Mom-Day Adventure: Government House Rainy Repeat in a Twiggy Skirt

Hello, and welcome to another Mom-Day Adventure! Mom and I decided to return to Government House, where the Lieutenant Governor, the King's [feels weird writing that] provincial representative lives and works. Land I visited on Canada Day in July (here), and Mom and I first explored here together in September 2021. Go to that last one if you want to know more about the place.

Mom-daughter selfie! 

Unlike the first time Mom and I came here, there was parking right at the front door. 

But before I get into the pictures (and there are a lot of pics, you might want to grab a cup of tea), let's look at the outfit, shall we? 

It was the perfect time to finally wear this new-to-me vintage skirt, which I have named the Twiggy Skirt. 

• Sweater - Bartolini, consignment; last seen here in February for a Mom-Day Adventure at Willows Beach
• Skirt - no label, vintage 70s, vintage fair; purchased here for $35.00
• Boots - Arnold Churgin, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in January for an outdoor Book Club
• Leather jacket (below) - Banana Republic, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in September

The name will become clear shortly.

I only looked like this during our lunch afterward at the Ross Bay Pub. 

I picked out the orange colour in the zigzag pattern of this woven vintage 1970s skirt. 

The skirt has a really high "paper bag" style elasticated waist, but because I'm short (5'4"), I have to pull the waist way up into the boobular region so that the skirt doesn't drag on the ground. 

I tried the wool sweater tucked in, but it threw my proportions all out of whack. Nope! 

You can see my olive green fleece-lined tights there - I also have a camisole on for extra warmth. I could have used a full slip. Next time! 

Masked up. 

Only for when I was moving around in the pub. 

Outerwear - I would like to wear my jacket just like this, open and chic.

The red leather moto jacket is very orange-y - it almost looks like the same as the sweater, but that's more of a burnt orange. As you can see, the skirt drags on the ground in the back (foreshadowing!).

It is terribly cold and damp today (highs of 7 degrees, and whisperings about SNOW in our forecast). 

I can't take this whiplash of seasons! It was only a couple of weeks ago that we had all the windows open and were complaining about the heat! 

Accoutrements: 

A rarely-seen purse - I only used this one because I had a jacket with a million deep pockets. It barely holds keys and a wallet. I haven't used it in three years - I last deployed it here (2nd outfit) in September 2019 for an Urbanite at the Art Gallery.

• Purse - FiveLeft, local
• Fur scarf - Danier, thrifted
• Gloves - vintage, thrifted
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

I no longer go shopping on the weekends with the same frequency - these were one of my stalwart shopping boot pairs that I often wore. They're still good for a rainy day! 

Bronze bling: 

I found this belt in October 2021 here at the downtown WIN store for a mere $6.95 - I noted at the time that it felt like a bargain. I discovered who made it back in May when I saw its twin at expensive consignment store Verve for $88.00. It was tagged "Suzi Roher" so of course, I had to dig - belts by her retail for $375.00! You can compare here; all of their belts are handmade in Toronto. 

• Belt - Suzi Roher, thrifted
• Brass/leather cuff - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Poe cuff - Jezebel Charms, gift from L
• Mexican Astrology necklace - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Earrings - LA Express, c. 1994
• Klimt ring - Dots
• Brutalist ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall

As I was doing my outfit pics, the buzzer rang - Mom's here! 

"Where? I want to visit the Lady - she speaks my language."

Silly boy - she's not coming up today. 

I nearly wore my white leather jacket too! Looking very sporty, Mom! 

We drove over to Government House and parked right at the port-cochere. 

No scaffolding this time. 

So I ran up the steps and took a pic through the front window. 

Swanky! I love all those beams. I spy a portrait of the Queen on the left - it has a black ribbon on it, aw. 

We did a loop of the front gardens first. 

The pavilion was full of folks doing tai chi. 

We had a "white day" - solid clouds. 

It's been spitting rain off and on for a few days, but today it was supposed to really pour. 

Mom scoffed, "This is a Scotch mist!"

It just sprinkled gently for the whole time we were walking. 

As we entered the knot garden, we could see the forlorn roses. 

The recent cold has hit them hard, and they are all turning brown. 

You may have noticed that I love interesting trees. 

Ooh, so twisty! 

This wavy sculpture was at the junction. 

Turn left, Mom! I want to go to the duck pond! 

As I frequently point out, trees here grow to enormous size. 

This is one of the many Garry Oaks in my 'hood. 

And this is a massive cedar. 

The benches give a sense of scale. 

I spy a Japanese maple - the brightest red of its leaves are easy to spot. 

That's the duck pond up ahead. 

Weird purple berries on this leafy shrub.

That's a huge holly tree behind it. 

Some hardy lilies were still defiantly blooming. 

I like the contrast of the pink flowers and the black grassy plant. 

This is possibly my favourite spot on the grounds. 

It's just begging for photos. 

You can just see the stone gates where the entrance is, behind the red maple. 

The reflection is so pretty. 

Ducks! 

A pair of mallards that paid us no mind at all. 

Mom, you still with me? 

I tend to scamper ahead a bit and take pics. 

Looking back - that's the same red Japanese maple. 

I see one of the volunteer gardeners in the far distance. 

We entered the English Country Garden on the other side of the entry gates. 

The volunteer gardeners were taking a break for lunch - as we admired their small workbench, one of the gents called out to Mom. 

They used to work together when Mom was a teacher (she worked as a professional teacher-on-call/substitute teacher for her whole career), at one of her regular schools. 

And...I've already forgotten his name. I thought I'd be able to see his name-tag! 

The Rose Garden. 

We could hear the fountain trickling. 

This is such a lovely space. 

You can see a bit of Government House in the background. 

This dog? cat? looks very surprised. 

Someone's put a rose on his paws. 

I zoomed in on the far distance behind his head. 

That line is the horizon, and that light grey strip below it is the ocean. No mountains visible today! 

I found one perfect orange-yellow rose. 

This is my absolutely hands-down favourite rose. It smelled like tea. 

From the Rose Garden, we took the path around back overlooking the Garry Oak meadow. 

There are so many beautiful plants along here. 

Look at all the red berries on this tree. 

Those stairs are so inviting, but we stayed on the paths. 

Another freaky-looking tree. 

Such cool texture. 

More intriguing stairs. 

There's a little rock garden up there. 

We continued downhill.

We should be able to see mountains and ocean ahead, but I can barely make out the water in the distance. 

We veered off to the right to visit the lookout. 

This whole area is protected from development - beyond it is the neighbourhood of Fairfield. 

I was fully bundled up, but Mom's got bare hands! 

She's never cold - so weird. 

Ooh, an even more mysterious set of stairs! 

I'm sure there's a body at the top...

Looking up the cliff - we can just see the roof peak. 

This is very steep - Victoria's a very hilly place. 

These paths were strewn with bits of needles, leaves and twigs...which my skirt picked up! I had to pick a handful of shrubbery from the hem before I could get back into the car. And that's why it's called the Twiggy Skirt. 

We mostly had the place to ourselves - we saw very few people other than gardeners. 

This old root looks like a skull to me. 

Everything smelled like leaves and clean rain. 

Wildlife spotted! 

This squirrel was at the very top of one of the Garry Oaks. 

This pic's for Kezzie (here), who loves fungi and mushrooms. 

Not quite a fairy-circle. 

We slowly climbed back up the drive to where we'd parked. 

"Ah, I need to get outside more," breathed Mom. 

Agreed - I could feel my stress melting away. 

It is hard to worry about things when faced with the implacability of nature. 

A deer was grazing right near the car. 

"Make sure you get my rack."

He was totally posing for us. 

"I'm a noble beast."

A beast that destroys gardens, is about right. There were five people all taking pics of him - deer paparazzi! 

Mom showed me a picture she's working on. 

It's not quite done, but close - she's in a show in a couple of weeks. 

We headed over to Ross Bay Pub and enjoyed quesadillas and salad. I knew this pic wouldn't come out right due to the window behind Mom, but you can at least see her cobalt blue sweater and her lovely etched pendant that she got in Spain back in 1997. 

Thank you for such a wonderful day, Mom! I love you! 

And thank you also for the gift!  "Oh, was I not subtle?" I joked when I saw this scarf I'd spied in Mom's Hallowe'en decoration box last week (here).

The Pierre Balmain scarf is mine! Mom got this as a giveaway from her good friend Diane, whose daughter Marie (Marie and I were friends when we were 10-15 years old) gave this to her. 

The "soie" tag (that means "silk" in French). Gorgeous handrolled edges!

Made in France. CLASSY. I found a few vintage Balmain scarves on classy resell sites for $200+, but I'd expect to pay around $30-50 for this second-hand. 

It had some stains on it, so I gently washed it with some detergent in cold water. It's drying on the deck and I'll give it a steam when it's dry. 

I found a few similar long fringed scarves with this same logo/font, all tagged as being from the 1960s, and I tend to agree. Thank you so much, Mom! This is going to get lots of love, not just as part of your Hallowe'en door-greeter outfit. 

Vizzini, are you happy I'm home?

"Turn up the heat and fetch the water bottle, Woman!"

Agreed, bud! As I've been writing this post, the rain has been pelting down and the wind is lashing at the trees, blowing leaves around and splashing the rain at the windows. Batten down the hatches! 

My friends, I'm off for the weekend now - and yes, that means you'll have to wait to see my second pair of Fluevog boots until I return on Sunday with tales of adventure. Thank you all for your comments, for reading and visiting my little corner of the blogosphere!