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. 























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