My darlings….my apologies for bailing on youlast week. I couldn’t even TELL you I was bailing because. Hooterville. Downed Internet Service. Hooterville. That means there’s not ‘oh, well. Let’s just walk down to Starbucks, grab a latte and write the post’. When the Internets iz down here, it’s DOWN. So…sorry! It came back online about 4 hours later but by that time it was 11p and I was wiped and ….Hooterville.
And I had so much to tell you, too! Let’s start with CANNING! The tomato harvest came in hard and fast and I needed to get those dawgs canned UP! I remember my first year canning. I was sooo scared. Visions of people turning green and exploding on the floor of the ER danced in my head. Experienced canners told me to get over myself and get that stuff in the jars. So I did. And it was good! Now I’m going to learn how to pressure can green beans. My friend Mary, who has been canning since she was a little sprout (ha!) is teaching me – I figure she’s canned for 30 years, nobody on her watch has kicked the bucket….so I should be in Very Good Hands. I want to dill some of the beans and garlic some and plain can some – green beans lend themselves to so many flavors, don’t they? And sauerkraut! I don’t even like sauerkraut! But …c’mon! It’s one of those skills I feel I should have, like Tim Cahill and the flying lessons. Ya nebber know…you could be on the run from zombies and come across a cabbage or two…..
Tetanus. I haz it. Well, okay…I don’t. But..you won’t believe this. So I spent 12 hours in my garden on Sunday, doing perilous-type things involving sawing/hammering/digging/hoeing/stapling….So…7p rolls around and I’m closing up the garden…walk over to the gate..and step on an old roofing nail! I’d been on that narrow path at least 9000000 times that day! My foot is fine..as I told a friend, the shriekage was more for the sheer ‘WTF’ery of it all. There was a puncture – not deep. But good grief! A rusty nail? Could it get any more cliche? And it’s been 13 yrs since I last tetanused-up. And Cliche. So The Big Poke is tomorrow. I hate tetanus shots. They’re like cholera shots. Like someone is injecting pudding into your arm. Pudding laced with acid and live wasps. In a Victorian-era Torture syringe, wielded by a sadistic T-Rex. I ain’t happy about it.
this is gonna hurt!
Nails aside, working in the garden has been fun and brought forth a lot of smells. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, weatherwise, veering from 90F to 55F to rain to drought…and that seems like it’s all in a day! (I’ve changed my clothes twice today – sweater this rainy morning and sundress this 90F afternoon. Sigh). Weeds galore – but also some fun stuff! I have a patchouli plant! Patchouli is one of those scents I have never given much thought to (big surprise there!). I never even considered where patchouli comes from. For all I knew it was just born, fully distilled, in those little amber bottles at the health-food store! Wrong! It’s really a lovely little plant and the leaves are hippie-dippy-heavenly! As the weather cools I’ll take cuttings so I can repot for next spring. Mint, too! I have tons of mint drying on the drying rack but there is something especially decadent about pouring over fresh mint leaves, in the dead of winter…oh, bliss. So it’s time to start taking cuttings of that as well. My dill weed has exploded all over my garden, just as I hoped it would, which means the whole place is alight with that weird, wonderful smell.
Lemon verbena. This is another rooting but it’s more ‘just in case’ since I have a gorgeous plant in a gorgeous pot and I hope it sticks with me for a good many years. Lemon verbena is one of the most wonderful scents in all of Scentdom – and I rarely find a scent that captures the true essence of the plant. Too often they veer into that laundry soap/lemon cleaner arena. To be honest, it’s easier to just go out and rub a leaf on my wrists! LOL! It’s so fresh and sunshine-y and pretty! My pal Joe suggested I wear Delrae Wit over the lemon verbena. What a great combo! Patty did a rollicking review of it here and she’s spot-on! The lemon verbena amps the ‘green-y’ aspects of Wit and keeps it from toppling over into that rotty phase that I can easily do without, especially as my nerves are still frayed to the snapping point as it is. I am not looking for any challenging scents right now. If folks want to smell like the unwashed panties of a perimenopausal velociraptor, go right ahead. I’ll stick with the pretty, thank you.
Speaking of teh pretty….I have a couple of rose scents I’ve been testing out, since the weather has been so odd. Rose, especially the lighter, ‘truer’ roses, is one of those notes that can so easily go sour – and too often do. But there are a couple of lighter scents that are gorgeous, holding their own in the transitional weather and staying true to their gorgeous creation. What are they? Well, stay tuned…I’m going to tell you all about them next week. In the meantime, I’m going to reward you for reading this ramble-licious post. Two of you will win some samples from the Messy Armoire if you drop me a comment, letting me know what kind of weird weather you’re having – and what are you wearing in it?
Enjoyed reading about all that you have been doing, and as always, your humor really made me chuckle. Hope the tetanus shot won’t be too unpleasant. And I never even thought about looking for a patchouli plant to grow in the garden.
I am in MN and we’ve had a nice summer here – not too hot. At least, that’s the way I like it. I think we are in for a few hot humid days, though. I’ve been wearing light flower scents like Byredo La Tulipe and L’Essence de Mastenbroek Eau de Polder, which has a nice wildflower kind of smell. I had on Oliver & Co. Dunard yesterday and that smelled particularly nice, too.
You will appreciate the canned tomatoes when winter is here. And you could put the sauerkraut in reuben sandwiches, if you eat them.
You always make me laugh so much with you posts. Thank you so much for that! It is hot and humid where I live with temps in the 100’s. I have been wearing FM’s Eau De Magnolia and a pretty new perfume by Dame Perfumery called Pear, Water Lily, and Amber. Best of luck getting through the shot. I agree with another poster – you are a warrior and you will be fine 🙂
Sigh…. since the end of June we’ve had about three days of sunshine. It’s wet. It’s cold. Sort of October- or even November-ish. Chile plants don’t want to bloom (or bear fruit). What am I to do without chiles to candy or turn into hot sauce? Roses bloom and rot within a day. The only thing thoroughly happy on the balcony is the perennial basil which droops after three hours without rain. And the caigua vine which loves rainy summers. And the only thing I’m wearing consistently is socks. And a jacket (oh, I do miss my summer clothes!). Also Bottega Veneta which offends neither the fall outside or the late summer I wish for, besides being highly office-compatible.
Still, there’s the new Tauer Gardenia Sotto la Luna. Which is like big, warm hug. I might need a big, big bottle of it.
Summer in Texas, ugh. I always think of Rincewind’s journal entries in The Last Continent when I discuss the weather at this time of year:
“Probably Tuesday: hot, flies. Dinner: honey ants. Attacked by honey ants. Fell into waterhole.
Wednesday, with any luck: hot, flies. Dinner: either bush raisins or kangaroo droppings. Chased by hunters, don’t know why. Fell into waterhole.
Thursday (could be): hot, flies. Dinner: blue-tongued lizard. Savaged by blue-tongued lizard. Chased by different hunters. Fell off cliff, bounced into tree, pissed on by small grey incontinent teddy bear, landed in a waterhole.
Friday: hot, flies. Dinner: some kind of roots which tasted like sick. This saved time.
Saturday: hotter than yesterday, extra flies. V. thirsty.
Sunday: hot. Delirious with thirst and flies. Nothing but nothing as far as the eye can see, with bushes in it. Decided to die, collapsed, fell down sand dune into waterhole.”
Except for the animal experiences and waterholes (they have all dried up), it’s spot on.
Sorry you found the one rusty nail that was bent at the perfect angle for foot ruining. I know I’m overdue for tetanus vac. but I still remember how much it hurt to have that area repeatedly poked by annoying friends the last time I did it. I think I’ll follow your lead and wait for an emergency.
It’s beyond me how you ever get time to contemplate perfume!
Beautiful sunny days here.
I have 2 weeks of no work so am painting the bedroom today, perhaps with the help of Knize Ten purloined from my husband’s shelf. For fortitude!
We’ve had the strangest weather in Rhode Island this summer. August in particular has been strange as we usually have high heat and humidity during the dog days of August. The last few weeks we’ve had gorgeous warm days with low humidity and the nights are downright chilly. I wore DSH Lili this morning and have L’artisan’s Mure et Musc Extreme on one arm and Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande on the other, New perfume samples arrived in today’s mail. Hooray! I love your irreverent writing style Musette. Your posts make me laugh out loud.
PS — almost forgot to say my fragrance wardrobe has been all over the map, due to the weather. A little bit of Ombre dans l’eau or Rosabotanica to cool down, sometimes Dune, and sometimes splashes like marc jacobs’.
Hope your tetanus poke was uneventful! I have always wanted to try canning, but am afraid of incubating botulism, or whatever scary microbes one might harbour in said jars. Like you, i must find a veteran with a solid track record, to learn from!
Weather on my end in the pacific northwest has been erratic. Hot, hot days, followed by wind, dark skies, and cold temperatures. My echinacea & hibiscus flowers only just bloomed recently, which feels late compared to other years. And i haven’t even seen my black-eyed susans, yet!
Looking forward to your next post!
Today is the first day I’ve watered in weeks. For Colorado, that’s weird. I remember we had 73 consecutive days over 90 just a few short years ago. I’m counting my blessings. Le Labo Limette and AG’s Folavril, along with my bag of “to be smelled” are getting me through pretty well.
As for the lemon verbena and lemon balm and scented leaf plants, my grandmother would grease and flour a cake pan and line it with clean, dry leaves from the plants, then pour white cake batter on top and bake it. You have to peel the leaves off after baking, but the taste was out of this world. Sometimes she would top it with sliced strawberries or whatever berry was ripe in the garden.
I love your gramma´s recipe, and I´ll try it soon!
We had gorgeous weather for six weeks, until today… Showers…strong winds…hail showers. Not fun! Sweet Oriental Dream by Montale is perfect for days like this: almondy rose suffocated by honey.
Having just moved to Boston from Florida, I.cannot.deal. With this cold summer! Give me 96 in the shade please! In order to conjure some summer majicks I’ve just been sticking with eau d’hadrien. I think its pre-reformulation, because this little vial smells worlds better than the bottle I recently purchased :0
I’ve been in Oregon for 28 years and this is the weirdest summer we’ve ever had. We normally get about 5 or 6 days of 90+ temps with a couple 100+ and the rest is 70s/80s. This year we’ve had weeks and weeks of upper 80s and upper 90s with no end in sight – and lots of mugginess too. It hasn’t been cooling off at night either so sleeping has been a hit and miss affair. Last night was the first time it cooled down to the 60s for ages – it felt so wonderful to actually be cool this morning. Needless to say, our veggies have struggled – its been hard trying to give them enough water. We had a great crop of peas and green beans that over night turned white(!) and so they were pretty much a write off. ‘Matoes are looking good though as are spuds, carrots, parsnips, zucchinis, pumpkins, corn. Weeds are spectacular – its been too stinkin’ hot to do anything other than crawl out, turn the sprinklers on and crawl back inside.
Perfume has been a hit and miss affair with the heat making me not want to bother much, but I’ve been spritzing maniacally with iced rose water and lemon water which has been my saving grace. Cooling gel neck wraps are my friend…
Good luck with the shot!
In Central Ohio, we’re fluctuating back and forth between really hot and actually cool days.. It seems like we’re getting thunderstorms most afternoons, which is really weird. I’ve given up on daytime fragrance choices and just put on whatever I want at night. Having alot of problems with allergies this year. I need some Stella. :o)
In Chicago, we are having a lot of rain and thunderstorms this summer. I love hot, sunny weather, so it’s not much fun. I’ve been wearing a lot of different things, but I really love Diorella in the humidity.
Great post – perimenopausal velociraptors made me snort in a very unladylike fashion!
Hope all goes well with Operation Big Poke tomorrow 🙂
My soon to be ex-employer made me go through a raft of vaccinations when I started with them in case I needed to travel to Brazil or Africa for business needs. I was given Tetanus, Diptheria, Polio, Whooping Cough, Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Rabies and Yellow Fever shots/boosters all in one week, and I had to go back for 2 more weeks to get further Rabies boosters. Man, I ached everywhere. In the UK they give you Tetanus shots in the fleshy part of your hip, i.e. your butt. Hurts to sit for a while. In the 3 years I suffered working with them I still never got to Brazil or Africa. Grrrr. I start a new job with a new company in September – yay !
The weather in Scotland this week has seen ground frosts, warm sunshine, howling gales and biblical downpours. I have been wearing 28 La Pausa, Hermes Narcisse Bleu, Eau de Cartier and Reem Acra, and drinking Earl Grey with a slice of orange.
Best of luck with the canning and preserving. My tomatoes gave up waiting for the sun, so I may have to make some green tomato chutney.
Weather has been weird here as well, and as far as gardening goes, just been praying that my new lavender plants (old ones got wiped out by polar vortex) have had enough time to get their roots well established before they get hit by Chicago winter again. Growing lavender in Chicago is a perilous business. Hubby and I consulted the Chicago Botanic Garden for hints and they were a little astonished that we had done as well as we had with our French variety, so we’re just doing what we do and hope that that vortex thing will not be coming back. Fragrance wise, I’ve been testing a lot, after not buying samples for a very long time. Wit is wonderful, but I’ve loved Rozy the most – in both edp and (especially) Voile d’Extrait.
The weather here in MO hasn’t been too crazy…Actually, the crazy part is that it’s so not crazy. Normally it’s like, 1983989898 degrees in August, but this year it already feels like fall. We’ve also had tons of rain, which is odd too. For the rain, I’ve been wanting to wear Fille de Berlin or Apres L’Ondee. But with this early onset of fall weather, I broke out my Prada Candy the other day. And CdG Avignon. Not expecting Candy so early, but I guess the time is here.
Average weather here. Nothing wrong with a little rains. Unlike the monsoons of fall that is.
You did 12 hours of heavy labor in the garden in August, you’re going to can your veg the live-long day, you stepped on a nail and pulled it out, & you are worried about a tetanus shot? You are a warrior, my dear!
It’s uncomfortably humid here in MN, but not too hot, so continuing my tradition of giving the finger to seasonal suggestions for fragrance wear and doing vtg Emeraude PdT, Germaine Monteil Royal Secret, original Armani & generally whatever strikes my fancy or that I randomly pull out of the box.
I picked up a coookbook from the library on food from the Arabian Gulf and am going to cook with Omani Limu (dried lemons or maybe limes?), dried fava beans, jareesh (a grade of cracked wheat) and dried mung beans for the first time. Very excited! I’ve been tracking my food (caloriecount.com) and find it in nearly impossible to get enough potassium, so trying to add more high potassium foods into my diet as staples. It’s always shocking when I start tracking, the difference between foods you make yourself from raw ingredients vs. prepared, even simple things like flour tortillas. I found the small tortillas I eat are pretty much crap, more than 250 calories, over half a days salt, and very little nutrition. I’m going to attempt to make my own corn tortillas with masa harina and water.
Stay strong, love!
So sorry about the tetanus shots!! I hate shots like the plague (possibly more than the plague), so I can understand. I look forward to hearing about the rose scents as well! The weather in NY has been unseasonably cold these past few weeks, and almost freezing at night (it seems like). Now that you mention rose scents, they haven’t really been in my perfume wardrobe at all recently, maybe it doesn’t feel properly “summer”y?
Love this title… we say that a lot, when it’s going to take some time to ‘splain. Bummer about the tetanus shot, sucks that nail > foot, but that T rex image! I laughed.
Been v busy here, because we have A NEW DOG. He’s still a puppy at nine months, so we’re getting a lot of crazy puppy behavior, and between the cattle and the neighbors’ goats*, he is totally wacked out with All The Things To Smell outside. He IS housetrained, though (whew), so it could be way worse.
* Not to mention the lingering Hayley smells here, and the rabbits living in the shop lot, and the chipmunks, and the squirrels, and the other neighbor’s murderous dog that we will not let him approach inside her Invisible Fence yard, because we would rather not be picking up chunks of him afterward. #meanmommy. Oh, the reproachful looks he gives me when I haul him right past Dakota’s yard, where she’s staring at him with blood in her eye…
We’ve had a lot of rain in the past week, tons and tons of rain after a very dry summer. I mean, no kidding, we’ve already got two months’ average rainfall worth in the past week, and it’s supposed to rain again today. So it’s Freakin’ Muggy now. The basement smells like mildew. I hates it. My fragrance wearing of late has been, well, eclectic, so I’m trying to work with that and wear stuff from the gazillion decant bottles that I always forget about. That’s the plan: Use It Up, Wear It Out.
Never got a garden started this summer. No canning. No fresh ‘maters (because even the neighbors who DID put in gardens lost most of their tomatoes with the almost-drought). The blackberries growing in the fencerows were great though. Made soup beans and real cornbread for my daughter last night; I’ve only got her two more days before she heads back to college. SIGH.
Hi, Mals! Sorry to hear that your daughter is going back to school so soon, but enjoy your time with her. I know you are so proud!!
Oh, sweetie, so sorry to hear about the nasty nail incident. Hope all is better now, and don’t fret about the tetanus shot. Grit your teeth, get through it and then go treat yourself to something nice as a reward. We’ve had a decent summer so far but looking at high 90s this week with triple digits possible this weekend … arghhh. I knew it couldn’t last.
We’ve been having roller coaster weather here, too! Yesterday it was super cold and foggy, so I went for Hypnotic Poison. So warm and delicious, and talk about a perfume that will not let you down during a long work day. Today it is sunny and much warmer, so I’m wearing Eau d’Orange Verte, also because I didn’t want to torture my pilates classmates at 8 am. But I might put on some Shalimar later on, since I see some clouds gathering in the sky…
I love you Musette! Perimenopausal velociraptor… You make my day!
Much of the summer we’ve had coolish weather in the midwest but summer has returned and now its hot and muggy. Our tomato crop is the best ever…lots of great tomato salads and gazpacho. And I’ve been wearing Diorella this week – I’ve always liked it best in the hot weather.
Okay, well weird for New England. It is very cool…in August! Feels more like late September. I am not complaining though. I just add an old linen shirt over my usual work clothes (t shirt and jeans) and hit the road. I’d like to play hooky. This weather is gorgeous! Hope your foot is okay. My garden is producing lots of yummy tomatoes. My fave is Cherokee Chocolate. And I’m very proud of the garlic this year. I had two patchouli plants last year but wasn’t able to keep them alive over the winter. Good luck with yours!
I just re-read this post, ’cause the first time, I was in a hurry to get to work. Almost spit my coffee at the monitor when I got to the bit about the velociraptor! Thanks for the first, and probably best laugh of the day! Wish I could work up the energy to do canning. It would be nice to un-jar a bit of Summer toward the end of February… I just can’t bring myself to do it, so I freeze what I can. Roasted tomato sauce. Hugs!
Wearing! Sheesh…. Samsara.
After some really hot summer days, we have (and it is not a surprise) autumn coming. I have not manage to wear all my summer close even once this year, but the weather can not stop me. I have so beautiful dresses, so what if it is only +17 C outside.
I love your crazy posts Musette.
Portia xx
We’ve been having pleasant days and cool nights. It doesn’t feel like August, more like September. It’s been so strange the leaves are starting to turn. I hope that’s not a sign that it’s going to be a long winter. I can take a long fall but not winter.
Sorry about your shot. I had to get one last year.
Slightly muggy/slightly hot with dumb rain immediately preceding it. Wearing Belle en Rykiel, and it turns out OK with the temperature, more milky-vanilla-lavender spice than I expected. But it’s that or Theo Fennel Scent for me this week.
The past week has been hot, hot, hot. Unbearably so at times.
Sometimes that makes me not wanna wear anything. Wearing Aoud Cuir d’arabie today though, and did so two day ago too.
ty
Now I remember the shot not being bad at all, so that the pain a day later was a surprise. At least with a rusty nail, there’s no question that it’s necessary.
The weather here in So. Cal. has been more June than August the past few days, with cloudy, in some areas drizzly (?!) mornings and temps in the low 80s. It should be 90 again in a few days, though. Lately nothing I wear seems right, except Jour d’Hermes.
ouch. had a nail go through my foot once… exquisite pain. not that i am into pain… i just mean there should be a special word for that kind of pain. who noticed the tetanus shot?!
no weird weather- just the end of summer browning and the last hurrah of melons in the garden.
mom just bought some Demeter Jasmine, so i dipped into that today. bit flat synth for my tastes.
courage, chere musette, courage!
Today in the far southwest of the US it is cooler than expected for August, but we will warm up again tomorrow. I am enjoying Parfums DelRae Amoureuse. It is lovely in both warm and cool temperatures.
I lived in the northeast of the US for many years. I miss the August garden bounty of veggies and herbs. I hope you enjoy it while it lasts, and good wishes to you for success with the canning and the tetanus shot. (Ouch.)
A big storm earlier blew down a large tree in my new side yard. I owned that tree for less than two weeks dagnabit! Still, at least it missed the new house. Could have been so much worse.
I took a brief pause on perfume during the move, but I definitely deserve some loveliness tomorrow.
Glad your house was spared!
Excuse my poor editing. Typing in this little bitty text window from my smart phone.
Aww, bless yer heart! As a nurse, so I say it a lot! I have stepped on a rusty nail and a rusty tack in my past. Sucks! Worse than that, in my opinion, is having your buddy pull it out. Get your shot, put an icepack it, take a couple of anti- inflammatories. Consider it a badge of honor for all of the intensive gardening and canning you are doing, which sounds so fun to me! You’ll be right as rain, honey. 😉
I digress. The weather here is not so surprising. HOT! HUMID! Lot’s of mosquitos!! I have been enjoying my generous sample of Chanel Beige to wear to work at the hospital. I like it but I don’t know if it is FBW. No one has mentioned the smell on me. However, I was recently wearing Estee Lauder PC Tuberose Gardenia- for all occaisions and have received many compliments. Funny because i didn’t love it at first but i think it softens to a really nice and feminine scent.
What really has my attention are light and true rose scents. I don’t even recognize myself! I have been spritzing Chantecaille’s Rose Water on my face and I am a little bit addicted. So refreshing and has my complexion glowing! Also, Guerlain Super Aqua Serum has a lovely rose scent. My interest is piqued. Can’t wait to read what you have to say about this note. I have been fantasizing about the fall and I look forward to purchasing Tom Ford Cafe Rose and then maybe bathing in it. Maybe I will dab a little of my sample on for work tomorrow.
I hope the remainder of your canning endeavors end up injury free- for all parties! 😉
Had a tetanus shot in the late ’90s that rendered me unable to raise my left arm for 2 weeks! But a booster in recent years didn’t bother me at all. Maybe they’ve improved the way it’s administered.
Envious of your tomato bounty–perhaps canning is one of the better ways to get around those anemic out of season ones.
Summer was pretty nice, not too hot, till recently–now it’s sticky & muggy. Today was the 1st day in awhile that the a/c kicked on. Lately I’ve been wearing Une Fleur de Cassie as a sleep scent (mimosa’s relaxing). Some days I’ve managed Terracotta, but often my SOTD winds up being Off! Looking forward to fall.
I wouldn’t say our weather has been weird but is entering that miniscule trans-seasonal phase experienced by those of us who live in sub-tropical climes. So technically it’s still winter until the end of August, but things are warming up and within a month we’ll be ditching the jumpers and scarves and digging out the short sleeves and sandals. I’m not complaining, I love out mild sunny winter weather and hate mid-summer humidity with a passion. A typical winter’s day of 23 degrees C with clear sunny skies and just a light westerly breeze is nothing to be sneezed at. So today I wearing my own layered creation of an LT Piver Heliotrope Blanc base with Borsari Violetta di Parma floating on top. Very simple chic in my opinion.
I am in a mood for perimenopausal velociraptor panties myself. Our weather in MA has been clear, gorgeous, and none too hot. Can’t get any better than that!
First of all really enjoyed your writing. Had fun reading. Still smiling. Loved the tetanus shot anticipation. Yikes! Our weather here in the northeast has been great. I’ve been wearing a lot if citrus to some florals and sexy. Right now I’m wearing Andy Tauer Vetiver Dance. Earlier has something completely diff on. I’m forever sniffing and sampling. I’m totally a fragrance maniac. 🙂