Oh my goodness, what a day! I spent almost two hours today rescuing a baby Wren that somehow managed to find his way into my chimney/fireplace. That rarely happens, like once every 10 years. Instead of going out the wide open door onto the porch, a door he hopped right by several times, he kept hopping behind various furniture pieces. He was so cute talking to his Mom who was chirping for him outside. When she chirped, he would chirp right back. I was finally able to gently catch him. When I placed him out on the deck, he flew right off into one of Leyland Cypress trees nearby. I was exhausted afterward! Ha! The adrenaline really gets going when you’re trying to help a sweet baby bird!
I couldn’t resist Talbots recent sale and ended up purchasing another pair of their white jeggings (love those for summer!) and another favorite–one of their linen tunics. A few years back I purchased a blue one from the website, thinking it was an aqua color. I was kinda disappointed when it arrived and I realized it was medium blue and not aqua after all. Usually, the colors they show on their website are dead-on accurate. When I stopped by recently to check out the sale, I spotted this one in that gorgeous aqua color I had been hoping to find.
It’s the one below on the far left. The color is more like the color pictured above, my photo doesn’t capture it that great. I love, love, love that beachy, aqua color so much! This is my 5th Talbots linen popover. I love these shirts because they are about as close to wearing nothing in the hot Georgia heat and humidity as you can get. They are so breathable and I especially love how the sleeves work. When outside in direct sunlight, I can drop them down for full coverage but still stay cool since linen is so breathable.
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but these linen tops truly saved me when I was traveling across Egypt. I’ve never been so hot in my entire life! I actually ended up with the Disney/Golfer’s rash on my legs due to the heat and I’ve never had that ever happen before. I should have worn light, cotton, crop pants instead of jeans while in Egypt. My Talbots linen shirts were my saving grace on that trip! I could roll down the sleeves when we were outside, but roll them back up when I was inside or in shaded areas. They were cool and comfortable either way!
These tops are currently on sale 40% off when purchasing any two items. This tunic is available in 5 colors right now, including this aqua color and a beautiful lavender, here: Linen Tunic with Roll-up Sleeves.
Another top that I’m eyeing is this pretty striped tunic. I love stripes because they are so slimming and flattering. This one is already on sale, so the 40% off should be in addition to its current sale price. You’ll find it available here: Cotton Striped Tunic.
One last favorite that I’m eyeing is this blue and white paisley top. Love blue and white together! For summer, I like to keep it simple most days by wearing white jeans or white shorts paired with a colorful top. All these tops look great with white, or even light denim. You’ll find this top on sale 40% off here: Blue/white Paisley top.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
I love that color too. How do you wash it to keep the color ? Usually, white vinegar and hand washing does the trick, but one of my blouses completely changed colors.
The stripes are really appealing too.
I usually wash them in cold water by hand or in my washing machine’s hand-wash basket on a gentle cycle–using a “delicate” laundry detergent. I do that with all my tops to keep them looking new as long as possible. I also don’t wash them any longer than necessary…like for just a minute or two. Washing machines are hard on clothes, so for tops and dresses, I prefer to wash them by hand or in the handwash basket of my ancient GE washing machine. I haven’t noticed the color fading and I’ve had them for quite a few years. Many years ago, I read an article that said that people think fading happens in the washing machine but that it actually happens in the dryer. I have no idea how accurate that is, but I do always hang all my clothes to dry in my two upstairs bathrooms. Both bathrooms have doors on the showers with long handles on each door and those work great for hanging clothes–and they normally dry overnight. The only thing I dry in my dryer are sheets, socks, and towels…no clothes.
Yeah, I love the stripes, too!
I am with you. I don’t use the dryer for my clothing either. I have a second tension rod that I put in the shower to dry them. In the laundry room, I put two of those plant hooks in the ceiling and bought the white chain by the foot to hang clothes to dry. I put white vinegar in with black, red, and purple clothes to retain the color.
Some of us are just picky.
I laughed at my NP because she said she just threw her colorful India dyed skirt in the washer and dryer with everything else.
Have you seen the baby bird since it left ?
I like that tension rod idea! I should do that in my upstairs hall bath that rarely gets used. I purchased ( a long time ago) some Woolite Dark Defense for color clothes, but kept forgetting to use it. I finally ran out of my other detergent and just started using it. It’s supposed to be specifically for fade protection of dark clothes, but I’ve been using it for everything lately, especially since the The Laundress had a recall on so many of their products. Good to know that white vinegar does that, too!
Susan
Get a chimney cap put on your chimney.
No more birds getting inside chimney.
There’s one on there. I don’t know how they still get in. I guess I’ll have to hire someone to get up there and see how he did it.
Lovely baby bird outcome, and beautiful blouses. A winner Saturday!!!
Thanks, Helen! I couldn’t rest until I knew he was safely back outside.
Susan, you are my hero for rescuing that baby wren!
Thanks, Lisa! I love birds and had to find a way to save that little guy. He was so little, must have just fledged recently.
The “bird inside” rescue has taken up quite a bit of time, even if only every 10 years. I have never had bird rescue on my agenda! But for next time, here’s the technique suggested by my local SPCA: throw a large sheet over it (I can never catch them by hand), carry the whole package outdoors & viola`–free bird! It has worked wonderfully for me, even when one flew up to the skylight in a room with very high ceilings & I had to climb a ladder to entrap him.
I didn’t try to catch him by hand, don’t think that would have worked since he was moving way too fast. When this has happened twice before over the past 32 years I’ve lived here, I covered up the doorways into the other areas of my home, turned off all the lights, and opened the door to the outside…and the bird flew right out the door the moment I opened the fireplace doors. This little guy must have been too young to understand what to do or that the bright light was the way out because the moment I opened the fireplace doors, he immediately got underneath a chair to the left of the fireplace and would not come out. I managed to get him to come out and he immediately went by the open door and up underneath the built-in bookcases in that room. I was afraid he would find a gap and get inside the base of them somehow, but I think they must be sealed off because thankfully, that never happened. I tried to lure him out with mealworms, but he was not interested. Eventually, he heard his Mom chirping…or some bird that I’m guessing was his mom, and came down/out from under the corner he was hiding under and hopped right by the open door again–literally inches from it, not getting that was the way out. He half flew/half hopped over to the long drapes in that room and hid down behind them where they puddle on the floor. After he hopped past the open door, I realized that I was going to have to actually catch him and remove him since he was not going to fly out. I found a very thin/lightweight tablecloth in my linen closet…it’s actually much lighter than a bed sheet but still a nice size. The problem was he would never come out into an open space long enough for me to actually catch him and that room is full of furniture, so lots of hiding spots. He ended up running behind another chair, behind another panel of drapes, and eventually ended up going behind the secretary in that room and almost behind the sofa. I finally got him to come out from under the secretary and he immediately scooted through a tiny open spot he found beside the sheet I had hanging over the door to my entry foyer. That’s when I was finally able to place the tablecloth over him just as he was about to go underneath the grandfather clock. It was like trying to chase a mouse around the house, instead of a bird. I was able to gently scoop him up inside the tablecloth and take him out onto the deck, a deck where I had seen (and been scolded by) a Wren a few hours earlier. The second I lifted the tablecloth up, he immediately realized where he was and flew through the deck rails and into a nearby tree. I’m guessing now that the Wren I had seen earlier may have been his mom since that deck is the closest one to the chimney. I hadn’t yet discovered there was a bird in my chimney when that happened, but I bet she could hear him. When I had the house painted several years back, they told me that the chimney was screened off or whatever they do to prevent birds from getting in. I don’t know how he managed to get inside, but I’ll have to find someone to go up there and take a look again. Hopefully, he is now reunited with his mom. I’m sure she’s still around since he was definitely responding to her call earlier. I have a lot of Wrens that visit my feeders and love the mealworms I put out.
Susan, so glad you were able to get the baby bird out and back with his mom!
Diggin those stripes…yep, it’s coming!! franki
Glad you rescued the little wren. I usually have wrens in one of my birdhouses, but they are away from the house, plus I don’t have a fireplace.
I like the shirts you found, I usually don’t like linen because they wrinkle so much and then they don’t look nice. How are these? I love turquoise , one of my favorite colors to wear.
They do wrinkle, but I don’t mind since that’s the way linen does. An older associate in Talbots once told me many, many years ago when I was purchasing two linen suits made of Irish linen–that the best linen fabrics will wrinkle and it’s a sign that you have really nice/fine linen–so I wear my slightly wrinkled linen with pride. 🙂
Check out the wrinkled linen pants the CEO of Sothebys Realty in France wears…and he’s created his own clothing line. He’s probably the most dapper dresser I’ve ever seen! lol https://www.instagram.com/alexander.kraft/
Fine quality linen wrinkles–the price you pay for wearing a natural breathable fabric (not manmade synthetics) to stay cool in the summer.
Susan, as you’ve mentioned before that you like to do, I also like to wear white pants and a colorful top or shirt in the summer. It’s such an easy look to put together. Having said that, white jeans can be difficult to keep clean and from staining. I just got lipstick on my new pair of Talbots jean jeggings. Although I treated it right away, I could not successfully remove the stain fully. Based on things I found on the internet when I googled, I tried dabbing with alcohol, dishwashing liquid, powdered detergent & lemon juice (the lemon juice left a slight stain itself so I would not recommend that!) as well as a commercial stain remover and liquid detergent. Although I will probably continue to wear them to run errands, I’m very disappointed I stained them so quickly. (And they’ve already sold out of the white jeggings!). Can’t imagine how I got lipstick on them either. Do you or your readers have a preferred method of removing stains from your white pants? If so, I’d love to hear it. Thanks so much.
I’ve never gotten lipstick on white pants but when I have gotten a stain in the past, I usually use “Shout” on it. If that doesn’t get it out, I will use a Clorox Bleach Pen right on the spot. If Clorox won’t get it out, I don’t know if anything will. I just looked and I can’t find the bleach pens available online except for extremely high prices. Maybe it’s has been discontinued. If that’s the case, I would probably wash them and add a touch of bleach to the wash. Maybe you could make a paste of powdered laundry detergent with a tiny bit of bleach powder (like this: https://amzn.to/41KyREt ) mixed in and try that on the spot, being careful not to get it on anything else since bleach is strong and will take the color out of anything.
Also, not sure if you’ve dried them in a dryer, but once something has been through the dryer, I’ve heard that it will “set” the stain. I don’t dry my clothes in a dryer, but just wanted to mention that stains are a lot harder to get out if the item has been dried in the heat of a dryer with the stain still partially there. I know a lot of people soak badly stained vintage linens in Oxiclean to get stubborn stains out, but not sure if it would work for your jeans since you’ve already tried so many other things on them.
Thanks for your response, Susan. I did not put them in the dryer. I will try a bit of bleach to see if that works – nothing to lose!
Just be careful with the bleach since it’s very strong…and can literally eat a hole through something…so make sure it’s diluted down to the right amount.
Glinda, Carolyn just left a comment on this post with some suggestions that you may find helpful. Just scroll down in the comments and you’ll see her comment toward the end.
I would like to reply to Glinda in regard to the stain on her white jeggings. I know that lemon juice and salt is supposed to cause some reaction in the sun. I used to do this in the old days with my white keds. I know you said that you tried lemon juice which caused its own “stain” but perhaps dampen the spot with water, cover it with table salt and set it in the sun. I would even give it a spritz of water from time to time in the sun just to keep the natural bleaching action going on. My second suggestion would be the Oxiclean. One last possibility and this might be a last resort….they make a product call Whink that is wonderful for removing rust stains on fabric and hard surfaces right before your eyes. Don’t do this on top of your washing machine because it “etched” my shiny white lid. I usually hold my item inside the washer, squirt the whink on and as soon as the stain disappears I put it immediately into a cold wash to dilute and deactivate the Whink (which I squirt on full strength to begin with). Good luck. I hate stains and am always trying to salvage something. When you pay Talbot prices, you don’t want to lose a garment so quickly!!!
Carolyn, you can reply directly to her comment. Just click “Reply” under her comment and copy and paste your comment into the box. Let me know if you have any problems doing that and I’ll try to do it for you.
Oh, I need to look for Whink…that sounds like a great product to keep on hand.
Thank you, Carolyn, for your suggestions. I will give them a try. I think having the Whink product on hand is a good idea!
PS to my former comment: Did you know that your stained plastic storage containers (Tupperware, Rubbermaid, etc) can just be placed in direct sunlight and it will bleach the stain (isn’t tomato sauce the worst?) with no additional effort.
I love Talbots linen tops. I have it in white. Great for my Fla heat too. Also have 3 from Chicos, no iron.