Today is my paternal grandmother's birthday, a hundred twenty-five years. It always gives me pause, even knowing exactly how old I am, that I knew someone who had been born in the nineteenth century: knew her well and for a long time, until I was twenty-six. She was born in 1898, was graduated from (as they said in those days) the University of Tennessee in 1917, could write a poem and ask, "Quelle heure est-il?" in French. She was in many ways a remarkable person, even at the end, when she was blind, wheelchair-bound, and convinced that she was three hundred years old, not ninety-three, asking for cigarettes, when nobody had ever seen her smoke. I hope that where she is now, her vision is clear, and everything she ever longed for is given her before she asks. Happy birthday, Grandmama.
More forsythia in the front yard, because tis the season, here and gone so swiftly:
We woke to rain today, though it seems to have tapered off now. The weather's going to get colder throughout the day, declining from a current high of 61F to the mid-20s tonight. So much for spring, except that of course that's exactly how spring is. Tomorrow the highs will bounce back up again into the 60s. I keep thinking we're all going to get pneumonia and die, but we never seem to.
At any rate, I think I'll dress a little more warmly today than I did yesterday. Last night was so mild that I kept on my Birkenstocks and just added a jean jacket to go out, but alas, alas, that balminess has fled.
I made the very great mistake of trawling around on Ebay for Birkenstocks last night --- so much for no-buying. Let's just say that a $15 pair of Birkenstock Balis (sandals with a strap at the ankle) in what looks to be better condition than my Floridas are in are on their way to me. I was looking at Yaras, which have been my dream Birkenstocks for thirty years, and there were some inexpensive pairs for sale in decent shape --- but then I started to think about whether I really want an ankle strap, as in around your ankle in a loop. I don't know how well they stay on. I love the look, and have always longed to have some, but do I really want to wear them? I wonder whether that's why so many people are selling them. Anyway, they're still darling, and I might break down at some point and buy a pair at a good price, but not today. I guess I just thought: Lent is coming, am I really going to relax my no-buy for Lent, panic panic panic.
So these sandals are coming, but at least they were super cheap, and I'm sure I'll wear and enjoy them. I could at some point send my Floridas for refurbishment --- the other really good thing about Birkenstocks, which makes buying them secondhand a reasonable investment. There's no shoemaker in America who will fix disintegrating Dansko heels, but Birks can be remade and go on forever. AND should I send the Floridas out for repair, I'd still have some summer Birks to wear.
Meanwhile, I had a little time this morning so thought I'd play around a bit with my outfit before striking out into the day.
Here's the base outfit, before I started thinking about going outside. I'd washed my Fiona yesterday, after she'd sustained some splashes while I was cooking the other night, and since there she was, lying over the drying rack, I thought I'd put her on again. I don't often repeat Fiona in the course of a week, but why not, thought I. Here she is fresh and clean and soft, with my lovely soft cushy thrifted bamboo/cotton leggings, and Birkenstocks.
But it's getting chillier out there, and it's dank and wet. Obviously I didn't want to wear those Birks outside, and I did want more layers.
Wearing the Birk boots with some fairly thin cotton socks today, mostly because I like the taupey color with my leggings and don't need super warmth. For a top layer, this thrifted blue merino cardigan, buttoned to preserve the fit-and-flare shape of the dress underneath.
I did play with a couple of other cardigans, not intending to wear them but curious about how they'd look with this dress.
Weirdly, I find Fiona a less congenial dress for dressing up than just about any of my others. I don't know why. And obviously I would not wear leggings and hiking boots to dress it up, with the cardigan pictured here or any other. But I like the cardigan with the dress and could imagine wearing it with sandals or possibly my fisherman's sandal clog shoes, to be a little more dressy.
And then there's this combo for Lent:
I'd bought this merino blazer cardigan thinking that absolutely I'd wear it with this dress, especially in Lent and Advent. The colors work just fine together. Again, I wouldn't wear it with these leggings and boots, but with tights and some other boot or shoe. Open or buttoned, it'll be a good basic church outfit for Lent. AND I can wear the same cardigan with any of my other dresses.
