Thursday, June 18, 2026

Mom-Day Puzzling in Red and Blue

Welcome back, my friends! I bussed out to visit Mom and we had a lovely time on a walk in her neighbourhood, followed by pizza and working on the murder-mystery jigsaw puzzle. 
I needed a chill day like that. Thanks so much for having me over, Mom! I love you. 

Lots of pictures to come, but first the outfit.
I'm being ruthless with my dresses this summer - many of them are just so-so and not absolute favourites. However, this dress is NOT one of them. 

  • Silk dress - Proenza Schouler for Barney's New York, thrifted; last worn here
  • Leather sandals - Geox, thrifted; last seen here

It's a swing dress shape, with a slight belling flair at the hem and cuffs. 
It's two different blue and red fabrics, mirroring and swapping with each other. 

Incognito in my scarf. 

I layered a cami and wee cotton shorts underneath. 

The stuff: 
Everything here was thrifted! 

  • Leather purse - Danier Leather, thrifted
  • Silk scarf - Halston, vintage 70s, thrifted

Minimal bling:
Nothing too heavy.

  • Silver/obsidian cube bracelet - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
  • Silver/obsidian link bracelet - consignment, Sidney
  • Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment
  • Silver loopy ring - consignment, Sidney
  • Plastic clip-on earrings - West Germany, vintage 80s, vintage fair

The boys flopped out on the deck, where the tiles are cool. 
Don't get up or anything. 

I'll be home tonight. 
I can see they are distraught! 

I snapped a picture of the store frontage at my bus stop. It's all Art Deco tiles - this window is the Odd Fellows lodge, and Rose's Jewelers used to be beside it. 
I'm glad so much of it is still intact. 

I arrived at Camosun College and walked up the hill to Mom's place.
That guy walked a lot faster. I like how the trees loom over him. 

The stick tree. 
Those white flowers are blackberries. I'll have to remember to bring a tub for picking in a couple of months. 

I got a new bird on my Merlin app! 
So exciting! 

I arrived at Mom's and checked out her garden. 
The blueberries will be ripe in a week, maybe? Yum! 

And the salmonberries too! 
You don't see those very often. About them here (Wiki link 'cause I love).

A luscious bunch of purple irises.
With two lavender ones! 

Mom showed me her progress on the "house cards" for her neighbours. 
The top left is the work in progress, with her template below and original picture on the right. 

Same here, different house. 
The middle one will be the actual pen & ink/watercolour. 

We headed out for a loop in the paths beyond Mom's street. 
It was a pure blue sky. 

The fields were high with grasses and tall daisies. 
We saw very few people, and the air was full of a very loud spotted towhee. 

We sat for a while at the benches on the boardwalk, enjoying life and our time together. 
I love this picture. 

Mom's necklace was from Joyce, her dear friend Kathy's mum (I also have things from Joyce). 
Even her sunglasses match her pants. So styling! 

A buttercup coming up between the boards. 
Hello! 

Looking towards PISE.
All the daisies. 

Time to head back.
I'm hungry! 

We split a pizza, then worked some more on the murder mystery puzzle. 
It's so rewarding when you figure out where a section goes - there's no picture to go by! 

Lots of progress! 
Save some for me, Mom! 

This is the puzzle for those of you who were interested. 
Thumbs up from both of us! I don't really care about the mystery - we started reading the booklet, but it's LONG, and I just wanted to get to the puzzle! 

I got home to someone with a case of Flop-Butt. 
Hot enough for ya, Whateley? 

I nearly missed Barnabas. 
He blends in to Angus. 

Say "Bye for the weekend!" boys! 
"No."      "I want to nap."

Well, I'll have to do it myself then. Have a marvelous weekend, Gentle Readers! I'll be back on Sunday with Tales of Adventure! Thank you for being here. 

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Odd Shapes and Pops of Pink

I played around with this top last night until I found an outfit that worked. When in doubt, white jeans! 
I also deployed my tactic of "Pops of X" (pink, in case you missed it). 

  • Top - Petar, consignment; purchased here for $125.99
  • Jeans - Everlane, thrifted; first seen here for May the Fourth with Star Wars stuff
  • Shoes - Freedom Suki, Fluevog, vintage 2003-4, thrifted and illustrated by me; last worn here in June 2025 with greys

Most of the volume here is the top, not me. 
Belting it and turning the bottom into a peplum worked the best - I think a wider belt next time. 

The gathered part at the top gives it an interesting shape - I'm attracted to clothes with odd shapes. 
It was warm and windy today - this was just right. 

The stuff: 
I met up with a colleague for lunch today, and showed off the shoes to her. I did all the artwork on them! 

  • Silk scarf - vintage 80s, thrifted
  • Leather belt - Ralph Lauren, thrifted

Snaky bling: 
I had many fans of the pink earrings, due to them matching my lipstick exactly. 

  • Snake coil cuff - Whiting & Davis, vintage 70s, vintage fair
  • Tiled cuff - vintage 70s, Mom's
  • Cobra ring - vintage fair
  • Amethyst/gold ring - Francis Jewellers, c. 1965, Dad's
  • Enameled earrings - thrifted

No cat pictures today, but I'll have a bunch after Mom-Day tomorrow. 

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Blue and Green Pea

Rebounding from yesterday's Bad Blouse, I styled up my "pea" dress in shades of blue. Very soothing. 
I love this shade of pea green.

  • Mesh top - Mexx, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here in April in my last outfit of the season
  • Dress - Trina Turk, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) last June for L's birthday lunch with Mom
  • Boots - Original Sabado, Fluevog; last seen here (2nd outfit) in March with sequined plaid for brunch

I also like the interesting construction, with the deep pleats on the front. 
I always layer a top under it. 

Isn't the back cool? 
Love that. 

Incognito.
I needed the scarf to keep my hair from being blown all over. 

The stuff: 
You may be gasping that I'm wearing boots. Crazy weather! The temps dropped by 10 degrees, and did I mention the wind? 

  • Silk scarf - Yves Saint Laurent, vintage 80s, consignment
  • Moth brooch - vintage fair
  • Bee brooch - consignment

Bluesy bling: 
I wore all my eelskin bangles on one arm. 

  • All 3 x eelskin hinged bangles - vintage 80s, thrifted
  • Malachite ring - consignment
  • Scarab ring - Heidi Daus, vintage mall, gift from L
  • Snake earrings - Betsey Johnson, gift from L

On the other was this hinged bracelet. 
So pretty! 

  • Enameled bracelet - Lauren G. Adams, consignment

Kitties in the heat.
"Too hot."


I love Barnabas' curly tail here. 
"I love the sun!"


It's hot on the deck still. Enjoy it, sun bears! 

Monday, June 15, 2026

Monday Crinkles and a Bad Blouse

I had to be in the office 30 minutes sooner due to a very early meeting, so I had to skip my morning coffee at home. My brain took a while to catch up.
I do not like this blouse. It does not work. Bye, blouse! 

  • Blouse - Religion, thrifted; purchased here for $7.00
  • Skirt - Oska, consignment; last worn here in April with copper and orange
  • Shoes - Sol Sana; last seen here in September 2025 with Adidas and Dries

It's just all the wrong shape and doing all the wrong things. Ugh. 
So let's focus on the skirt, which is the most crinkly of all. This may be the piece that started me down this pleated and crinkled path I've been on lately. 

Incognito.
It was cloudy and windy...but still roasting hot. It hit 30 today - okay, I was grateful for the office AC! 

The stuff: 
These shoes are still going strong. I was surprise that I hadn't worn them yet this season - clearly an oversight! 

  • Round crystal brooch - the Bay, c. 1999
  • Star brooch - consignment

I wore the brooches at the neck of the blouse and down the front button placket. 

Silvery bling: 
I was going for a romantic-goth vibe, and it worked for the jewelry! 

  • Lace cuff - handmade in Nashville
  • Filigree bracelet - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London
  • Silver/obsidian ring - consignment
  • Silver snake ring - BC Museum gift shop, c. 1986
  • Silver loopy ring - consignment, Sidney
  • Silver pinky ring - consignment, Sidney
  • Earrings - Chan Luu, consignment

Barnabas really wanted to play but was also feeling rather warm. 
"I want to chase the ball..."


He batted it up in the air.
"Evil ball! Die!"

The ball hid behind the footstool. 
"I will pounce...later."

Contemplating the ball. 
"Did you say something?"

And he's off! 
"You'll rue the day you messed with Barnabas!"


Stay chill, my friends!