Mom-Day Adventure: Autumn Ruffles at Mattick's Farm

Due to rainy weather, today's Mom-Day Adventure took place at a lovely little venue: Mattick's Farm and nearby Lochside Trail. 

Mattick's Farm...isn't a farm. It's more like a semi-rural shopping/dining area, adjacent to a golf course, out on the Saanich Peninsula. Link here (all links 'cause I love). Because I don't drive, and L and I never think to do stuff like drive to the "country" (we are city mice), I have maybe only been out here once in my life? The closest I've gotten in recent history is when Mom and I went painting at a local sunflower farm, in the same vicinity (post here from 2017, lots of sunflower pictures!). 

We parked at Mattick's, then strolled along the Lochside Trail. Link here, and a map here that gives a good idea of what the tiny tip of Vancouver Island looks like - my Mental Health Walks are along the coast on the right side below Victoria.

I dressed for the weather in pre-autumn colours.

I wanted to wear this brown leather jacket again, now that I've customized it to my satisfaction. 

• Jacket (worn without lining) - Boss by Hugo Boss, consignment; first worn here last week
• Wool sweater - Judith & Charles, consignment; last seen here in March under a suede slip dress
• Skirt - Faithfull the Brand, consignment; first worn here in July on a ruffled shop
• Boots - Mamzelle, thrifted; purchased here for $24.95

I wore the jacket without the linen/cotton lining and I liked it so much better. 

It's less fussy. I might be a fussy person (I'm very particular), but I do not like it in my clothing. 

Note the lack of white ruffled trim on the back - I even picked out the stitches. 

I did the skirt's ties in a bow at the back. 

Without the jacket, although I never took it off. 

I like this basic, slightly cropped cream sweater - it's a handy layering piece. 

I was glad that I'd worn both nylons (and socks!) and a full vintage slip under everything. 

It was quite chilly at times, under the canopy of trees. 

Masked up - we are still required to wear them in all indoor public spaces. 

Mom and I had our Vaccine Passports scanned  - our first time! It felt rather exciting, but I'm sure the novelty will wear off. 

• Mask - by Mom

All geared up - I added my silk Lanvin scarf. 

I wished later that I'd brought gloves - I'll have to dig them out! 

The stuff: 

First wearing of these new-to-me boots and they were fantastic and comfortable. I walked on gravel, dirt and some blackberry canes and the heels and toes got wet. All good. I do very little with my shoes, maybe some rub some Woly in once in a while if they are starting to get scuffed, and that's it. 

Amber bling: 

Some of my favourite things. 

• Purse - Ted Lapidus, vintage 90s, vintage fair
• Dragon bangle - Lazy Susan's
• Bangle with glass - vintage 1920s, vintage mall
• Amber ring - c. 1996
• Wood ring - Dots
• Earrings - vintage 1920s, vintage mall, gift from L
• Necklace - vintage 1920s, vintage mall, gift from L

I'm getting a good collection of 100-year-old Art Deco jewelry! 

Mom picked me up in the morning - I love that she always classes it up. 

A lovely blue sweater, a vintage Mexican pendant, and a leather Danier jacket with polka dot lining. "One of the few jackets you didn't buy me," Mom commented. I was with her when she bought it, though! 

We drove north of town, then turned off at Mattick's Farm. 

The Lochside Trail connects up with the Galloping Goose Trail, which crosses the entire southern part of Vancouver Island. It's very popular with cyclists. The golf course is in the background there. 

We left the car and started walking. 

The trail is packed hard dirt - not quite paved, but good for walking on. 

It follows along Lochside Drive, then turns off to the left. 

We are never more than a hundred meters from a paved road. 

I can't resist a winding path. 

Several cyclists and a few walkers passed us as we strolled along. 

There were still loads of wild blackberries. 

Of course we had to pick some! 

I ate all of these. *gobble* Oh, dropped one! 

Do you see the run-down barn? 

Click any pic to embiggen. 

There are houses off the trail, but few vehicles are permitted here. 

I was entranced by the log house down that driveway.

A real log house! Cool! 

Hidden away in the underbrush, practically!

And then right across from it...

...a fancy chalet-style house.

A mini library called "Ramblers' Reads."

Check out the autumnal décor on the fence behind it. There were no good books in there. 

The path/road comes out at a giant athletic park. 

There are multiple soccer fields (my niece Hannah played here), and couple of softball diamonds. 

I liked the weird things in this front yard. 

It's an...owl? And a stuffed giraffe wearing round sunglasses and a mask. 

The maple trees are starting to turn red. 

We're still a little early for full fall colour. 

Standing under the maple and looking up. 

So pretty! 

The golf course appeared intermittently on our right.

There is year-round golfing in Victoria - we are a destination for it. 

I cannot resist a canopy of trees. 

It's a tunnel of trees! Let's go! 

An old stump, overgrown with ivy. 

Golf carts buzzing on the other side of the chain-link fence. 

I liked this back yard area. 

What a lush garden.

More "tunnel" views. 

Mom noted, "It's nice to see planned gardens, but there's something about seeing it all as it actually grows."

I agree! 

This is all natural vegetation. Lots of salal, ferns, maples, Douglas firs, cedars, pine trees...so many different kinds of plants. Salal (pronounced "suh-LAL") is a local native plant, which we mostly see in floral bouquets as filler (about it here).

The trees here are enormous. 

It started to smell like rain - we'd had a few sprinkles here and there. "A Scotch mist" is what Mom's grandmother called that. 

Looking straight up

You wouldn't even notice the rain under that thick canopy! 

"Mom, take my picture!"

"Have you taken it, wait, let me pose, did you take it?" Ha ha, the life of a blogger! 

My hand compared to some maple leaves. 

Eh, I've seen bigger.

We turned around and headed back. 

We walked for about an hour and a half. 

I like all the rusting textures and shapes in this yard. 

If you're going to let your garbage fill up your property, at least make it attractive. 

Back at the giraffe yard, I investigated the gnome population. 

Hmmm. Okay. 

This made me screech with laughter, though. 

Ack! Santa Claus and the Mrs. are having a bubble bath and getting frisky! 

A collection of painted stones in another yard. 

I like the pinks and purples. 

Nearly back at Mattick's Farm.

And we're getting hungry! 

We stopped in at Adrienne's Restaurant & Tea Garden (link here) for lunch. 

I took a proper picture of Mom to show off the cool ribbed sleeves of her sweater. Tell me about this necklace, Mom!

In 1976, my family went to Los Angeles to go to Disneyland. I was 9, and remember quite a bit of this holiday - my first to the USA. We did a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico, where I bought giant paper flowers and a flamenco doll. I remember that my dad bought two switchblade knives (!!) and smuggled them back across the border in his shoes! That smuggling part, I did not know! "He could have been arrested!" Mom said. No kidding! 

Anyway, Mom popped into a store and just fell in love with this silver necklace. It was $50, but all she had was a $20 travelers' cheque (gawd, remember those??). The shopkeeper kept dropping the price - $40...$30... - but Mom kept telling him all she had was a $20 travelers' cheque. Finally, he threw the necklace on the counter and said, "Gimme the cheque and get out!"

$50 Canadian in 1976 is $225.00 today, and $20 would be just under $100 today. I love the Aztec calendar design of it, with the piercing through the silver around the outside. The chain is original. 

It also has a brooch on the back - a nice detail. 

It is stamped, and says "Sterling 925 Mexico" and the  letters EMF. The mark above it is an eagle, used from 1948 onward in Mexico to denote sterling silver items; and the numbers in the eagle (here, "33", I think) are the manufacturing company. This system was abandoned in the late '70s-'80s as it was a rather loosey-goosey system with stamps being used by multiple manufacturers (source here). 

When I saw that they had a Tea For Two, well, no discussion needed! 

We ordered our tea first. Mom had lemon-ginger and I had Lady Grey. I love the mismatched teacups. 

Mom couldn't hold her pinkie out, but I can! 

I'm so danged KLASSY! 

OMG, look at this tower of food! Mom, hands off! Stop pawing the quiche! 

Cucumber/cream cheese sandwiches (with the crusts cut off), egg salad, cheese scones filled with turkey and cranberry, vegetarian mini-quiches, sausage rolls, chocolate cake, lemon cheesecake, raisin scones with homemade strawberry jam and fresh cream, butter tarts, plus fruit. 

We devoured it! 

Neither of us are fans of butter tarts, as we both grew up with the Secret Family Butter Tart Recipe that is way better than these sugar-bombs. 

The server looked askance at my pile of bread and cheese scones. 

"I have to pick my battles." If I skip some of that bread (with its butter and mayo), then I don't feel as bad about the chocolate cake and the rest of it (the cheese scone was on the dry side anyway). 

Stuffed, we waddled into the courtyard to explore the shops. Mom has bought me many Christmas and birthday presents here. 

By this point, it was raining more heavily. "We may be sweet, but we're not made of sugar!" we chimed to one of the shopkeepers who was concerned about our lack of umbrellas. Pfft, we were both born here; a little rain is nothing. 

I found this lovely acrylic bracelet at Sunday's Snowflakes, a chi-chi boutique. Mom found a gorgeous velour housecoat, and I also bought a funny mug for L.

I love the bold black and white pattern. 

And it was 50% off! 

Regular $68.00, marked down to $34.00. It's by Zsiska, same as this necklace that Mom bought me for Christmas (it's in with my fall stuff). 

I don't see bracelets too often that are small enough for me. 

Love it! 

Another wonderful Mom-Day Adventure! We had such a great time, just taking in nature and enjoying each other's company. 

Love you, Mom!