Says She Won't Plant Garden, Plants Garden

 

If Chicken Boy is back in the garden and covered in flies, it must be spring in Omaha. Hello, Chicken Boy, nice to see you again. 

Not long after composing a post explaining that I likely wouldn't be planting a garden this year, I planted a garden. This will be the final year (she says, unconvincingly).

The large bag bed has garlic from last autumn coming up, and the perennial sorrel. The small raised bed has peas, kale, and some spinach that somehow overwintered through our Polar Vortex. The buckets have an assortment of chards, violas, cardoons, etc. As the season moves along I'll plant more sunflowers since they were such a hit with the neighbours last year. I rather like being known as the "Sunflower Lady" as it makes a nice change from, "Squirrel Lady."  If someone had told me at 25 this is what it would be like in my 50s, I'd have scoffed. 

Do, shut-up, Chicken Boy.

The Georg Jensen ring I won on eBay arrived and is now happily residing on my pinky finger. 

I am absolutely in love with it.

A polishing wouldn't hurt

I'm not going to worry about the tiny scratch because I'm sure I will add my own. I'm never taking it off. 

Anyway, that worked out really well and it was worth waiting over 50 years to finally get something I really wanted. 

Did I say spring? I really meant summer as it is presently 77 degrees F. outside. That  will moderate later in the week, but we are still far above normal spring temperatures for Omaha. I haven't packed away my winter coat as experience tells me I'll still be wearing it into May. I hope we don't have snow in May again, that was a drag. All the outside plants can manage a frost, but still. Anyway, dressing for spring that feels like summer then back to winter by evening is a challenge. Digging deep into the unworn wardrobe items, I came up with this 80s does 40s polyester crepe dress I bought several years ago. Here it is last being worn in 2016

Went with a similar approach though less summery accessories. This year has been interesting for wearing things that wouldn't otherwise get a wear if I was still bringing in new items. Not shopping for a year will do that!

Can we talk about this necklace? It is like wearing marbles on my neck-it must weigh five pounds. I wore it for an hour before giving up. How do people wear such heavy things on their necks? I definitely can't, so away it goes. The Dior earrings however get to stay, because they're perfect. 

Who remembers these? I had to call into mangelsens last week for some N95-style masks (they have them at a good price) and from the corner of my eye, spotted these Charms candies from my childhood. They're not terribly exciting, but I always loved the packaging. In the unlikely event I'm still alive in another 50 years (god forbid) and they still make Charms, maybe I'll buy them again. My nostalgia is easily satisfied every half century. It occurs to me they look like little Tetris blocks though they existed long before Tetris (or computer games). 

Since spring was springing, it was a good opportunity to wear my green linen-look suit that is really made of an easy-care acrylic fabric. Throw it in the wash and dryer. That won't save it being squashed in a box for seven years, so in hindsight, looking at the photos I could have given it a quick once over with an iron or a run through the tumble dryer-but I didn't. Enjoy the creases on the skirt as a sort of realism then. 

Hey, there's a pandemic on-I'm not ironing.

The green enamel clamper bracelet looks vintage but it isn't quite-I bought it about 20 years ago at Target. It is getting close though. I swear it feels like I just bought it. I don't wear it often which probably explains why it isn't chipped. I'm terribly hard on bracelets.

When I bought this jacket a few years ago, it had crumbling, foam rubber shoulder pads in it. I carefully removed them (wearing gloves as I'm allergic to rubber) and after several washes to remove any trace of the rubber, finally got it wearable. Then, I forgot about it. I found it tucked away in Danny's room of all places, and promptly built an outfit around it. The extremely voluminous polyester pleated skirt worked well with it, as did the acrylic ribbed knit back-zip vintage polo neck from Sears. 

The Pennsylvania Dutch necklace is two-sided

It felt satisfying to wear the necklace as I bought it quite a long time ago but like so many other things, it just doesn't get worn. 

My blog tells me that the last wear of this hieroglyph print skirt was way back in spring of 2016. It is a bit big in the waist, but nothing a belt and a safety pin can't keep in place. The long, linen waistcoat gets regular wear (at least once a year) but for some reason I've neglected the skirt. Shame on me. 

The pendant may also be worn as a brooch. It has rhinestone eyes that dangle and move, which I find delightful. 

There's that ring again next to a close-up of the skirt print. 

This outfit did get compliments when I had to go buy masks, socially distanced compliments. We joked how a trip to the craft store is now an event worthy of our best outfits. I didn't mention that I've worn ball gowns to the grocer. Sometimes it is best to just take a compliment before they start figuring out how bonkers I am. 

Remember how I was thinking my migraines and dizziness might be from driving? Well, no, actually not. The last couple of days have been intense, but I'm scheduled for some appointments with the ophthalmologist, etc. and I'm sure we'll get it sorted eventually. Who wants to wager 20 bucks that this is all from the time the oral surgeon shot bleach into my sinuses and it landed in my eye? Anyone?

Yeah, that was fun. November of 2014 and I haven't had a sinus/face pain free day since. But whatever. I didn't sue. I probably should have. 

This blouse is so far outside my usual style, particularly the keyhole neck, but the print was just too good to pass up. It is a knit jersey-like fabric that has held up surprisingly well without pilling or losing shape. Sometimes it is good to try something different, and if memory serves it was under a dollar at the Goodwill. The earrings look like vintage plastic, but they're from Target a few months ago. They regularly discount earrings after a month or so, and since I'm there anyway picking up groceries I always take a side-trip down the clearance aisle to see what's on offer. I wouldn't pay $12.00 for a pair of earrings, but I would pay $3.99

Also working my way through the denim, and this 80s jumpsuit is always easy to wear. There really isn't much you need to do with a jumpsuit besides put it on. 

Finally, a skirt you've seen plenty on the blog

I'm never going to be tired of it though. I have so many of these sequin-adorned skirts, but they're like flowers-how can you pick a favourite when they're all so beautiful?

Wearing more neglected necklaces. This one is heavy, but not nearly on the level of the blue and white one. The dangly earrings are Liz Claiborne from the early 00s. 

I am told that I'll be eligible for a vaccine after 1 April, which is very good news. Danny is in a different situation as teenagers aren't being prioritised and they can only take the Pfizer vaccine anyway. Iowa might be opening that up to out of state residents (we're 15 minutes from Council Bluffs) so that's a possibility to keep an eye on. It isn't a perfect system but coming from absolutely NOTHING being done, I won't complain-building a system from scratch in a pandemic when there wasn't even a proper transition between governments was quite the feat. I'm feeling optimistic as we head into this, though in line with my personality-cautiously optimistic. I'm too old to change. 

Stay safe and well.