Checking in…

You’ve probably heard that Napa, CA had a rather large (6.0) earthquake last night, waking people up at 3:20 in the morning with shaking, damage, and power outages. It woke us up in Sonoma too, with quite a bit of shaking and rolling. My cottage is on stilts on a hillside, so the swaying can be scary. All is fine here though — we didn’t even have any bottles or items tossed to the floor (with all the bottles in my workroom, that could be a nightmare). My heart goes out to those in Napa who sustained damage.

I also wanted to mention that I am back to work on the all-natural amber incense scent. So far the notes are bergamot, elemi, Sichuan pepper, frankincense, cedar, New Caledonia sandalwood, jasmine sambac, rose absolute, beeswax, clove, cinnamon, ginger, oakmoss, patchouli, benzoin, heliotrope, and vanilla. I have a small sample that I like, so I’m scaling up to the next level. I’d like to finish this, if possible, before putting the cart back up. The Sichuan pepper is new to me but is yummy; it has opening notes that are fresh with a zingy citric (almost lemony) feeling, and then the far drydown becomes woodsy.

The first signs of fall are starting to emerge. We still have tomatoes and zucchini, but the plants are looking tired and the maples are already showing some red leaves. The mornings have been foggy and cool while the afternoons are still hot, which is typical late summer weather here.

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11 Comments

    1. Thanks, Melissa! I wouldn’t want a 6.0 any closer — that was plenty of shaking, though not as bad as the big Loma Prieta quake in 1989 when I lived on the Peninsula.

  1. The quake woke us in Sac at 3:20 this morning by shaking the bed and making waves in the pool–enough to slosh out all over the yard and right up to the house! Glad to know you, your cottage, and all the smell goods are unharmed out there <3

    The ambered incense perfume sounds incredible!

  2. I’ve got family and friends in the Bay Area, so I worry anytime I hear about an earthquake in California. I’m excited to hear about your work with the amber fragrance, excited to try it.

    1. It must be hard for out-of-state relatives to watch the earthquake news. Most of the Bay Area came through fine though, with the exceptions of Napa and Vallejo.

      The new scent is more of an incense than an amber, but it has a woodsy, ambery base. Glad it sounds interesting! I started work on it ages ago and meant to get it on the site last fall.

      1. Thanks, sounds great, I’ve been digging the various incense samples I’ve tried recently, but looking forward to some ambers this fall/winter here in Minnesota. An extra layer of warmth, right!

  3. I’m so glad you are okay. I can remember at least two noticeable tremors here in PA. They lasted only for a few seconds but it was terrifying. My heart goes out to the dear people who experience this on a regular basis!

    Hope your break has helped you to heal. It does sound encouraging, since you are working on your new scent that sounds absolutely lovely.

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