Afternoon bedroom window with curtain, rose canes, Carolina skies, fresh air, and . . . I mean, these windows are going to rot and fall right out of the walls, but let's go with words like "authentic" and "patina." That old house charm. I photograph a lot of old house charm on a regular basis, but there's a lot of charm you're not seeing, because I try hard not to look at it. If I looked at it, I'd have to do something about it.
Today at the bird feeder: cedar waxwings. It seems to be National Cedar Waxwing Day out there, and right now one of them is fussing at a chickadee who didn't get the memo. Wrens, my canny little darlings, have been back and forth, too, lighting on the trunk and sidling toward the feeder, waiting their chance as wrens do. They're the terriers of the bird world, scrappy, smart, and opportunistic. Of all small birds, I never tire of them.
It's Thursday, almost the end of a week that I've just about missed seeing go by. I don't know how that is. I mean: I've been awake for it. I've been aware of every day. I've been present. I can tell you things I've done. And yet --- how is it Thursday?
It's going to be another long, solitary day and evening, as the husband has most of his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a work engagement tonight. I enjoy that more than I don't --- much as I love his company (and after almost 34 years, I still do), I also find solitude more luxurious than not. I have my own work to do, of course, plus pleasure reading.
I'm still reading Little Dorrit, but last night the husband brought down an old Agatha Christie mystery, a vintage paperback (the price on the cover says 25 cents) with a lurid 1950s image of a woman being strangled. I thought I had read all the Hercule Poirots, but I'm sure I hadn't read this one, so now I am. It's nice for once to read a mystery where there's no chance that I'll remember whodunnit --- nothing about this book is familiar to me. I've read a lot of Agatha Christie, but there's a lot of Agatha Christie to read, and I knew I hadn't covered it all. Still, it's especially nice to discover a Poirot new to me, because I like Poirot. Neither of us knows where it came from, either. He had been pulling out some books in his office to take to school, and this book just fell out with them, right into his hand.
I have a Substack essay to finish today, and one more to contemplate and draft. I've just packed and printed a mailing label and put a parcel out as well. No, I haven't sold anything more. Right before the start of Lent, I'd bought one more secondhand item --- a teal cashmere cardigan, as it happens, which I thought would look pretty with my pink linen dress for Easter (though also, teal goes with purple, so I thought I'd probably wear it in Lent, too). Thanks to a label mixup --- which could happen to anybody, as I assured the seller --- what I got instead was a large pair of Spanx stretch jeans, while presumably the person expecting these jeans got my cardigan. Poshmark sent us both mailing labels so that we could ship our wrong items to the right place, and this I have now done. I am looking forward to the cardigan, because, you know, dopamine hit. But this one is legit --- I did not break my Lenten no-buy clothing rule. As frustrating as it is to get the wrong thing when you're looking forward to something, it's nice still to have the little something to look forward to.
Wearing today:
*Thrifted purple linen shirt, bought December 2023
*Secondhand Eileen Fisher pink merino tank, bought January 2023
*Secondhand linen-cotton skirt (I forget the brand, but it's nothing special), bought summer 2023
*Secondhand Xero Oswego shoes in Charcoal, bought January 2024
A completely secondhand outfit today. I'd started out wearing my green Keens Mary Janes:
They look nice, and if I were, say, teaching an in-person class or something, I'd probably go for them. But last night, despite my having been comfortable in those shoes all day, bunion pain actually woke me up out of a sound sleep. While the pain is gone this morning (all on its own --- I didn't get up and take ibuprofen, though I briefly thought about it), I thought I'd opt for some wider toe-box shoes for the day. These Oswegos might be my favorite Xero shoe, and I'm sorry they don't make them anymore. I could wear my purple ones, I realize, but I just really like this dark gray pair and am completely glad I pounced on them when I saw them secondhand. They don't look too sneakerish with a skirt, just kind of dark-neutral and neat.
Anyway, I'm trying to wear my closet this Lent --- I'm always trying to do that, actually, but since I'm not buying any new or new-to-me clothes for the seasons, I feel particularly motivated to put on things I might have been overlooking. Certainly this skirt has been overlooked more than it deserves, and today seemed like a good day to pull it out. It's the piece I had been looking for to wear with this pink merino tank, also habitually underutilized --- and I'm happy that my workouts have paid off to the tune of a better fit in the skirt. I'd meant to re-sell it because it was too tight, but lo, now it fits. And it is a pretty skirt, for something that's really not that special in terms of make: a nice soft natural color, lovely tucks at the hem, and a straight shape that I don't otherwise have in my wardrobe. I think as the weather warms up I'll be reaching for this skirt a lot, and the tank with it. As it is, today's high is in the mid-60s, so I'm even risking bare legs, albeit under a longer skirt. The Texasgirl was walking dogs in shorts yesterday in Dallas, but we're not there yet.
Rather a messy updo today. My Day 2 hair was straight and blah, and I didn't feel like getting it wet again. What I did feel like was playing with hairpins. You've probably seen those French plastic shaped pins that you slide into your hair and instantly have some chic Parisian do? Well, you can buy one of those for $30, or you can buy a pack of ten knock-off ones for $6.99 on Amazon, and while ordinarily I am all about the more expensive small sustainable business model, you can guess which road I took here. They are kind of cool pins. Among other things, they feel like a better, gentler alternative to the metal spiral pins I used to use in updos (and still own, actually). I'm still figuring out how to get them to hold hair, but I think I'm getting there. So today I pulled back the front of my hair with several of these pins, then just thought, eh, and folded the rest up and clipped it in my big metal claw clip.
Not the world's tidiest updo. Still, there's something polished about wearing your hair up, and I've always liked that, even though I've historically been a complete incompetent in the execution of this vision. Anyway, it's up and out of my way, and although it didn't take long and wasn't hard to do, maybe it looks as though I tried a little. I always wish my ends were curlier --- the Texasgirl, with her gorgeous hair, can put it up any old way, and it curls and looks intentional. Mine . . . does not do that. Oh well. As long as it's not threatening to fall down, it's okay.
Speaking of walking dogs, I guess Dora and I had better go out and practice our skills --- chiefly the skill of not freaking out in the presence of another dog.
PS: Happy birthday to my mother-in-law, who is 93.
DINNERTIME UPDATE:
I have not begun to make myself dinner. That's the update. At least, it's one of them.
The sun went behind cloud this afternoon, and I was cold, so I tweaked what I was wearing:
I'm not convinced by this combination of purples, but I'm not not convinced. I do really like this blazer cardigan, and it felt like the thing with what became an increasingly menswearish outfit. I didn't put on tights or leggings, just boots with socks, and that was about the right balance, in terms of being hot or cold. I kind of like the blazer buttoned over the shirt but think I should probably have buttoned the top shirt button, too.
