Mom-Day Adventure: Glendale Trail and StoryWork in Olive Swoosh, Plus a Wee Shop

Hello, my friends! Mom and I got together today and went for a walk in her neighbourhood along the Glendale Trails, had lunch, then worked on her StoryWorth book for a couple of hours. I bussed to town, had a whirlwind breeze through the big WIN store, and then bussed home. 

I'm exhausted! But I wasn't this morning, when Mom picked me up. 

It was 15 degrees already! Loving Mom's sailor striped top, and her necklace which is cloisonné plumeria flowers strung with sandalwood beads, bought in Hawaii in 1977, I think.

But first, my outfit!  

I knew I would be cold at some point, so I layered up and featured this new-to-me olive swooshy skirt for the first time. 

• Jacket - Smoking Lily; last worn here in September 2022 for our trip to Powell River
• Bodysuit - Escada by Margaretha Ley, vintage 90s, thrifted; last seen here in March for a concert
• Skirt - Eucalyptus, thrifted; purchased here for $7.95
• Shoes - Down to Earth Hadfield, Fluevog; last seen worn here in July 2022 with sailor pants

This is how I looked most of the day. 

I flipped the cuffs up on this jacket to let the red sleeves peek out and so that my gold bracelets would show. 

I love the generous pockets. 

I believe Smoking Lily only made one run of these (4 sizes, 1 of each) in this fabric, which is a stretchy denim-weight cotton that's been brushed with silver to make it shiny. 

The skirt has a half-lining, to the knee, but as I was wearing nylons (it's too cold for bare legs!), I also wore a vintage slip underneath to prevent cotton cling on my legs.

I repaired the small rip - so well I can't find it! - and gave it a good steaming in the morning. 

It makes me happy! 

So swooshy! 

I feel like dancing! 

Swoosh, swoosh! 

Rich pops of red and orange. 

It was a gloriously sunny and warmer day, but yes, I was cold! 

Accoutrements: 

Well, that bag just works perfectly! 

• Purse - thrifted, customized by me
• Silk scarf - Ralph Lauren, consignment
• Leather gloves - consignment

A reminder...

Always carry love in your heart. 

The stuff: 

I have had these shoes for nearly 10 years - they're super-comfy. They're men's Fluevogs, bought in a local menswear boutique where L buys his suits. 

Gold bling: 

Three of these pieces used to belong to Mom - I like to see if she notices them all (she does). 

• Belt - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Gold Brutalist cuff - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, vintage mall, gift from L
• Flat cuff - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Brutalist brass ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Coral/olivine ring - Hawaii, vintage 70s, Mom's
• Earrings - vintage mall
• Fur rose - thrifted
• Necklace - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, gift from L

And now, pictures of our day. I had to check out Mom's studio and see what she's been working on. 

She's been tidying up and getting rid of things, giving herself a better workspace. I like seeing all of her paintings. 

This ink/water colour is a view from the Malahat, looking south towards Victoria.

It's from a photo that my Grandad (her dad) took. Aw! 

I spied Rodney watching us from outside through the patio door. 

He looked disapproving. Perhaps he was hoping Mom would give him a brush - he needs it! 

We had an inspection of the garden. 

Lovely tulips, the last of the daffodils and narcissus, some dandelions. 

Egad, your rhubarb is enormous, Mom! 

Better stew some up! 

Now that all had been reviewed in and around the house, we walked up to the end of the street, where a connector path takes you right into the wilderness. 

There are parks and trails all behind here. 

We followed this meandering path that lead us slowly uphill. 

The air was full of birds chirping and singing. 

I like that stark looking tree. 

I also see some sort of building behind the trees there. 

I must take another pic. 

So cool. 

Ah, there were two building hiding here. 

This is PiSE, the Pacific Institute for Sport Education (about them here, all links 'cause I love). 

We continued past that, following the path along the side of the hill. 

We didn't see anyone until noon. 

"Lunchtime walkers," Mom nodded. 

We could see a bit of Mount Tolmie in the distance. Mom's house is below to the left. 

As we got a bit further along, I realized you could see downtown! We have a view of that really tall apartment building from our condo - I like that Mom and I have a connecter building when we look out. 

Can you see the mountains? They're hovering in the far distance, and you can just glimpse the snow-caps on them. That's the USA, Washington State. 

The paths wended their way past and between the softball pitches and soccer fields of Layritz Park. 

I like the two benches on the left where you can overlook the field. Mom likes to walk up here and get a burger and a Twizzler (licorice) when the season starts. 

Looking up the hill on the other side. 

It's quite wild. Mom saw a garter snake sunning on the path, but I missed it. 

I loved this plane's contrails as it zoomed south from the Victoria airport. 

We also saw harbour planes go overhead - I knew this area was on the flight path, as I've looked for Mom's house when we've flown over. 

More twisty Gary Oaks. 

Things are bursting into green. 

We came to a junction where we could see the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (aka the Centre of the Universe). Just to the right of that is Elk and Beaver Lake Park. 

The buildings straight ahead is the Vancouver Island Technical Park, a division of the University of Victoria (about them here) - Victoria and Vancouver are huge hubs for the tech industry. 

Ooh, a sign, tell me more! 

This is one of many Centennial Trails in Saanich (link here). 

The red and yellow lines on the map are all the trails that connect across the lower island. 

The blue arrows are all places Mom and I have gone to! Clockwise from lower left: Colquitz Creek, Glendale Trail (today!), the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, Elk/Beaver Lake, the Royal Oak Burial Park, the Lochside Trail (near Mattick's Farm), Rithet's Bog, and Blenkinsop Lake. Wow, we've been to a lot of places! 

We both admired this beautiful mural of a falcon, dragonfly and swallow. 

I like that their realistic representations are echoed by the spiritual First Nations interpretations. 

And no surprise, two different artists did them! 

Jesse Campbell did the airbrushed realistic parts, and Chazz Elliott of the Tsartlip First Nation did the spirit parts. Story about it here. I love seeing local artists contributing to public spaces. 

Time to meander back to Mom's house. 

My tummy's rumbling - I need food! 

What a pretty path. 

I like the sprinkling of daisies in the grass. 

Ah, we have come around and can see the two benches from this side. 

Such a lovely area - and I've never walked up here before. 

This red-winged blackbird was trilling for us.

Caught you! 

This section along the path is being restored back to its natural habitat. 

The camas plants (those tall grassy-looking bits on the left) are thick on the ground here (about them here) - they are native to this part of the world, and some areas still have vast fields of them. They are a sea of blue when in bloom. 

A robin! 

He was watching us carefully. We also saw swallows swooping around Mom's garage, where she mounted two nesting tubes - we saw wee babies waiting to be fed! 

Lunchtime! We had bagels and cream cheese, with veggies. Yum. 

I wanted Gram's needlepoint picture in this shot, plus a pic of Gram & Grandad, and Mom's Aunt Lil on the left. Check out the gorgeous Art Deco glass-fronted cabinet, a wedding gift from her mum's bosses at Spencer's department store (link here - I remember it only as Eaton's!) in the mid-late 1930s. 

Mom and I worked on her StoryWorth book - I bought her a subscription at the start of the pandemic, renewed it twice, and Mom has written nearly 70 stories about her life, her family and friends. It's a massive undertaking, and it's time for us to wrap it up, so we can print up copies. Link about StoryWorth here, and I can't recommend it enough. Save your stories! 

We spent close to 2 hours adding photos (you can see her parents' wedding photo onscreen behind us), but there's still lots of work ahead. 

We're doing it, Mom! This is going to be so awesome when it's done! 

Time for me to head home. 

I spotted this greedy little bird ransacking these pinecones for seeds. 

And I see a sheep under that tree! 

And...it sees me! Eek! 

I limited myself to 20 minutes in the big WIN store when I got to town - they were closing soon. 

I can still do a bit of damage, heh heh. I grabbed a pack of plus-side knee highs (I figure they won't be as constricting) for $2.95, a fraction of the price of new. 

And I loved these sparkly "Flower Power" socks. 

Only $1.95! 

I spied another Smoking Lily obi in with the scarves. 

Ooh, I like the blue on lilac - that side is silk. The other fabric is cotton and matches the cuffs on my jacket, how coincidental. It was a mere $2.95 - and I know these sold for $79.00 new. 

I did well in the scarf section overall. Purple print scarves are surprisingly rare. 

Groovy pattern. The colours are purple, lavender, taupe, black, rust, burgundy and red, with lines of white. 

It's by Vera Neumann. 

This design is probably from the 1970s. 

It doesn't have a content tag, but the good folks of WIN have figured it out. 

It's silk - therefore $12.95. 

I also grabbed this one - those colours are so rare in scarves! 

That yellow! That blue! The olive green and warm orange! 

It's another Vera, this one is from the 1960s. 

I'm swooning over the handrolled edges. 

I guess if it's not 100% silk, they price it cheaper. 

This one was only $3.95! I like this scarf better, so go figure. 

I love this small square rainbow-ish scarf. 

So pretty! Is that a faint signature I see? 

Wow, it's really faint. 

Kenz...something? 

It's got a tag! Hooray! 

XIIX Karat is the manufacturer of the scarf. 

But the design is Kenzo! That's vintage Kenzo Takada and this is probably from the 1980s.

For only $8.95, what a score! Silk scarves by Kenzo sell for $155 new, and vintage ones go up to $400+. 

I took a chance on this blouse because I loved the pattern and style. 

It's a polyester (classic 80s fabric!) with scrolly black bits all over it. 

Did you see the neck ties? They are attached at the back of the collar, which is a stand-up mandarin style. 

Meant to be a large pussy bow, of course (so 80s), but the current modern look is to wear the ties loose. Ooh, look at me, barging in on a trend! 

It's by Evan-Picone and these blouses are very common both in thrift stores and online. About Chris Evans, the founder of the company here - I don't think I ever realized before that Evan-Picone isn't an actual person! 

That's a vintage size 16, which is a modern size 12 - it's still oversized on me, but I like my blouses to be...blouse-y. $12.95 is a good price. 

I also spotted these black velvet cropped pants and slung them over my arm. 

I hoped they would fit. And they do - perfectly! 

I like the jean cut. The legs are cropped and slightly flared - exactly what's on trend right now. Want to be trendy? Shop vintage/thrift! 

I spy a wee tag...

Escada Sport! 

I have good luck with Escada. 

This was a special item at WIN and originally was priced a lot higher:

It was originally tagged at $124.95, then marked down to $78.95, then to $38.95. I don't know where WIN got $700+ for their comparable price - I didn't see any velvet pants by them for more than $70.00.

That punch in the tag means it was also 50% off. 

So...$19.50. I also got $10 off my purchase in points, so let's call these $9.50, shall we? 

And now, time to sign off for the weekend, my friends! 

I hope you all have a fabulous few days - and please pop in and visit on Sunday, where I will regale you with tales of adventure! Thanks for stopping by!