Mom-Day Adventure at Blenkinsop Lake in a Maxi-Bomber, and a Wee Shop

Welcome back, my friends, to Mom-Day Adventures! Today, Mom and I returned to Blenkinsop Lake ("let's go visit Roy," as Mom puts it), last experienced here in January on a gloomy wet day.

I spotted Mom pulling into our driveway and went out to meet her. 

I missed you last week, Mom! 

I've been saving my maxi-bomber jacket for Mom - I knew she would appreciate the satin floral, although she's not much of a purple fan. 

Tsk, my sport socks' logos are showing. I should probably get some shorter socks to wear with my sneakers. 

• Maxi-bomber - AMT Above Mediocre Taste, consignment; purchased here for $79.99
• Elton John tour shirt - thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in April for a shop with Jessica
• Jeans - Articles of Society, thrifted; last worn here in earlier this month with jungle Adidas
• Sneakers - Converse, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) on a Mom-Day at Rithet's Bog a few weeks ago

I adore this satin jacket - from the pattern, to the colours, to the purple satin lining!

And it's silky soft. The only downside - and it's a major one - no forking pockets!!

Seriously, put pockets in clothes! These white jeans don't have front pockets - can you imagine if they did that to men's jeans? No, because it would never happen. 

Thank goodness the rear pockets are real - I stashed my phone in one and my camera in the other. 

Isn't this magnificent? 

It's not easy to style - it's a massive piece of icing, so it needs a lot of cake, if you catch my drift. 

But it's so swooshy! It was very breezy out and it billowed and swooped magnificently as we strolled along. 

I like the sporty striped trim too. Many people admired it over the course of the day.

Without the maxi-bomber - I wore my Elton John t-shirt because it matched so well. 

It's also a nod to his famous baseball uniform, with the bomber style. 

Incognito - this is how most of the world saw me. 

I did up the top four snaps thusly to keep this slippery jacket from blowing right off me.

The stuff: 

Comfy shoes with the same athletic vibe as the jacket. 

• Purse - Michael Kors, consignment
• Belt - gift from Ruth

The bag adds a hit of bright pink - it matched my lipstick. 

Purple bling: 

Some old, some new. 

• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Leather/metal cuff - thrifted
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's
• Earrings - thrifted, Seattle
• Amethyst pendant - gift from Mom and Dad, c. early 90s

Vizzini! Where are you, buddy? Are you still hiding from the cleaners? 

"Do you mind, Woman? I was napping!"

Of course! Totally unrelated things. 

Mom wore one of the new tops I got her for her birthday, along with a lovely cobalt blue jacket (another gift from me, from many years back). 

We had a bright and blustery day but it was warm when we were out of the wind. 

The poplar trees were shedding their fluffs and the air was full of it. 

This is a busy trail, with lots of wheeled and foot traffic. 

We walk slowly due to Mom's disability, which allows us to see so much flora and fauna. 

This robin was trilling away - another answered every time. 

The pine trees are growing cones. 

These were huge - they looked like brown bananas. 

A glimpse of Howard the Gnome through the trees. 

PKOLS (aka Mt. Doug) in the background. 

The trees towered over us, their leaves rustling. 

At times, it sounded like the crashing of waves. 

A long tunnel. 

We shared this path with cyclists, runners and folks with e-bikes and scooters. 

Out of the dozens of wheeled conveyances that zoomed past us, only four rang bells or warned us they were coming. 

Some of them were going as fast as cars. We loudly thanked anyone who dinged their bells - always reward good behaviour! 

This little bird was hopping around in front of us. 

Her nest is probably nearby. 

Another robin, with a worm in his beak. 

A dog has been spotted! 

Meet Tuna. 

A Very Good Dog! 

His owner had trained him well. 

He was very happy to get scritches from Mom. 

Hey, Mom, there's your boyfriend. 

Did you tell him you were coming? 

Roy, nice to see you. 

"Is Helen here?"

"Right behind you, handsome!"

Mom, you're such a flirt. 

Okay, one for the Christmas cards.

Such a reliable guy. He never changes.

This is our prime duckling viewing area, but it was either too early or too windy. 

Probably a combination of both. 

What about on this side of the trestle? 

A few ravens and crows circling in the far distance. 

We could hear redwing blackbirds. 

I finally spotted him! 

Oh, and he's spotted me.

Disconcerting! 

But something else caught his attention. 

A flurry of squawks from some Canada Geese honking overhead?

No, something on the other side of the lake.

The waterlilies are looking very lush, aren't they? 

Oh, my goodness, it's a bald eagle! 

Is she...standing on something? I can't see her feet but she's not floating - there must be something underwater there, like a stump or log or a pillar. 

The redwing blackbirds did NOT like the eagle being in their area.

Full red spots on! Dive bomb attack! 

Get the fork out of here, eagle! 

Would an eagle eat blackbird eggs or young?

Their diet is 70-90% fish (source here, all links 'cause I love), but they are opportunistic eaters.

Blackbird, you are probably getting wrought up over nothing. 

She's just fishing! Just taking a break from watching over her own eggs to get some dinner.

That is a MASSIVE bird, by the way. When she took off, her wings were between 6-7 feet from tip to tip. 

Time to head back and go to the Monkey Tree Pub for lunch.

Au revoir, Roy! 

We were cradled in sunlight and leaves. 

We were so grateful just to be outside together. 

My favourite sculpture. 

I bet Vizzini would sleep in it. 

A great picture of Mom. 

Thank you for such a lovely day - I love you, Mom! 

I hopped a bus after lunch, and had a quick browse in the WIN Boutique on Cook Street. 

I found this cool glass and metal necklace. 

I'm sure it's handmade. It is a choker and it lays well. 

It has a bit of a Renaissance Fair vibe to it - the lengthener links remind me of chainmail. 

The glass beads have a blue sail in them. The metal is roughly shaped around each bead, with the linking chain also pinched and melded into the square frame. 

I like the gunmetal colour - unfortunately, the piece has no marks on it at all. It will go well with my other Brutalist jewelry. It was $10.95, which I was fine with. 

L remembered seeing this shirt in the merch booth when we went to Rifflandia this past summer (here and here), but he didn't like the style of the sleeves or the cut at the bottom - it's not a masculine style. 

I like it fine! It says, "Rifflandia, Victoria, BC" and it's a boa constrictor strangling the Legislature building (this thing). 

A festival-wear producer, Bella + Canvas, and this is from their Flowy Collection. 

For $12.95 I'm up for feeling flowy. These sold for $45.00 each at the festival! 

I liked the pattern on these leggings. 

That's a good colour mix for me, although I'll probably wear them around the house more. 

Glitter tiger heads, butterflies, stars, gemstones, crystal bugs and arrows, so cool. 

I'm showing the pocket that's built into the back waistband, a very nice detail. 

They're by Running Bare, an Australian company, and these are actually made in Australia! 

Plain black leggings by them (here) that are made in Australia are $99.99AUD (about $90 CAD), so I got a great deal at $11.95. They look barely worn and fit me perfectly. 

I bought this for L as an early birthday present. 

It's a pirate shirt, obviously!

Look at this front piece, with the brass buttons!

Oh, my goodness! This piece is entirely removable, and those are metal buttons. 

It buttons up underneath with coconut husk buttons. 

Such great detail! This is probably going to be too big on L (it's an XL) but no one minds a puffy pirate shirt.

It feels really nice - it's a high quality garment. Cotton, rayon and linen, nice. 

Even pirates deserve good quality clothes.  

The Pirate Dressing is the brand. I'm swooning over the label! 

This sells for $53.95, so $19.95 is solid. 

Of course these trousers caught my eye! 

I couldn't try them on (no fitting rooms) but they seemed worth the risk. 

For one thing, they have FIVE pockets. I'm showing the change pocket and one of the angled side pockets.

And a fancy matching tag that blends in! 

The fabric is very thick and the print is black, white and a pale tan. There's Pocket #3.

Black button and rivets. A mysterious tag...

Pockets #4 and 5. 

There are three rear belt loops. These are very solidly made. 

Let's look at another tag and this exciting graphic for the Elwood Mid Boyfriend Fit pants. 

They are by G-Star Raw - spoiler! These are women's pants - they now make these only for men. 

Fancy details noted! Knee panels...shaping...

And an ankle panel. Well, these are made to last for when I'm playing outside with my friends! 

They are the G-Star Elwood X52, in the Houndstooth Print, curated by Pharrell Williams...who now designs for Louis Vuitton (here)

Williams has been a co-owner of G-Star Raw since 2016 (here) - he showed these pants in 25 prints in his first collection in 2017 (some awesome prints shown in the article here). As these are one of 52, they're post-2017.

And I know that white paper tag! 

These were sold in Winners, and I bet they were marked down well below the current prices of $190.00 from their website. 

However, $19.95 was a good risk for me. 

Even if they had not fit me perfectly (which they do), I would easily get my money back. 

Same for this dress - I tried it on over my t-shirt and jeans in the store. 

It's a classic dress that you could wear to a party or wedding. 

The colour is a tomato-y red, and the bottom is semi-pleated. 

Cat-approved! No pockets, though. 

Never worn, or did they tuck this tag under a belt and then try to return it? 

I used to work in a store that sold dresses - there were always customers who would try to return obviously worn dresses. 

This is a very good quality dress - but because they didn't recognize a brand from another country (hello again, Australia!), it gets marked with a blue Thrift tag instead of a cream Boutique tag.

It's made by Ever New of Melbourne, and was $14.95 - it would have retailed for $179 - 189.00.

And now, my friends, I'm off to enjoy the weekend! 

"Be chill."

Good advice, Vizzini!

Thank you so much for dropping by - please swing by again soon for more tales of adventure!