Ivy - Day 29 - Polka dots and cleaning



Selfies at home in the polka dot dress



Today I went for a very authentic 40's do becasue I was dragged out of bed early by a small brown dog desperate to bark at our resident possums.  Needless to say I locked her outside.  This worked for a grand total of 30 minutes when she realised I'd gone back to bed so she howled and grizzled at the door until I let her back in and then it was definitely up time.

Todays 'do' is another variation on snood style, I love snoods they make life so easy!  It based on the ever reliable victory roll only this time I've topped it with a curly pompadour, hy hot rollers were calling to me.  This is very 40s and very easy, it only took four rollers for five minutes to achieve it!



Incognito, see? I'm practically
invisible!



As alway on Monday's MOH was out hosting his regular quiz so I headed home on the bus, incognito behind my sunglasses... because I'm sure that is all that's required to go unnoticed when you look like I do at the moment.



Love my burgundy bed set too!



When I got home I pottered around changing the bed and cleaning up mine and MOH's room (it looked rather like we'd had our own personal blitzkrieg).  While doing so I discovered my parcel from What Katie Did! I realised I hadn't shown you what it contained yet so here it is! I have a padded bullet bra, a 40's reproduction bra, a beautiful set of french knickers and a new suspender belt!  So exciting, I will get to that post on the importance or undergarments I promise... I guess it will have to be tomorrow!

Mel - Day 29 - Light at the end of the tunnel

I was rudely awoken this morning by the dogs DESPERATE to get my attention... when I got out to see what the cafuffel was about I was presented with one dead mouse (and I don't mean the DJ kind)! 

I disposed of the carcass and went back to bed. 

I got up again when it was the right time to arise and was presented with another dead mouse!!! 

This one however had been sufficiently splattered about the floor - EWWWW!!!!!!! 

So again - I set about cleaning up mouse carcass - this time with added gizzard - and proceeded to get ready for work. 

I opted for a number from Target today. A simple black thing with my cherry cardi (from DARLING CENTRAL). I also wore my Miss L-Fire shoes - a staple of the Frocktober wardrobe - again from DARLING CENTRAL. 

Today's picture was taken by the Mr when I got home because the Photographer has come down with a bug.Hopefully she is on the mend and back on duty tomorrow :D

I don't look tired at all! lol

I got through my day at work and went home - slightly expecting more presents to be left for me!

 Just before I went to teach my Gold Creek zumba class, I walked into the kitchen to a putrid smell.... It turns out that the wee she-dog found some super fragrant poop perfume to bathe in... 

"Don't hate me because I roll in poo!!! I'm super cute still see!!!"

I left this one to the Mr and headed out the door!!!! Now I'm home, tired and in need of a shower! 

Frock you tomorrow for the second last day!!!!!! 

Ivy - Days 26-28 - Another busy weekend...



Taking time to stop and smell the roses...

Day 26 - Went early 60's today with my first beehive of 2012.  I love wearing beehives, I get such a positive response.  Mostly from ladies my mum's age shaking their heads and laughing while they tell me about how they used to wear their hair just so!  That's part of the fun of doing something like this, being told that you look just like someone's mother.



The do, undented.

Wearing 60's make up today felt quite foreign, this is the decade when eyeliner migrated to below they ey as well, and it was OVER THE TOP. Like most of the decade.  Take for example, my lovely gizmo print.  Very typical of early 60's fashion it also would not have been out of place on someone's living room wall. 

Visit the Hug-man!

So sporting my 60's beehive do and my gizmo print (not to mention even more make-up than has been usual this month) I headed in town for an iced chocolate with MOH.  Who should I spot but this guy on the left!  He made my day, we had a little chin-wag about why he would choose to do this and what people's reactions were, and yes I did ask him before I took his photo for this blog!  If you need a hug he is in Garema place every Friday afternoon!  

Hooray! New favourite shoes!



Before meeting my beau I had a moment of grooming, after having my nails done yesterday I realised that it was getting to the point where I didn't so mcuh have eyebrows as  two giant hairy caterpillars battling for supremacy over my forehead.  It was time to call in the professionals and a very good job they did too!  I also had just enough time to make a new purchase for a burlesque routine I'm working on; a very glamourous pair of neon pink heels.  



Selfies in the mirror at home

Day 27 - Saturday! At last, time at home with the dog.  Only it rarely works out that way. Today it was my knotty dress again, if I can't wear scungy old comfy jeans this dress is the next best thing.  Treat it like a rag and it still looks fabulous. I teamed it with rockabilly hair and a little crocet bolero I got at the rummage!

The day at home thing was working quite well until lunchtime... We decided to go to Guzman y Gomez for lunch and stop by the art market on the way home. At Guzman y Gomez MOH ordered this little gem:



naturally/artificially flavoured



The English language pedant in me laughed and laughed. MOH didn't seem to find it as funny...

On our way to the art market we rescued a fledgling noisy miner bird (noisy miners are native, it was not an indian miner bird).  It had jammed itself into a hole near club lime on Marcus Clarke street.  We looked for it parents but couldn't spot a nest or any other birds and the poor thing looked like it had, had a run in with and ANU campus cat...  So no art market, off to the RSPCA we went.

They have many chickens, so guess where we will be going to get chickens for our coop?



Why? Oh why must you do this to me?



 Day 28 - Today was spent with the dog. Although at times I'm sure she wished it wasn't (see left).  We went to the dog park and then to Pet Stock for a bath and just to prove it; yes I do actually do just about everything in dresses during the month!



Playing 'Skip to my Lou'

 

After the bath we stopped by Pet Barn, just to have a look you understand. Which meant we had to stop at As Nature Intended for a coffee, of course. While we were having our coffees little Miss Em did her best to talk to everyone who happened to pass by (Especially small children, she loves them, my theory is they smell of more things, also they're at licking height). We go to listen to this lovely little folk duo who were playing in the piazza at Belconnen Markets.





After the Pet Barn we took Em to visit MOH's Nan.  She doesn't really like dogs but Em's never met a person she couldn't win over.  She'd made herself at home in the space of a heart beat.  After a cup of tea with Nan we headed to MOH's mother house for (you guessed it!) another cup of tea.  Again Em made herself at home in the space of heartbeat, on the furniture, in and out of bedrooms and the garden.  By this time it was 4pm and we still hadn't managed to eat lunch and the dog was tuckered!

Yet more tea....

So we went home for... drumroll please... more tea.  The dog promptly conked out on the couch next to us, we gave up on lunch and decided to eat dinner early.

Later in the night... we drank more tea!







 

Shari - Day 27 and 28

So Saturday I decided to take advantage of a 20% discount at The Darling Sisters for looking undead. I wore my Deadly Dames Vamp dress from Pinup Girl Clothing and popped in some fangs and off I went. The fangs are ridiculously hard to speak with - so I had to keep taking them out to talk. I don't know how anyone starring in True Blood manages to speak with them in! It seems so effortless for them!

The rest of my day consisted of running around picking up paleo cookies and cupcakes and taking care of the baby pee wee in my backyard.

Today I wanted to wear something that was comfortable and free flowing, but not quite like a mumu! I decided to wear an Indian dress I got from Tree of Life many years ago to wear at Christmas. I had a multitude of sewing repairs on various frocks, etc that I needed to attend to, so off to my grandmother's I went to use her awesome sewing machine. I love spending time with her - she is so inspiring. 91 years old and still lives quite independently. I truly hope I am like her when I get older.

Only 3 more days of frock wearing, but not that I mind - I have plenty of frocks to keep on going for another few months!

Mel - Day 28 - Ho Hum - Time for CHOCOLATE ORANGE!!!!!

For the most part, I didn't like today. The culmination of feeling rather ho hum and it all just getting on top of me. 

I must say - while its been fun - Ill be thankful when Thursday is here and I can wear something more me.

I went for easy wear today and teamed my DARLING SISTERS DESIGNED "Darling Pinnie"  - from DARLING CENTRAL - with a long sleeve tee and my slip on party feet (and my dogs).

This afternoon saw me headed to the Irish Club for KOTY rehearsals where I tested the waters with my competition solo. 

By the time I headed home - my mood had lifted however I decided to treat myself to the calorie rich tastiness of a Terry's Chocolate Orange! OMG!!!!!!! 

Seeing that its Sunday - the Indian F1 grand Prix is about to start so Im not going to write anymore... I have tips to blitz!!!!! :) 

 Frock you tomorrow!!!!

Blossom: VICTORY CUISINE part four: Bovril

In the VICTORY CUISINE (CUISINE! Cuisine! cuisine!) series I will explore a range of Extraordinary New (and old) Foods that nowadays, we would think of as weird and wonderful - or incredibly dated - but that played their role in nutrition during the forties.

I do hope you will enjoy VICTORY CUISINE (CUISINE! Cuisine! cuisine!) however, and perhaps you will even hop into the comments and suggest a few things yourself.

If you do want to see me try out something a bit special - won't you consider sponsoring me to do so? If your donation is generous enough, I might be persuaded to try many things. Once.



I have been rather unwell lately, and in a previous blog I hinted that I had a cunning plan in mind to deal with the situation. A very forties solution, known to all good English housewives. A sustaining hot drink with energy-boosting properties. A nice cup of Bovril.

Back in the Olden Days, Mrs Beeton (along with her friend Florence Nightingale) observed the benefits of providing invalids with iron-rich sustaining drinks of beef tea. Beef tea - which was every bit as disgusting as it sounds - was easy to feed to a sick or wounded patient, and helped to improve healing rates as well as delivering a boost of much-needed calories to help the patient to fight their illness.

The benefits of beef tea were very well known by the forties, but improvements in food technology and storage had already led to the creation of such delights as Bovril.

WHAAAAAAH!

You knew I was going to write that, didn't you?

Bovril is a rich, treacly beef (or yeast-based yet beef-flavoured) concentrate, that comes in jars, stores extremely well, and has a range of uses. Very similar to our beloved Vegemite in appearance, taste and function, it can be used as an instant stock, spread on toast (in lieu of the popular beef dripping), or mixed with hot water to create a passable - and much more palatable - 20th century version of beef tea.

Bovril was far easier to get hold of in the forties than actual beef. Any small child of the era must have been very grateful for this small mercy. Rather than a greasy concoction of smelly, half-raw meat juice, Bovril creates a rich intense salty beverage that is much easier to bear. Throughout the second world war, children and adults alike were fed regular hot cups of Bovril to help their headcolds and flus, headaches and chills, and even wounds. People on duty at night, firefighting or working as wardens or ambulance drivers, took thermoses of Bovril to give them energy and warm them up. Even soldiers were given Bovril to perk them up in the trenches.

I decided that since I couldn't seem to shake off my ague, I could use a boost. Beef tea made from Bovril might provide the extra vim I needed to recover properly.

I obtained a jar at the supermarket. When I opened it, I could have sworn I'd just opened the Vegemite jar. The fragrance was very similar, although the texture of Bovril is much more liquid.

Treacly. Mmmm.

Okay. I popped a spoonful in my cup, added hot water from the kettle and gave it a good stir. That's all it took.

Ready to drink.

The fragrance was really very rich. Meaty and extremely savoury. I wasn't too certain what to expect, and I could imagine that it could have been actually quite horrible. But my Vegemite-familiarised palate was certainly not put off by either the sight or flavour.

Let's give it a try.

Feeling rather bleah. Smells like Vegemite. Am I about to drink a mugful of Vegemite water?

Meh - who cares? The savoury scent was really quite attractive.

I took my first sip.

Surprise! Category: pleasant.

It was delicious. I suspect if you had never enjoyed the delights of Vegemite Toast, this would come as a terrible shock. However, to me it tasted really satisfyingly salty, meaty and substantial.

I liked it and I drained the cup.

So did it work ...?

Yes. Chock-full of vim!

For a few hours, at least, it did seem to give me a lovely boost.

I suppose that after the tyranny of Carrots With Everything it was nice to get a big burst of that umami flavour. The saltiness was comforting and it reminded me of childhood, nibbling Vegemite crusts, watching Skippy and being looked after.

If I should ever find myself sick and miserable, or up late at night and wanting a bit of a boost, or out somewhere cold doing energetic stuff, you can bet I will cheerfully turn to the kettle or Thermos, and a jar of Bovril.

Hmmm, I wonder if it's nice on toast ...?

Bovril as a hot drink: 9.5/10.

Frock you later,
Blossom

Blossom: Days Twenty-six to Twenty Eight, Hallowe'eny!

Spoooooky.

Friday 26 to Sunday 28 Frocktober

Outfit/s

• The Scruffy Cardigan of Illness then Gothic Wonderlandyness.

 Menu

• Dinner Friday: corned beef with onion parsley sauce.
• Aside from that, er, leftovers and pretty much salad. Salad, fish and Using Stuff Up.

Mood

• Spook'd

Well it has been a busy time and I am therefore cramming several days into the one blog yet again. However this one will have a delightfully Hallowe'eny flavour!

Friday was spent partly recovering from my lurgy - whatever that was, and partly at Darling Central with the Misses Rubi and Tea, preparing for a weekend of Hallowe'eny Goodness at the little pink shop. The Misses Rubi and Tea got stuck into some rather serious arts and crafts and visitors to the shop over the weekend will have greatly enjoyed their efforts.

Now we know Hallowe'en is not generally celebrated here - but to that we say HUH! What could possibly be more fun than dressing up and enjoying some harmless spooky storytelling? Apart from anything else, the Gold Creek Ghost, who we fondly refer to as 'Amelia', seems to love the extra attention she gets around Hallowe'en: we like to give her flowers and decorate a bit in her honour.

All weekend we dressed up. Miss Jasmine was a cheeky little leopard one day (complete with ears and tail), and a 'Mod who died dancing' the next, in a sixties shift and a beehive hairdo. Rubi gothed it up, with outfits that featured, among other things, a magnificent leather corset by Electric Sugar, an adorable black and purple miniature bowler hat, and a full face of skeletal makeup - wow! Darla was a wee ghostie in "Amelia's" honour, and I pulled out my velvet by Gallery Serpentine, and a great floor-length Morticia skirt, also from the Shoppie. We had such fun.

So rather than bore you with details of blouses worn and red lipstick, here is a montage of Hallowe'en photos from Darling Central.

Meet the Darling Central Jack O'Lanterns! Courtesy of the creative efforts of Rubi and Miss Jasmine.

Rubi found the best way to gut a pumpkin. Don't fret: the pumpkin clearly enjoyed it, judging by its finished facial expression.

See? This fellow looks rather relaxed about things.

Aw. This cutie looks rather sad here - but it's just the angle of the photo. In fact, it looked cute, cheerful and rather sleepy ...

... And this one just thinks everything is hilarious.

Our lovely friendly Shoppie neighbour, Troy from Red Bamboo, popped in to have a cuppa and enjoy the pumpkin carving. He then thoughtfully donated to the Jack O'Lantern cause several of his wonderful handmade soy candles. We have discovered that his Spiced Apple and Cocoa Therapy scented candles combine AMAZINGLY with fresh pumpkin, and all weekend Darling Central had the most delicious fragrance, like cake, spices and pumpkin pie. Thank you, Troy!

Here are some of our Hallowe'en decorations.

Cake pops and witches' finger biscuits by Rubi and Miss Jasmine - completely delicious. What? They didn't come out of my sugar ration!

Juan and Juanita, our Hallowe'en Flamingos, came out of hibernation especially for the occasion. They love a bit of spring weather!

Cheery pumpkins enjoying the weekend weather and greeting visitors.

Annabelle, one of the shop models, was wearing her gothic finery for the occasion. Blouse by Queen of Heartz, corset by Electric Sugar and Ophelia skirt by Gallery Serpentine.

Lurking in the shop window.

Even the shop bunting got into the Hallowe'en mood!

Jack O'Lanterns grow on trees, you know.

 "Amelia" the shop ghostie, as mentioned, always enjoys Hallowe'en. Little objects were vanishing all weekend, only to turn up again in the oddest places. In the past we have set her up a little corner of the Boudoir to enjoy during the season, and this year was no different.

A treat for the Gold Creek Ghostie: flowers, candles and cookies for her to enjoy in the dead of night.

We popped a little sign on the wall so she knew it was intended for her.

Had enough for the time being?

I thought I would mention dinner on Friday night.

I fancied some corned beef - and NOT the tinned stuff! So I decided to cook a traditional English dish, which would have been very popular in the forties whenever the pickled beef was available.

The pieces of salted, pickled beef were gently boiled, which sounds horrible to many people but in fact is the best way to get rid of excess salt and also to end up with wonderfully tender meat that was traditionally served with boiled vegetables (yes, carrots were involved) and a white sauce flavoured with herbs and onions.

Blossom's corned beef with onion parsley sauce

Corned beef can simply be boiled in plain water, but for maximum flavour, I usually add a few delicious ingredients to the pot first.

Onion, bay, cloves. Plus a dash of cider vinegar and brown sugar to the water.

Rinse the beef, then put it in a large pot with flavourings, and top with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil.

It really doesn't look so great at this stage.

Then turn it down to a simmer, put on the lid and boil for around an hour per kilo of beef. I find I need to top it off with hot water several times.

When the beef is cooked, drain and discard the water and flavourings, then keep it warm while you prepare the vegetables (carrots, beans, potatoes) and make the sauce.

The sauce is too easy! You know how to make a white sauce, yes? You need flour, milk, butter or oil, plus flavourings.

Plain flour, parsley (still attempting to keep the patch under control) and onion.

Cook the flour in the fat to form a roux. When the roux is smooth and starting to foam, take off the heat and carefully stir in milk. With an onion flavoured sauce, I like to add the onion at this stage.

I also like to add a sprinkle of white pepper. White pepper, flavouring of the gods.

Put the pan back over heat and stir constantly until the mixture boils and thickens.

Then add fresh parsley, check for seasoning and place into your sauce boat.

Yum yum yum.

To serve, heap boiled vegetables on your plate (they really have to be boiled, or it just isn't the same), add finely-sliced tender slices of steaming hot corned beef, and pour a generous helping of fragrant onion and parsley sauce.

Who says English food is horrible? This was such a satisfying fragrant treat.

And better yet, the leftover corned beef, finely sliced, is lovely cold in sandwiches or with salads.

That's enough for now - I have a large collection of old Hammer horror movies that require my immediate and sustained attention.

Frock you later (spookily),
Blossom