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Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Like a Heatwave

Summer is in full-swing, so out come the Indian skirts, tops, and dresses. In the Midwestern heat there's nothing quite like a gauzy cotton fabric with a great print. The skirt is a bit long on me, a problem I solved with the addition of...
...absurdly high heels. As you do.
 I spent the past few days making candied fruit for Danny's State Fair baking. There's a category for holiday baking, and he's entering a Christmas/Fruit cake. Glace' cherries are expensive and often too dried out, so we make our own by drying Maraschino cherries in a dehydrator. It works really well. I also dried pineapple slices dipped in heavy syrup-another way to get candied pineapple for baking that still resembles pineapple. I made some candied lemon and orange peels as well, and now we're ready to soak everything in brandy and bake it up tomorrow. Danny is baking two cakes-one for the Fair and the other for us. This might be the earliest we've ever baked a Christmas cake, but come November it will be one less thing to deal with. I'm feeling might efficient! I admit it is strange to be doing holiday baking in a heatwave, though I'm sure the Antipodeans will shrug and think, "Yeah? So what's the big deal?"

Outfit Particulars:
Vintage Indian skirt-Goodwill
Tank-Some store in Boston 25 years ago!
Jacket-Some other store in Boston about 25 years ago (I sense a theme)
Handbag-New Life Thrift
Bracelets-Yard sale and Claire's
Earrings-K Mart
Necklace-Hand-Me-Ups
Fragrance-Guerlain Santal Royal

Know what else works great in the heat?

A beach cover-up worn as a dress. I don't think anyone noticed, and if they did, fuck 'em. 107 degree F. (42 C) heat index and I'm wearing what I want, which in this case is as little as I can (sorta) decently get away with. I won't even go to the pool as it is warm as bathwater by now. Sigh, it will pass, eventually. I ended up getting a bit too much sun over the weekend but by some miracle I didn't end up with a terrible rash. Instead, I got a great tan! But really, I'm not supposed to be in the sun with all my autoimmune stuff. Buuuuut, I look healthy (ish). 
Unrelated, we spotted the Wienermobile  in front of the supermarket, so we stopped for photos. For the benefit of readers outside the United States I'm providing a clip of an old Oscar Meyer commercial so you can hear the song we all grew up singing.



Personally, we prefer veggie dogs but eh, whatever.
Moving along...big earrings. 
"I approve. Good colour."
Speaking of great colours, this vintage, Italian-made straw bag from the 70's is getting plenty of use this year. I'm happy about that as most years I forget I own it. That happens when you collect purses.
 Belt worn as a bracelet.
Why all the felines? Well, in this heat all I'm doing is lion around...be getting my hat now.
 Damn, it got hot! On the positive side, my tomatoes and cherry peppers are producing like mad. This was one of my best-ever gardens this year thanks to the extended spring. The new potatoes are done now, but they were spectacular-not a bad one in the lot.

I'm already planning out the autumn/winter plantings as I know this won't last forever. I really loathe kale, but some mustard or other hardy greens might be nice.

The heat is expected to be with us for some time, so I might well turn up in my undies next time I post-I'm running out of  cool clothing.
I'll leave you with this photo taken before we noticed the camera lens was fogging over from the humidity. You can see the gladiolas trying to photo-bomb me. 
Hope you're keeping cool (or warm) wherever you're at. 























16 comments:

  1. The weinermobile! I spot a weiner costume in the background there- why aren't the menfolk sporting that hot #?
    You might wish to mention to your non US readers that the OM weinermobile drives across the US every year! The driver is usually some college grad fresh out of school. A friend of a friend of a friend's little sister had that job one year after graduating as an English major at SFSU.
    I have like 20 of those gauzy Indian skirts I never wear anymore because a glimpse of pasty white ankle would be risque on the Subcontinent. So I'd have to wear churidars or leggings under them which defeats the whole purpose.
    Super high heel sandals!!!!! O my heart be still!
    Our tomatoes are going gangbusters so we're eat LOTS of various tomato chutneys.
    Glorious gladioloi!

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  2. Anonymous9:30 AM

    I love that skirt on you but would you consider chopping a few inches off the length to get the look you'd prefer? I am guessing that you have so many clothes that you pass them on rather than tweak them.
    I am totally in awe of your creative way of preparing dried fruit for Danny's cakes. So clever as well as industrious.
    107 degrees is way too hot! Anything over 80 degrees wipes me out completely. That NE climate seems even more extreme than what we were used to in IL. JanF

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  3. I love that weinermobile. I'm amazed that you all get a visit from it. Mind you, I didn't know the Cocoa Cola truck was a real thing until Curtise told me.
    I love that Indian skirt on you, I always snap them up when i find them, the hipster kids love 'em with Doc Martens, fishnet ankle socks and a band tee.
    The colours on that beach dress are gorgeous and I'm dying over those bastard massive earrings. xxx

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  4. I'd never heard of Oscar Meyer or the Wienermobile, so that was quite an education, both from you and Bibi ;-) Phew, 42°C. How do you survive? I'm in awe that you still manage to look so "cool". And who says a beach cover-up can't be used as a dress. Certainly not me! I should definitely look out for some of these Indian skirts. They'll be too long on me too, but I do have some killer heels lying around ... xxx

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  5. I'm exhausted even thinking about that heat, I hope you have air con/a fan in your kitchen for when Danny starts concocting!

    I thought that was a dress and not just a beach cover up it's lovely.

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  6. I, too, have a collection of Indian gauzies. On me, they're maxi's, so they can be worn with an equally ancient collection of leather sandals. (No white ankles peeping out here, decorum is preserved were it not for my comfy cotton sports bras under the tee tops.)

    Your ideas for creating glaceed fruit intrigues me, Goody! Back in the day, such novel approaches to pastry making were applauded by the 4-H judges. Will Danny be offering a show-and-tell display alongside the cake -- or is this technique to remain a secret?

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  7. P.S. And now that OM ad tune is worming its way into my ears. :)

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  8. OMG - a weinermobile! How fab! You are looking glorious in your wonderful prints and colours - amazing earrings!

    Good luck to you and Danny in the State Fair baking entries. My fingers and everything else will be tightly crossed for you.

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  9. @Bibi
    Good point, thank you for mentioning it. They have an app now to track where it will be.
    I wish I could get a job driving it! How cool would that be on a resume? Could you just pull the skirts down low and bare your midriff instead? That's still considered ok?

    @Jan
    I'm too lazy for hemming-I just wear taller shoes.

    @Vix
    Those earrings came from the Halloween costume shop-I think they were for a fortune-teller costume. I find great cheap accessories in those places.
    I almost got rid of the skirt because of the elephants but it isn't the pachyderm's fault a political party had to go claim them. I wouldn't wear a donkey either-I hate both parties!

    @Ann
    Air conditioning is common in the American Midwest, so we manage in the heat. Sometimes it gets too cold and I need to step outside to warm up. Madness.

    @Miss Magpie
    We have a home with central air conditioning now, but for years we lived on a farm and made due with two small window air conditioners and ceiling fans. When it would get very hot for days at a time we'd just live in one room. We just use lights less, don't cook, that sort of thing. I have it pretty easy now living in the city in a modern home.

    @Beth
    I suppose it would be worth noting on the recipe you have to include-thank you for thinking of it! I should mention, you can dry fruit out on a parchment lined baking sheet in the oven at the lowest setting. It takes a few days, but works great-sometimes I do that for large quantity things like apples. I don't know if you bake with glace fruit, but if you do, it is a revelation to taste cherries that aren't hard as rocks. I wish I had a shortcut for candied peel but unfortunately, that still has to be done the hard way. Ditto the candied ginger.

    @Veronica
    I was just thinking of you and wondering how your holiday is going in Ireland. I hope you're having a wonderful time.

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  10. I had never heard of a Wienermobile. It's so wonderfully American! You wouldn't get one anywhere else.

    Great outfits there - though Bibi's comments about ankles is making me wonder if I should rethink my holiday packing! How positively Victorian. (I designed a pair of ankle-less socks edged with a Victorian-style knitted lace for saucy steampunks.) But you look fab in your elephant skirt and gold sandals.

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  11. @Mim
    I dunno, 'Murica is getting kind of absurd too-women are being refused entry to congressional press conferences for wearing sleeveless tops. "Oh no, a shoulder! What a hussy!"

    I'll be the Germans are mad they didn't come up with a Knockwurst mobile first.

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  12. Anonymous9:03 AM

    I meant chop off to the length you prefer and leave the hem raw, it'd look fine and no work! JanF

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  13. Your skirt is the perfect example of the Indian gauzy skirt. You really can't go off elephants - they pre-date the Republican Party, after all, by quite some time (though god knows if they'll outlast them..) The yellow necklace is quite wonderful, it looks like amber. I'd never have guessed the 2nd outfit was supposed to be a coverup, it looks like much more effort has been put in than that. Great colours!

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  14. @Jan
    I suppose that might work.

    @Radostin
    I'm not sure the humans will outlast them! I've been trying to avoid looking at news as much as possible, but it sure does feel like we're doomed.

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  15. My mother was a slave to Indian skirts and dresses in the seventies, nowadays she fancies herself as a goth, so it's black, black and more black.

    Ypur cover up certainly looks like a dress, I doubt anyone noticed. I was thinking of turning a goth-tastic skirt into a dress, but wonder if anyone would notice.

    Budgie! Is it yours? What's it name? I love budgies!

    Ae you sure the gladioli isn't a cousin of the Triffid?

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  16. @Melanie

    That's Danny's budgie, Xerox (like the copier). He's cranky, ill-tempered, and will only tolerate Danny. They watch baseball together and play video games. If I try to go near him, I get attacked but I'm not a bird person so perhaps he can sense it.

    I haven't heard any tapping in the garden so I think we're safe! I love that movie. I even liked the 80's BBC re-do.

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