Update (notes on Rose Volupte, To Dream, and a gardenia mod)
I’ve let too much time go by since my last post, but I’ve been enjoying these early summer days and have been trying to accomplish a lot on both the personal and business fronts.
I have updated the website to move Rose Volupte from the Archive back into the Mixed Media Collection. So many people have written to me with concerns about the long-term status of Volupte that I think it’s best to move it back into the regular lineup. I have moved To Dream into the Archive, at least for now. I am out of stock of To Dream and will wait a bit before re-batching (I do have all the ingredients though — no problems there).
My assistant has nurtured a prolific gardenia plant and has kindly shared some lovely scented blossoms with me, so I was inspired to return to the gardenia project I had begun several years ago. I had completed dozens of mods but wasn’t satisfied with any of them. I started fresh a few weeks ago (keeping all my previous experiments in mind), and I have something I really love. I need to increase the concentration and keep testing, but I think this is coming together very quickly. It’s nice when previous trials pay off later!
The lettuce and tomatoes are doing great in my veggie pot garden. I’m enjoying ripe Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, but it’ll be a while yet before the full size Early Girls are ripe. I’ve had lots of beautiful lettuce because spring was pleasant but cool, so it grew like crazy. The picture at right shows a squirrel that decided to feast on one lettuce plant (they don’t usually eat a whole plant — they usually just like acorns). Luckily I had enough to share and he hasn’t come back for more.
I seem to have frogs living in the flower pots by the front door, and one likes to crawl up the side of the house and hide in the eaves. I’ve not seen them climb all the way up the wall before. I’ve had several get into the house this spring and had to herd them out the front door again. (They will hop in the right direction if I get behind them, which probably looks comical but is effective.)
That’s the end of the critter pictures for now. 🙂 We have a deer with two young twin babies living here this summer, but we’ve not been able to get any pictures yet. We’ve only spotted them three times so far, never when a camera was handy.
Hope your summer is off to a great start!
I love Rose Volupte and gardenia is my favorite scent so I’m quite thrilled to think that there will be a gardenia from you in the near future.
Thanks, FeralJasmine, good to hear! The gardenia scent has citrus top notes (bergamot, bigaradier), florals (gardenia, jasmine, OB, tuberose, lotv), moss, sandalwood, some soft peach, soft labdanum, soft aldehydes, light patchouli. The base is soft rather than heavy, and not too sweet. I’m liking it! I hope testers do too when I make enough to make testers.
I’ll be a tester!!!!!!! I’d test anything you make!
Thanks, Linda! I don’t have enough made for testers yet but hope to be in that stage before too much longer.
Please, let me be a tester! Gardenia perfumes are my passion.
Sure, send me an email with your up-to-date address and preferred email address and I will add you to my tester address book. What gardenia scents are your favorites so far? (One of my faves is EL Tuberose Gardenia, though the one I am working on doesn’t remind me of that one.)
I cannot wait to sniff your rendition of gardenia.
I’m glad your summer has been good so far. Mine will seem short because we’re in the process of remodeling the kitchen and I’ve had to watch these contractors like a hawk. My outdoor enjoyment time has been minimal so far.
A kitchen remodel is really exciting! Hope it goes smoothly! Congrats! (Summer is always too short!)
Oh Laurie, I just love gardenia. My husband bought me one for Mother’s Day, and I’m patiently awaiting the first bloom (hopefully in the next week). I just know your version will be lovely! Thanks for the beautiful pictures!!
Hope your gardenia blooms well, Cathy! I’ve found them difficult here, between the occasional winter freezes and the dry summer heat. Some people have lots of success though, and those blooms are worth it!
Looking forward to trying the gardenia scent when it’s ready. Your garden sounds lovely. We planted peppers and herbs this year. Overnight, something came by and at all the herbs down to the ground. The only thing left were the markers telling us where we had put the plants in.
Oh, I’m sorry your herbs were eaten! Deer will do that here sometimes (I have a deer fence around my garden). Hope you can figure out a strategy to make it work in the future.
A Sonoma Scent Studio gardenia! My dreams come true! Laurie you talent with fragrance is appreciated. I love your wildlife photos. The frogs can be quite boisterous in the evenings. We have tons now that the summer rainy season has started here in FL. Enjoy your summer!
Thanks, Julie! We are so dry here in CA that the frogs have moved into the pots by my front door where they can count on water. We could use some of that summer rain out here! 🙂 Glad a gardenia scent sounds good. Hope you have a great summer too!
The squirrel is cute but I freaked out at the frog. I adore the gardenia scent too. Hope the project takes place soon. Thanks for the nice updates of your daily life!
The frogs are cuter when they stay outside the house! 🙂 I need to take some tomato pics now that they are producing in quantity, though the tomatoes are prettier than the plants, which get scruffy.
Making progress on the gardenia. I need to write a new post. Thanks for stopping by!