ha. I remember telling you I was going to yap about some Rose scents. Well…fuggedaboutit. It’s 93F here and we are waiting for those types of thunderstorms that rip up trees and send sharks through the bus window to bite you in half while you’re on your way to work – or worse, on your way home! That storm, though, is bringing a touch of relief – I can feel the temps dropping, though that won’t help with the sharks… and my crappy little washer finally crapped out and I have to go to the laundromat and oh, the humanity! sigh. I need to get over myself. The things we I take for granted. El O just ran over to IN to pick up a furnace and then is going up to the Northern Boonies to pick up a washer/dryer. Craigslist. I’ve never ‘done’ Craigslist so am a bit leery. He’d better not come back with a bag of magic beans.
I was going to review Ann Gerard’s Rose Cut and April Aromatics Rosenlust. And I will. Just not today. It’s just too hot. I love them both and want to give them real attention. Ain’t happenin’ right now because Hot. I’m wearing Jean Nate, Avon SkinSoSoft and that’s it. Listen – I tried wearing perfume but in 93F it just vanishes and worse? I can’t focus long enough to even remember what I put on. Except Amouage Tribute, of course. It’s designed for 93F and it STAYS! But you’ve already heard all about the gorgeous Tribute. I don’t like to race through a review – I suck at it as it is and these Houses (especially the smaller, niche houses) deserve my full attention and I gottatellya – right now, it’s a stretch to remember basic sentence structure. SO much going on – we are neck deep in work, Blessed Be. But I have to remember what paint color goes with which gearbox and …..wait….is X going to be on the wastewater crew? Or the water treatment crew. Heady problems and I’m thrilled to have them – but it sucks up what little cognitive reasoning I have in this absurd heat. And I’m trying to make sure I schedule it so I DON’T have to go to the Wastewater project. 93F. Wastewater. 93F. Now THAT would be a post. From Hell.
So be patient with me. I’ll get back to perfume shortly.
In my very limited free time I’ve been learning all sorts of weird new skills – I learned how to make pickles! I don’t even LIKE pickles. Well, I didn’t – but now I do. Bread and butter pickles are cute as hell and now I’m going to make sweet and hots!! The allure of dill pickles continues to elude me and that’s strange because you will not find a greater lover of dill than this gal. My dill is setting seed in the garden and the whole place smells divine…but no dill pickles! hmm….oh, well. I’ll make them anyway because the pickles are so freakin’ CUTE!!!
And, with the sainted Mary’s help I sort of learned how to can green beans with a pressure canner. Pressure canning is still scary – I spent a lot of the time in the hallway, peering around the doorjamb because I am an idiot. we’re going to take it in stages: this year I just watched, from around the corner (stop snickering). Next time I will pressure can with her supervision. Expect much shriekage.
Sauerkraut. You know: zombies and possible cabbage. The sauerkraut was stunningly easy – it’s mostly about grating the cabbage, tossing with pickling salt, putting it in the crock and leaving it the hell alone for 5 weeks! I’ll add some caraway seed (and there’s a recipe that uses juniper berries!) and we’ll see how it goes. Again, this is not a favorite except fermented foods are good for you and Learning How to Do Stuff is Fun!
Roasted Hatch peppers. Nothing quite like Hatch peppers, roasted, for a great salsa. And it’s Hatch season so we should be seeing some more shortly – I’d hate like hell to have to drive to New Mexico for a bag of peppers. Note to self: roasting Hatch in the kitchen is fine. Roasting Ghost is not. I forgots! Luckily it was only 2 Ghosts but all I can say is Thank Freakin’ FLOYD for open windows! Fire-roasting Ghost or Scorpions is best done outside and even then I would recommend a mask – otherwise you could put a lung out! I put that Ghost on an open flame and next thing you know I’m outside, with no idea how I got there (maybe the fumes BLEW me out) coughing like hell and desperately wishing I wasn’t So Damn Stupid. It’s not like I haven’t roasted peppers before. I roast peppers all freakin’ day long, it seems. Jalaps, Anaheims, even Thai Hots if I want to boost the sweetness a tad. Ghost is different. Ghost is the T-rex of peppers.
he just ate a Ghost pepper
Oh! Tetanus! I don’t haz it anymore. And guess what? It didn’t hurt a bit. Nurse (smartass) said there’s nothing like 14 years to allow for technology to improve Omg, you guys would’ve laughed your toenails off – so here I am, Big Bad Musette, with my head turned and my teeth gritted….and I finally said ‘let me know when you’re ready’ – and she said ‘hon, I’ve been done for the past couple seconds – just wanted to see how long you would sit there’ (smartass). I had to laugh. I’d told her I was a bit scared terrifiedTERRIFIED….omg! Such a change from the last time. No Tyrannosauruses were present during this ‘hit it and quit it’!
Winners! You patient souls. I swear. I fully expect to see a virtual mob, wielding flaming cudgels, every time I write one of these bonkers posts. I feel like I have to reward you for sticking with me, since I tend to veer (WILDLY) off-course, especially in the Summer. So random.org, bless its hort, picked 3 winnahs. And they are:
Queen Cupcake
Julie
Sally M
I am having difficulties with my Outlook program so send details to my gmail: evilauntieanita. I’ll send you a confirmation and get some goodies out to you from the Messy Armoire!
Wow – I won! Thank you – I’ll email you now. Summer has been Wholly Hideous here this year. In 28 years of living in Ory-gun, its the hottest we’ve had with weeks of temps in the upper 80s and 90s. Several 100+ days. My menopausal body hates it – what a joy hot flashes of 1000 degrees are – heating you up from the inside while the sun is searing the skin off your body from the outside. My veggies hate it. My herbs hate it. My lawn (what lawn??) hates it. Everything’s had to be watered twice a day for minimum survival and I don’t like to do that a) cos its $$$ and b) water shortage threats. (My response to b) is “what? we live in Oregon, the rain capital of the world – we MUST have vast stores of water somewhere.”) I don’t know how you manage to do what you do in 93 degrees – I’ve literally been letting things drop off the plants and “harvesting” them after dark – when its relatively cool.
Consequently I’ve gone through vats o’ rose water and lemon water, maniacally spritzing every 5 minutes in a feeble attempt to keep cool. I found a 16oz (!) unopened bottle of 4711 at an estate sale for $3 and have so far resisted the temptation to upend the thing over my head, but its been a wonderful solution to my heat-responsible-perfume-aversion.
Like others, I don’t care what you write about – just keep ’em coming as your posts make my day.
I love reading your posts, perfume or not. I’m not really that “into” perfume as I was since I can’t wear it very often (migrainey husband and daughter with eczema), so it’s mostly vicarious for me anyway! I just keep reading since I feel like I know all the writers and commenters since I have been reading the blogs for a while, and I chime in when I can. I am impressed with your time management skills – how do you have a job, blog (perfume or not, it takes time!), maintain a huge garden, harvest and can and pickle all those veggies? I’m in awe!
I hope you stay with us forever, odonata! You don’t have to wear (or even like) perfume to be part of our Posse. And Floyd knows I am the Gomer of Reviewers, so I’m thrilled to know you enjoy the other stuff I write about!
You ask how I do all this? Same way all of us do. Mine isn’t that much different from any other woman I know – we multitask like ferrets, don’t we! Not raggin’ on guys – but they seem to do One Thing At A Time. Wish I could. But then nothing would get done!
xoxoxoA
I always enjoy reading about your food adventures! And you’ll *love* the sauerkraut; I always thought I hated it because I’d only ever had the store-bought stuff (sad dead cabbage shreds drowned in vinegar, ugh), and then last year I helped a gardening friend turn some of her surplus cabbage into fermented sauerkraut. We put some shredded carrots and onions in with the cabbage and pickling salt, and it was *amazing*!! Really tangy and refreshing, and not at all acidic or vinegary. And it keeps for months in the fridge, in half-gallon Mason jars.
I pulled out some of my rose perfume samples recently (still searching for my perfect rose) but nothing smelled quite right; I didn’t make the connection to our hot and swampy weather until I read this post, DUH. Will have to box everything up until October and try again!
Nothing beats a giant, gooey, Reuben with homemade kraut, right?..:) With a side of salty crunchy fries? Yum! My mom canned and did all of that stuff when we were young and I can still smell that cabbage as it was brewing and bubbling away, down in the basement in this ancient old wooden barrel thingy. I was little and thought the basement was the creepiest place to be, anyway, especially with that horrendous smell oozing out! All dark, dusty and mysterious, that basement was just HUGE and filled with rows and rows of dusty jars. Ah, good memories..
Mary’s basement is like that – gorgeous rows of bejeweled jars. Our basement is filled with mud because SOMEBODY didn’t listen when I said…’hey – I think water’s getting into the basement’ (I don’t ‘do’ basement because there could be a velociraptor down there. Or an anaconda. In the mud)
I can’t wait to try this kraut! xoxoxoA
I love your posts, Musette, and look forward for them every week. I have a scent map of your yard in my mind, so they are not that off topic!
Happy to hear you are canning veggies from your garden. That´s the dream, girl! I once got this old Frenck cookbook, Conserver les Aliments, which is beautiful, the recipes sound delicious, but it totally freaks me out. Having an experienced canner to show you the processes must be very (or at least a bit) reassuring, I´m happy for you.
Oh, what a compliment! Thank you! Canning isn’t that big a deal, once you get the hang of it. Truly. Now….I’m talking high-acid stuff in a water bath. Canning meat and low-acid foods is still a ways away for this newbie (I’m in Year 3 of canning, year 1 of pressure canning).
xoxoxoA
Oh my gosh – are you growing ghost peppers? Respect. I only know about them because the passive-aggressive father of my son’s former girlfriend offered a tiny slice of a dried ghost to my son. He came home and collapsed on my kitchen floor. For a while I thought I might have to take him to the hospital, before the milk started to take effect. That is one dangerous pepper!
Ugh. That man sounds like a vicious weasel. I’m glad she’s a ‘former’ girlfriend so he doesn’t have to encounter that asshat again. Ghosts are not to be trifled with. And no, I don’t grow them. I wouldn’t ever need that many Ghosts, though I have considered one teeeeensy plant, the bounty of which I would share with my hot-lovin’ pals. Maybe…..maybe next year?
xoxoxoA
*BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHA* ok, sorry. and yes, the nurse was a smartass… but having been a pediatric nurse, it’s so familiar!
ok, don’t hate me moms- but i used to ask a frightened patient if s/he would like to me to show them about how much it hurts and if they think that’s too much we won’t do it. and then i gave them the shot. MOST of the time, they would say it’s ok or no, i don’t want to and i would say, GREAT! we’re done. tear-free trickery. (of course a sense of justice is supreme in children and some of them would start to properly wail at this point. regardless, my job is done.)
of course… the average age of my patients was 7. 😉
glad you no haz de teetnoos no more! waitz for de rozez!
LOL! I LOVE your approach! She pretty much did the same thing, minus the question! Nurses are smart! And when it comes to needles, EVERYBODY’S average age is 7! xoxoxoxoA
I don´t hate you, actually I´ll adapt and use your technique! 🙂
Good morning! We’re getting the same hideous heat here, too, in Indiana! The kind that makes your glasses fog up, and curly hair to go crazy the very minute you step outside…..truly yuk! But ut of spite and because I’m not a floral/fruity perfume girl, I’ve been wearing the last drops of Opium, Reminiscence Patchouli, and KL for Women (out of my old, vintage bottle from the 80’s ) Am I suffocating others?…who knows, but I LOVE ’em! As far as the canning goes, I’ve never done it and always wanted to. But since I;m a vet tech, can sort of relate….we use the autoclave to disinfect. The other day I stepped away for ONE second I swear, and the indicator light went into the red, HIGH ALERT OR YOU WILL BLOW UP territory! I learned my lesson that day, I can tell ya! SO I totally know how you feel peeking from down the hall! BUt, this morning I see your post and have to ask…am I the only “Julie” who posts and reads your blog??….:):) If so, then YAY!!! and Thank you Thank you!…..
I dunno if you are the only July but holla at me anyway – the autoclave story is worth it! LOL! I would’ve dropped and rolled on that so fast! :-O
And you are my SCENT QUEEN, baby!!! Now THAT’S the way to rock Summer!!!
xoxoxoA
Lol…I just can’t seem to get too far away from the old, big Orientals and anything that has patchouli or incense….sometimes just for fun (!) I layer my beloved Coco (horrors!!) with an Opium knock off that I found…., just to deepen things up a bit, you know, just to be annoying to the perfume police 🙂
Yeah, summer finally hit. I sat outside under the maple tree fanning myself and absorbing the humidity – last winter I swore I would take the time to really experience summer weather. Usually my favorite hot summer activity is sitting inside listening to the air conditioner run. I’m so with you in the fear of the pressure cooker; my bestie uses hers all the time and she makes so much fun of me but I just can’t get past it. I do refrigerator pickles and freeze my salsa. How do you roast your peppers? I do mine on the gas stove burners but is there an easier way to roast a bunch at one time?
Perfume ennui still in place here. Nothing smells right to me this summer.
Re the perfume: sometimes it’s a good thing to take a break, lest it becomes a chore, rather than a pleasure.
Re the pressure canner: we both need to get over ourselves. Mary explained that the entire pot won’t blow, just the little plastic/rubbery doohickey on the top – she said she’s blown hers about 3000 times and it’s no different than a cork popping out of a bottle. I’m determined to get this under my belt.
I roast mine on the gas burners just like you (and everyone else who doesn’t have some fancy fire-thingydoodle) does. It’s the easiest way. I just did a batch of Anaheims last night.
You know you can water bath can your salsa, right? It’s no big deal and that doesn’t involve any potential explosions. I’m in Year 3 of water bath canning and it’s No Big Deal.
xoxoxoA
Honestly, Musette, you can write about anything at all and I will gobble it up! I am not much of a pickle lover myself, except that my mother used to make pickled watermelon rind, way back in the day, and I liked those. They were firm, sweet-tart and heavily spiced. Hot weather coming here too, so I’m not wearing fragrance today. Giving my nose (and those of my co-workers) a little break. I cannot seem to get dill to grow for me, but I do love cilantro. The fresh green seeds smell soooo pretty when crushed! Sending a private email message now. (Yaay!) XO
You are so very nice!!! to say that! Thank you! I’m just not feeling perfume right this minute – I mean, there are so many gorgeous new fragrances…and they deserve my full attention. I’m getting ready to cut up a watermelon right this very morning – perhaps I’ll look at pickling the rind (I eat a little, then process the rest for juice, which I freeze for those February days when I want to kill everybody on the planet)
Congratulations on the win!!! xoxoxoA