After our sunny, pleasant hiking day yesterday, weather has moved in. We don't have snow, and I don't think we're supposed to have any, but we were awakened -- I, at least, was awakened -- by a thunderstorm in the wee hours, with much lightning and hail. It's cloudy now, at 8 in the morning, but not currently raining, and I hope the storm system as such has moved through, since we have children due to fly in from Dallas this afternoon. It will be lovely to see them. We all hope Dora remembers them and won't act like a jerk when they come through the door.
Anyway, spring break is upon us. We don't have particular plans, other than to exhort the children to find summer jobs, though it's already a little late in the day for that, I fear. If the weather improves, we might try to do another hike mid-week, or possibly some gardening. There's a big rubbermaid container of earth that I'd like to move into the kitchen/container garden to hold strawberries, which I think I could go ahead and plant now, even with the colder temps, since they're perennials and overwinter anyway. I would like to get my strawberry bed going -- I've had various ones in places of various idealness, but I think this is going to be IT. I'm very much looking forward to enjoying my berry orchard in the years to come. While I'm at it, I might put in a couple more elderberries, too, in a row with the one I planted last month. Might as well get a whole elderberry crop up and going for the future.
The Dallas children tell me that it's 28F there. Suddenly I don't feel quite as cold as I did. I've seen pictures from West Virginia this morning, and as beautiful as it looks in the snow, I'm kind of glad I'm not trying to drive there now.
Wearing today:
I'm claiming magenta, as in these cheap-but-soft Aldi leggings, as a purple. Camellia wool dress with thrifted lambswool sweater for warmth. Doc Martens, wool socks.
Yesterday I hiked in my blue bamboo long-sleeved swing dress, which I'd last worn exactly a month earlier, as the wardrobe-tracker spreadsheet informs me. With my navy merino-blend base-layer tee underneath, plus leggings, I was almost too warm once I got going, but the dress was a very nice weight. I could have peeled off the under-layer, but when we came out on top of the mountain and into the wind, I was glad to have it. I still like hiking in dresses, for the freedom of movement more than anything else: nothing cutting into my waist or confining my legs, plus plenty of airflow. I predict that my short-sleeved bamboo dresses, especially, will see a lot of action on the trail this summer, as my Camellia did last year. I'm also really happy now to have bamboo underwear and bras. They're comfortable for any situation, but on the trail, when you're sweating, then cold, the breathable, moisture-wicking natural fiber feels great on the skin.
Welp, the kids will be landing, God willing, in the next hour, and I had better do something about acquiring food for them.
**Realizing that these pictures are turning out so badly because . . . the mirror. I have to clean the mirror. How long have I been saying this? It's getting embarrassing.
***I have now cleaned the mirror. It took 3 minutes.