Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Weather Mild, Patterns Wild

Bit of crazy pattern mixing never hurt anyone. I swear, I'm as off-kilter as this photo!

 I'm just barely getting myself dressed these days. We've been having some very late nights (or more accurately, early mornings) with the kid's asthma (which never strikes during business hours) and I'm functioning on much less beauty sleep than I require. Add to that my own autoimmune stuff where my body decides this would be a great time for a flare...and let's just say, thank god for Prednisone! For both of us. Cheap and er...cheerful, it does what it is supposed to. The side effects are unpleasant, but not unbearable. I did manage to wash my hair today, but I was too tired to style it. Big combs to the rescue. At some point I'd like to give myself a haircut, but not until I'm better rested.
 Danny made some beautiful raisin swirl bread in a trial run for the fair. The raisins are plumped overnight in brandy, and there's grated lemon rind and mace in the dough. I can't eat it, but just smelling it toasting is a lovely experience. I might be biased, but I think this is a prize-winning raisin bread.
These honey-spice biscuits are for the fair-they need a few weeks to age in a tin. The beekeepers sponsor a baking contest for cakes, breads, etc. The prizes are large quantities (like 3 lb. jars) of local honey. Last year, Danny won for cakes so this year he's trying for other categories as well. The beehive cake tin is being put to use-I mean, if there is a time to bake a beehive shaped cake this probably it, right? It smells like Christmas at our house-maybe I should bring out the artificial tree to get in the mood. If you're thinking these look like lebkuchen, you're right. They omit the molasses in favour of more honey, and the spices are reduced but they're basically the same thing. Danny used sultanas instead of almonds to decorate them. The glaze is a pain, but it dries to the thin, white coating that serves to hold the fruit in place and preserve the moisture in the biscuit. They must be aged though-sometimes with a slice of apple in the tin, or they would be inedible. They're my least favourite baking task at the holidays, so I'm glad Danny has mastered them-one less thing to do in December!
I found this cigar-box purse a few weeks ago for a couple dollars. The wine theme is carried through to the handle made with a cork. I think it is awful, so I'm going to re-do the front and back when I get a chance, but I'll keep the cork handle as that's sort of cute. I'm more of a gin woman myself😁
I get more wear from this parachute material skirt than I expected to. Who knew that purple, green, and blue would go with everything, including an ugly cigar box purse?

Outfit Particulars:

Skirt-Goodwill
Blouse-Goodwill
Jacket-Goodwill
Shoes-Goodwill
Handbag-New Life Thrift
Brooch-Hand-Me-Ups
Earrings-Sequels
Bracelet-New Life Thrift

I'm off to figure out how to work the new electric kettle I bought. It came with a thick booklet of instructions. That's so intimidating. I thought by my age I knew how to boil water-I wasn't expecting 50 pages of instructions. Hopefully some of that is the same thing in other languages-if not, I'm returning it as that's more thinking than I'm prepared to do for a hot water.

Hope your week is going well.







9 comments:

Mim said...

ALL the pattern! My first thought was, 'There's a touch of Ann there'. I think the jacket made me think of her.

I'm sorry to hear your autoimmune condition is flaring up again, it must be horrible for you. Best wishes for a swift recovery to both you and Danny.

Radostin said...

Ok, I am going to stop wearing prints because this is the absolute pinnacle and there's no point any longer.
Of course purple, green, and blue go with everything! Surely you did know that, really.
I too prefer gin to wine, any day, though my real favourite is beer. Preferably bitter.
I would never have guessed you're lacking sleep, you look both perfectly neat and way out at once. xxxx
Ok, I won't really stop ;)

Bibi Maizoon said...

I love that jacket! It looks so 60's Gucci. I never would have thought to mix it with that patterned skirt but the pussy bow blouses speckled pattern ties the jacket & skirt together perfectly. I'd have just thrown that jacket over a black sheath & be done with it.

A prednisone taper is my friend when my TMJ & spinal arthritis aren't responding to ibuprofen or piroxicam it's time to get out the corticosteroids. I have to take my dose between 2AM & 8Am or I'll never sleep though. And don't forget a hefty wallop of famotidine so the prednisone won't eat a hole in your tummy.

That raisin bread looks and smells divine! Those honey spice cookies too! I want the recipe for those cookies please!

Polyester Princess said...

That's some wild pattern mixing, Goody. It's almost time for lunch here and seeing Danny's delicious raisin bread has made me feel really hungry now. Sorry to hear about Danny's asthma and your flare-up. Hope you'll feel both feel better soon. I once bought an iron which and its instructions were all in pictures, without any text, which I must have gotten all wrong, as it never worked properly. xxx

Vix said...

Danny's raisin bread is making me drool, it looks and sounds absolutely delicious.
Talking of delicious, your jacket is stunning. I'm more than a gin girl than a wine one, too but I'd have snapped up that crazy bag, too.
Hope you both feel better soon. xxx

Beth Waltz said...

Brava! Literally a stunning mix of prints! Now I'm struggling to remember the name of the nonagenarian style icon, the one with the big owl glasses, who said: "More is more!" Dunno about revamping the wine box bag, 'tho. I'd probably pop a pair of big wine glasses in it, add a nice bottle of vino in a bag, and say "Happy --- Day"!

I'm not a sweets person, but I'd make an exception for that raisin swirl bread. Those lebkuchen things also sound/smell intriguing. Are there any teashops in Omahaha in need of baked goods? Danny might have discovered a career niche? * Glad you've got something that helps alleviate the asthma and auto-immune flare-ups. Why do these things always happen at 03:30?!

Beth Waltz said...

Iris Apfel.

Bobbi said...

The honey spice cookies sound wonderful! Your son is amazingly talented.
I love how you put three prints together and it looks perfect. The Goodwill here thinks it's a boutique or something and never has fun vintage - it's all mall brand jeans and tees. Bleh.
Feel better soon, both of you.

Goody said...

@Mim
Thank you. We're using this as an opportunity to rest as we have so much work ahead. I can see Ann in this jacket-and she'd wear it better for certain! I did struggle to find a good brooch for it.

@Radostin
Beer! I can't tolerate beer anymore (sad face) but I always drank Newcastle back when I did. Mr. ETB is a Pale Ale drinker, which I can't understand, At All.

@Bibi
Pucci, surely? Though I have to say whatever they're smoking at Gucci these days, the clothes are exactly the sort of thing I love. Not that I can afford it, but I do cherish those Gucci shoes. No tapers here-just indefinite wallops of the stuff. I'm still waiting for the burst of energy from it...waiting...waiting...er, whatever. I'll post the recipes after the fair in case any spies are out there seeing what we're up to.

@Ann
I still haven't tried the kettle! I don't know, something about electricity and steam worries me. Thank goodness I don't have an espresso machine!

@Vix
I know you could give this bag a makeover!

@Beth
I suspect he has a future as a caterer. I grew up around the food distribution business, and the best hotel chefs and caterers had the same personality traits.
I love Iris! I'd need more bangles though, and half a dozen necklaces.

@Bobbi
Our Goodwill locks up the jeans in a case and you need to ask to see them (not that I do because blinged-out skinnies aren't my thing). Some stores get crazy with pricing and I'm like, "I thought you're a thrift store!"