Light and Momentary

Mystery solved

Last night I went out the back door and there in the yard was a groundhog. It looked at me for a minute and then sprinted toward the front. But by the time I got to the front yard, it had disappeared.

"Hm," I thought to myself. "It did not have time to disappear to anywhere that is not on my property. That's not ideal." 

We've had more rain than usual this summer, and the weeds on the west side of the house got aggressive.There's a bed of tiger lilies under the dining room window where I always have to battle against a particularly vigorous weed that likes to grow up tall, and the spirea bush was sheltering a profusion of unwelcome new growth. Years ago we used to watch a fat groundhog wedge himself in and out of the small opening under a neighbor's porch, and I wondered if this one might have decided to shoehorn himself into new digs on this side of the street, coming and going discreetly under the overgrowth.

I started weeding under the spirea bush and worked my way out. Twenty minutes in, the answer appeared: a sizable burrow, right next to the foundation, sloping downward into the darkness under the lilies.

"...oh," I thought to myself. "That's not my favorite discovery."

The extent of the garden entropy has felt a little overwhelming this weekend. Yesterday I knew it was time to come inside when I started to think longingly about paving the whole yard. Today I thought it might be cathartic to howl, but instead I emitted only a small unhappy noise and started thinking about options.

Jamie Gladly, Reluctant Groundhog Landlady, was not certain about how to begin eviction proceedings. Rent a humane trap? And then drive its inhabitant far away to release it? This plan seemed even less attractive once Stella speculated that there might be a litter of pups (kittens? groundhoglets? miniature demons of destruction?) down there as well.

We have had a contract with an exterminator since the upsetting Mice in the Walls Incident, so I suppose I will give them a call. Let's hope the anti-rat perimeter I talked about in that old post is more effective than my failed anti-large-rodent perimeter.

It's a new dress!

Guess what I got in the mail, my friends! Did you happen to guess that Wool& sent me a lovely new dress to review? Because if you did, you win the guessing prize.

On a scorching day last week I was slogging home through the heat and humidity (RealFeel of 104, bleh), thinking happily about the long-sleeved wool dress soon to be landing in my mailbox. It was not the sort of day on which Past Jamie would have expected to wear wool, but Past Jamie had some things to learn about staying cool in the summer.

You might remember that I have posted enthusiastically about my Wool& clothes. But unless you are a Wool& fangirl yourself, you probably don't remember that I completed my first-ever challenge in a dress called the Willow. I put it on when it came in the mail in November 2022 and thought, "I am going to wear this dress forever." Perfect color, perfect length, perfect neckline, perfect sleeves, perfect swing. And pockets too! I wore that dress for 30 days in a row and used the reward money to buy another Wool& swing dress. (I wore that one to work today, actually.)

Earlier this year Wool& announced that they were updating the Willow, and at first my heart sank a little. It's hard to improve on perfect, and I thought about buying another of the original Willows before they went away. But their designers usually do a terrific job, and the new version was coming out in a fabulous orange-y pink-y color called Guava that I couldn't wait to see in person. I was delighted to receive a free dress in exchange for a review.

On the sweatiest day of the year so far I opened up my package. "Oh MY," I said when I saw the color, which is a luscious shade, just like a slice of ripe papaya. "I am going to have to sit down and pet this fabric for a minute so I can admire this gorgeous color properly," I said to Pete. "I knew you were going to say that," he said, because he is accustomed to my fondness for distinctive saturated colors.

As soon I was done petting my new dress (...this is where the Wool& publicity person reading this post thinks to herself, "Maybe next time we find ourselves a less quirky reviewer..."), I tried it on. The redesign seems to have a straighter bodice than the original. The shoulder seams are just a smidge wider, and the bust is just a smidge snugger. The size guide is accurate; I definitely would not size down in this one, as some people do in the Wool& swing dresses. The dress as a whole is a little narrower, but it is still pleasingly flowy. The new hemline is curved, which I like, and the new pockets are sewn in place, so it's a little easier for them to accommodate something substantial like a phone. You may notice that the newer one is a bit longer; the dress comes in two lengths and I requested the longer one this time around.

The biggest difference between the two versions of the dress is the elimination of the back pleat. I wondered whether the new Willow might be more clingy and less swingy, but they were able to retain the satisfying drape of the original.

The new Willow is made from their 180gsm mechanical stretch jersey fabric, which is comfortable all year round. My one minor quibble is that the fabric is slightly sheer in this new shade, so I will need to pay attention to the underthings I wear with it.

Despite the temperatures, I pushed up the sleeves and wore it to work. Since I commute on foot, I logged 8000 steps in unpleasantly humid weather, feeling comfortable and colorful. In sum: wool is still magic, and the redesigned Willow is easy to wear and flattering too. Thanks to Wool& for this opportunity to review the new guava Willow! 

July so far

It's been almost three weeks since I posted. Most of the space in my brain has been dedicated to teaching this summer class. Five weeks down; three to go. Outside of work I've been reading, I've been knitting, and I've been easing my way back into running and lifting. 

I've also been getting older; I celebrated my 54th birthday on Friday with a brief trip to Chicago. We paid Joe a quick visit in his new city the weekend before that. And today I had an unexpected visit with old friends I hadn't seen since 2016 -- they texted me to say they'd be eating lunch in Gladlyville in an hour and would I like to join them? 

It's easier to post when I am blogging regularly, so this is a clearing-out-the cobwebs post to get the wheels turning again. More soon, friends.

20

Twenty years ago today I posted on my very own blog for the first time. 

That is a long time to be sending thoughts out into the world. Some of you have been reading my posts since 2004. Twenty years! That's a lot of years!

Thanks to all of you for reading. Here's to the next decade!