Lupine seedlings in the garden. I have a feeling I sowed these too late, and they won't have time to mature before the end of the season (or before the summer heat kills them). We shall see. Next year I think I'll cold-sow them, or sow them in the fall instead of the spring.
I also wish I'd sown bachelors' buttons, and am resolving to do that next year as well.
It's raining again right now, a fine mist, nice for the garden. Catbirds and wrens everywhere, seeming to have driven off everything else --- though I did see a fledgling goldfinch on the dogwood tree a while ago, and there's a pair of cardinals that keep coming and going, making their flinty little calls.
I've been reading poetry submissions for the magazine this morning. What a way to start the day . . . and so much work to do, with less than two weeks now until we leave for Norway. Two weeks from right now, God willing, we'll be in Bergen. At the moment I'm not that excited, just stressed out. This will change, but probably not until I'm on the plane.
Also working on a short-story draft that's been sitting in my folders for a few years now, waiting to come into focus. Elizabeth Bowen is very helpful . . .
Wearing today:
*Secondhand silk-cashmere-merino tank, bought January 2023, last worn May 22
The knit-in empire waist is still a little weird, but it's not really noticeable, I don't think. Meanwhile, the shift in proportions makes my whole body feel immediately more balanced. I can focus on how much I like the teal and purple together. I can focus on the nice simple A-line flow of the skirt. I like that it's not too flowy or swishy --- one thing I've really discovered is that I don't like gauzy, flouncy skirts, even though I like fluidity in my clothes. That's just really where I get off the boho train. I'm uncomfortably in harem pants. I don't really love ruffles or tiers in skirts. I do like swingy dresses and, again, fluid lines (see: my Fiona yesterday). I don't feel great in menswear or anything very tailored --- I'm too curvy for that to be my vibe. But there's a limit to how hippy-dippy my clothing can be, and it's good to recognize that.
It's also good to note that how you stand and move makes a difference in how your whole composition comes across --- but notice how the composition affects your mood, and therefore how you stand, &c. This is the Circle of Self-Presentation. The untucked photo might have looked better if I'd stood cuter, but I didn't feel like standing cute until I tucked my top back in.
So: yeah, I'm happy with this outfit. I especially like the linen shirt over, even though it's very wrinkled from a hand-washing last week. It'll soften up with wear, so I'm not going to worry about it. I love the colors together, the way the very soft, weathered duck-egg blue harmonizes with both the more intense turquoise of the top and the fairly muted purple linen skirt.
It'll certainly do for a day of dog-walking and work. The guys did get the car in at a mechanic's, so they can deal with shuttling to pick it up later on. It is useful having a whole other entire adult around.
On with things.
The barenekkid face of a person who [feels that she] has worked hard today ---
--- and is smiling because now she and the dog are lolling about on the porch. Some of us are barking at passersby, while others of us keep saying, in a languid ineffectual way, "Be good." Some of us also have to think about what's for dinner, and we so don't want to. There's some leftover beef chili from last night, so now that we think of it, chili mac and cheese sounds kind of possible. Maybe we should arise and go now, and go to boil the pasta.