Simple Dress Experiment:

When I say I live an active life that is quite demanding for clothing, I mean something like this   :



T told me that a little lizard was hiding under our terrace table, and while I was trying to get a glimpse of it, he snapped a picture. All well, since there was a very cute little lizard indeed- the first I have seen in our garden. For those who are more interested of my hair adventures than my dresses: a mini snood in action. It's definitely becoming more ex-black than black. I'm glad I can retire it soon.



Since this post seems to be much about illustrating my summer styles, here is another picture of me, this time stalking a butterfly at our veggie patch. I'm wearing a scarf cap, my other favorite summer style. This one has tiny blue flowers that match the dress.

Garden: Garden picture of the day: a Lettuce Tree. Two of our lettuces (just one in the pic) have become more ambitious and decided to become trees.



Hair, finally   : Weather has totally mixed up our normal routine. We went to sauna yesterday. Now, I know some of you wonder why does one go to sauna when it's hot even without it, but it is really refreshing. Especially if you take a cool shower right after it. So, my hair is freshy washed.
   To my great delight I discovered that I have reached yet another invisible, but heart warming hair goal. My hair is finally big enough for my longest (3") Amish pins. Previously, they were too long, sticking out of my bun if I mistakenly tried to use one. But now I have enough hair to hide them. Yay!

Thanks for congrats. It's fun to achieve a hair goal even while I'm trying NOT to gain length at the moment.
    The garden looks nice- though at this point, much of the credit still goes to the previous owners who were good gardeners. For most of the time, we're just trying not to mess everything up.

Today started with a good-sized thunder storm. For a moment, I thought we would lose the electricity. This kind of events always remind us that as far as simplifying goes, we are still beginners. Our goal is to decrease our dependance on electricity- not totally, but up to a point where the basic tasks of our household do not necessarily depend on having it. As we see it, electricity should be a convenience, not an absolute necessity- even though our reliable grid and tons of gadget available everywhere would suggest otherwise.
   The most fun part in these days is, that these are not just my ideas any longer- T has become just as bad as I am. He even wants me to sew him some plain clothes. Now, I'm just looking for some easy men's patterns that would do the trick. Due to the nature of his job, I think that the best he can realistically become is a part-time plain. But it's still an improvement and so I am going to help him with it.

Hair: The thunder didn't improve temperatures much- even typing this make me sweat. I see another rinse in my near future. My clairvoyant ability does not tell me clearly, when the next trim is due though. Judging from the calendar, it should be soon but then, the last trim was on the larger side. Maintaining the perfect balance obviously has its challenges.
     I have forgotten to mention rearranged my scarf collection the other day: basically, I divided my bandanas to three piles, so that each pile got an equal amount of favorite and not-so-favorite scarves. I put one pile to my hairtoy shelf and the two others elsewhere. It was a good idea: while I wore almost exclusively my favorites, I have now worn also other scarves and found them very nice. The rest of my outfit being solid color in these days, little things like a nice scarf, are important. Right now: a burgundy dress, a bun and a nice greenish scarf with stylized leaf print.

What kind of shirt would T be willing to wear?  Here is an example of a very simple pattern that can be made out of either light or heavy weight fabric.

http://www.habithat.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/7590

Going along the same lines as your apron to protect the front of your dress, men woud wear a vest to protect the front of their shirts.  I'm sure you could find a simple trouser pattern as well.

Both the temperature and air humidity are still in such readings that I expect to see little monkeys and hummingbirds arriving to our apple trees on any day now. It hasn't happened in the recorded world history, but I think that Hume's quillotine allows me to think otherwise today.
Yet, in some strange way I feel the fall is coming. For one thing, I haven't been able to shake the sight of gorgeous scarves in Gudrun Sjöden's catalog out of my mind. Today I went so far that I grabbed my only semi-decent scarf and practiced with it until I came up with a decent bun scarf style (yes, the one in the catalog). Aside from the fact that the thin white linen scarf looked like a huge bandage around my head thus making me look someone fresh from a car accident, the style looked gorgeous. Come the fall and any excuses to wear something warm and jewel tone, I'm SO going to try this.
It's obvious that living among the apple trees has conditioned me to wear something on my head whenever I go out.

I'll file the fact to ever growing "side effects of country living" mental list.

Another effect of the weather is, that I can't even pretend to have a washing schedule. All I can say that once I did, but now it's just rinsing, rinsing, insane rinsing and grabbing the shampoo bar when rinsing seems to suffice no longer. Another good thing about scarves & snoods: no need to try judging when/if my hair looks presentable. Because that'd be just desperate right now.

joyedog:   Or, some more thoughts on simple living

First, I wish to remind everyone that at the moment, our simple living project is already pretty HC- we haved moved away from the City, to a house that we have selected from simple living point of view. This has opened new options for us, but it also means that if you are just curious about simple living or perhaps want to start your own simple living experiment, doing a big dramatic change such as moving to country, is probably not a good place to start. It certainly isn't a requirement.
It's always better to change things more slowly, with an explorer spirit. Also, personal preferences, jobs and such affect greatly to the choices we have realistically available. Usually, doing things the "simple way" takes more time than the modern way, and for many people time is a limited resource. Sometimes items required in simple life are hard to find (though internet is a great aid) and so on.
Simple living is also a family effort, if you have a family. If you don't, some things may be beyond your resources (time, manpower) because of that...what I'm trying to say is, that people who aspire to live more simply, often end up having different lifestyles because they live in different circumstances.

I know from experience, that everyone can simplify, at least to the degree where you know whether it is your thing or not, and whether you will want to take bigger, bolder  steps in that direction. I started simplifying while we were still living in a small two-room apartment in the center of the city. That environment had admittedly limited opportunities, but those limited opportunities were enough to ready us for bigger changes. Here's a short list of what I was able to do:
-cook more from scratch
-bake your own bread and baked goodies
-learn to clean with simple, natural cleaners like vinegar and baking soda
-learn how to freeze food...and how to use the food you have frozen
-learn to sew, knit, crochet- crafts are worthy skills, and learning them helps one to become less dependent on what is available commercially
-simplify your wardrobe, at least a little (there is, after all, a middle ground between owning 100 pairs of shoes and handbags and dressing like an Amish)
-if you have a balcony, or a little yard, you can grow flowers, herbs, berries etc. there (flowers only if you live in a polluted area)
-learn to do minor repairs yourself

I think I started with cooking. Result: we ate better, my DH was happier and we even saved money. Encouraged by this, I decided to expand my repertoire to baking. Same thing there: increased happiness. I took up my old crafty hobbies. I found out I enjoyed it, and DH loved the new wool socks and household items I started to generate. And so on. Today, the things we learned first are still the "backbone" of our lifestyle. We add and try out new ideas when we think we can fit them into our life comfortably. After all, we don't simplify because we feel it's some cosmic obligation or because we have a bad conscience for the world- we do it because it makes us happy.
Simple.

To your other question, I live in Southern Finland.

Hair: Yesterday was a wash day. Today it's very marginally less hot (can't really say cooler) than yesterday. I didn't catch sleep easily because of the heat, but at least I managed to sleep all night when I finally did. Sadly, it doesn't seem that this improvement is enough to make a difference in the amount of rinsing though.
     Hairstyle: bun with Amish pins (I'm still thrilled that I can use the longest ones!) and a scarf in shades of pinks that look nice and perky with my brown dress. I felt the need to have some color, and since my new colorful earbling might not be here before the next week, it's good to play with bandanas.   
     My buns are clearly bigger than they used to be- they are subtly but definitely moving from what I consider to be medium size bun towards a larger bun. Not actually large yet, but on the way there. Oy, I just love the look.

joeydog, to me it sounds like you are already living simply, especially considering your circumstances. Your parents have taught you such great skills. Mine never did that- I have had to learn everything by myself at adult age. But that's ok, I like learning.
    
Oh, I understand about the weather. We have four very different seasons, and my current dresses are the only thing I have ever worn that can be used all the time (if I dress in layers during the winter). Obviously, this is a rather radical solution and not good for everyone! And there are other things to consider besides weather, like job and hobbies. Simplifying a wardrobe is rewarding when it succeeds, but it can be a big challenge. For active, working people who live in areas that have actual seasons, it is easily a huge challenge.

When I launder, I use vinegar instead of fabric softener when I wash towels & menstrual pads. The reason is, that fabric softener is actually a wax that makes things like towels less absorbing. In dry laundry treated with ACV rinse, there is no vinegar smell left.

Establishing a garden is a huge task. Even maintaining a reasonably big garden is an effective way to full one's free time.

I'm happy to answer any further questions you might have. 

Life, Hair & Everything: I've booked the flight tickets for the upcoming Germany trip, and am getting excited. Unlike I first thought, I am going to spend one night in there after all. So I'll get to see the town a bit more than just the professor's office. Which is great, if there is a chance that I might move in there for a while.
     Don't know what I will do if it comes to that, considering the family and this property...but T is ever supportive, so I guess that I'll just cross that bridge when/if I will need to. In any case, Dr. L seems like a very nice person, and Prof G. whom I will also be meeting, has also some very interesting thoughts, so I'm looking forward to a nice trip and interesting discussions.
    I have no idea of what I am going to wear in there either. I think I will dress up more formally when I go and then take one dress with me so I can switch when the official part is over. Hair & airport security is of course an interesting issue (as always). Last time I just packed my hairbling into my checked baggage, but this time it's not possible since I'm travelling so light. No sticks, no Amish pins, seven hours of traveling to one direction, and the need to look sharp in the end (so no puny braids or hair down). I'm glad I still have some time to finish this little equation. I'm creative, I can do it. Yes I can.
   Washed hair today, because I had forgotten that I had washed it yesterday already. This heat is getting to me.

I use vinegar more than fabric softener. My fabric softener is concentrate, and I need very little of it. Vinegar is safe though- I don't think there's huge harm done if you experiment a bit.

I have visited Germany once before, when I was 14. So it's been a long time. I didn't travel much at all while I was studying. I still don't have money to spend in traveling, but now there are institutions willing to pay my travels and hotels. That's progress! My last Germany trip was to Hamburg, plus a brief visit to Cologne. This time, I'm heading to Bonn region. So it'll be a bit different.  

Hair: Look, I have a picture!



I had such pretty braid waves this morning that I wanted to share it with you. Is it just my imagination, or is my hair brushing the waistband even with waves? Because that'd mean it's time to trim.

Travel hair is still a problem. At the moment, my strongest hairtoy candidates are my plastic fakkares. They are pretty real-looking and stylish, and Ficcare buns are reasonably comfortable traveling option. I also have some plastic hair pins I could use, but I don't like them much. Third option that has come to my mind, are my plastic octopus clips, but they are not the most comfortable option. And they are more plastic-y looking than I would want to wear in a professional occassion.

Ears: Have you noticed that I have pretty much shifted my focus from hairtoys to eartoys? In any case, I'm happy to announce that my earbling shipment from BAF arrived.  
I got: a pair of yellow burmese stone plugs in 8g. They are double flare so I can't wear them yet. But it's good to have something pretty to wait for, and these are really pretty. The color is creamy light yellow, and the flare size is just perfect.
a pair of carnelian plugs in 8g. No flare, so good to wear anytime (in my right ear, anyway).
a pair of translucent sparkle green GWS colorfront plugs in 8g. For when I have two ears in that size. These are absolutely GORGEOUS. The color is beautiful and fresh and very subtly sprakly.
a pair of clear GG plugs in 8 g. Because they are gorgeous.
A glitch: I had ordered a pair of 12 g GG 2nds in red, but got clear ones instead. However, I realized that wearing clear plugs of different sizes makes them look like a matched pair unless you look very closely, I decided it was a happy mistake and am going to keep it.
Plus the usual o-rings and a pair of 12g steel plugs.
Is there such a thing as an eartoy heaven?

Stretching situation: I poked an 8 g earring into my right ear. I wouldn't have forced it if there was any problem, but the earring slid straight in. I felt absolutely nothing, so this was a breeze for stretch.
Same happened with 12 g earrings in left ear. They slid in like nothing. My hopes of getting to 10g before the trip are rising once again...

EDIT: spelling mistake