I’m Stuffy

OMG, Posse!  You jes’ don’t KNOW!

I’ve been fighting this allergy/jammed sinus thing for a few weeks  – almost had it gone…then it dropped 35 degrees in less than 24 hrs, it’s pouring with rain and I had to pop the heat on, which is never great for my sinuses.  I didn’t know one could have a completely runny, post-nasal ick AND have it be totally jammed.  Well, yes I did (because I have this on a pretty regular basis) – but I suspect that sinus crap is like childbirth; once you get over it your body forgets it so you won’t cut your nose off rather than go through it again.

So…no perfume review this week, though as soon as I can I will be yarking on about a couple of fabulous new things:  Liz Zorn’s Carpathian Oud (hint:  IN-FREAKIN’- CREDIBLE!!!)  and a gorgeous new line of Amouage candles, with a very lovely backstory.  But not today, since I can smell……..Vicks.  And that’s it.  And who cares, right?  Hey!  I think I’ll make some peppermint tea and regale you with What’s Going On in MusetteWorld.

Just got back from St. Louis, where I attended my dear friend’s 70th Birthday party – check out the house where the party was held  – in my next life I’m coming back as Frank (the owner of this property, a former movie theatre.  This is the courtyard – living quarters are to the right of the Japanese pool house, gallery and guest quarters are to the left.  Completely private.  Totally gorgeous.  I wanna!franks My friend K and I have been friends for 40 years.  Stunning.  She’s just an amazing woman and I’m honored to call her friend.  She’s also an inveterate -and phenomenal- shopper, finding the most amazing bargains.  And her eye!  Yikes!  If I had any sense I would just pay her to shop for me.  Instead, I get the privilege of shopping her closet every now and again (she freely admits that it’s the hunt that jazzes her – she wears her stuff, which is great – but nobody can wear that many clothes, not matter how fabulous they are, so she is always offloading Fabulous on me so she doesn’t feel so guilty buying more!).  Among her gifts this time:  this incredible Skif sweater.    These were the sweaters worn in The Matrix films.  Mine doesn’t have any rips or holes – but it does have 4 pockets and bobbins for buttons and I don’t think I’ve been more in love with a sweater in a Very Long Time.

 

Yahyahyah, Musette – why are all the yakk about a sweater?  Well…because ….I have decided to KNIT ONE MYSELF!  Yeah, bay-bee!  KNIT!  Oh, get up off the floor, people.  I can knit a little bit.  Patty got me hooked on knitting late last year and it stood me in good stead as I watched over my father’s final days on this plane.  But.  I am not a’ knitter’.  I haven’t knitted anything more than a scarf (and that looks like a drug-addled Pomeranian knitted it).  However:  Go Big or Go Home, right?  And this isn’t a very complicated knit pattern, I don’t think.  I bought it off the Skif website.  Then my bffffe Missy Denise started talking about ‘mercerized cotton and knitting and purling and my eyes rolled back in my head..so we’ll see if I can get through this without mayhem. I’m not a ‘knit a washcloth’ kinda girl.  I’ll either get this sweater knitted or I’ll….. What is ‘mercerized cotton’ anyway?

Tea is Not Working.  But it’s hot.  So there’s that.  I think I’ll try a little bit of TheraFlu.  I’ll let you know if my liver leaps out of my body.

 

That (for Realz) 35degree drop has me really reaching for Body Cremes.  I really am liking the Diptyque Creme Riche for those days when I want a really emollient cream with a subtle scent.  HATE the freakin’ jar!  HATE IT!  a)  It’s glass.  Okay – uh, Dipfolks?  Newsflash:  Most people put on body cream in the bathroom.  Really.  They do.  Glass sucks in the bathroom.  Second (oops.  I meant b) b) the actual shape of the damn jar is almost guaranteed to have it slip out of your hand.  So I hate it.  Love what’s inside, though.  Love it.

 

Question for y’all?  What is it about Autumn that has me rushing around, battening down the hatches, putting things away and locking everything up (or down).  Come 6p the doors are closed and locked and the blinds are closed and the curtains drawn.  If I forget and walk into the bedroom to open blinds it’s as if someone just threw me outside, naked, in the snow.   El O always jokes about me locking out the Cold Monster but maybe there’s something to that.  My last act last night, as the gloaming approached and temps noticeably dropped, was to haul that blasted, busted hose off the grass and into the garage.   I can throw it out later – it just couldn’t stay on the lawn.  Cold Monster might get it!   Are any of you nutty like that?  Fess up!  I could use the company here in Crazyland.   I know I’ve written about this before but it really does befuddle me. I mean, it’s not like I can crawl into bed and stay until May.  I still have to go out!  So what if a hose is on the lawn?  But woe betide and all that.

 

Apple butter!  Making a whole lotta apple butter right now.  My neighbor has an abundance of Gala, Rome and some sweet yellow apple in her orchard – I have just processed the third (and last) bag.  First batch of apple butter was in the dutch oven, then I wised up with the slow cooker.  It’s been cooking for the past 18 hrs.  Folks tell me my house smells divine.

I have had to use El O as taster, as I finish up the canning for the season.  He’s not too keen on it, as I use a lot of peppers in salsas (the ones usually not meant for him) – I made a peach salsa with Scorpion peppers and let me tell you, it’s a really bizarre process, cooking via another person’s palate.  I wonder if perfumers ever have to do that; if Olivia G had a head cold (but also a deadline)…how does that work?   Even with a stated recipe, is there something Essentially Olivia that gets lost in translation, if she can’t smell the process and/or final product?  I needed just the right balance of hot/sweet – who knows if I achieved it.  In fact, it’s no longer my creation, is it?  It’s his.  The absence of that last Scorpion effectively changed my intention – or did it?  Because Scorps are so scorching-hot I introduce them in  minute increments…perhaps I would’ve stopped at the point he said “OMG!  this is so freakin’ HOT!!!” (which might’ve been the precise heat level I was intending – this particular salsa is for those who like a bit of heat and sweet) but maybe not …we will not know until my cold abates and I can taste it – but even if it was persackly what I was looking for, is it still mine?  In truth, I couldn’t care less, but in theory, it’s an interesting question.  What are your thoughts?

 

Okay – TheraFlu is kicking in.  I still can’t breathe but I’m loopy as hell.  Over and out!  .

 

xoxoxoxoxoyour Stuffy Friend, Musette

  • Mals86 says:

    I love you, Divine Miss M.

    I started crocheting Bookworm’s roommate (who is from SINGAPORE, poor baby, she is freeeeeeezing in Connecticut) a scarf in Yale colors, but before I got eight inches done my wrist developed bursitis. That’s IT. No more crocheting. No more.

    Bookworm is home this week (she goes back SUnday) so I’ve been making hot spiced cider like crazy. We’ve gone through six quarts. Also, we had a fire in the fireplace last night… lovely. Amouage Memoir Woman for me recently… lovely.

  • libberation says:

    Hello Musette! Sorry you are feeling poorly but maybe I will be able to cheer you up! I believe I’ve discovered your nursery workers Guerlain doppleganger, I wrote an email to the “contact me” info on the site here about a week ago but I don’t always trust those things so I thought I’d comment and give you a heads up. I ordered a sample of the Encens Mythique d’Orient because I was curious to see if the delicious scent of my boyfriends cheap a** laundry detergent could possibly be a match and it’s pretty darn close even to my newbie nose. He uses XTRA lavender and sweet vanilla liquid. It doesn’t smell like much in the bottle but once you put on any garment washed in it you start to get this delicious cloud of insensey goodness. I’d love to know if I solved the puzzle and I hope you feel better soon. Love reading your posts, hopped up on cold meds or not!

  • Martha says:

    When your nose clears up you will be sooo glad that you made whole lotta apple butter.

    • Ann says:

      I’m right there with you, Martha! Musette’s mention of apple butter had my mouth watering like crazy!

  • Mary K says:

    Hope your stuffy nose recovers soon! Not good to be unable to breathe comfortably or sniff things. Turning on the heat for the first time in the fall always makes things so dry in my house. I have to really keep an eye on my indoor plants.

    I agree totally about wanting to be in for the evening early as fall moves along. I just feel like I want to be in before it gets dark (unless there’s a really special social event). Not sure what causes this! Just feels like night starts earlier this time of year.

  • rosarita says:

    Oh, poor Ms A, I hope you and your sniffer are back on speaking terms soon! How do you sleep? That’s the worst part of nose stuff, to me, besides the lack of perfume of course. Those sweaters are beautiful, I wish you all success. My mother and sister are great at knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc – my mom’s mom used to tat and make lace – the fiber arts gene is not in my make up. I pretty much start to hyperventilate trying to sew on a button…..but I have lots of pretty stuff that they have made over the years.

  • Maureen says:

    Get well, you funny little sicky. Anyone that can be that funny while feeling as bad as you do is tops in my book. I’m in complete agreement with the glass jars in the bathroom…all you have to do is break one once and have to clean up all the little shards and vacumn, clean again,and then go crazy thinking that you’ll cut your feet, to not want that to happen again.(been there).

  • I’m with you Musette,
    When I blow my nose it bleeds, so dry and cracked from hayfever. I can still smell though.
    GET WELL BABE,
    Portia xx

  • Ann says:

    Oh, poor baby, hope you feel better soon! On a brighter note, how cool that you got to attend your friend’s birthday party in such a unique environment. And what a lovely pal to be so generous with her clothes — that’s real friendship! Love that you’re knitting; might be very relaxing. BTW, I second you on the glass jars; I have not tried that Diptyque (but want to one of these days), but I have a Savannah Bee Company body butter jar that’s big, round and glass, not only hard to hold but slippery as all get out. I’m all for being green, recyclable, etc., but if you end up in the ER because the jar slipped out of your hand, broke on the bathroom or shower floor and you’ve got glass cuts — well, not so nice. Hang in there!

  • poodle says:

    Everyone around here seems to be getting their first cold of the season and I’m a complete germaphobe over it. I simply can not get sick this week. I need to be able to sniff at Sniffa for heavens sake. I hope your stuffiness eases up soon. If the salsa didn’t clear your nose then it might not be hot enough. I usually take Aleve cold and sinus. I have to sign my life away for it at the store and show ID and all that crap but it sometimes helps. It’s funny how people can get all sorts of high off of these decongestants and I can’t even get them to clear my nose most times.

  • KirstenMarie says:

    I’m stuffy too. Sinus pressure sucks. Thanks for the long, rambling post (and I mean that in the nicest, Vicks-NyQuil-Sinus-induced-fog possible way). It took my mind off trying to breathe through the popping sounds/feels in my cranium.

  • jilliecat says:

    Dear, bunged-up Musette, I hope you recover soon. Enjoy the wooziness of the medication and maybe relax just a little bit – sometimes having a cold seals you in a little bubble away from the outside world, and it might just be a good excuse to wallow! Not for long, of course!

    At this time of year I get the bug for the equivalent of Spring Cleaning, which I naturally call Autumn Cleaning. It’s all about hunkering down for the winter – cleaning everything in sight (because when the sun disappears you won’t be able to see what’s dirty), preserving food for when the earth freezes over, and literally shutting the cold and darkness out and lighting candles and fires. I guess it’s my primitive instinct motivating me. Except ..;… so far this fall in the UK we have had really unseasonably hot weather and it’s really messing me up! On the one hand I want to make hot, spicy curries and casseroles, but on the other they just don’t seem right! I can’t even be bothered to clean the windows yet. And I am actually longing for a few sparkly frosts!

    By the way, I know people who swear by zinc for poor immune systems, stuffy noses and loss of taste – don’t know if it works, but maybe it’s worth a try (if you haven’t done so already)?

  • Elena says:

    Feel better. I sniffle, cough, whine, and ask the heavens when I’ll ever be better again every time that first autumn cold hits me. My husband then cruelly mocks me and tells me I will have clear sinuses by April! Damn the heating, damn the germs, damn the questionable immune system.