Mom-Day: Jewelry Raid and Rithet's Bog

Ah, what a lovely day! Mom and I spent most of the afternoon together - I bussed out to her house where we hung out for a while, then drove to local wildlife sanctuary Rithet's Bog for a stroll, followed by dinner out. Oh, and I raided her jewelry (legit this time!). 

Although it was a gorgeous sunny day, it was really windy out, so I took a chance and wore my new-to-me suede skirt. 

I love the raspberry red of this skirt - it perfectly goes with pinks. 

• Shirt - Guess, thrifted; first worn here in April for a weekend hangout at the park with our gang
• Cami - Mexx, thrifted; not tracked
• Skirt - Kelco Leathers, vintage 90s, thrifted; purchased here for $26.95
• Sandals - Wonders; last seen here in June with a Darth Sheila duster

I will likely tuck this skirt away for fall, but I did manage to find a few things that worked with it in my spring/summer wardrobe.

I love this pretty midi length. It was great to wear all day, very soft. 

Like the first time I wore it, I just tied my viscose/cotton denim shirt at the waist. 

This is about as boho as I get, ha ha. 

I love the spray of blossoms - details on the back always delight me. 

Showing my underlovelies. 

I have a full vintage pinky-orange slip underneath. 

Masked up - it's rose petals. 

You know I like to be matchy! 

• Mask - by Mom

I carried a gold purse, and a silk scarf. 

I tied the scarf around the purse strap - I had to take it off from there midway through our walk, as the blackberry canes were grabbing at it. 

• Purse - Banana Republic, consignment
• Silk scarf - vintage, thrifted

I tied it around my head like a freakin' movie star! 

I kind of look like I'm hailing my limo. Driver! 

But I was mostly like this. 

It was a comfy outfit for a very relaxing day. 

The stuff: 

I had a fair bit of walking to do: to the bus stop, to the post office, and through the woods to Mom's house, plus our stroll at the Bog. These sandals are so comfy, even though the last is wooden. 

Glittery bling: 

I did a lot of thematic matching, from the leaves in the bracelets, to the pink/copper jewelry. 

• Leaf bracelet - Trifari, vintage 60s, thrifted
• Gold/pearl/crystal bracelet - Trifari, vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's
• Copper rings - Glee
• Earrings - made for me by Sherri
• Birds brooch - thrifted
• Bee pin - gift from Megan Mae

You might not have noticed the two brooches in my outfit. 

There they are! 

As mentioned, I bussed to town, popped something in the mail at the Post Office, then hopped another bus for the 40-minute ride to Mom's part of town. 

Sheep! And a very curious goose. 

It's practically rural out here, but far less so than when I was a kid. 

I am a sucker for a tunnel of greenery. 

This tractor was at the far end of a field.

The grasses are all dry and tall. 

The woods smelled wonderful. 

Note the very rough bark of the Douglas fir. 

Looking back - that's the sheep farm. 

I like to look back. 

Now I'm at Mom's! 

Her garden is so lush! 

I ate all the blueberries off her bushes. 

They were so sweet and tart. 

After chatting and catching up for a bit, Mom mentioned her jewelry. "Let's go look!" I suggested, heh heh.

I haven't had a good rummage through Mom's jewelry for decades, easily not since the Great Jewelry Liberation of 1983-1985. 

This might have been the only time with her watching. Heh. I have to be supervised around other people's cool stuff. 

Mom has two of these faux tortoiseshell boxes: one for rings and one for earrings. 

She generously let me pick through them. 

Aw, that's my Grandad's wedding ring there on the left. It's a 10K band stamped "Adonis" inside. See those other green rings...? We'll get to those.

This is just catnip to me! I am a master necklace untangler - I have magic fingers. 

I love the vintage box. The glass jar behind it used to have bus fare change in it when I was in my mid-teens (I used to nick change for ciders). I painted that figurine holding the black cat! 

Oh my gosh, I remember being OBSESSED with this book pin when I was around 9 years old. The "book" is brass, with a black Bakelite "cover" (this one says Calgary with a bucking bronco, for the Calgary Stampede, obviously). 

It has an accordion of pictures inside it, including Bow Falls, Banff Chair Lift and Athabasca Glacier (I've been there!). It's in rough shape now including a broken pin, but still - memories. 

Speaking of...my grandfather (my dad's father) bought my mom a tiny bottle of Jean Patou's "Joy" perfume in the 70s. He was trying to make her "more of a lady." What an arse (he was not a nice person).

I saw a boxed bottle just like this online for over $70.00. Hey, Mom, your smelly perfume is actually worth money! I used to "borrow" little bits of this in the 80s. It's been stored in the dark, in its box all this time and still smells exactly the same! 

I picked out a few things that Mom would let me have - she practically slapped my hand when I started fondling her mid-century Scandi necklace and earrings! 

I LOVE that steel lobster pin - it was missing the clasp, but I twisted some wire around the base and made it work well enough. The shiny green/crystal ring is a fancy cocktail ring from the 70s (probably a Christmas present), and the green/pink/gold ring is olivine surrounded by pink coral bits. It's from Hawaii - I remember Mom buying it when we went in 1977. The black earrings are carved wood, bought in Fiji when Mom and Dad visited there in the early 90s. 

While Mom changed out of her painting clothes from that morning's teaching session, I wandered around the house and took pictures of familiar things. Meet Henry, the Prayer Plant. 

Henry has been around as long as I can remember - he used to live in a yellow pot that I made when I was a kid. I recall Mom making this pot (the bottom half is cast from her favourite woven basket). 

This maidenhair fern is a few decades old - it replaced one that my grandparents purchased on the birth of my uncle (in the early 1940s). 

My Gram and Grandad always had a fern in this stand n their home - I remember it near the piano. I completely missed the plant gene - I have killed all my plants. 

Hey, it's my Aunt Lil! She was Mom's aunt (her mum's older sister), and she was a hoot. 

I remember playing cards with her. That's a giant shell (New Zealand?), and the little carved man is from Nova Scotia, I believe. 

This is my mom's parents, Dorothy and Lester. 

Aka Gram and Grandad. Gram was fun - I learned crafts from her - but my grandad was awesome. I miss him. 

Oh gosh, the family pictures! That top picture is Mom and Dad, plus me and my brother Dave, from around 1982 (I'm ~14). I have feathered hair! 

On the lower shelf is a pic of me in a yellow dress with my parasol (3rd outfit, here, in July 2018), L and I at my company Christmas party in November 2014 (here, 3rd outfit), and L and I just newly married in 1997.

A quick pic with the timer. 

Mom did the swan picture above the fireplace - she's so talented! 

We had intended on going to Quick's Bottom (a real place, stop laughing!) but couldn't find anywhere to park, so we went to Rithet's Bog (link here). 

We were in no danger of deep water - it showed the effects of our June heatwave. I didn't see any water at all. 

You know I can't resist a tunnel of greenery! Let's go! 

The vegetation was massive - we were nearly completely enclosed at many points. 

A few other walkers passed us. 

The wind in the trees sounded like waves on the shore. 

Insects - dragonflies and bees - buzzed around us. 

Wow, that's a big tree! 

Gotta look back - it's Mom! 

It was so peaceful. 

I spotted a hummingbird and zoomed in just as he was taking off again. 

After our walk, we had a lovely dinner at the Fifth Street Bar & Grill and then Mom drove me home. 

I so appreciate Mom letting me raid her jewelry box, and she rediscovered this "bubble" necklace too. 

Thanks so much for a wonderful Mom-Day, Mom! I love you!