Mom-Day Adventure: Favourite Finnerty Gardens in Palm Trees; Cashmere Tee Flashback; Vizz Update

Hello, my friends! Like many of you, I was saddened to hear of the Queen's passing today - she was the Queen of Canada...and now we have a King. So weird. 

Also, I took Vizzini to the animal ophthalmologist (eye doctor) to have his eyes checked and make sure everything's tickety-boo. I won't keep you in suspense - he'll still be blind, but there is a chance he could get a little more vision if his blood pressure goes down. He'll also need to be monitored for glaucoma. None of that is bad news! 

Mom and I were both feeling a little worn out emotionally, so we went back to one of our "comfort places," Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria (UVic - we are both alumnae). We were last there here in March, if you feel like seeing more paths and greenery in a different season.

All the students were back to classes and we narrowly missed a ginormous gaggle of first years getting a tour of the area. 

Outfit-wise, September is traditionally my "getting in another wear" and evaluation period of my closet's cycle. 

So, wearing this skirt again, and digging out my cashmere tee. 

Cashmere tee - Lord & Taylor, thrifted; last worn here in July 2021 for a periodontist appointment

Skirt - Scotch & Soda, consignment; last seen here in April with a plain white shirt

Shoes - Groovy Aubrey, Fluevog; last worn here (2nd outfit) with my ABBA jumpsuit in August

The tee has moth-holes in it (boo), so it'll be relegated to around-the-house wear. I've actually had it for SEVEN years, so I'm gonna indulge in a Flashback at the end - lots of fun outfits! 

I love the skirt - I can handle this amount of frilly and fullness. 

I keep the shoes out all year-round. 

They're one of my favourite pairs of the last couple of years. 

Palm trees! 

It's a true wrap skirt, but fully covers me on both sides, so no gaping or flashing. Gotta love that. 

Masked up. 

We had a yummy lunch at Christie's Pub afterwards. 

Incognito.

I was intermittently teary but just tired overall. 

Accoutrements: 

Such a shiny purse - it makes me happy. 

• Purse - Arcadia, consignment
• Scarf - Lanvin, vintage 70s, consignment
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

Awesome shoes. I walked home from Christie's in these, and also walked to the Animal Ophthalmologist with Vizzini in the later afternoon. 

Warm bling: 

Armour, comfort. 

• Belt - Fendi, thrifted; last worn here in July
• Necklace/ball ring - Bell Trading Post, vintage 50s, consignment
• Ball cuff - Bell Trading Post, vintage 50s, vintage expo
• Enamel/copper ring - consignment
• Red enamel/copper bracelet - Matisse by Renoir, vintage 50s, vintage expo
• Earrings - vintage expo

Mom had a spot of retail therapy this past week, and so of course had to wear a new outfit! 

Who's feeling herself? Love the white top with lace shoulder inserts/black trim. The trousers are swooshy and have irregular dots on them, and the hat was pulled from her closet. Fabulous! 

We drove up to UVic and entered the gardens. 

I immediately felt my shoulders drop as some of my stress melted away. 

Inviting paths, numerous benches.

Dappled sun everywhere. 

We strolled around the outside, past the algae-covered pond.

Metal fish sculpture, swimming upstream. 

It was actually a bit cool and shady under the canopy. 

I swapped my sunglasses out as they were too dark! 

The hydrangeas were still blooming. 

I want my hair to stay that shade of purple. 

Dark shadows.

Brightest brights. 

What an enchanting covered walkway.

Nice rear view, Mom! 

There are little inlets of grass here and there. 

Very alluring. 

A giant white hydrangea surrounded by leafy trees.

Everything towered over us. 

More lovely purple flowers. 

Related to hibiscus?

The whispering tree.

Our long dry summer has been hard on these giants - this one has several dry areas.

I feel like this neon green tree sometimes. 

Surrounded by a sea of black. 

The only bird we saw in the gardens

She was hopping around with agitation - must have her nest nearby. I saw a raven chasing a falcon over us! 

I left Mom to walk ahead and headed for the stepping stones that cross the other pond. 

I bet that grass is soft to lay on. 

Don't you just want to follow that path? 

It's like something out of a fantasy story. I'm sure elves and fairies live in these woods. 

Looking from the stepping stones to the far pond and the stands of bamboo.

The usually-trickling connector was a muddy path. 

Looking the other way. 

Some clear water. The person on the far bench was writing in a journal. Totally the sort of thing I did when I was here - I was a Creative Writing major the first time 'round. 

Coming back to Mom, who's checking out those deep red hydrangeas.

Greenery covering us in a comforting, protective way. 

As we crossed in front of the writer, looking at the pond.

I love the way the light hits the water. 

Slam-dancing arbutus trees.

"And...freeze!"

Peeking through the bamboo at the pond. 

A still surface of algae. 

On our way out of the gardens, I noticed this magnolia (?) handing over my head. 

Seeing beauty and nature is so soothing. 

As was spending the time with my mom. I needed my mom this week. 

Thank you, Mom! I love you! 

Vizzini, time to go see the ophthalmologist! 

"WHAT? I thought we were done with that business."

Although there's no chance of his sight fully recovering, we wanted to make sure that his eyes are still in good condition overall. He'll be going back for another check-up in a couple of weeks, once we've assessed how the blood pressure medication has been working. If it does its job, he could recover a bit of his sight, but we are adjusting to him being blind (as is he).

There, that wasn't so bad, was it? 

"I'm not talking to you."

You will once it's dinner-time, little buddy! And you'd better get used to your cat carrier...

And now...

Flashback: Lord & Taylor Cashmere Tee

I bought this tee on one of my many then-frequent Sunday after-grocery shops back here in August 2015. I was shocked that I bought it that long ago! What a good trip that was - I got my "lilies and berries" vintage dress at the same time.

I found it at Flavour Upstairs, which used to be amazing and is now kind of blah. Although I haven't been in there for a while. 

It's a Lord & Taylor Cashmere top and would have retailed for around $89.00 new. I removed the tags/labels as you could see them through the fabric - it's very sheer. 

For me, $12.99 - and it didn't have any holes! 

I wore it right away, in August 2015, with another cashmere garment, my Andres Courreges vintage skirt (which I still have, but is too tight on me right now). 

I also still have those spotty shoes. 

Enjoy my wackadoo haircolour and style evolution! This was in April 2016 - I have always packed this very fine sweater away for fall/winter.

That's a Look, ha ha. Yvonne has that skirt now, and the wedge-heeled sneakers didn't last very long. 

I love this colourful outfit, also from April 2016 (this was my usual hairdo - the "swoop" above was for special occasions).

I still have the belt and the purple leather skirt - should wear that soon. 

I decided to grow out my hair, but was still dyeing it dark purple in September 2016.

I gave those trousers to Caro last spring - I loved them forever, but they had no stretch. 

This might have been the one and only outfit with these pale blue pants. It's May 2017 and my hair's getting longer (I also got new glasses).

I had those jungle print shoes for a few years. My arm tattoos are appearing. 

Two months later in July 2017 and my hair's grown quickly. 

You'll recognize those shoes, which are long-time favourites. The Clover Canyon skirt didn't last - it kept trying to creep up my torso. 

This May 2018 look is an outfit I love - I think I used this same pic in the skirt and shoe Flashbacks. Ha, I did. 

Only the shoes and the scarf remain, along with one of the gold chain necklaces. Oh, there's my tattoo for my dad. Once I grew out my hair, I played around with the colour for a while. 

Also in May 2018 - this is the first wearing of the skirt, which is still in my closet. 

Kermit shoes! We all love those!

Big change in 11 months - this is April 2019 - as I grew out the colour in my hair to see what my natural shade under there looked like. It looked very yellowy, so I went back to dyeing it pastel purple.

This outfit was very similar to the above one, so I'm showing the scarf/outerwear look. 

May 2019 - a nice casual look for hanging out with my family.

That skirt was too long - always dragging on the floor. 

I love the PANK jacket with the peachy/tangerine shade of the cashmere top here in September 2019. 

Those are my Gaultier "Jean's" from the 90s. I liked the idea of those slipper shoes more than I liked wearing them. Flap-flap.

May 2020, start of the pandemic - this is one of the many orange tops that I've mixed with my brolly skirt. 

I let go of my worn-out black kitten heels this past year. Not the yellow leather jacket though - never! 

This outfit from July 2020 is the reason I put the palm tree skirt in the giveaway pile - I really did not like this look at all. 

Doesn't help that I have Pandemic Hair! I dyed it pink for a while. 

I included this back-shot of my outerwear worn at the time, however, as support for eventually keeping this skirt. 

Yeah, that's awesome. Keeper! 

And here's my last look with this sweater, in July 2021. 

More like the "today" me, right? I let go of that jacket and skirt recently - neither of them feel like me anymore.

Mathy stuff: Well, I wore this a lot more than I thought I had! It's definitely my longest-lasting piece of cashmere, too. I wore it 14 times over 7 years and paid $12.99 for it, so that's 93 cents per wear. And now that it's in my "house" wardrobe, it will go down to pennies until it literally falls apart. 

That's some slow fashion! 

My friends, thank you so much for visiting. Know that I am grateful for all of your kind words and thoughts. I'm off now for the weekend, but will be back on Sunday with tales of adventure. Stay chill, everyone.