Well, the temperature has improved. This morning it's 56˚ (F), although apparently the clouds are going to hang around.
I got a lot of things done yesterday, but French wasn't one of them. I skipped my class. I had such a draining week that I couldn't bring myself to give up four hours of my morning, which was a first for me -- although I've talked several times about playing hooky I never did it before yesterday. Instead I stayed on the couch and read The New Yorker.
I did two loads of laundry. I ran some errands -- bought a new baking sheet for Dave, along with some tea towels so he'll stop using the kitchen hand towels to wipe up food spills (a source of frequent conflict around here). I took the dog for a long walk on the Heath, and I deliberately did not take my camera. For once I wanted to just experience our outing, free of pixels.
I also talked to the tailor inside my local dry cleaning shop about repairing my Doris shorts. When I visited West Africa in 1994, I bought this great fabric (above) covered with tiny footprints. In Kumasi, Ghana, I paid a woman who looked after our hostel -- a seamstress named Doris -- to make them into shorts. She took some measurements and my fabric, and a day or two later produced a pair of rudimentary, baggy shorts with an elastic waist. They look like underwear, honestly, but I love them. They're so comfortable.
I wear them all the time to lounge around the house, so I can't complain about their durability. (I also frequently wear them in the garden or to take out the trash, and I'm sure all the neighbors think I'm walking around in my boxers.) But the 22-year-old elastic has finally died on my Doris shorts. I need to get it replaced, so I'll take them to the tailor on Monday.
Today, clouds notwithstanding, I hope to get out and about in London for some photography!
(Top photo: A piece of old newspaper, West Hampstead.)
Isn't it nice when we can have favorite clothes repaired? I hope you have a lot more fun in those shorts once the new elastic is sewn in! Loved Olga on Facebook today.
ReplyDeleteHey , you can miss a lot of things but don't miss French!!! Now that pattern for the shorts is wild. African and Arab patterns and colors are attractive and at times much more preferable compared to ours.
ReplyDeleteReplacing elastic shouldn't be too difficult. It's hard to give up clothes that have have been worn enough to become comfortable.
ReplyDeleteEverybody needs to play hooky sometime - and to get caught up on rest is a good thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI love comfortable clothing and will wear things to shabbiness. Your Doris shorts are made of cool material. For some reason I thought you were going to show us shorts with pictures of Doris Day on them. I've only ever heard of two people by that name; one was a girl I went to school with, and the other was Miss Day!
It sounds like you had a relaxing as well as productive day yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute. Did I read correctly? Twenty-two years of wearing 'a lot'? Your Doris shorts belong in the Smithsonian; more fabric like that and the clothing industry will be in real trouble, LOL. (Not that we don't all have favorite well-worn things and some of us have them even older than that, but usually they are worn only every now and then.) WOW. ;-) Mary
ReplyDeleteI could totally replace that elastic! I am glad you are getting that little job done because it sounds like those shorts are part of the goodness and comfort of your life.
ReplyDeleteWhat e said is almost word for word what I was going to say! Thanks e!
ReplyDeleteE: They have a lot of life left in them!
ReplyDeleteRed: Some of the African "wax cloth" is really incredible. I bought a few other things too.
Linda: Agreed!
Jenny O: Aside from Doris from Ghana, I think Miss Day is the only other Doris I know, too!
Sharon: Indeed.
Rafe: Yeah, I know! I'm not exaggerating when I say I wear them all the time, but only around the house. That African printed "wax cloth" is really durable stuff. No planned obsolescence!
Ms Moon: I should have mailed them to you! HA!
Lynne: Isn't it nice when another commenter sums things up so succinctly?! :)
I had a pair of pants (among other items) made when I was in Zambia & every time I wore them people would comment that they looked like they were made of sofa fabric. Ha! Sadly, they hot lost in one of our moves...
ReplyDeleteThose are some great shorts!
ReplyDelete