Casual Deck Day

Hello, my friends! Today's one of my not-at-work days, but I still had a full day. 

First, I thought I would show you what I wore around the house today. I often "down-grade" my "good" clothes to house clothes once I get tired of them, or if they are getting worn. I have a few pairs of jeans (purple velvet, and leopard), a pair of camo pants, and an assortment of slightly moth-eaten sweaters that I have been wearing all fall/winter, and it's time for me to switch to spring/summer in my casual clothes too, so I'm doing a down-grade of this dress.

No make-up, wet hair, comfy old glasses

I like a cotton dress in warm weather for wearing around the house - my previous version was purple hemp (this dress here), originally purchased for our trip to Italy in 2014 (here are all the posts - enjoy!). I wore it constantly in the warm seasons and I finally wore it out last fall and retired it. I easily wore it a hundred times in 5 years, probably much more.

This dress is by Geek Boutique, and was last worn here, 2nd outfit, in August 2019 for shopping. I thrifted it for $19.99 (here), and wore it three times last season, which is good, but when I pulled out my spring/summer stuff a couple of weeks ago, it just wasn't ringing my bell, so I put it in the giveaway pile...and have been thinking about it ever since!

I guess that's a sign, so I dug it out today and layered my Frank Turner tour shirt under it. I sleep in my concert tees, and wear a different one every day as "around the house" wear anyway. So this is a nice way to keep looking presentable at home, for me as well for L.

As my temperatures fluctuate wildly, I have this wonderful wool cardigan that I can fling off or wrap myself in (it has pockets!). It's by Saint James, a venerable company that's been making wool sweaters forever. I bought it here for $18.95, and have been wearing it steadily since, all through this past winter.

My slippers are by Garneau (link here, 'cause I love). They are handmade in Quebec, Canada, with sheepskins from New Zealand and Australia (story here), and they are excellent for both warmth and temperature control. My first pair lasted two years before I fully destroyed them. These ones are just over a year old - L buys them for me for my birthdays. I wear them every day!

In the morning, I was up early for my Mental Health Walk, then walked to town to get our weekly groceries. I prefer shopping mid-week before noon, as the store is nowhere near as busy as it is after work or on the weekend. I lugged the usual 40-50lbs of groceries home in my backpack and in tote bags. Whew! After that, my legs are wobbly and tired.

"I'm exhausted just from hearing that."

As I hung out with Vizzini on the deck, waiting for my lunch to cook, I noticed that the maple tree to the north of our condo has unfurled its leaves.

The giant Gary Oak at the end of our street still looks fuzzy, as its leaves come out in about a week or so.

I looked up - the maple towers above our 4-storey building, and hangs over our glassed-in deck.

The top edge is our roof and the metal horizontal line is the join of the vertical windows.

As I looked out into the Gary Oaks in our front yard, I spotted someone who saw me first!

"Oh, I see you all right."

I zoomed in. Yup, definitely looking at me!

"You're the Woman from the stairs - my friends told me about you."

Well, that was disconcerting.


I have been wanting to do something more with our deck than what we've been doing...which is nothing! We've never even painted it, and we've lived here for over 20 years. But let's not be hasty! Maybe we'll paint some other time. For today, I just did a cosmetic update, although I did brush away some spider webs. There was nothing in this corner aside from an old plant pot and a thermometer, prior to today.

Our deck is L-shaped and just over a meter wide all the way around.

I took my Grandma J's chair - which I remember loving from when I was a child and asked to have when she died in 1996 - and covered it with an old faux fur blanket that Vizzini has decided he won't sleep on. I moved it out on the deck, along with an old marble-topped brass table, a padded footstool, and voila! I made myself a reading nook!

Here's the OG thermometer - it went up to 30 degrees this afternoon! Heaven!

The gargoyle is one of a set - I think we got them for a wedding present in 1997. We have a big collection of gargoyles all over the house - even in the bathroom!

I put my coworker Emily's lovely birthday gift (the framed doodle she made) out here, stacked up my next two books, and poured myself a glass of iced tea and sliced up an apple. Both my plate and the glass are vintage 70s, by the Indiana Glass Company - this pattern is called "King's Crown" or "King's Thumbprint" amongst collectors. I have quite a few pieces of this, mostly in amber, but with some green as well. I use my collectibles (they even go in the dishwasher) - I won't save them for "good."

The lump with a towel covering it on the lower right is an old plant pot from the Days When I Had Plants, Before I Killed Them All. It's there to keep Vizzini from going behind the chair and hiding and/or destroying the chair. He gets into everything, that cat.

I fetched this extra throw pillow and plopped it on the chair. Gotta make my space nice and comfy.

L's mom made it out of vintage ties.

Here's what I'm reading.

The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu is Lovecraftian short stories, and was excellent (I finished it this afternoon); next up is a re-read of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, inspired by L and I having just completed watching the TV show "Black Sails", which is a "prequel" to Treasure Island. Yar, I do like me some pirates! I also vowed to read all of the Hemingway that we have (most of it, I think - L's read them all). I have only read The Sun Also Rises, so I'm excited to delve into To Have and Have Not.

My copy of Treasure Island is from 1978!

There is my Garfield bookplate (I was very into Garfield), and this was a 9th birthday gift from my "cousins" (kids of my mom's best friend Kathy), Karlee, Scott and Stacey, who I note all signed this themselves.

And here I am, enjoying a bit of sun, my tea and my apple slices, and resting my tired legs. I made a pot of chicken jalapeno corn chowder and a pot of turkey chili today, too - my freezer is full of deliciousness, and the whole house smells wonderful.

This is a south-west corner, so the sun doesn't beam right down on me. Not too hot or glare-y for reading. I have a feeling I'll be out here a lot!

This is my view if I look up:

I see the seagulls have splattered the window with their poop! Fiends!

The Gary Oak branches arch above me. When these oaks and the maples are in full leaf, we have lots of privacy from our neighbouring apartment buildings. 

And here's my view of this side of the deck:

"Oh, hey."

We've had the table and chairs for ages, a gift from Mom. I have ideas for that corner, as it's a hangout during parties, and ideas for the other "leg" of the deck, which goes for about 12 feet to the right from the corner. We shall see if it takes another 20 years to do change more stuff, ha ha!

For now, I'm going to hang out with this warm guy in the sun.

"Solid plan. I'm in."

Back to work tomorrow!