Here we are in week 3 of 100+ degree temperatures, and I am ready to see the thermometer go south.  My plants are struggling at this point to survive, with only a sparse rain here and there.  Even the summer tea punch has lost its ability to cool me down.  This is pretty drastic.

What, you may ask, is the photo on the right all about?  The photo is of some lovely artwork done with towels and washcloths by our wonderful Mousekeeper, Rosa, at our Disney hotel on our last trip to the World.  These “towel animals” began to appear the second day of our trip last year, and each day she added a little more and a little more… until by the end of the trip we had a whole group of them complete with a pool and slide!  For a little taste of pixie dust, click the photo for a slideshow.

You might also be asking why I would have a photo of this on my Charm & Grace blog.  Well, any self-respecting blogger has to take a vacation every once in a while.  So we are off the find some pixie dust in the next few weeks and, frankly, I can not wait!  I thought I’d share a bit of our pixie dust with you from last time, and hopefully I will have more to share with you after we return.

Here’s a little more pixie dust… a beautiful sunset photographed while strolling along the World Showcase in EPCOT.  

When I think that people lived for years without air conditioning, I do wonder how on earth they managed to survive during the summer heat.  I am thinking particularly of ladies in long dresses and petticoats (note the plurality).  For instance, on days of 98-plus degrees with 98 % or more humidity, how did they breathe?  I sometimes think I would have loved to live in the beauty and values of Victorian times.  However, I must admit I am sincerely thankful that I was born in the age of air conditioning!  As much as I love the beauty of Victorian clothing and decor, I can’t imagine living with all those clothes without being able to get cool.  (I am visualizing Scarlett O’Hara wiping the sweat after having worked in the fields in her long dress.)  No matter how romanticised we make those days in our minds, there were many hardships and not a lot of relief from weather …whether cold or hot.   Monet’s Lady in “Sketch for a Figure in Open Air” looks cool with her umbrella in the breeze, even in the blazing summer sun.  But an umbrella can only go so far…

So, come indoors and enjoy the wonders of technology in a cool house.  Then put on the kettle.  I’m having Celestial Seasoning’s Mint Green Tea.  Won’t you join me?