We had a fiercely hot summer, but after it climbed into the 90s at the beginning of August and then we had a bout of rain, it was as if the weather "softened." Oh, it still was hot—even nudged into the 90s—but the sun didn't seem as fierce. It didn't have that infrared feeling like it was slicing through your skin. Even last weekend, when we were tramping from hotel to hotel, it wasn't overbearing.

Sadly, that couldn't be said about today, although we were able to drive out to Stone Mountain with the windows down. The moment the sun got overhead it was a roaster.

So after we arrived home at two we are just sacking out and keeping cool for the rest of the day! I'm using the opportunity to catch up on What's My Line?/The Name's the Same episodes. The first we watched was from March 18, 1956, the day after Fred Allen died. John Charles Daly said they had planned to do a tribute, but Portland Hoffa Allen said Fred would want them to carry on, so Steve Allen was called in to substitute and all the panel were in somber colors. They each had a brief tribute to Fred at the end. Very moving.

We've also seen a Name's the Same with one of my favorite character actors, David Wayne (he was just opening on Broadway in Teahouse of the August Moon) and a hilarious show in which one of the contestants was named "A. Sailor." This was even funnier because the gentleman was in the U.S. Navy—yes, he was "Sailor Sailor"!—and his full initials were "I. M. A. Sailor."

So, we wandered the paths of the Yellow Daisy Festival for almost three hours; cool at the beginning, but increasingly uncomfortable as the time wore on. We remembered our hats and our water bottles, at least, although we forgot our reusable shopping bags, so could not heft our bags over our shoulder. As always, we started with the Azalea Circle path, and on the smaller A-loop path we found some chill bandannas (they have crystals in them; you soak them in cold water for 30 minutes then they keep you cool for several hours) like the ones I had planned to order from the Vermont Country Store. Sampled the dip flavorings and the soup mixes as well, but only brought home more garlic flavorings to make garlic butter.

I also bought a few more of the miniatures that I mentioned last year, which were put together to make this. This year I bought a couple of things to complete the winter display which I misplaced last year and never did use, but I also bought a little frame with an apple theme with some apple/food accessories and made a small display for the kitchen.

My attention was grabbed by some beautiful piano music, and I ended up with a 3-CD set of Christmas music by the O'Neill brothers, who apparently have performed on PBS, plus their "Autumn" album. Unfortunately, the other Christmas CD I bought I already had, although the artist said it was "new." She said if I did have it I could contact her and she would send me another album and a way to return the CD. She does have an album of Celtic music...

James stocked up on some of the "Smack Your Mama" barbecue sauce and we bought our yearly fudge treat. There are many custom soap sellers these days and I picked up some free samples, including some dog soap that is supposed to be good for the dog's skin, lathers well, and does not leave the dog with a "wet dog" odor.

There is a brick front on our house, and a rather bare wall on the porch. I have previously had a slate plaque on that wall, but a week ago the plaque fell and broke into several pieces. It was bought at minimum cost from JoAnn and was terribly faded, so it wasn't much of a loss, but I realized that if I wanted some decoration for this bare wall I should probably have something that resists discoloring, since the porch spends all afternoon in the sun. My idea was some sort of metal sculpture, perhaps in a form of a leaf. On the last path I found a gentleman who was selling sculptures of either branches with leaves or ones with butterflies and flowers; these were produced by heating copper until the heat brought out other colors. So I bought a small branch with five maple leaves. Now I just need to find out a method of attaching them to the bricks.

Before we headed home but after our annual roasted ear of corn, we stopped at the DeKalb Farmer's Market to pick up some boneless skinless turkey thighs as well as ground turkey (James likes the grind there better, as it is more coarse). We get on this side of town so rarely now, since we don't play trivia any longer, that it's expedient to stock up when we're there. I like to go back just before Christmas because they have all the ethnic holiday goodies.

Labels: crafts, food, music, shopping

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 3:34:00 PM

Comments:

One thing worth noting on the "What's My Line" episode following Fred Allen's death is that the gentlemen (Steve Allen, Bennett Cerf and John Daly) were all wearing straight ties rather than their customary bow ties, as though bow ties were somehow less than serious. Apparently the panelists on the show following Dorothy Kilgallen's death did the same thing.

# posted by  Brent McKee : 9:17:00 PM

 

Yes, I noticed that, and instead of the usual glamorous evening gowns the ladies wore a black dress. They basically were all dressed as if they were going to a funeral. I have always noticed that bow ties are described as "jaunty" in texts for that time; they probably didn't want a piece of clothing that smacked of a supper club or a similar night out.

# posted by  Linda : 7:59:00 AM

 

Post a Comment