She's Still a Mystery to Me

Nancy Drew poses! You know Nancy Drew of the children's mystery books, don't you?

I had the books from my older sister and cousins, but I never really got interested. I read a few, and moved on to other things. I did however really love the covers as Nancy shared my taste in clothing. So let's call this Goody McGoodface and the Mystery of the Clothing She Didn't Remember Buying. 

I'm now looking for clothes to wear from what is essentially the stock of pieces I bought intending to sell. As I never wore this skirt or blouse, I wasn't sure if they'd even fit. They did, and I'm happy to have a navy blue skirt in my wardrobe. The blouse is even more of a mystery. It is made of a very silky nylon. The belt is Anne Klein for Oroton and I would think that would have stuck in my memory, but I don't remember purchasing it. I'm glad I did as it is a nice heavy belt, but it is definitely a mystery. Perhaps we can get Nancy on the case. 

The print is lovely though and the fabric covered buttons a nice touch. 

Hard to photograph, but that belt buckle weighs at least a pound. They just don't make things that well these days. 

Perhaps Nancy can solve the mystery of the missing Laura Ashley Romper. I went looking for the one I bought in a floral corduroy and found this one instead. Would I really have bought two of something this ugly?! Apparently so. In the US we call this sort of thing a "Onesie" and they're generally for children that still wear diapers. Unlike the toddler version, this one sadly doesn't have snaps at the crotch for ease of using the restroom. This might be one of the most absurd things I have ever worn. That said, it had nice deep pockets on the front and was loose and comfortable. The 80s had some very questionable fashions. 

The band at the ankle makes the balloon effect...effective.  

The socks I'm wearing are thick, cotton cabled knee socks from Land's End that I purchased mid-80s. They're still going strong. The shoes are Bass Weejuns Penny Loafers and yes, I put a penny in the slots with the year I bought the shoes. I've been wearing the same loafers nearly my entire life (I see no reason to try other makers when these are so good) and they do last a very long time. I had a pair as a university student that my dad threw away without asking because the soles had some holes starting and he didn't want me looking shabby. I was so angry because I could have them re-soled, but breaking in another pair would take ages. These were purchased about 15 years ago and still looking good. 

You can read a bit of the shoe's history HERE. 

Let's take a better look at the bracelet

Have you ever picked up a bracelet and immediately known it would feel lovely on your wrist? 

For someone that favours big, loud pieces, this is (whisper it) tastefully made. It looks expensive even if it is costume. So many link bracelets pinch my skin or feel twisted on my arm. This one does not. Before thrifting the piece I wasn't familiar with Keja Designs. You can visit the website and read a bit more. I'm tempted by those meteorite rings. 

I took Danny over to Iowa Saturday afternoon to have a look at some migrating birds. It was an overcast day, but still warm.

The clouds looked dramatic but didn't do much beyond a few sprinkles of rain.

Autumn in the American Midwest means goldenrod growing everywhere. It also means swarms of bees being attracted to the late season blooms. We didn't get stung, but Danny is no lover of stinging insects and wasn't too pleased with me bringing him over to look at the goldenrod! It is beautiful though. I planted some at the farm and it took well. Probably been hit with weed killer by someone that wants a pristine green lawn now. 

The park around the lake used to be open to the public but has been recently privatised. I hadn't been there in a couple of years and had no idea. There was a policeman sitting in his car so I drove over to ask if there was somewhere to get a day pass to look at birds and he told me to just go ahead and if anyone questioned us to tell them he said it was OK. That was nice. I suppose we didn't look like a couple of poachers! Still sad though that the park is off limits now. Insert standard rant about gentrification _________. 

Closer to home, I harvested the two largest sunflower seed heads, tied them to the rail of the back balcony and left it for the birds and squirrels. There's still several more sunflower heads with plenty to harvest for our own use and still share with the wildlife. 

Would you believe this 80s skirt is a knit? I was surprised as well. 

It doesn't have much stretch and hold shape well through the day. Another mystery skirt that I undoubtedly bought for the print thinking I'd use the fabric for a cushion cover or something. It fits well now, and as far as clothing that spans seasons I can see wearing it with tights and a red pullover. 

I do remember purchasing this vintage handbag. 

This year I'm making an effort to wear all my Halloween items, starting with this vintage BSK brooch. 

How about some more Laura Ashley? This dress is also from the 80s, Much easier to wear than a romper.

Easier to wear so long as I don't bend forward! Next time I might wear something beneath it. 

And the silly pose action shot that shows my vintage French handbag. 

I went to the post office to send some international letters today, and thought I'd buy Christmas stamps to get a head start on sending out my cards. Our postal service announced they will be slowing down deliveries, so I thought it made sense to do things early. Despite the advice to mail early, they didn't have any holiday stamps in yet. I told the gentleman at the desk to just grab a book of something else. He looked pained. 

"We have hundreds of different stamps"

I told him to just reach in the drawer and pull something at random. This made him appear even more pained but when his hand emerged with a sheet of stamps bearing images of lighthouses of the Mid Atlantic States, I told him it was perfect. I don't know what he was so afraid of. It isn't like we have "Salute to White Supremacy" stamps or anything to worry about. Yet.  

I went to Hallmark for the cards. 

Last summer I lost a friend to cancer that had worked as a designer at Hallmark in Kansas City before getting sick and moving back home to spend the time she had left with family. It was her dream job, and she was so, so good at it. I thought it was going to be difficult setting foot in a Hallmark shop so soon, but it wasn't. I didn't cry either. I wandered around looking at all the designs made by all the other people working for the company who probably considered it their dream job as well. Strangely, it felt like a way of saying goodbye that wasn't sad. Who wouldn't want to be remembered by a Hallmark shop? There are literally, no bad feelings in a Hallmark shop. Even the condolence cards are tastefully comforting. I'm glad I went. 

The cards should be going out soon so they can arrive at any point from Halloween to Easter. 

Excuse the lack of food styling as I tell you about this chicken recipe. 

The recipe was in last weekend's Guardian and you may find it HERE.

It is a West African recipe with just the best combination of spices. I don't buy coconut aminos because we prefer soy sauce (they're similar) so I substituted that. Otherwise, the rest of the spices like cumin, cayenne, thyme, sage, paprika, garlic, and dried onion are pantry staples for us. I served it with a marinated salad of cucumber and sweet bell peppers. The baked beans are a no-sugar-added version that the boys found acceptable. British baked beans are much sweeter than the American version, but ours have a smoked flavour that can be overwhelming. British beans also have more tomato where ours have more paprika. Heinz has all sorts of flavours now from curry to peri peri but the traditional American style bean is very BBQ.

Anyway, they loved the chicken. That's good because I was shopping at an odd time when I more or less had the store to myself and bought some just marked down packages of chicken drumsticks for what came out to be about 20 cents a piece. These are very large drumsticks too. I came home, broke down the packages into smaller units and wrapped them for the freezer. I definitely won't need to buy chicken for a while, but it was a fantastic bargain for organically fed, humanely raised chickens. 

This was a slow cooker beef stew that made use of 1 lb of inexpensive top round. Instead of white potatoes I used a sweet potato, and instead of peas I used green beans. Served it with homemade sourdough rye bread. This sort of meal is filling but won't spike blood sugar for the diabetic. It won't win any beauty contests, but they liked it. I have an intense dislike for beef stew, even prior to becoming a vegetarian. My mother made it often, and badly. I'm sorry, that's the truth. She'd make a great quantity as well so we'd be eating the mushy tomato juice logged vegetables and beef for days. I know she was trying but it was so awful. I wish I could go back in time and show her how to brown the beef first, and leave adding the potatoes for the last half hour. It wouldn't have made it good, but it might have been less bad. In hindsight, I probably should have just taken over cooking for her earlier (I did towards the end). 

It was bothering me that Mr. ETB wouldn't have a Christmas Cake this year so I went looking and found a recipe that is suitable for a diabetic. I made a few changes (soaked the fruit in brandy, used lemon zest and skipped the orange juice, added more nuts (pecans and walnuts) but kept the amounts the same. It baked up nicely. I gave it a good soak with extra brandy and wrapped it to store. Obviously it isn't going to be the same (and I won't be icing it) but come Christmas it will be nice to have something resembling normal. Being dairy free it works for Danny too. 

 The skirt in this photo was thrifted new with tags showing it originally sold for nearly $200.00. What a shame to spend that sort of money on something that never gets worn. 

The skirt fit me perfectly (a rarity these days) and has both a built-in slip and crinoline. 

It wasn't too cumbersome in the car, and I more or less forgot about it as the day went on. I'm not accustomed to skirts that stand so far from my body, but I was pleased with this one. 

I wore it with a Shifty Shirt from Shiftythrifting.com 

I made several people laugh today which is worth the price of the shirt. They do have some utterly bonkers shirts. Like most of their items, the shirt was inspired by one found in a thrift store. 

The bag is a vintage Angela Frascone. She made some very cool bags in the 80s.

I have another one with an autumn fruit theme-should probably wear it soon. 

Finally, I'll close this post with a y2K era jersey dress that I couldn't resist for a dollar. It is incredibly comfortable, if a bit loud. That's OK, I like loud. 

Silly poses? Sure! Here's my hands...

Here's my mangled spine...well never mind that...

...one last thing...have a fantastic week. I'll see you next time.