New month, new devotion, but this space won't be quite the continual religious-image gallery in June that it was in May. I do also like this little milagro we got in Santa Fe . . . 26+ years ago?
I was pregnant with my older son, he of the firefighting and the jury-duty summons, but didn't know it yet. Both my boys, in fact, have been little unknown travelers with us --- the older in Santa Fe, in February of 1997, the younger in Edinburgh, in the autumn half-term break, in 2001. I remember riding back to our bed-and-breakfast from sightseeing that day and feeling so tired I thought I might just die. I fell into bed and slept for four hours straight, while my husband took the visible children (ages 7 and 3, or maybe he'd just turned four) to an Oxfam shop and bought me, randomly, a little tin cat brooch, which I still own and to which I attach that memory. The couple whose basement we were staying in were lovely --- the husband had a coin collection, I remember, and gave the visible son a farthing when we left, as a memento.
Anyway, this milagro --- when I got it I had zero devotion to the Sacred Heart. I wasn't Catholic, and just vaguely thought, oh yeah, those weird statues Catholics have, good thing that's not me . . . I thought a lot of things that I hope heaven is still laughing at.
I wound up spending a long time outside yesterday, pruning and weeding. I cut the forsythia by the front porch way back, uncovering two actual, large peonies that I'd forgotten were there. If they bloomed this year, nobody saw it: they were utterly engulfed by forsythia. So were some black-eyed Susans that I really would like not to discourage. The forsythia will grow back --- if there's one thing forsythia does, it's grow. It thrives on being pruned down. But then so will everything else around it. Thrive on the forsythia's being pruned down, I mean.
In the shade garden I started pulling ground ivy, and I didn't stop until I had pulled out a lot of English ivy. It had been taking the Camellia tree, but not anymore. I ran out of energy and had to stop before I'd eradicated it all, but on the whole I am very pleased with the outcome:
All the hostas, ferns, Solomon's Seal, and bleeding hearts have a lot more room to breathe now, not to speak of the poor tree. I'm thinking next year I'd like to add some columbines where there are holes --- there's a good space behind those gold hostas where something different could go. And there's space along the inside of the fence, where the garden does get some sun, though not a whole lot. Some lenten roses, maybe --- I don't have any of those.
Here, too, is a shot of the upstairs hall in the early-morning quiet. I'm still the only person up, drinking coffee and rattling around.
I woke up this morning with a number of resolutions, one of which was that, having deliberately worn blue for an entire month (even if I would have worn blue anyway, and even if I sometimes stretched the definition of blue to achieve this objective), I would deliberately not wear blue today.
Decisions, decisions.
Here's the tally, meanwhile, of wearings in May:
Audrey: 3
Brooklyn: 2
Camellia: 5
Fiona: 4
Maggie B: 4
Maggie T: 4
Sierra: 3
Willow: 4
Pact cotton dress: 3
I haven't tallied these numbers, but they might not add up to 31. I might have missed a day somewhere, and also there were times when I wore two dresses in one day. So the numbers won't be exact, I feel sure. What I'm really looking for here, though, are patterns of wear, especially as they might prompt my decision about what to wear next.
I'd been thinking about Audrey, though . . . so although Brooklyn, being new, warrants some special attention, I think today I'll wear . . .
Yep, you guessed it. Right in one. Audrey it is. It's an arms-out/legs-in day. Or to put it another way, since I'm wearing my Kosher Casuals crop top under: no sleevage/no cleavage.
I haven't worn a belt with Audrey that I can recall and thought I'd try one today. But this scarf, which I bought in a charity shop in Cambridge twenty years ago, was hanging on the closet door for some reason and kind of called my name. Black and white is really not my color scheme, but maybe I can go with smudgy charcoal and creamy off-white.
I took shots of various angles, including this one, just to check the fit and shape:
All things considered, I feel really good --- all things meaning, here, I've walked all these miles and not lost an ounce of weight, but possibly gained some. I'd be depressed about that, but honestly, again, I feel good. I inhabit a standard-issue four-baby post-menopause body that was never really lean to begin with, except when I was 12 and anorexic. And it's okay. When I was newly post-partum the last time --- almost twenty years ago now --- and had, basically, this body, it was not okay, to the point of an actual ongoing panic attack. All I can say to that is: good thing we all grow up. Yes, I was 39 at the time, but still. Today it's okay. It's a body I'm glad to be walking around in, however many miles I'm going to walk in it today.
I could do this for pub night tonight:
After getting rained out on Sunday, I'm still looking for an excuse to wear this linen duster jacket. This is a different color scheme from my usual mode, but I like it. It's all soft and natural and muted and textural, and it feels great. So I'd be the most dressed-up woman in the pub. I'm always the most dressed-up woman walking a dog on the greenway. I've just gotten used to that.
Anyway, other than pub night, today's agenda is the same as always. I have essays to write and other work to do. I'm going to try to take a gardening break, because other things are pressing on my time, but it sure is tempting to be outside for hours and hours, doing physical work. It is a superlatively lovely day out there, a gorgeous opening to the summer.
WHEW. Back from a 3-mile walk. And my goodness, it has warmed up.
Meanwhile, trying a thrifted belt I acquired a while back:
I'd been wanting a double-wrap belt for a long time, and this one is leather. I like it with Audrey here, because the tan leather really shows up against the dark dress. Just feeling the whole darks-and-naturals vibe today.
And wearing my new mother-of-pearl earrings, too:
I am much happier than my expression in this photograph seems to indicate.
LATER:
Wrote two essays today, which feels pretty good. I'd have liked to churn out three, but two is good. Maybe I can do three tomorrow, and have two whole weeks knocked out. That would almost cover the time I'm gone. Doing five more next week would cover the whole twelve days I'm gone plus the week after I get back, which would be nice. And five more . . . I mean, really, if I did TEN next week, that would put me in a great place, as would doing a few more the next week, before we leave. We both agreed that being at least two weeks ahead at all times makes this job a lot more enjoyable than continual last-minute scrambling. It's worth spending three hours in a meeting every five or six weeks, to get that many weeks scheduled out. Just really adds to the whole pleasure quotient of this job in a way I cannot adequately describe.
Letting my phone recharge right now before I walk the dog again, so that it can keep measuring my miles. We'll walk the park loop, then I'm sure the family will mosey on foot to the pub for our evening out, and back again. Then I'll walk the dog again. So it'll end up being a relatively high-miles day.
Also, as of today, the first of June, I'm on a clothing spending pause (which sounds less draconian than no-buy) until the first of November, my birthday month. Saying it here so I'll stick to it. The exception will be purchases on our Norway trip, should I see some one-of-a-kind item I really can't live without.
But really, I have enough clothes. I mean, really, I had enough clothes before, at least for the summer. Now, though, I've done my serious winter shopping, laying in things I had planned to think about in the fall, like replacement leggings in wool or wool blends. We just received, today, the LL Bean Gore-Tex coats I bought on Poshmark, which are pretty much the last thing (I did buy my husband two more pairs of wool boxers, at his request). My husband's coat is more of a parka, a really, really nice vintage coat in a lovely teal that will look good on him, with his kind of autumnal gingery coloring, as well as keeping him warm and dry. I bought myself a heavier Gore-Tex rain shell that is lined, if not lightly quilted. It'll be good for summer hiking here, too, as I recall getting caught in a downpour at Table Rock two summers ago . . .
This was in the middle of my 100-day challenge (that's my Camellia dress tied up with a pair of shorts), and boy oh boy. I was wearing a rain slicker, but I still got soaked. By the time we got to the Ale House in Blowing Rock I was dry, and the wrinkles had fallen out of my dress where I'd knotted then unknotted it, but it did occur to me at the time that I needed something a little more serious than a slicker for that kind of situation.
I'll model the Gore-Tex coat at some point, but I really like it. It'll be warm over wool layers, and it's long enough to keep me pretty dry. It is the kind of thing I'd forget about between bouts of getting deluged on hikes, or put off buying, so I'm glad I had some impetus just to go ahead and do it. I got it pretty cheaply, too, like around $30. My husband's was more like $60, still a very good price for a very high-quality coat --- and he hasn't had a real outdoor coat for years.
So we're ready for next winter. Got my warm leggings. Got my good coat for rainy dog walks on the daily. Got my hiking boots already, and my shoes, and my dresses, and everything I really need --- in short, everything I was going to buy next fall. I also have my wardrobe of dresses for the summer, and my sandals, and just about all the underthings I need to make this wardrobe work for me. Still waiting for my second Kosher Casuals crop top* to get here from Israel, but that's all. Now I can just . . . not buy stuff.
That feels kind of nice.
*by the way, I've been wearing the Kosher Casuals crop top I have all day long, including a hot walk this morning. It's been fine. Not too hot. It's very soft. No word yet on whether it holds smells, but it's an easy, quick hand-wash, since it's pretty thin. I would still love for somebody to make a merino item like this, or at least a bamboo one, specifically with a higher-cut neckline for modesty when you want it, but as such a thing does not seem to exist (though I did also acquire a Pact longline bra/crop top that has a slightly higher neckline than my Boody one), I'm satisfied with Kosher Casuals' offerings. I think the teal one I ordered should be here well before we leave. They do send things on the slow boat, but then . . . slow fashion. I like them a lot as a company and should probably remember to look more often at their offerings. While I don't feel compelled to be quite that modest all the time, they do have nice stuff, and they're a nice small, niche business. The goyim appreciate them, too!
EVEN LATER:
We're back from the pub, having had a nice little evening out with the girly and see all our Thursday-night pub friends. I'm looking again at Kosher Casuals, just because I was talking about them earlier --- mind you, I have neither an Amazon affiliate account nor any affiliation with the company itself, so the things I'm dropping in here are just FYI, not to get you to click monetized links.
I'd pulled up their Amazon store kind of by accident. They tend to have more stock on site in Israel, but it takes a lot longer to get to you. Mostly I wanted to share a couple of things that caught my eye because . . . I'm not buying anything now, and don't need anything, but I might later in the year. And you might want or need things in this category. So here they are.
Here, for example, is one mostly-natural fibers option for cleavage cover for a lower-cut dress. Note that it's not officially a modest top. It's one of those things to fill in where a cropped or shorter tee leaves off. BUT they comment that you could use it for a cover for a low-cut bodice, and indeed you could. Unlike most of the modest tops they have, this is 90% cotton, with some spandex.
They also have pencil skirts, several of which are mostly cotton. They're quite reasonably priced. As much as I love wool and Wool&, if I decided I wanted a pencil skirt I'd undoubtedly buy this (or maybe this color), now that I know it exists. These are just far more reasonably priced than Wool&'s skirt, are 90% natural fiber, are made by a small, independent company, and seem nice. No, cotton is not as sustainable a fiber as wool on an environmental level, and in some ways it's not ideal, but . . . well, you choose what your priorities are, purchase to purchase, and you weigh goods against evils against what is actually possible for you in a given situation. Anyway, these look nice. Reviews indicate that the quality is good, and that these are garments people keep and wear for years. I really don't mind some cotton, and I especially wouldn't mind it in a skirt, so this is something I'll keep in mind for later.
Anyway, that's my PSA for the evening.