FASHION, FOOD AND FOOTWEAR!

I carved out some studio time over the last two weeks and worked on this;

I returned to V1510, Sandra Betzina's vest pattern from last fall. I have been holding on to this verrrrry interesting fabric from EOS which I got a long time ago. It's a medium weight black jersey with squares of faux leather glued on. It looks a little like an alligator, but with a lot more texture...and you know me, I'm all about texture!

..

I removed the extended shoulder, drafted a facing, and changed the pockets to folded patch pockets. The facing, collar and pocket lining were out of a lightweight faux leather, also from EOS.

Here are closeups of the collar and pockets:

The vagaries of the fabric made this a little hard to fit, but it's unusual and subtle and I really like it! The snuggly boots are my latest Stuart Weitzman find on eBay..."Humzozomay Shearling Studs Wedge Boots"

Dave came in the other afternoon with the first harvest of our "Moro" blood oranges...so we had these at cocktail hour...

 Blood Orange Margarita with Ginger  Beautiful AND Tasty!


Since I had the camera out yesterday, I also took pictures of an outfit I bought in Paris at Juliette Ozouf.I would characterize her clothing as high-end boho...simple shapes, exquisite fabrics, subtle textures.

These are mostly wool, but so lightweight that I can wear them in my climate at least half the year.

Dave and I celebrated our 41st anniversary last week...with a fantastic meal and a bottle of good wine.

To celebrate the arrival of my Rancho Gordo Bean Club quarterly box, I used

the RG Cassoulet beans to make one of my favorite recipes:

Here's the recipe: it's Caramelized Onion Cassoulet and has no meat or cheese in it. It's OUTSTANDING! And while I was at it, I made this: Bon Appetit's Best Chai Masala.

I'm drinking it as I write.

Books? I read "The Dry", a debut novel by Jane Harper set in Australia, which I quite liked. I'm listening to "The Mischling" by Affinity Komar...a very hard book,

but the writing is gorgeous. I listen to it in small segments. It's about a set of twins in Auschwitz. If you can handle the subject matter, it's well worth reading (or listening to).

And finally, sad news about our Teddy...he is deaf. He was not deaf when we picked him up from the breeder, but he is now, and is proving very hard to train.

But we love him dearly and will do everything we can to help him learn his manners.

That's it for now...I'll be heading over to Patti's Visible Monday to join up with the other Visible Women. Come on by!

TTYL