February 5, 2021
The Lake is Frozen…
Better get ready… She stops to focus for just a couple of heartbeats on her current favorite painting and color palette:
She knows that she needs to pack, and she knows that she doesn’t want to spend much time dwelling on that, so she remember her current color palette…
What she’s wearing will be fine for the drive – she just needs to get on her shoes…
Earrings – Kate Spade; cardigan – L.L.Bean; watch – Skagen; pink tee – J.Crew; bag – Dagne Dover; socks – K. Bell Socks; clogs – Dansko; fleece-lined pants – L.L.Bean
She’s agreed to fix dinner TONIGHT – this gets her off the hook for meals the rest of the weekend! So before she even walks NEAR her closet, she pulls out a big grocery bag from her stash, and starts assembling the ingredients for a big pot of soup…
And then she cuts the dry ingredients for biscuits together and puts them in a container. Into the grocery bag…
Liquid ingredients get whisked together and poured into a mason jar; into the bag!
She then pulls out all of the salad fixings she can find, and puts them into a 2nd bag, along with a package of cookies, and all of the fixings for coffee…
NOW – to the easy stuff:
Hat – Topshop; bouclé ruana – Echo; pearl earrings – Julie Vos; yellow shirt – L.L.Bean; Tie-dyed hoodie – Abound; pig hot water bottle – Marks & Spencer; Fair Isle fleece top – L.L.Bean; quilted grey top – L.L.Bean; knit skirt – Banana Republic; bracelet – Accessory Concierge; lounge socks – MinxNY; pajamas – Petite Plume; boots – Frye; slippers – L.L.Bean; charcoal sweatpants – L.L.Bean
She hates long pajamas, but she loves a good hot water bottle…
So she’s traveling with 2 big bags of food, a car full of excited kids, and this:
While the kids chatter about their plans for ice hockey, and skating contests, she goes over what she’s going to wear in her mind…
3 hours later:
- coffee is in the carafe,
- soup is on the stove,
- biscuits are ready to be stirred together and put in the oven as soon as she hears the approach of the gang…
She’s sitting on the back porch, watching the skating, smelling the good food smells, and sipping coffee.
THIS is why she travels…
love,
Janice
p.s. Seven years ago, I was dreaming about what I was going to pack for our 10th Anniversary trip to Paris… I’m STILL dreaming about packing for Paris!!!!
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The pink and yellow is unexpected, but quite soothing in these muted shades. I love it, although I would not consider wearing yellow anytime soon.
Of course, I’ll join in & dream of packing for Paris….. ah….zzzz……zzzz..zzzz
How cosy and comfortable this looks. It’s interesting that this wardrobe with its soft hues works well with yellow and pink. Yet thinking back to last years Aspinal A scarf with the grey, gold/mustard and bright pink wardrobe, somehow the yellow and pink jarred. The tonal values really can make a difference to potentially clashing colours working or not.
I can’t wear yellow, so ivory or very pale grey would be my swaps. I also can see soft grey/blue or soft teal in the painting. I probably would have another pair of trousers instead of the skirt and a polo neck top instead of the shirt.
I’d love this kind of break now. Although I would curl up under a blanket with a book, keep everyone supplied with hot drinks and snacks, and wander out to watch proceedings from veranda. Ice and me is an accident waiting to happen; I see ice and immediately visualise myself flat on my back. We have snow forecast this weekend and next week in the UK….
I also get the sense of teal in the painting, which I would prefer over yellow with the pink. For some reason, the yellow and pink with grey just doesn’t click for me today.
The pink pig threw for a loop! Is that a weird purse…or is she really bringing a stuffed animal on the trip? In any case, I do enjoy that bit of whimsy.
Surely we must assume that she packed these tights to go with her knit skirt, right? :D
https://www.amazon.com/PLOKINC-Pockets-Womens-Workout-Capris/dp/B07S5H94BW/
I think the pig is a cute hot water bottle.
Interesting that when I see this painting, I see denim blue as the main color and not grey. Denim would work equally as well with the accent colors. I’d love to have a getaway right now!
Thank you for the playful addition of the pig water bottle! Still smiling …
Janice,
Belated Happy Anniversary to you both !
Are there some leggings packed to wear with the skirt? I’ve seen some short, down, quilted skirts and short, sweater-knit skirts worn with leggings this year. I can see that combo working at the skating cabin. I’d swap out the boots for some warm winter snow boots. I guess I’m a bit jealous ?.
I think I’ll start using that trick of offering to do the first meal of the weekend. Then you’re off the hook the rest of the time and you can just sip your wine and keep the cook company, guilt free. Mixing up the ingredients before you go would sure help too. Bon appetite.
When I saw the short PJ’s I was flummoxed. Pig hot water bottle LOL Would definitely need heavy tights for under skirt if weather is cold enough for lake to freeze!!! We are headed to our lake house next week and it’s going to be chilly for TX. A big pot of soup is great as the troops tend to arrive at staggered times.
Why is she sitting on the porch instead of out there leading the skating?! Really!
Oh, she will… She definitely will!
hugs,
Janice
I see denim as an accent color. This wardrobe very nice. Not sure I could wear the butter yellow, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it. I might be tempted, since I have added bright yellow to my wardrobe here and there since last spring.
I would totally be sidestepping that Mason jar business: I’m sure the hockey players wouldn’t care if I used a box of biscuit mix. (Which I got into using for the first time last year when we found ourselves unable to find flour…) And then maybe somebody who forgot to bring enough breakfast stuff could use the rest of it for pancakes.
Also smiles on the hot water bottle. When I first saw that in the photo, I couldn’t figure out what it was: maybe a really strange purse?
hahaha That’s exactly the same thing I thought!
Ditto on the pig!
Thank you for the artist introduction! I love this piece and like many of his other pieces as well that are shown on his website. I would also have pulled out that lovely slate blue color with a lighter grey for my palette from this painting. For me, instead of the skirt, I would have packed a pair of thick leggings and a long tunic sweatshirt. I’ve really enjoyed that combination the last winter or two. It’s very cozy but still feels put together.
Hello Janice & Everyone! I appreciate the concept behind this combination although I would have to minimize the amount of yellow x grey pairings and toss in some teal or denim blue as some have mentioned.
You will not see me in pajama shorts until maybe July 4th. I wear 3 top layers as it is with flannel pants and sox and 2 layers of covers. I would not turn down the pink pig water bottle however.
I will have to ask this and my fellow heroines about the secret to making biscuits, as mine turn out like skeet.
When making biscuits, I find it helps to freeze the butter, then grate it into the dry ingredients, cutting or stirring quickly. Then the wet. The key is to handle the dough minimally and keep it cold. Also cut the biscuits with a straight up and down motion. If you twist the cutter, it will keep the biscuits from rising as they bake. – nancyo
This is really pretty and probably the colours I should be wearing with my hair that’s greyed to a creamy colour. Admired by friends and my hairdresser but I am unconvinced and wish it was silver. I will stay with high contrast colours but can see why this selection would appeal to others.
Percy Pig is a popular motif for Marks and Spencer, mainly aimed at kids.
https://www.marksandspencer.com/MSFindItemsByKeyword?searchTerm=percy+pig&intid=normal&langId=-24&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&categoryId=0
So I’m not surprised that a pig hot water bottle has made an appearance. I used my kid’s furry teddy hot water bottle given half a chance.
Percy Pig even appears on goods in the Marks and Spencer food halls in the UK.
By the way Marks and Spencer sell large tins of very nice biscuits – job done ?
Love the soft tones then the solidly pink accents. As the Nana to 5 granddaughters 4 of whom skate and the toddler who is obviously envious I love this storyline. My daughter calls it athletics with knives on their feet. All the girls would fight me over the hot water bottle especially my middle one whose favourite stuffed animal is a girl piggy named Piggles!
Beth T, we may be dealing with a biscuit translation problem. Unless M&S sells American-style baking powder biscuits in tins too, but I don’t think they’d keep well.
I think our biscuits are your cookies
The biscuits my heroine is baking are doughy, buttery quick-bread like objects that are blissful when soaked with honey… not that I’m partial!
hugs,
Janice
Janice – your biscuits sound wonderful – please may we have the recipe.
One of my very first blog posts:
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2011/04/easy-as-biscuits.html/
hugs,
Janice
Thank you Beth for asking and Janice for giving that beautiful simple recipe which I just copied onto a file card and taped on the inside of my kitchen cabinet doors where I keep the everyday recipes. I’ve been looking for a good tried n true butter based biscuit recipe for ages. I want to get away from shortening and lard. Thank you!