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Artisan Distilled HYdrosols and Natural Perfumes Fragrant
Notes
11/23/08 I've been separating the raspberry plants and putting them in a larger area in preparation to have a zillion more next year. In working around the yard I notice many sweet violet blooms. They enjoy the cool weather and to catch them on my radar, I have to be out in it as well. One spring I gathered enough blooms to distill a small batch but they ended up smelling too much like their leaves. So I leave them to scent the air space around the front walk. I pick a small group for a tiny vase and they perfume the room. That works! 11/21/08 Mailbox fun today...a motorcycle gear catalog (this amuses me although it is as logical as a math equation) AND the first seed catalog of the season... wheeee!! 11/16/08 Snow flurries!!!!! 11/5/08 Traditionally, this is the time of year that I seek out witch hazel twigs and leaves that grow for miles up and down these mountain river banks. But this year I am going to wait until the shrub blooms and then harvest for distilling. It smells much nicer that way! 11/1/08 I am very honored and thrilled
to be mentioned in the November newsletter by
White Lotus Aromatics, in their piece about Hydrosols!
Check us out! http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/newsletters/November2008Update.html 10/22/08 Well, humm, the raspberries
have not let up yet but I've been eating them. I tell
myself that next year, when the world 'knows' raspberry hydrosol,
I won't be able to. I truly believe, with this one, I will make my
mark on the world. John Steele says.."The
Raspberry is Divine!" I agree. 10/11/08 Ahhh, the tuberose. I distilled it today but did I get it? I think so. But usually I measure what I am getting by taste as well as smell...and this is the first plant I have distilled where I'm not sure I should be tasting...I haven't keeled over yet. It does smell like tuberose! (Actually, it tasted like tuberose as well.) 10/10/08 It has dawned on me
that within the last four weeks, I have put something "Studies have shown that motorcycling requires more decisions per second, and more sheer data processing than nearly any other common activity or sport. The reactions and accurate decision making abilities needed have been likened to the reactions of fighter pilots." and swirling down the curves of the
Pig Trial, the road crisscrossed with shadows and early morning sunbeams,
I rode that truth. My processing brain had no time to stretch a few
The afternoon, I was not so fresh, and rode hard past my previous physical limits and I arrived home jubilant. What is this doing in my perfume blog??
My recent rides have inspired a new perfume... "Pegasus"
(named after my bike, 'peggy'). A fragrance light and clear and high,
aimed at evoking Flight.
9/25/08 The ginger lilies yield more
'ginger' than 'lily' but I will forgive them. I cannot bottle their
seduction, but they are heavenly enough to remain in the garden just
for themselves. 9/18/08 Lemon Verbena visited me in my dreams last night...sometimes I can smell a flower in my sleep as vividly as if I am in the garden in the middle of a warm afternoon. Sometimes I can smell a flower that could not be growing anywhere near 1000 miles. Are they visiting me in their dream state?
9/10/08 Excellent! My connection came
through with 5 more paw paws and one questionable tigger melon. Will
it ripen?
9/8/08 A friend just stopped by with a native paw paw, and here it sits beside me, fragrant as an excited mango. Will it go on the desert plate? No! it's going into the still pot! 9/7/08 Absolutely gorgeous bike riding weather. So many scents in the air as I glide along...kudzu is still blooming that sweet 'grape'. The shady sections of road hold more 'notes', I guess as moist air holds more. I smell dry, sun baked herbage from banks shimmering with heat and rudbeckias and drippy wet, fecund 'jungle' from the shadows. Every so often I catch a whiff of something that makes me think; jasmine or frangipani! though I know it CAN not be. Is my brain playing tricks on me? I enjoy it none the less! 9/4/08 Alchemy is a concept that captivates me. Transformation. We are all moving towards raising our vibrations, are we not? Along with skin care, I see a new direction for using hydrosols as a means for mental and emotional upliftment. The Alchemy Series. 9/3/08 Rain, rain, rain..no green herbs for me today. Today I'll have a chance to play with that coconut. I have distilled the green ones before with weird results. The hydrosol didn't smell Anything like coconut, and although I felt it would be fantastic for skin care, it had a very short shelf life. 9/2/08 Yummy vanilla has joined our list! I have been busy using it my lotion, smoothies, wherever else I can get it in. The Rains of Gustav are on the way so I went out to see what herbs could be gathered before their oils were diluted with 'too much rain'. Thai basil made it into the pot. 9/1/08 The rose and primrose are bowing out of their turn 'on stage'. Lemon verbena is setting buds so soon she go into the pot. It won't be too long when all the green leaved will have shed and warm spices will have their turn. I have a promise from a vender at the saturday farmer's market to hold his last tigger melons for me. So maybe there will be a bit to include into a blend after all...how exotic! 8/28/08 It has taken 5 or 6 batches ( close to 3 gallons of berries!) but i feel I have unlocked the secret to a good raspberry hydrosol. Ahh, how good it feels. 8/27/08 Sacrificed about a quart of basil hydrosol to get 2 mls of oil for a commission I'm working on. Actually I'm surprised I got that much oil! I wish I had that much extra thai basil to play with...basil with raisin undertones! 8/26/08 GEE...it seems a bit early to be putting on the chaps if even for a while in the morning, but the season has definitely turned. I probably caught my last whiff of kudzu this morning. I know it is a major scourge, but at least it's fragrant! As in 'grape knee high' I used to drink 40 years ago. (see how a scent can remain in the memory?!) Riding a bike makes the atmosphere a lot more intimate with my nose. That was either a fox or coyote that crossed the road ahead of me. I could sense the wildness. 8/25/08 Plant
Hunting...for Yarrow! I have been wanting yarrow back in my collection.
When I used to live in N.C., I would drive up and up and up and up
and up and UP to Dogget Gap, outside Asheville, to gather yarrow and
evening primrose. It's been at least a decade but I think it was about
this time of year. I got the most beautiful blue hydrosol from that
yarrow, and if you will excuse me, that high altitude stuff would
kick butt! 8/21/08 The raspberries are running now like salmon...I will apologies but the plebeian sage and rosemary don't have a chance.
And the melon led me to thinking...raspberries!
Darn! now I can't eat my fall crop!
I have gotten a bit out of the box lately and distilled cacao nibs and a melon! But not just 'a' melon, a divinely aromatic one! Apparently Tigger melons are grown for their fragrance and not taste. It surprised me by Not smelling like cooked squash, and, brow raisingly yummy! I hope to have enough to share next year. The early summer flowers and herbs have given way to the later season crops. Lavender and chamomile are finished but evening primrose is coming on. Rosemary will be ready soon, as will sage, lemon verbena, rose geranium, and perhaps another round of melissa. My David Austin 'Heritage' rose has perked back up with a bit of cool weather.
Small is
Beautiful
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9/14/08
The cooler days have brought a flush of lemon blossoms,
which i distill into my version of 'Neroli'... a classic and a favorite.
Lemon Verbena is up next. I'm also waiting for my first ginger lilies
to bloom; as a gift from a friend, I fear they still think they are
in central Louisiana with plenty of warm days ahead. They have about
one month to 'do their thing'! And will they distill?
9/9/08
With paw paw fever, I drove down the Pig Trail today
to the Mulberry River Valley. For this trip I am on (in) 4 wheels.
Excitement comes with finding as many as one. Also, I bring home another
heart rock (I bet we have over 100) and 10 gallons of spring water
for drinking and distilling. (I have lived here for 9 years without
running water,btw.)
Into
my mouth or into the pot??