Azaleas and Japanese maple on our Park Loop walk yesterday morning before church.
It's looking like another brilliant day, fairly warm once it gets going, with a high of nearly 70F. I've got some writing work to do, but my main agenda today is to get in Thanksgiving groceries.
Habit I am building this week: Empty dishwasher upon arising in the morning, while coffee is making. That way dishes don't pile up in the sink during the day, because they can be banged right into said dishwasher, which is ready for them. It doesn't matter so much with just two of us, but with more people in the house, this one weird trick makes a difference. (Yeah, yeah, the rest of the world knew this already, but I really hate unloading the dishwasher. It's the last thing I would naturally do first thing in the morning. But I did it yesterday, and I've done it again today, and I'm glad I made the effort).
Watched the first episode of the 1983 BBC Mansfield Park yesterday with the Artgirl, while she did a sketch for a print project she's going to make when she gets back to school. Today she's going out with a friend, but I hope we'll get to watch through the whole thing while she's here.
Wearing today:
*Wool& Maggie dress (S/Long) in Aegean Teal, bought May 2023, last worn November 12. Total wears this year to date: 22.
*Secondhand Erika&Co. cotton-linen floral pinafore dress, bought November/December 2023, last worn November 12. Total wears this year to date: 18
*Very old thrifted Talbots cotton cardigan, originally dark brown, redyed by me in the fall of 2022 in Rit Wine. I really need to wear this cardigan more. I love it, and it's a great weight for so much of our fall/winter weather.
*Snag microfiber tights in Royal Navy, bought fall 2021 or spring 2022. I don't wear these nearly as often as I wear my merino navy tights, for obvious reasons. But I just rinsed out all my merino tights, so the microfibers are getting some wear. These don't have thin places yet the way my green Thicket ones from yesterday do, but the left foot has developed a bunch of little holes. One huge downside to microfiber tights is that they aren't nearly as mendable as wool ones. I might eventually cut the feet off these and wear them as footless tights, but they'll do for today. Nobody can see the holes.
*Xero Tari boots, bought summer 2022, third season as a default winter shoe.
I'm still trying to wear clothes I know I won't wear during Advent. That's very much the theme of this week's outfits, though I didn't in fact sit down and plan them. I'm just trying to reach for anything that doesn't go with purple --- which is not that much of my wardrobe, to be honest. There's a lot of purple in my closet, and even more goes-with-purple.
But this pinafore doesn't go with purple, so I'm wearing it today. Ditto my red cardigan, though it will certainly get wear at Christmas. I'll make a it point to wear my red linen maxi skirt this week as well, and my Beetroot Brooklyn (I guess I could wear that one with some purple, but it feels like a bit much somehow). And maybe repeat my Cinnamon Rose Leila one more time, although that might start to feel like overkill. That gives me some leeway to wear things that go with purple --- but to wear them with colors that aren't purple before we plunge into the Four Purple Weeks of preparation.
Anyway, I always fear that I'm going to look very Frumpy Homeschoolfrau in this pinafore I'm wearing today, and I'm always a little surprised when that doesn't seem to be entirely the case. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I feel less schlumpy in this dress than I always anticipate feeling. The floral pattern does not precisely scratch the itch that makes me want a Christy Dawn dress (not buying one, however). But it's nice to vary up my range of solid colors with a pattern now and then, and I do like this one very much. It's a loose dress, but the lines feel graceful and flowy, not like a sack. Once again, the waist doesn't have to be fitted --- it just has to be defined by seams and gathers.
You can barely see my Maggie dress underneath, but it's there. The day will be warm enough that I won't really need a whole underdress, but it's lightweight, and I don't think I'll get hot. I might very well repeat it under my red linen skirt tomorrow or the next day, because it works so nicely that way.
I have made one more secondhand purchase: a small Wool& Sierra dress (not long this time), in Washed Navy, in used condition (some pilling, plus a tiny hole that I can mend), for quite a markdown, especially with the credit I had available from sales. I'd had my eye on it as a potential hiking dress for next summer, though I can also wear it as a warm under-layer when it's cold.
I did really like my original Sierra until it stretched out so much as to be unwearable as a dress (though I could try washing it on hot and drying it to see how much it shrinks back up) --- I think my dye job, as much as I like the color, did not do the fabric any favors. I wear it often as a nightgown and for housework, but it's too long to wear for outdoor activity, and I worry about the dye rubbing off on other clothes, so it doesn't get wear as an under-layer. I had also kind of been wanting a shorter one. I'd told myself that I might like another Sierra someday, but definitely not in the Long length. I have pivoted away from A-line/swing dresses, but I always liked the fit of my Sierra, and that shape is really good for hiking and outdoor things, because it allows for a good bit of air flow. Now I know not to dye this particular fabric, and to treat it with some care. I think that with a little babying in the wash department, I can keep it from stretching out so much.
This dress ended up costing me about $40 (plus shipping), which is a whacking lot more than half off the original price.
And you know, Washed Navy will totally go with purple, not to mention everything else I own, so if I need to wear it for just . . . wear . . . I can. Again, I'll mend the little campfire hole and live with the pilling at the waist. The original owner got it as her reward dress after her 100-day challenge and wore it on her Camino, so it came in for some backpack-type abuse, but sounds as though it's not too bad. People seem to have been making her low-ball offers for it, but I just decided to grab it for her asking price, since that was already pretty low (lower than what I had asked for my Wisteria Willow, with the very faint bleach mark --- and that buyer gave me an enthusiastic five stars, so I'm glad she's happy).
So, I didn't need another dress per se, but I was feeling the lack of a hiking dress. My 100-day Camellia is really wearing out, after three years of quite constant use, plus a dye job (which again does weaken the fibers --- I love dyeing things, but I think it really does shorten the life of the fabric). I wear her on regular rotation for a nightgown, and yes, I could wear her on the trail, but she's looking very thin. I won't get rid of her, but I knew I had to think about filling the place she has occupied for specific pursuits.
Well, the dog won't walk herself, nor will the work arise and declare itself done.
ALSO TODAY:
*Dust mopping/dusting
*House laundry (sheets, towels, kitchen)
*Airing/changing our bed/sheets
*Cutting up an old towel to make more kitchen towels
*Setting aside napkins and other table settings for Thanksgiving
*At least thinking about next week's essays
*Helping the Artgirl print out a return label to send back a dress she bought (just point your phone at the printer, dear . . .). It's a UPS label, so she does have to take it to the UPS store, not as easy as putting it out on the mailbox for the mailman, but pretty straightforward nonetheless.