuzzy green pet bed on a floor near a window. The mackerel tabby is curled in a tidy ball and the standard tabby in a fully relaxed full length sprawl with his back paws trailling off the edge.
Reading statistics graph from StoryGraph. A line graph with two lines tracking number of pages and number of books read per month for 2026. Both lines are a curve that currently peaks in February and looks very low for April
Large American Holly tree near the US Capitol Building. Ilex opaca
StoryGraph app 2025 reading summary infographic 66 books, average rating 4.09 top authors Grace Burrowes, Nalini Singh, T. kingfisher.
Screenshot of reading challenge page from StoryGraph app. 2025 reading goals, you have read 66 books this year, goal exceeded by one book.
A packet of Mary Kay brand Russian fudge
Aotearoa tidal creatures and alpine creatures zines with natural history images sitting next to a set of green bugs and books stickers. PS I loved the Libby sticker too, it made me laugh
Bookmark in the shape of a black and white cat’s leg and paw, in cartoon style showing the toe beans
Smaller print of cat painting from previous post, mounted in a white decorative frame
Print of a painting of a tabby cat curled up contentedly loaf-wise
Four numbered parcels, a cat print and an envelope saying “Merry Christmas” with drawn Holly leaves
Stack of small intriguing packages inside a cardboard box
Bright green 3D printed baby tyrannosaurus in sitting position on a desk with vaguely threatening gaping mouth and teeth. They have a candy cane poking out of their mouth
NZ post parcel in a box underneath the edge of a Christmas tree
Cute round sticker with illustration of a kākā parrot and kākā beak plant
Screenshot of a phone message from a +63 number saying it’s from NZ post who couldn’t deliver a parcel because it needed a signature. Website is wrong. This is a scam message
Close up of middle-aged pakeha woman with glasses (me) wearing large hooped earrings full of tiny jingly multicoloured bells
Digital badge with cartoon fox and kitty characters in an air balloon with the words Gift Sent Dec 2025
Photo of the conical purple compound flower of a hebe plant (Veronica species) and its dark shiny foliage
Bold chunky orange beads worn over a black shirt
A row of small decorative vases sitting on a windowsill. They are a real variety, some bright coloured glass, some white stylish china, some pottery and porcelain
A green sticker from the digital preservation coalition states: this is not an archive. It is sitting balanced on a stack of external hard drives labelled with post it notes.
An elderly tortie-tabby moggy cat lies on a cluttered desk with her eyes shut between the keyboard, the laptop and the second screen. That is her mouse though and she will wake up if you try to use it.
Christmas tree in the atrium of the ClockTower building at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland from 2024. I wonder what it will look like this year?
Four ripe red strawberries of assorted sizes and shapes sitting on a white kitchen bench top
A calico bag with the iPRES 2025 Tūī logo (the blue and gold version) embroidered on the front using cross stitch. The embroidery pattern is poking out from behind the bag.
Same embroidery as original post, now with all cross stitch succulents completed and framed by the words “It’s not hoarding if it’s plants” in block text
Partially completed small cross stitch project with 3 cacti in pots in cute illustration style. 2 of the cacti are completed and 1 is still in progress. The embroidery is being done on white Aida fabric and the edges of a wooden embroidery hoop are visible at the corners of the photo.
Female mallard or grey duck cross sits on top of a tall dark wooden fence in a suburban back yard with palm tree, shrubs and the top of the neighbours house. Duck is tilting its head to look at the camera as if wondering what you’re doing here
A white kitchen bench beside a stovetop covered with a motley collection of lidded jars filled with clear dark orange red fluid. There are 10 large and three small jars of homemade jelly. I only wish you could smell the kitchen, the floral fruity sweetness is amazing
Close up shot of the flower clusters of a purpletop vervain, Verbena bonariensis, with a blurry background of lawn plants
Buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris on a small yellow catsear flower in a lawn.
Screenshot from the Merriam-Webster gif that says “uplifting”
four recently washed black picnic cherries sit on a wooden chopping board. They look fresh and delicious
New Zealand native bee sitting on the freckled pale arm of a wahine pākehā