Thursday 28 August 2014

adrift in a cloud of Aesop

 i think we can say it has been a mixed week
during which i discovered that a silk jacket
[pre-loved Liz Claiborne]
did not dye well.
suspect it has been coated with stain resisters
 
the lesson is not to purchase in a wild rush
but take time
do the drink bottle test
ie splash a tiny bit of water on the surface of suspect silk
if the damp silk has a whiff of gas station
or worse still if the water rolls off 
leave the item in the store
the lesson is, in fact, to s l o w down
and smell the flowers
it's spring
 just be careful with Geraldton Wax
they seem to harbour a lot of flies
 happily some other things yielded better results
 i have been wandering the paddocks
gathering up bones
that are the remnants of cattle and sheep 
who have shuffled off this mortal coil
mainly due to age and infirmity
 it is not as gruesome as it might appear
and is in a good cause
in a week or two i will be taking them to the 
where they will form a bonecairn 
anyway after my gathering
i tottered off to the Post Office
where a delightful parcel awaited me
thank you Aesop
for sending me a sample of your new perfume
it mingles bergamot and orange
jasmine, rose, clove and cardamon
and two things i had to look up
Fusianus spicatus [which turned out to be sandalwood
...i always think of Santalum album together with that common name]
and
Cananga odorata [ylang ylang]

it smells so much better than bleached bones
that it had me dreaming
of places and people faraway
in the way that certain fragrances do

and though i miss their old fragrance
which has been discontinued
i will say that this one is quite delightful
thank you, Aesop!

+

that scent makes me want to take a tent
to the far paddock
wrap myself in teasilk
and dig a natural swimming pool

15 comments:

  1. Your version of camping sounds heavenly. That's a tent I could happily exist in for a bit. Now...how to talk my husband into getting it....? Enjoy!

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    1. Surely the twins need it for the back yard?

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  2. Can I draw that jacket photo!! That's a gorgeous design just the way you shot it!! And the bones... I want to draw them too. You have a very creative, artistic eye! The perfume sounds incredible, do you like it?

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    1. the photo looks rather better than the actuality because I ran the image through an enhancing filter...and I do like the perfume, though if I'm honest I still prefer their other (sadly discontinued one) called Mystra. Nonetheless I remain an Aesop devotee...everything they make smells good and they supply me with hand cream for students to enjoy at workshops, for which I am truly grateful

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  3. Want the tent. Looking for the paddock.

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  4. there are so many of my favourite fragrances in Aesop's bottle, I must see where i might purchase such a scent; and on a personal note: I have just received your second skin and have fallen in love all over again (eco color was no.1)

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    1. Aesop will supply you via their website
      and
      I'm pleased another copy of Second Skin has found a good home. Wish my publisher would let me complete the trilogy using the same fabulous designer...Toyoko Sugiwaka does such beautiful work

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  5. YUM!
    Aesop is soo huge in Paris, and all I wanted was Savon de Marsailles. A lesson in the grass is always greener, I think.

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  6. I just love the arid lands bot ganders. My grandma helped set it up. What an appropriate place for a bone cairn :)

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  7. Oh, typos! Sorry about that!

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    1. Not at all. And three rousing cheers for your grandma, it's a wonderful garden.

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  8. So many delights in one post... first, thanks for the links to tea silk, a grand tent, and the swimming pools... we have an old canvas tent from my father-in-law set up for the summer (which is just beginning to ebb into fall now) so the grand-girls can roam in it, and I grew up swimming in a freshwater concrete pool built by my great-uncle back in the 1930s, so those both touched my nostalgia nerves. I am sorry to hear about your jacket, though just had a similar experience with a silk shirt that did not take well to the indigo bucket, despite repeated dippings. Maiwa says that pre-washing in Orvus paste will help with such things, but I think your testing and skipping in future is the best method, so as not to release any nasty chemicals through my greywater system. Shared knowledge helps prevent future catastrophes, so thanks for that.

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  9. Exactly so. It's why I'm also so concerned about the developing trend for cooking bundles sealed inside plastic vessels. PCBs will be vaporizing to be absorbed by the dyer as well as going down the gurgler

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