Purple carrots from the garden. The grow bag I'd sown was pretty full and crowded, so I needed to pull them to thin things out. I topped and tailed them (cut off the greens and the long root at the bottom, in other words), washed them, and roasted them tossed with a little olive oil, salt, and papper --- they were quite delicious, eaten as a side with fig-jam-and-balsamic-glazed pork chops and cauliflower rice with goat cheese.
My mother seems to have had a nice birthday yesterday. She has parties to go to all week long: last night a block party in her little retirement-community neighborhood (she is the chair of that neighborhood committee), lunch out today with someone else who has the same birthday, wine at someone else's house tomorrow, outing with two of her oldest friends on Friday, dinner out with my brother on Saturday because that was the only time she could pencil him into her calendar. Some people's elderly mothers are sitting at home pining by the telephone . . . but not my mother. We could all turn 89 in far worse shape.
Today here:
It's overcast, and I think we're supposed to get al little rain. I'm glad I brought my laundry in from the line last night before the sun went down. But it'll be warm, not chilly. I think we're done with the cool, dank days of last week and into terrarium weather instead.
I'm about halfway through my Coleridge essay for Friday, so today I want to make a big push and finish it. I have three essays for next week, and two of them are on poems I haven't written on before. Gotta get this week put to bed so that I can get a jump on next week. I would really love not to have to work at the weekend.
I do have room in a grow bag to sow more carrots, so I might do that while things are nice and damp. It takes them . . . what? . . . about two months to mature enough to eat, so it would be good to have some starting while I work my way through the rest of the carrots already sown. Unlike many vegetable gardeners, I don't have any one thing to be inundated with ---- mostly because I'm not growing zucchini --- and I don't grow any one crop in great multiples. What happens instead is that we get enough of something to make one or two meals, and then it's done, OR we have to wait for a new crop to mature. Beets are a good example. We love beets, and we're in no danger of getting tired of them, because we keep having to wait for a new crop to be ready before we can have them again (unless we buy them, but who's going to buy more of something that's already growing in the garden?).
My basil is finally really growing, which I'm happy about. It was taking its time, I guess because the weather was so cool and cloudy.
I really need to cut mint and lavender and make a big pitcher of iced tea with them.
Otherwise . . . dog walking, reading, the usual. I don't particularly mind that nothing exciting is happening. May was full of exciting happenings, and I am still recovering from them. Boring suits me down to the bone.
Pulled another tick out of my hair last night. That's two in the space of a single month*, which is . . . gross, but also, how many years did I go without ever seeing a tick at all? Many years, that's how many. And now, suddenly, they have found me. This one must have come from my own yard, or else the woodsy part of the neighborhood, although I was hardly beating my way through underbrush. Clearly I'm going to have to be vigilant this season. And I'm glad Dora's on Simparica Trio, for heartworm but also flea, tick, and generate parasite protection. There are all manner of things out there that I would rather she not bring into the house, ticks among them.
*NB: Fortunately, in both cases, I had washed my hair that morning, so I know the ticks weren't on my scalp for long. I actually felt the first one, in Texas, bite me as I was sitting under a tree on the UD campus. That bite was a lot worse and took a long time to heal --- I can still feel where it was. This latest tick came away a lot more easily (and had not bitten me so hard I felt it) and hasn't left any kind of wound. I did get an antibiotic after the first one. I should probably go get another to be safe, and maybe let them do a blood test this time. That time, I was literally dashing to catch a flight, which had been delayed (which was why I went to Urgent Care right then to begin with) and then, while I was waiting, was un-delayed. I'm sure those people thought I was insane, because I was ready to sprint from the room. I told them that if I had to wait for longer than five minutes, I would have to leave --- no offense. This time I guess I should do it right.
It's Day 4 of my June Wear Everything Once Challenge --- which is causing me to have to think ahead. If I wear Dress A today, then I can't wear it again until I've worn everything else, so I need to be sure there's not another time when I'm going to want to wear it . . . this is a bit of a pain, but then, it makes me consider whether some comfortable default I might reflexively fall back on is really what I want to do right now --- or whether I'd be better off saving it for later.
I'm bearing in mind, too, that my new-to-me Xero sandals are supposed to arrive today. Yep, a quick check of the tracking tells me they're out for delivery, calloo callay! Like my new bag and skirt, both of which arrived Monday, these shoes cost me nothing in actual cash. I just spent credit I had earned through sales, a nice loop I could get used to. Now that I'm in this groove, I really could say to myself that I don't buy secondhand items until I've sold something and have enough of a balance not to have to spend any cash outside the resale loop.
Anyway, as much as I'm wearing sandals right now, and since my Birk Mayaris, which were my daily go-to, have broken, I am glad to have a third pair of everyday sandals. These have bright teal straps, so whatever I wear today needs to look good with bright teal shoes, which fortunately is a requirement that includes most, if not all, of my closet. I love that they're waterproof and meant for sport, and also that the sole looks a little bit thicker than the sole of my Jessie sandals. Still barefoot sandals, but maybe with just a tiny bit more shock absorption. I love my Jessies, but that would be a nice alternative.
So, what shall I wear?
Today's answer to that burning question:
*Secondhand vintage Erika&Co. linen-cotton floral pinafore, bought fall 2023, last worn May 15. Wears in 2025: 9
*Secondhand Eileen Fisher pink merino tank, bought January 2023, third year of wear
*Secondhand Banana Republic silk-cotton cardigan, bought February 2025, first year of wear
*Thrifted Crocs, second year of wear
Another dress I love, what a surprise. I don't own a dress I don't love --- if I put a dress on and don't love it, that's a sign that it needs to belong to someone else, not me. One of the things I love about this particular dress, besides all the things I've enumerated before --- the fabric, the drape and movement, the floral pattern, the colors, the overall vibe --- is that I can wear it with this pink merino tank, which I also love. Even in warm weather, it's a great piece. A major reason for purchasing the blue patterned linen skirt that arrived just Monday is that I could wear this tank with it. The color is very good for me, and the cut is just graceful and bare for summer, without being too bare. It's the perfect camisole layer to turn this pinafore into a more or less stand-alone dress.
Those teal Xeros should look good with this outfit, but for now I'm wearing Crocs to wait for the mail to come. And the Crocs also look good, in a tonal, subtle way. They don't match anything else --- well, actually, there is some kind of bronze-y brown in the floral pattern that comes close --- but they do echo the basic champagne shades I'm wearing.
I'll take off this cardigan to walk, but it's cool in the house, and I welcome the opportunity to add a light layer. The cardigan looks good tied like this, I think --- better than when it hangs loose. It's a large size, a hair too big for me, and can look boxy or shapeless, but the good news is that there's enough of it to tie, without creating a lot of extra bulk.
I'm seeing a braid as my default summer hairstyle. It's so good for sleep, because otherwise my hair catches me up or gets in my way --- and then once I've braided it, I either need to get it wet again to style it, or just keep it braided, which is obviously easier. This is a pretty low-stress way to wear your hair, too. Claw clips seem not to cause breakage, which is good news since I wear them so much, but a braid with a soft scrunchie is even gentler. And it doesn't create the sort of tension that any tightly pulled-back style does. I'm very keen on not having anything pulling on my scalp, because that way lies hair loss. I've had a good bit of regrowth since I quit using Head&Shoulders (and no resurgence of dermatitis so far), and far less fallout when I wash my hair. That's a trend I'm anxious to continue. So while I do like to wear updos, I'm looking for ways to keep my hair off my neck and out of my face without any tension on my scalp.
Now I'm going to play my NY Times games, then it's out with the dog and off to the races.
LUNCHTIME UPDATE
My new sandals have arrived! I opened them and tried them on after my dog walk, and here they are:
I do like these very much. The model is the Z-Trail EV Sport Sandal, by Xero Shoes. As anyone here knows, I love Xero shoes and have had a number of pairs in different styles: the Tari Chelsea Boot; the Cassie Mary Jane, which I've since sold but did like; the Jessie sandal; two pairs of Oswego walking shoes; and the Mesa Trailrunners, which I use for hiking. I've been wearing barefoot shoes since 2022, and more and more they are simply what I wear all the time.
For years I wore Teva sandals as my default warm-weather shoe, and these new sandals remind me a lot of what I always liked about Tevas. They're water- and weatherproof (a big advantage over Birkenstocks, though I will always love Birks), and they are designed for all kinds of outdoor walking, with a good tread on the sole. I like the cute-but-sporty appearance --- I wouldn't wear them to Sunday Mass, but I'd wear them in lots of situations, including date nights. These are a little less minimal than my Jessie sandals, which are basically an ankle strap and a loop around the big toe, on a thin rubberish sole. The Z-Trail sandals have a little more substantial sole (again, made for hiking, with a little more traction and thickness, but still plenty of barefoot connection to the ground), and I like these more visible straps, which are sturdy but, again, quite cute. And I love the color, which works with my whole closet.
I can see myself living in these all summer. They come in a number of colors --- there's a magenta that would also be fun to have, if I had enough credit to buy another pair without spending actual cash. Now that I have enough dresses to suit me, I could see having a real Year of Shoes . . .
OK, back to Coleridge and his more serious concerns, circa 1802.