And just like that, save for a residual dampness in our basement (pictured below during the monsoon), it is as if the rain had never fallen.
This photo, taken at the height of the storm yesterday, reflects a vast improvement in the way our basement handles water --- which is good because the physical improvements were not cheap. We get water in the basement largely because our hard clay soil doesn't drain well, and doesn't absorb much, and any time it rains any amount, very quickly there's a lot of surface water with nowhere to go but down the closest big hole.
This shot of the boots my husband keeps at the top of the basement stairs will tell you how deep the water down there has often been:
Today all of that is but a sad memory.
I have a lot of work to do today, so this posting will be brief. Because it's really what you come for, here's what I'm wearing:
*Wool& Camellia dress (M), worn as base layer
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Smock dress (S/M) in Dark Gray-Blue
*Old thrifted Talbots cotton cardigan, redyed by me in the summer of 2022
*Snag navy merino tights
*Xero Tari boots
Brooch a gift from my husband many years ago.
Trying to wear more red and pink, as a change from teal, blue, and green.
With that flourish, back to work with me!
EVENING UPDATE:
A busy day. I did lots of work on a project I can't talk about yet. I walked the dog (twice), did wall pilates and some leg-strengthening exercise (stair-stepping on my stairs with 10-lb weights in my hands), and made dinner: chicken Italian sausage, roast garlic potatoes, applesauce, and leftover pork from last night for the really hungry among us. I drank more than 64 ounces of water, changed the sheets on the bed, and said my prayers.
Even with a wool dress on as an under-layer, I was a little chilly in the house today with the heat turned down. I love my red cotton cardigan, but it's not that warm. Still, I liked how I looked, and that's something.
In reading news, I've finished my reread of David Copperfield, which I love so much I never want it to end, any time I read it. I'm almost through the penultimate chapter of the Aidan Nichols book on Sigrid Undset. I am, of course, always reading poems.
Ah, I hear the spousal footsteps approaching. Time to take the dog for her nighttime perambulation.