House Martin

The room is redolent with beautiful floral bouquets. The perfume welcomes you as you enter. Julias room is 'house martin' and looks out onto freshly furrowed fields and hills beyond. There is a little balcony with a wooden seat, again full of flowers in vases and a bird feeder where the birds of sparrow and blue tit come to feed and all can be seen from Julias bed. In late afternoon the sunlight pours in filling the room with light. It is serene and calm.

From the outset Julia wanted no fuss, but just to get on with it accepting it as bad luck and part of life. No tears but to carry on (if that was possible) In front of her we maintain normality talking and joking and shed our tears in private. Just 45 and within 6 weeks, cancer of the liver, pulmonary artery, spine, bones, and now the brain is taking our beautiful, intelligent , witty, funny lovely Julia away from us. She is my daughters much loved Aunt , Headmistress of a prestigious Elementary School in Eastnor Herefordshire and loved by all who know her.

She is slowly slipping away . At St Michaels Hospice in Hereford she is so tenderly taken care of. The bouquets of flowers have poured in from the schools she has worked with, Governors, old school friends and people who hardly knew her. It is very touching. Every day brings fresh bouquets. Five one day and on and on the flowers and cards come

I sat with her yesterday. On the CD player I put on piano music, English Suites by Bach played by Murray Perahia and Grieg Lyric pieces which is calming and beautiful. A foot and hand massage with some rose lotion and drinks of milk, juice and water whenever she needs it. ....tenderly applied with a straw to her lips. The pain relief administered is effective .........the professional staff there are very very special. The environment is caring, considerate and nothing is too much trouble. Many are volunteers.

Julia said to me yesterday ' I am going to have to go.... this is all I am going to say' Today she spoke to her sister and said 'it won't be long'..... Helen says she is calm and serene and drifts in and out of consciousness.

This will be my only post.

Julia Frances Morris November 5 1962 - October 22 2007

up close and intimate with clary sage

I am making a deeper acquaintance with botanicals that I have been a little shy of.... liked them and have applied them but held off knowing them.....

So, Clary Sage....distillation from the plant Salvia Sclarea. As per lavender the flowers distilled alone give an oil richer in ethers than a whole plant distilled on the same day...

It is a middle to top note in perfumery with a high odor intensity and good fixative and can give 'green' nuances to blends. The aroma is warm and relaxing, but can also be heady and uplifting. A fine odour which some say reminiscent of a mixture of ambergris, musk, neroli and lavender. which certainly is detected in the body of the notes just before the drydown.

To help with a relaxing effect add cedarwood. It has incredible tenacity and the odour intensity still imparts warmth well over 24 hours... the aroma by then assimilates itself with lavender.. The initial impression when you first smell this sweetheart is fruity and dry, complex ,cognac like with notes of hay. After 15minutes tobaccoey notes emerge with a clean top end. Within 45 minutes one perceives a sweetness and a floral tea and still cognaccy with tobaccoey undertone....After an hour there is a warm cohesiveness to the notes that lingers on well into the next day..

The plant is robust and comely with downy leaves and tall flowered spikes. The crinkly and downy heart shaped leaves when touched has the sensation of crushed velvet. The flowers give off their bitter, musky and balsamic fragrance. In Germany, flowering tops and elderflowers were infused together with the liquid and added to Rhine wine to create the muscatel wine.

It is indispensable in the creation of ambers, chypres and in eau de colognes where it imparts its mellow sweetness and persistence which cannot be duplicated even with ambergris.

Incense

Its funny how I turn to autumn and winter and where during the summer months my spirit wants to enjoy intimacy with flowers , now darker days are approaching, I am wanting to encompass the rituals and resins of incense... purifying soul searching, spirit travelling incense......

I will be embracing these deep dark. sweet , resins and listen closely to their secrets....listening to help me bring their whisp-ers together in 'fume and joy..... in peaceful creativity....

Last winter I enjoyed whisp-ering with them and it shall be like reuniting with good friends and going on another journey together. Can't wait..

These fabulously sticky for the most part ancient resins have a story to themself and with masterful blending can be applied to create a haven of inspiration, insight and beauty to its surroundings... What I love about these sometimes rare materials is the wealth of study and reading that can accompany their aroma. This I find the most exciting and rewarding.. The smelling of them and getting to know them in diffierent moods takes me on new levels of discovery.

More work to create freedom

Tony Burfield from Cropwatch has again outlined the ridiculous penpushing looking out for their own backs policies being generated over the use of certain essential oils... Please take time to read this and if you can help in any way please contact Tony to gather facts, figures and statistics to keep our rights of choice...

To read please go to: http://www.cropwatch.org/

thank you for your time

Janita

Riverside and Anya's Garden ... Ode

Jemina on smelling Riverside this morning

"It's like a secret garden!"

This photo is from Fin Garden in Iran and represents Persia's Garden of Eden.... Riverside will no longer be available. This is an honouring of Anya McCoy's roots.

From Anya's Garden Blog early post there is another Anyas Garden, an entrancing story. Click onto url below and then Anya's Garden link in fuschia there to read. http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/mvm/netlinks/1anya/1anya7-8.html

This story beginning in India and ending in Saudi Arabia and this perfume Riverside , are linked together and form the corner stones and paths for which Anya has nurtered and gently strolled .
The perfume conjures all that is comforting happy and joyful...From the moment I poured the sample into my hand and applied to pulse points I immediately sensed a feeling of deep happiness , fulfillment and contentment.

Citrus and pink peppercorn romp to meet you in a welcoming hug. It is like being taken on a walk through your favourite garden with a dear and beloved friend. Bees and Roses encircle and surround the air as you stroll through this most magic of gardens... The sense of purpose and idealogies are represented in this building forming the canopy of wonderful intricate patterns.....symbolically expressing Anya's work at Riverside and the Citrus garden she enjoyed and the knowledge and fun that was accumulated there at the University and beyond...the river path into the Garden represents clear vision...

The dry down lasts ages and goes on and on of soft creamy vanilla as does the euphoric and relaxed feeling of wellbeing.

Pan and Fairchild both have a freshness and sharpness where.... Riverside is warm, friendly and unashamedly beautiful... It is a best companion that you could reach for time and time again..... A classic.

Au revoir till we meet again..... would be its motto:

Indigo - mysterious, meditative

Ayala Moriels' perfume samples created by perfumer Ayala Sender came with the postman today. Indigo and Tirzah...... Along with a surprise treat from Salaam it felt like it was my birthday opening packages and placing my nose into the delicious offerings and revelling in the aromatic delights that assailed my senses. Salaams Bergamot oh my... this will be in a post of its own.....

Indigo... mysterious , individual and reflective... The overall feeling is of delicious dark secret green floral. Ayalas unusual and deft touch at the top of Aniseed (spice) Tarragon(herbal) and Neroli (floral) blends together in cool symbiosis... the anise wafting gently over tarragon and neroli not in a dominent way but as a breath... beautiful Boronia, spicy warm Carnation and Orris slip quietly into the heart notes silently and without fuss , refined, unfussy , smooth, silent and silky with a drydown of warm oriental amber, hints of meditative incense and sacred cedar from the Himalayas rising like smoke through the perfumes centre.

A perfume that can be worn seamlessly in life , quietly yet full of individual deferred character..cool, reflective yet quietly making its statement. This is me, this is who I am.....
....

frutti paradisi - a garden of Eden

Salaam from Profumo.it sent me a sample of his Frutti Paradisi when posting some raw materials of perfumery.

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to a wedding. I have been helping Kath and her daughter, Laura for the last six months with singing lessons, as both wanted to surprise Sean with a song that would mean something to them and celebrate their feelings. They chose 'These words' by Natasha Bedingfield .... I thought what a wonderful way to exalt their wedding by wearing a natural perfume. It seemed fitting to choose Frutti Paradisi. It was an amazing day, poured with rain but it didn't matter. The service included a Male Voice Welsh Choir. 'Love is like a rose' was beautifully emotive. The bride and maids looked stunning and Sean ( former Sandhurst man) was resplendent in a Kilt. My daughter took pictures which I am wanting too add but she is still to upload them to the computer... so here are the words for now.

I literally poured most of the sample into my hand and applied to pulse points, wrist, behind ears, back of neck and hair. By anointing this perfumed nectar in my palm gave a feeling of pure unequivical pampered indulgence...

The first instant is a delicious explosion of fruit black currants... this perfume gives a cohesive scent of its own and the blend of the fruity and delicate apricot tea osmanthus, creamy sultry jasmine and vanilla is sublime.... as I entered the church and was greeted with a murmur of what a lovely perfume .......a compliment to Monsieur Dubrana. The perfume lasted well into the afternoon where I applied again to last the rest of the evening. There was not one jarring note... Beautifully balanced as if stepping into the Garden of Eden. Exotic, fabulously fruity and with a touch of sensuality without it being crude or decadent. the drydown smooth and multilayered is without any complexity. In fact an elegance that would quite easily move from Theatre, Ballet or Concert to the bedroom... not cloying or narcotic, too sweet or hedonistic but elegant, full bodied and refined..... with a touch of suggestiveness that draws you in..