The New Melancholy

Autumn, Aspire and Annuals

I know it is stating the obvious, but autumn is here.  It seems to be a bit early, the leaves are well under way to their new colours, there are dahlias out, it smells smokey at night, it's cooler and now, daylight savings is over.  As much as I really don't like (I'm being mild here) the very hot weather, it is sad to see the summer go.  Sad in a melancholy way.  

But I love the small rituals of a change of season.  The decision to pack away the linen and pastel coloured argyle socks, switching from rose scented tea to chai, dusting off the Balmoral boots, raking leaves, ordering violets and looking through bulb catalogues, moving from citrus and herbal scents to woods and resins.   They are small and personal things - I'm certainly not a 'no white shoes after labor day' type of person - but each one is a rediscovery of things forgotten (if only for 6 months), and an anticipation of cool days ahead, rugged up and cosy.

Here's a flower.  A dahlia from our garden, no less, and I see we aren't the only ones keen to have a piece of this:

I was very proud during the week to have picked up a copy of Aspire Magazine, a free publication circulated at various venues around Adelaide, because I am in it!   Well, it wasn't about me in my gracious living room (a la "Hello" magazine), but there was a small article about Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez soaps!  I was very happy about it and I'm chuffed to be in this new, very smart, magazine.   Here's the article, but I recommend reading the whole magazine, of course!

And finally, I am at the Wattle Street market in Fullarton on 12 April 2014, and Pop up at Prospect (Prospect Road) on 26 April 2014.   Come by and say hello and smell the soaps, bath salts, room sprays and perfumes I have on offer!

Postage

Buying online

I do quite a bit of my shopping online now (and yes, I'm sure saying "online" makes me sound old) and part of that is the joy of receiving a parcel.  I guess it taps into the childhood pleasures of Christmas and birthday events.  Embrace the inner child, I say.  It's the anticipation of a treat coming your way.  This lady understands, she's been putting on her best straw cone-hat and waiting by the chinoiserie letterbox every day since 1961!

The only downside, of course, is that you have to pay postage and packaging to get your treats to your letterbox.  Here at the Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez shop, I have kept the postage costs down to a minimum.  Here they are:

1 to 3 bars - $7.00 flat rate; and
4 bars and above - $11.00 flat rate.

Now, following on with the '60s theme, here is a song I'm obsessed with at the moment - very sweeping and dramatic (the sort of song someone who would use Madame X... might like...):

Photo: detail from found photo dated October 1961. Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez collection.

Winter's Last Hurrah

...out on a rainy night

I was sitting at my desk sorting through some old photographs and there was a box of Smokey Joe sitting on a pile of books next to me.  The soft smokey scent of cade and vetiver reminded me of the smell of tobacco pipes, overcoats, old port and the sound of distant trains clickety clacking over the tracks on a cold, silent night.  Of course, I thought of this gentleman.  A found photo of a young man taken somewhere in Germany in the early 30s, it is so atmospheric with his face wonderfully lit by the dim street-lights.  Moody and melancholy.

Feel the mood with Al Bowly singing Bie Mir Bist Du Schoen:

 

Open for Business

Yes, That's Right

Finally, after some time, I have opened the shop!  You can buy soap, if you want it, right here!

Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez

I hope you love the design of the shop and the packaging as much as I do.  I have been lucky enough to have Magic Jelly design all of this and give a beautiful, nostalgic but modern feel to Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez.  

As you know, dear reader, Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez soaps are all natural, vegan and full to the brim with luxurious skin-loving oils.  But not only that, the essential oils used in the soaps will bring the world's flowers, spices, herbs and woods to the palm of your hand.

There will be some further tweaking to this blog too - I will have a button in the side column which will be your very own chauffeur on the glamorous road to soapsville, Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez!  So, you can read about it here and buy it with a twitch of a finger!

I have already received some orders from some wonderful people (they must be wonderful, such exquisite taste!) and I am finding out what people are favouring.   I have almost run out of The Emporer's Chai (so hurry!) and South Pacific is a winner, as is Love Lies Bleeding.  Spicy and floral.

In the pipeline, I have a surprise new scent.  For those with a sweet tooth and a longing for bright summer days, you are in for a treat - a candy-sweet scented soap, packed with olive oil, olive pomace, macadamia nut oil and shea oil.  It's a bright, happy and luxurious soap.

I have also just completed a batch of Lemon Meringue soap which will have you drooling!  A wonderful sweet lemony scent in a rich blend of apricot kernel oil and evening primrose oil.  No, you can't eat it, but you'll want to!

So, there is a lot lined up here at Shanghai Lil and The Scarlet Fez.  Not just soap here on the blog; you'll have the usual found-photographs, flowers, melancholy musings, a bit of jazz music, graphics, design, art and what-not (do you like the word what-not?).  Have a look around.

Found Photo

Melancholy Glamour

Another pic from my collection.  Circa late 1940s.

 

A 1950s Dance

Belle of the Ball

I came across this photo at a market a couple of years ago of a young woman dressed up for a formal dance.  She is a local Adelaide woman and, of course, the dance was held some time in the 1950s.  That's all I know about it.  I love the photo because she has that sense of excitement you have when you're young and the world is full of choices and possibilities.   Lovely!   I hope the dance lived up to her expectations.

 

Prone to Hyperbole

It's raining.

 

 

Ok, so it hasn't flooded like it did in Venice in December 1968 and we don't have to walk on a 'passarele' to cross the road, but it's wet. 

Nothing to do but make soap, drink soup and listen to this:

 

Photos part of the Shanghai Lil & The Scarlet Fez private collection.

Autumn Sunshine & Reading

After a grim weekend, it's nice to see some sunshine out on the last of the golden leaves in the garden.   Before settling down with a cup of tea, I thought about which book to flick through.  Here are my current thoughts:

Gone to Earth - Mary Webb
In Youth is Pleasure - Denton Welch
A Natural History of the Senses - Diane Ackerman
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Lady into Fox - David Garnett
Raven's Brood - E.F. Benson
Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner

I'm sure the sun won't last, so make the most of it while we can, and then we can just face the music.  And dance!

Ugh, bedridden.

Feeling grizzly and unwell today.  No soap-making for me, so I've turned my mind to making up a new recipe, one which is particularly indulgent to take our minds off those cold miserable days ahead.

Here's my view today.  Without the tissues and empty glasses!

 

Taken with a Polaroid Mio.

Woody Herman Orchestra featuring Stan Getz - Early Autumn (1948)

I love the buttery sound of this version of a swooning favourite.

Peggy Lee singing 'Is That All There Is?' on the Dean Martin Show, 1969.

Grab a gin and it and brood over this little number...

The Last Day of Summer

While there will still be warm weather ahead, the edge has been taken off the heat now.  The days feel shorter and, sometimes, mistier.  While autumn is one of my favourite seasons, it is sad to see summer fading.  Sad in a melancholy way.  And don't we love a little bit of melancholy?!  

Here is our (newly mown) garden in the last rays of summer:

A bit of Harinezumi 2+++ camera madness.  Speaking of which, look at that edging! I'll be out there this weekend with a pair of lawn clippers, or at least, someone will be...

Farewell summer!