My goodness, the house is quiet. In the space of twenty-four hours, we've gone from ten to eight to two beneath this roof. And --- it's not bad, really. As much as I love the jollity, all of us tucked in together, I also like having my study-den back, to carry in my coffee this morning and sit in my rocking chair, peacefully alone.
Sleep last night was pretty terrible --- my hip hurt from all the standing and cooking I've been doing, and then the progeny, having watched two movies, started loading their cars at midnight. They weren't loud, but it was a lot of footsteps, and a lot of awareness that we'd be waking up early to see them off. So more than anything, I'm tired, and as much as I miss everybody, I'm kind of glad that there's nothing I have to see to today, and nobody I have to feed but myself. That is, my husband is here, but there's a lot of food, and it's his fridge as well as mine, and he can help himself.
I did put fresh sheets on the daybed, and I might well take a nap there later on. I won't sleep in it, just on it --- it's ready for whatever guests wash up here next. My plan is to keep it that way. Not touching anything upstairs today, but I'm glad I set that room straight, so that I can use it.
Both sons will be back for a spell in January, though probably not at the same time. The Fire Son, having left his car here, is flying to Missoula after New Year's to sort some things out, then will fly down here to start his winter assignment in mid-January. The Viking is supposed to be in a wedding, although by his account the whole thing is kind of a dumpster fire, and he might well try to talk the groom out of it before the day.
That sounds terrible, maybe, but I have a lifelong friend who has been happily married for almost thirty-five years because on the night before her wedding rehearsal, her maid of honor turned to her and said, "Give me one good reason why you're marrying [the man she broke up with later that night]." It hadn't been until we were all together for the wedding that her friends, many of whom had met her fiance and detested him, realized that this was a shared, unanimous opinion. Several years later she married a man she'd met about two weeks before she was supposed to marry the detested first fiance, and again, thirty-five years later, here they are.
So the moral of the story is that if you think your friend is about to make a grave mistake, you should at least ask them to convince you that it isn't a mistake.
Anyway. Off they all went at six this morning, and I hope their guardian angels are on the ball today. It's a fifteen-hour drive straight through, but they are six people in two cars, so everyone can rotate out and sleep in shifts while someone else drives. Back here, the husband is passed out on the living-room couch, and I have been bathing, dressing, and quietly setting things back in order. As wonderful as it's been to have six extra young adults in the house, my goodness they do have stuff. And they acquired more of it on Christmas, so that the whole house has been awash. It was a lovely chaos while it lasted, signs everywhere of people having fun, but I do appreciate a little order after a while.
After a day-long deluge yesterday, it doesn't seem to be raining at the moment. And it's not especially cold, just wet. But the sky is still overcast, everything is dripping, and the whole feel is wintry, so that the glow of the house strikes pleasantly on the eye and soul.
A warm bath felt good, and now my hair and the rest of me are all clean. I got some shea butter in my stocking and slathered my dry feet with it before putting on wool socks. My dishpan hands feel nice as well.
Wearing today:
*Wool& Maggie dress (small long) in Aegean Teal
*Secondhand Sparrow/Anthropologie merino-mohair-cotton pullover sweater
*Secondhand Allbirds merino-tencel-lyocell leggings (I wonder why they designate both tencel and lyocell on the label, since my understanding is that these are the same eucalyptus fiber)
*Devolt wool socks from Norway (not seen under leggings and boots)
*Xero Tari boots
A favorite dress, a favorite sweater, a favorite pair of leggings, favorite soft boots --- I love these colors together, but what I really value about today's outfit is how soft and comfortable and easy it is. My husband wants to go out to dinner, and all I'd need to do to dress this up a little more is to add a scarf and my new moonstone earrings.
LUNCHTIME:
So far today I've done some laundry, put new sheets on our bed, and shuffled furniture around a little bit, so that I have a rocker in the study-den and there's more room in the sunroom, where suddenly ten people aren't all trying to sit. I took fresh towels to the upstairs bathroom, but am otherwise not bothering with upstairs today. What I have done is wring my hands over the state of my laundry room and back porch, but that's all I plan to do about that at this time.
I tried on my new big shirts with my dress --- it's almost too warm for a sweater, though I did put it back on after my try-on. Here's the green lyocell shirt, a brand called "Wonderly." Never heard of them, but it's quite a nice shirt.
It's soft and lightweight, but sturdy, and I can imagine getting a lot of wear out of it in all kinds of situations, including on the hiking trail. I love the gentle green, which is just the kind of color I like to mix with this deep-teal dress. It will look good with all my teals, greens, purples, and grays, and can be an under-layer with a pinafore as well.
Here too is the purple linen shirt:
I wasn't sure how this one was going to look on my body, but I think it's a win. This is a Chico's shirt, the same brand as my other linen big shirt, the one I redyed a deeper blue last summer. This new one is a size bigger, which is why I was worried about it, but I think it's okay. The sleeves might be too voluminous for it to work under a pinafore, but we'll see. It is great as a top layer, though. Again, I love the color, which will go with literally everything I own. Also, it's a much heavier, sturdier linen than my other linen shirt, which I appreciate. The older shirt is so thin you can't really wear it without a layer over or under, but this one isn't at all see-through. The brand isn't particularly fine, but for under $5, it's a very nice shirt. I like the look of both shirts over this dress, which leads me to think I'll like them over the rest of my swing dresses as well, and maybe over at least some of my pinafores.
Almost as soon as we turn the corner into January, I'll be pining for spring. Winter into spring is really my favorite season --- sharp cold air, but things beginning to grow, a feeling of Aslan on the move. And it's coming soon, its own fresh little-a advent. Not surprisingly, these tender colors are the ones I'm already starting to have a yen for.
I might let myself do a little thrifting in the new year --- as in, going physically to Goodwill. I've been twice in the last two weeks and not come out with armloads of clothes I don't want, so that's promising. There are some things I want to look for, and I think I'm focused enough that I won't buy other stuff I don't want. I'm not likely to find wool or cashmere or alpaca at Goodwill, but I can find linen, tencel, and lyocell, which I don't mind having. Wool/cashmere/alpaca and linen are my first choices of fiber, but I'm willing to do the tencel family if I find nice pieces. I don't know that those fibers are sustainable or eco-gentle enough to buy new, but then my One Rule for 2024 is nothing new. So if I should go thrifting and find a nice piece in those variants on the eucalyptus fiber, I'd consider buying it.
But I really don't plan to run out to Goodwill every time I get bored. For one thing, I have enough work to do, and enough dog-walking, and enough working out, that I don't actually get bored as often as I might. I also mostly order in my groceries, which means that I don't drive past the Goodwill often, which means that I don't think, "Oh, why not?" Ordering groceries is kind of an extravagance, but it also keeps me on the straight and narrow in several regards, not least of which is the matter of having food in the house. Importantly, however, it also puts me out of the way of a lot of impulse spending.
So I'd really have to want to go thrifting, but I think I could every now and then. I'd like to add some sleeveless or short-sleeved linen tops to wear with pinafores and skirts in the summer, as a change from wool swing dresses, and I'd rather not pay more than $5 if I can help it. Otherwise, there's not that much to tempt me, although again, if I saw something in tencel or lyocell, I would consider it.
But I can afford to be picky. 2023 has been a big wardrobe-building year: five new wool dresses, plus dresses and pinafores from Poshmark, to form a good, versatile center to my closet. I think I can happily not buy any more wool dresses in the coming year, and could probably just buy nothing at all, but no resolutions! Well, other than nothing new. But that gives me a lot of leeway . . . I am still mulling what parameters I want to put quietly in place for myself. My husband, a believer in abundance, says, "If you want it, buy it." But while I do see his point, and appreciate it, I shall proceed with at least the appearance of caution.