Wow, has it really been four months since I last posted something on here? Three and a half of them have been spent working from home, hunkering down with Sylvester. There have been few outfits worthy of documenting, but lots of books and films enjoyed. Sylvester has been spoiled with regular treats, brushing, lap time and pets. There have even been a couple of brief bursts of creativity, but overall, it's been pretty quiet.
This is the fanciest outfit I've worn since March. The skirt was made by Jenny Rossy and purchased at the Etsy: Made In Canada Toronto show last fall. I fell in love with the pattern and the pockets!
No mincing words here - the last few months have been a shit show all over the world (especially in the large country south of me) and I know how lucky I am to still have a job, and a safe place to spend the lockdown. Many people don't have that luxury, and as I stop and reflect about the last few months, I've realized there are several things I have learned during the pandemic.
Even a "Solitary" Can Have Too Much Alone Time
Initially I didn't know how I would handle working from home - the only people I see on a daily basis are the people I work with, and with that social contact gone, I have definitely felt isolated. However, my personality and life experience has left me better able to adjust to staying home alone than many other people. I grew up an only child with two working parents, and spent more time alone while I was growing up than was probably healthy, but that was my situation and I adapted to it. I learned to enjoy my own company and entertain myself with creative outlets such as drawing and writing.
Initially, I didn't miss having people around (aside from a couple of my closest friends), or having to deal with public transit on a daily basis. I welcomed the extra time that would have been spent on my daily commute to be able to read and watch things. Some of the books I've enjoyed recently include the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, Jonathan Van Ness' memoir Over the Top, and The Nickel Boys by Colin Whitehead. I've also watched an endless number of series and films on Amazon and Netflix. I'm currently enjoying the BBC series Ripper Street and rewatching Schitt's Creek; other things I would recommend are: 13th (Netflix), The Lighthouse (Amazon Prime), Under the Skin (Amazon Prime), Disclosure (Netflix) and the Stratford Festival at Home series where every week you can watch one of the plays from a previous season of the festival that has been filmed for home viewing.
I thought I was doing pretty well, but by mid-June, I was feeling constantly tired, and having periods of sadness and depression that I hadn't experienced in some time. Time spent alone can result in constructive reflection, but it can also mean too much time spent in one's own head, which has never been a good thing for me. When I was finally able to have a few "distanced" visits with the occasional friend it made the world of difference for me (and my mood) and near the end of June I even ventured into my favourite retail store, From Mars, which is something I wasn't sure I would be comfortable doing.
Having More Free Time Does Not Equal More Creative Output
When the lockdown started here (the last day I worked in the office was during the week of March 16th), I was determined to put the extra time I had at home on evenings and weekends to good use by being both productive and creative. I cleaned out the closet in my kitchen, and my kitchen cupboards, I washed winter clothing and put it into storage, cleaned and polished winter footwear, and mended a few things. I had already started working on a creative project spearheaded by my friend Melanie, and decided to paint another pair of jeans.
I didn't know how I would feel about these jeans when I finished but I actually love them (the back of the left leg is also painted)
The photo below is the result of some leftover creative inspiration after I finished my project for Melanie. I also put a couple of photos on my Instagram (@fcfashionista). I definitely wish I had more wigs to play with.
Portrait of woman in purple with cat
By the middle of May, I entered a period I shall call "Eh, Fuck it". My creative output dwindled to a few IG posts celebrating my collection of vintage hats, and when I ran out of hats, I ran out of inspiration. I started to live vicariously through the daily updates on Vix's blog about the wonderful garden she and her partner Jon had created, and their home decorating DIY's . I live in a small rental apartment so home renovations and gardening weren't options for me, but I couldn't even muster up the energy to write a blog post or hem a dress.
I Finally Learned to Cook
My mother worked outside the home from the time I was about 7 or 8 years old, and she did not enjoy cooking or baking (for which I now have more sympathy since I have been working full-time). I learned how to heat things up in the oven, fry things in a pan, and make a basic tuna casserole but that was about it. I didn't know what spices and flavours worked together, or what to do with vegetables aside from cook them in boiling water. As I made friends with people who are good cooks, I've picked up bits and pieces along the way, but I've eaten a lot of frozen meals in my time. And then three things happened: I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, I started watching the occasional food show on Neflix, and the COVID-19 Lockdown.
The Celiac diagnosis meant I would now have to make most, if not all, my meals at home. There is very little gluten-free prepared food out there. And unless I wanted to eat oven-baked chicken with rice or boiled potatoes the rest of my life, I'd better up my game. I discovered Samin Nosrat, a cook, teacher and author of the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and the host of the documentary on Netflix of the same name. Watching the documentary was a major education for me about the elements that went into a flavourful, well-prepared meal. I promptly went out and bought a large box of kosher salt, which I use in almost everything I cook, including oven-roasted potatoes and vegetables, brined chicken breasts, pan-fried gluten-free gnocchi with vegetables, and several other simple, but tasty meals I've learned to prepare. I'm eating healthier than I every have in my life, and I have the pile of dirty dishes after every meal to prove it.
And Cut My Own Hair
Face Masks Are The New Fashion Accessories
As soon as the lockdown started I began wearing a face mask whenever I went out run errands, especially if I had to take public transit. If you've followed me for a while, you know that my lungs are my achilles' heel, and while I don't get pneumonia like I used to since I started getting the pneumonia vaccine (yet, it exists), a simple cold will leave me coughing for 4 - 6 weeks. I know that a mask will not necessarily protect me from the COVID-19 virus, but wearing one makes me feel less anxious in situations where I'm not able to distance from people, and it keeps me from touching my face. I also haven't had a cold since I started wearing one, so that in itself is a win. There are so many hand-made fun fabric patterned ones out there that I've acquired at least a half-dozen over the last couple of months.
Clockwise from top left: "blah blah" mask from @ladyprintmaker, black and white reversible mask from @irinarapaport, plaid mask and satin "secret" mask from @clairefleurynyc
Nature is the Best Television
Near the end of last summer a giant green caterpillar crawled up into the overhang of our front porch and spun a large cocoon. We didn't know what kind of caterpillar it was, or what it would hatch into, and when a few months went by and nothing emerged, we assumed something had gone awry, and were a bit sad, but then we forgot about it. Winter came and went, and before we knew it, it was May. I was standing on my neighbour's porch, just under where the cocoon was, and I glanced upwards and saw this...
Thanks to Google, I learned that these are Cecropia Moths (male on the left with larger antennae, female on the right with the larger body), North America's largest native moth (their wingspan is between 5 and 7 inches), and a member of the giant silk moth family. The adult moths have no mouths, or digestive system, and therefore don't eat. They live for approximately two weeks, and their only purpose is to mate, and reproduce. Which would account for the extra-long mating session, because really, if that was the only thing you got to do in your short life, wouldn't you want it to last as long as possible? The female moth is full of eggs when she hatches and after mating, she lays her eggs and dies. Kind of sad, huh?
So you can see the brown cocoon behind the two moths. After the couple departed I took the cocoon down to examine it, because it seemed awfully coincidental that a giant moth would suddenly appear in exactly the same place as a cocoon.
So you can see the brown cocoon behind the two moths. After the couple departed I took the cocoon down to examine it, because it seemed awfully coincidental that a giant moth would suddenly appear in exactly the same place as a cocoon.
hand for scale - the cocoon was made of long, silk-like fibres
Inside the outer cocoon was another smaller, fuzzy one, and inside that was the pupa.
I spent a lot of time reading online about the life cycle of the Cecropia Moth, and even watched a video that showed how the caterpillar (which matched ours from the previous summer) changes over the winter into the awesome winged creature that emerged the following spring. I'm pretty sure that "Our Moth" was the female because you can see the impression of her smaller antenna and rounder body on the hard shell of the pupa, which was cracked open. The opening that the moth had crawled through was incredibly small, and I so wish we had seen her hatch!
Nature is truly awesome!!
And Last, But Never Least...
I would not have made it through the past four months without this guy
It's been as much of a challenge for Sylvester to adjust to having me home all the time as it has been for me. There are many times when I'm working when he will sit by my chair and cry until I give him attention or food and it can drive me crazy. I'm surprised he hasn't gained weight from the extra treats he gets just to give me a couple of hours of peace and quiet (and he hasn't, I've weighed him). However, when we have our daily snuggle time (see photo above), I realize how grateful I am that he is isolated with me. I don't know how he will react when I finally return to the office full-time, but I'm sure that there will be a lot of disappointed pets out there when things open up completely (whenever that will be).
What have you learned during the past few months?
