Posted in Uncategorized on November 18, 2019|
It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve blogged Muse in Wooden Shoes here at WordPress.com, rather than a self-hosted site … and now I’m baaaa-aaack!
Or, rather, I will be soon, with those seven years of blog content to be migrated back here. This is just to say that you can look for La Muse here in the future.
Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged fragrances of 2011 on December 29, 2011| 27 Comments »
Well, at least in part.
I’ve never done one of these posts, since it’s rare that I’ve even tried more than three or four released-this-year fragrances. But thanks to several shopping trips and a few decants, and some really lovely fumie friends, I’ve tried several of the year’s releases and can actually comment on the ones I’ve tested. This is a new experience for me, as I’m typically behind the times.
It was a grab-bag sort of year. I’ll divide the new fragrances I tried into categories, depending on my reaction to each one.
Well, Duh: new fragrances that I didn’t like, but then I didn’t expect to like:
Justin Bieber Someday; Jessica Simpson I Fancy You; Taylor Swift Wonderstruck – all three of these were simple, fruity, lowest-common-denominator kind of scents. I rather like Taylor herself, but I can’t imagine wearing any of these sugary fruitbombs on my actual skin.
Sonoma Scent Studio Fig Tree – what can I say? I don’t like fig scents. It was kind of Laurie to send me a sample to try, anyway, and this one is getting raves from lots of people. So it’s me.
Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude – anything with a “skin scent” descriptor is likely to disappear on me within an hour. This one’s no different: laundry musk and plastic.
L’Eau d’Issey Florale – the original is so reminiscent of industrial cleaner that I was sure that tossing some “light” florals like freesia and peony on top wouldn’t improve things much. I was right.
Why Did I Bother?: new fragrances that I expected to like, but didn’t like:
Shalimar Parfum Initial – well, I didn’t hate it. But it doesn’t seem related to Shalimar in the least, and bored me silly. Not that I’m a huuuuge Shalimar fan, but still. Dull.
Chanel No. 19 Poudre – I like powder, and I love No. 19. I was hoping for the equivalent of No. 5 Eau Premiere, an updating that didn’t dumb down the original. Nope.
Even Steven: new fragrances I thought I’d like, and did:
Oscar de la Renta Esprit d’Oscar – a cold-cream-and-face-powder floral that is both dressy and comforting.
Sonoma Scent Studio To Dream – I adore the oaky opening. The rest of it is rose and violet and woods, very pretty. A little fainter than I’d have liked it to be.
Disappointment: new fragrances that I expected to love, but merely liked, or found unimpressive:
Serge Lutens Vitriol d’Oeillet – I was hoping for those angry carnations to come through for me. It’s nice – a dry, spicy, woody thing that I find very enjoyable. Yet it could have been so much more that I was disappointed.
Cartier Baiser Vole – a green, romantic lily? Yes, please! On a card, it’s wonderfully refreshing. On my skin, it’s not green at all; rather, it’s flat and soapy.
Elie Saab Le Parfum – the prettiest orange blossom I’ve ever smelled, in a glowing, sparkling tulle confection. I wanted more aldehydes and less patchouli, though.
Illuminum White Gardenia Petals – Three words: boring, boring, boring. Sigh.
DSH Pandora – essence of green floral chypre sounded so lovely! And it is, right up to the Ghost of Youth Dew time. The rest of you, please enjoy it copiously. I admire Dawn’s work very much – including this fragrance – but this one is not for me.
Bottega Veneta – I give up. I can’t even review this thing. I almost like it a lot, but there’s a raspy, Tang-dust thing in there, and then there’s all that patchouli too.
Tom Ford Violet Blonde – raspberry-violet-cashmere musk? Sounds great, thanks. But it smells like SweeTarts to me. No, thanks.
Parfumerie Generale Praline de Santal – I can’t remember which blogger loved this thing and induced me to jump in on a tiny split portion, unsniffed. I like it. It’s nice. However, after the almost-nauseating immortelle bit (oddly, I still like the smell of immortelle, but it makes me feel a little queasy), it goes all linear to creamy woods. It doesn’t move me.
Surprise, surprise!: new fragrances I expected not to like, but wound up enjoying:
Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau – burnt-sugar palmier pastries. What fun! A wonderful blend of childlike and sophisticated, and never fails to make me want a bitter espresso to highlight its deep roasty sugary pastry thing. Won’t be buying it because it’s a) weird, and b) retailing at Serge prices. Oh, well. And anyway, where would I wear it?
Prada Candy – I expected this to be too sweet, too linear, too meh. Instead, it’s warm and rich and comfortable and fun. I think I’d rather have Hanae Mori Butterfly, but still.
CkOne Shock for Him – I wound up buying a small bottle of this for my son, since I kept hearing that it might echo Chanel Egoiste, at a much lower price. It does smell cheapish, but that’s okay. That suits the wardrobe of a teenage boy, and I like smelling it on him.
True love: new fragrance that I thought I’d love, and I do:
Tableau de Parfums Miriam – there’s either too much to say about this one, or not enough. I adore it – its perfumey-ness, its wistfulness, its warm sandalwood. So gorgeous.
Candidates: new fragrances I wanted to test, but didn’t get to:
Atelier Vanille Insensee
Lubin Black Jade (despite all the hoo-ha about Marie Antoinette and whether this is actually a long-lost recipe for her perfume or not, the notes sound right up my alley)
Juliet Has a Gun Romantina
Amouage Honour Woman (Amouage does White Floral?? I have a sample coming my way now)
Possibilities: new fragrances that got some blogger love and that I might explore if the chance comes about:
Annick Goutal Le Mimosa
Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cheri par Camille
By Kilian Sweet Redemption
Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Jasminora
Angel eau de toilette (I hate the original; merely curious about this one)
I enjoyed the opportunity to try some new scents while they were brand new. That was exciting. However, I don’t feel that I’ve got anything to say about the year’s releases as a group. As with most of the perfumes I’ve tested – new or old – it’s a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Your thoughts?
Image is from thegiftexperience.co.uk.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged nutcrackers on December 28, 2011| 4 Comments »
I love nutcrackers. You know, the brightly-painted, vaguely-Germanic Christmassy decorative nutcrackers? I collect them. (So far, I have managed to avoid also collecting nutcracker rugs, nutcracker trashcans, nutcracker shower curtains, nutcracker plates, and the like, by dint of much insistence. Okay, I now have a nutcracker rug that once belonged to my late grandmother. And I have some nutcracker ornaments that really started the Whole Nutcracker Collecting Thing. But that’s it, I swear.) Here’s a pic of my collection. Please note that every single one of these guys has a name. That was Taz’ idea several years ago, but it was mine to insist that they all have Teutonic names, just Because. SO I have Wolfgang und Karl und Siegfried und Josef…
My favorite? It’s the guy on the second row, far right, in the blue. He’s getting older, and his paint is chipping, but he’s still Karl and I still lurve him.
And I love the Sunday Sweets posts over on CakeWrecks. Well, I love CakeWrecks posts in general, especially the Mithspellings ones, but I especially love to look at beautiful cakes. So when I saw this one, I HAD TO SHARE. Enjoy! He’s CAKE. How could anyone eat such adorableness? It’s beyond me.
I’d probably manage that, anyway, because, you know, he’s cake.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 20, 2011| 3 Comments »
Christmas parade (Taz in foreground, in red shirt)
Monday, Dec. 12: Clear and cold again. News flash: you know, Neutrogena Rainbath shower gel in the original formula still smells really good. Why don’t they make a Rainbath EdT? I’d wear it.
This is the last week of school before winter holidays – the boys are joyous. Bookworm is too stressed, with a report due for her science project class, and exams in her other classes, to be joyous now. By Friday, though, I’m sure she will be over the moon with relief. Final community chorus concert this evening.
SOTD: Harvey Prince Ageless on one wrist. Harvey Prince has offered a giveaway (see here), and sent a coffret of six small roll-on bottles of their scents, so I’ll be reviewing them.
Concert went okay. We totally blew it with going flat on one song (my favorite one, of course)… I still don’t know what went wrong, but I think it started in the altos and we just never recovered. The brass players (four kids from the high school band, including PETBoy) did great, though, and I think that particular song went even better than yesterday. I dabbed one wrist with a drop of DSH 1000 Lilies parfum, and no one complained – probably because it didn’t radiate much.
Tuesday, Dec. 13: The Christmas presents I ordered online are starting to roll in now, and I’m almost done with the shopping. SOTD: Etat Libre d’Orange Like This. I loved this sniffed from the vial, all gingery-spicy-pumpkiny goodness. But on my skin, not-so-much. I’m not sure why. Immortelle overdose, maybe. It smells… flat on me, not the lively joyous thing that I smelled in the vial. I’ll try it again.
SOTEvening: Harvey Prince Eau Flirt. This one’s supposed to drive men wild. We shall see. (For the record, I am skeptical.) The CEO said, “I like it! This smells like… the hair salon. I don’t want to say old ladies, but… you know. Like when you go to get your hair cut and they’ve been doing perms.” After the topnotes went away, he said he liked it better, but that now it smelled more like an average department store perfume. Not distinctive. “Nice,” he repeated, “very nice. But not unusual or special.”
We have another orphan calf to bottle-feed. He’s staying in the Guest House (see last week’s Scent Diary for a picture of said Guest House) and getting a quart bottle morning and evening. We’ve named him Samuel, and he’s a cutie.
Wednesday, Dec. 14: Weather is warming up – the high today was 58F. The kids are counting down the days until winter break; at breakfast today, Gaze looked earnestly into my eyes and asked, “Is today Wednesday?” I nodded. “Two more days after today!” he exulted. Taz is looking forward to Friday, when his class will bring snacks to share and watch “The Polar Express” on video. And Bookworm has a rough academic week: big paper due for her science project on Monday, Chemistry exam Tuesday, Statistics and American History exams today, Advanced Math and English exams tomorrow and also the band winter concert tomorrow night. She’s pulling for Friday for all she’s worth!
The CEO is home grading papers; he says it’s difficult to transition from teaching college classes to farming and back. Also, we have a heifer who jumped a fence and broke her leg the other day, so I’m going to have to clear some space in the freezer. The CEO is chagrined because we’ve lost several animals to injury or disease this year: a bull to peritonitis, a cow to a broken pelvis following calving (this is unusual – usually calving problems lead to calf death, not injuries to the cow), two cows to unexplained disease (not communicable, apparently), months apart, and this heifer to a broken leg. None of these were preventable, except possibly the peritonitis; it’s common for owners of really valuable purebred cattle to feed them each a small magnet, so that if the animals accidentally ingest something sharp, like a nail or a piece of barbed wire, the metal will stick to the magnets in their stomachs instead of trying to navigate the intestines and poking holes there, leading to peritonitis. The magnets aren’t guaranteed to work, of course.
SOTD: Harvey Prince Coupling. The company claims that its notes are “proven to arouse.” Uh-huh. Again, we’ll see. Review of all of these Harvey Prince scents coming. SOBedtime: Shalimar Light.
Thursday, Dec. 15: Warm again today. SOTD: Bottega Veneta, still for review. Drove Jeff the Hired Guy to the John Deere dealership to pick up a tractor, and then went to see if I could finish the Christmas shopping. I didn’t quite get finished, but I’m close. I bought a few scented gifts at Belk, and while I was there I spritzed some Esprit d’Oscar, which is every bit as nice as I remembered it. I had commented on a couple of blogs that a Prada Candy mini might be my next purchase, but honestly – I think I’d enjoy the Esprit d’Oscar much better, on the whole. Mowed the grass for the last time this year.
Went to Bookworm’s band Christmas concert and thoroughly enjoyed it! PETBoy had a couple of solos and did a beautiful job with them (no surprise there), and the band sounded terrific. SOTEvening: Iris Poudre, so elegant.
Friday, Dec. 16: Rainy day. Busy, too: Gaze’s class is doing what’s called a “Pet Project,” and students were invited to have their parents bring their (well-behaved) pets to school for a brief time today. Hayley, after a bath and a brushout, went on leash and behaved very well. Also, The CEO got “sworn at,” as he jokes; he took an oath of service to the School Board today. I’m fighting off a flulike sort of bug and really feel horrible, so I did as little as possible today. SOTEvening: Serge Lutens 5:00 au Gingembre, quite nice.
Bought just a few things online today and the shopping is DONE. DoneDoneDoneDone!
Saturday, Dec. 17 Bookworm got new personal records in both her track events today, running 3:24 in her 1000 m race and 12:26 in the 3200. I’m so proud! The CEO got his Christmas present early – he’s been wanting a fancy new camera for at least a couple of years now, so he tracked down the one he wanted and found it on sale. So we bought it. We also bought a new 50” plasma TV (yay, we’ve gone digital!), but the one we wanted wasn’t in stock, so we’ll pick it up next week.
CEO put the tree up today and added lights, but no decorations yet, mostly because I’m still recovering and not feeling up to it. SOTD: 10 Corso Como, for a joint blogging project to be posted Dec. 21. As it faded, I topped it off with some Tableau de Parfums Miriam.
Sunday, Dec. 18: Got up luxuriously late (8:30 am!) and made chocolate-chip-pecan pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Then we decorated the tree, I put a roast in the oven, and we went to church in the late afternoon. SOTD: Alahine, beautiful Christmassy thing.
The kids will be home all this coming week. Feel free to pray for me if you’d like. Eep.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 19, 2011| 4 Comments »
Sorry – I’ve had a tummy bug (recovered now), and it’s been madly Christmas here for the last several days. Scent Diary and some reviews will be up this week, including a joint blogging project entitled “O Tannenbaum” on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
Posted in Uncategorized on October 21, 2011| 5 Comments »
Remember this post I wrote about two years ago, when Bookworm was new to the high school marching band? It’s still true. I am still a Marching Band Junkie. Cadence still makes my blood itch.
First football game of 2011; photo by David Gravely Photography.
This Friday night, I’ll be riding Band Bus #2 as a chaperone as we head off to another away game. (Chances are, the football team will go home with their record at 0 for 8. It’s been a baaaaad year.) Just heard: the band director has decided we won’t be going to the football game. It should be chilly and windy, and with several kids either sick or recovering from illness and the big competition tomorrow, he thought it would be wiser to just hold a short practice and then let the kids go home for some rest. I think he’s right. Bookworm was going to have to leave and go home with her dad after the pregame show anyway, to get some rest before the District cross-country meet Saturday morning.
And all day Saturday, I’ll be working at the marching band assessment/ competition our high school band is hosting, monitoring the lower gate by which bands will enter the stadium one by one, on their way to take the field and present their shows for judging. I’ll be able to hear the bands really well, but not see the shows; this option is more fun than working the registration table or the concession stand, where you can’t see OR hear anything.
I’m addicted: gotta get my band fix every week. It’s not just the way that my feet start moving on their own when I hear the drumline. It’s not just the way that the soloists make me proud and the music swells my heart; it’s not just the way that I gasped with delight the first time I saw the show with the horn flips added in (so cool!). It’s the kids, too. It’s been great fun getting to know the kids this year:
Cody, head drum major, in Serious Mode. His mouth is closed. This is unusual. Rode a bus for two hours a few weeks ago, with him sitting two seats behind me, and he never, I mean never, stopped talking. At the last home football game, I happened to catch him directing the band in a stands tune and talking to his girlfriend (Britney, a 2010 graduate, former alto sax section leader) in the bleachers at the same time. I didn’t even know that was possible. He plans to attend community college, and eventually to become a state trooper. Active with Boy Scouts. Plays trumpet.
This is Charlie, drum major, warming up the band for playing at a football scrimmage in August. Charlie attends Governor’s School and was instrumental in encouraging Bookworm to apply for it. She’s a smart girl and a real sweetheart, one of Bookworm’s best buds. She’ll be able to enter a really good college, but hasn’t settled on one yet. She’s dating a former drum major, 2010 graduate Robbie, who’s now serving in the US Army, posted in Germany. Loves her cellphone because he texts her every chance he gets. Good friends with fellow DM Cody. Plays clarinet.
Anybody recognize this guy? Yep, it’s PETBoy, Bookworm’s swain. The first time I talked to him was at the marching band competition we hosted last fall, long before I noticed any glint in his eye with regard to her; he was serving as a bike courier and carrying stuff around from band room to stadium or registration table, and vice versa. First thing I noticed was that he had beautiful eyes. Second thing I noticed was that he was helpful to the nth degree, polite, friendly, and very responsible. Last spring, I started hearing his name pop up a lot in Bookworm’s conversation, particularly during drum major tryouts. The next week, his mother, who had graduated high school with The CEO, died suddenly after a very short illness. Every band member who could manage it went to the funeral, and I notice that there’s an ongoing, unofficial Take Care of PETBoy movement among the trumpet section and the low brass players. Bookworm’s grandfather (The CEO’s dad) died only a few weeks later, and I think that led to some serious conversations and increased trust between PETBoy and Bookworm. In a lot of ways, they’re kindred spirits. I don’t know of a single band parent that wouldn’t adopt him in a heartbeat. One of the two trumpet section leaders, along with Cooper (you can see part of Cooper in this photo, just to PETBoy’s left).
This is TJ. First band kid, other than my own, that I met. Never met a stranger. Makes me laugh. Staunch friend of PETBoy’s, from elementary school on; they attend the same church and TJ often sleeps over at PETBoy’s house. The only percussion section member who assists in loading the equipment truck with stuff other than his own instrument. Bass drum.
This is Brittany. (You can also see half of Bookworm’s face peeking out from behind the band director’s shoulder in this photo, with Rebecca and Gage, tenor saxophone players, in the background.) Brittany runs cross-country and track with Bookworm. Honor student. One of the few kids whose skin is fair enough to turn red when she runs, just like Bookworm. Loves M&Ms. Unfailingly cheerful, even in extreme weather conditions. Flute section leader.
This is Grey. Goes by his middle name (actually, so do PETBoy and Tuba Dakota; you’d think the place was Redneck Soap Opera). Runs cross-country with Bookworm, and plays soccer in the spring. Can be wickedly funny. Boy Scout and honor student. This photo shows him at a band carwash fundraiser, after he cut his hair. You should have seen it when it was really long, it needed its own zip code. Likes to show off his muscles by going shirtless as often as possible. Once had a crush on Bookworm – which may be why he decided to run cross-country! – but as she said to me, “He’s like another annoying younger brother,” and that wasn’t going to work out, PETBoy or no PETBoy. Currently dating Mellophone Taylor, who I think has good taste: brains, brawn, sense of humor. Tenor sax, also plays alto sax.
This is the tuba section: LowBrass Ben*, Kalep, and Tuba Cody, holding Tuba Dakota and about to bust a gut laughing. I can’t look at this photo without laughing, myself! The saxophones started this “pick up a section member” stunt, when the Band Booster President was taking pictures of the sections, by picking up Bookworm, their smallest section member. Then the trumpets picked up Amy, the flutes picked up Brittany‘s leg – she’s really tall, they couldn’t lift her whole body – and the mellophones picked up Courtney. The tubas, who have more testosterone than they know what to do with, picked up their largest section member just to be funny.
Ben’s been one of Bookworm’s best buds since middle school, when they were in nearly every class together. He also plays baritone horn and trombone. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t talk a lot but notices everything, and can come out with some really witty saying when you least expect it. Was dating Holley, from the color guard, but that fell apart recently and Ben is currently dating mellophone section leader Courtney (Bookworm swears she saw that coming two years ago). Kalep volunteers with the fire department and is a huge history buff. Currently dating former flute section leader and 2011 graduate Lori. Dakota and Kalep have been best friends forever – yes, really, BFF! – and despite dressing and talking like rednecks, are honor students along with Ben. The three of them, along with slender Alto Sax Ben, were responsible for “The Great Chicken Nugget Massacre of 2010,’ when the four of them ate 100 McNuggets in about 15 minutes, on the way to some marching competition. Cody I know less well, but I know he loves practical jokes. He’s currently dating mellophone player Stephanie, also known as “Snax.” All four tuba players are Boy Scouts.
*There’s also Drumline Ben and Alto Sax Ben, as well as Low Brass Ben. Tuba Cody is distinct from Drum Major Cody; there’s Tuba Dakota and Trumpet Dakota. There’s Trumpet Alex (female), Baritone Horn Alex (male), and Color Guard Alex (female) as well as Mellophone Taylor (female) and Drumline Taylor (male). This makes me really, really glad we picked a less-common name for Bookworm. And it’s no wonder Grey and PETBoy use their middle names; their first names are ubiquitous at that school!
I didn’t even introduce you to Jolly, Jamie, and Li’l Bill (“li’l” no more as a 5’8″ sophomore, though he was just topping five feet when he first joined the band as an 8th grader and got his nickname). Or twin sisters Teddie and Kasey, who went to preschool with Bookworm. Or Marissa, who’s determined to wring every ounce of innocent enjoyment out of her senior year. Or Michael B, or Jessi, or Tristen, or the rest of the 72 marching members of the band.
Good kids. If you’re worried about the future of the country, go meet the kids in your local high school music department. You’ll be heartened. Or come visit me and meet “my” band kids – they’re so great! I’d take every single one of them home with me and let ’em stay.
WBHS Letter Squad, 1984. Photo by Mrs. Manseau. That's me standing, third from left.
I miss my own friends from marching band. Some of them are on Facebook and I can chat with them whenever I want; some are not and I’d love to check in with them. I miss Amy and Tracey; I miss Ricky and Steve and Beth. I miss Sean and Don and Tammy. I miss Mary-the-walking-blond-joke. I miss Tommy, AKA “Fig.” I miss Kelley. I miss Angela, AKA “Woolly.” I even miss Jayson and Tana. I miss my Letter Girls – especially Jackie, Carlynn, Angie, and Trudy. We had some great times, didn’t we?
Found this prose-poem about marching band the other day:
Marching Band
The glimmer of the stadium lights
reflect again and again from the medals of shakos
proudly bearing their loyalties
and the night falls on the shoulders of those
dark conquistadors in their black and gold
buttons polished, backs straight, ready for inspection
they stand at attention
chins up and eyes cold and dark
faces like stone work
personas engraved in marble
their hands clutching their instruments like weapons
aggression in the crook of thumb and forefinger
and a certain solemnity in their expressions.
This family of midnight strangers
in practice of the night
greet their futures
beneath a blanket of stars.-Lauren Hatch
September 19, 2007
All photos by Nicole Ward, unless otherwise attributed.
Posted in Uncategorized on October 4, 2011|
Gaze is sick with some virus thing.
I’m taping and painting Taz’ room.
I hope to post this review later today. Check in again to see if I have managed to get my ducks in a row and/or herd my cats…
Posted in Scent Diary, Uncategorized, tagged Scent Diary on September 19, 2011| 10 Comments »
John Deere 4440 and round baler, seen behind the Morning Glory Vine That Ate the Porch
Monday, Sept. 12: Another beautiful day. I finally finished sewing the ribbon trim to Bookworm’s Homecoming dress, yay! She’s going to be so lovely in it. SOTMorning: a test sample of Sonoma Scent Studio’s upcoming scent which goes by the working name of “Classic.” It was gorgeously floral for some time, and then went all celery-vetiverish and vanilla. I’m betting it’s me, because on paper it is stunningly sandalwoody.
SOTE: Le Temps d’une Fete, beautiful. Attended Band Booster meeting… SO MUCH WORK goes into what happens on the field at the football game; most people have no idea. (Okay, to be fair, I have no idea what the football parents of the Touchdown Club do – they probably do fundraisers, too, and help haul around the equipment. But the football team is better funded, that much I know.)
Update: Oops, misjudged the strap length on one side. Must fix. Also, the shoes she liked two weeks ago no longer suit her: too unstable, and they’re going to rub her pinky toes. Arrrrrrgh. Really, she just needs practice walking in heels! I started wearing heels to church when I was, oh, 11 or 12, and was awkward in them for awhile, but I wanted to learn. She doesn’t want to practice, and she thinks the problem is in the shoes. They aren’t even high heels – they’re 1 ¾” tall, and they’re on the chunky side, somewhere between “kitten” and “court” heels.
Tuesday, Sept. 13: SOTD: Vintage Balmain Jolie Madame extrait. I’m spoiling myself. This vtg extrait is both incredibly floral and incredibly leathery, and completely ladylike in an unpowdery way. Also retesting SSS “Classic” on the back of my hand. No celery today, yippee.
SOTEvening: Cuir de Lancome.
Did a little sniffery with Taz before dinner, and gave him several so-called masculine scents to sniff, trying to find out his preferences. He’s got a birthday coming up in a few weeks (as does Gaze, 8 days later). C&S No. 88 he didn’t like; nor did he like DSH Lucky Clover. He said Acqua di Gio and Dior Homme Sport were just “okay,” and he did not like Hermes Bel Ami and YSL M7 at all. What did he like? Shalimar Light and Chanel Egoiste. Wonder if I could find an Egoiste smell-alike for him… there’s no way I’m buying a Chanel for an 11-year-old! Maybe I could search Fragrantica for a woody-spicy fragrance that isn’t expensive. Hmm.
Wednesday, Sept. 14: Mowed grass. There won’t be too many more times to do that; the growth has already slowed quite a bit. SOTD: Champagne de Bois.
Thursday, Sept. 15: Cool front moving in! SOTD: Coty Chypre on wrists, and DSH Chypre on inner forearms. Lovely stuff. Finished hemming Bookworm’s new jeans. After her conniption fit ther other day about her Homecoming shoes, I bought a different batch of shoes for her to try. She likes one pair that has heels a trifle lower, and thinks she might choose them instead of the other pair. I like them both, and although I think the first pair is slightly prettier, I’m not the one wearing them… sigh. I should be glad she’s in any heels at all.
(Thank goodness for Zappos and OnlineShoes! She has teeny feet, and nobody in this area carries size 5 for women. Any size 5s I can find locally – and there aren’t many! – tend to be little-girl shoes. Luckily, she takes a size 6 in running shoes, or we’d be in trouble there too.)
Community Chorus rehearsal went pretty well. SOTEvening: Caron Parfum Sacre, lovely cozy stuff.
PCHS tubas rockin' it to "Hey, Baby," at the football game, photo by Nicole Ward
Saturday, Sept. 17: Cleaned house – well, to be honest, I gave it “a lick and a promise,” as my grandmother always called any half-hearted attempt. After lunch, I dropped Bookworm off at school for marching band quick rehearsal before they left for their competition. The CEO managed to score two tickets to the Virginia Tech football game, and it was Taz’ turn to go, so those two headed off for the game while Gaze and I went to my parents’ house. He stayed to watch the game on TV with my dad (another VT alumnus), while Mom and I went to watch the band competition, which was being hosted by my own high school. SOTD: SSS Champagne de Bois, still on my band shirt from last night, with a tiny layering of Tabac Aurea as well. Nice.
It was actually tough to be there at my old school, hearing cadences played, and not marching. I don’t miss high school much. But I miss marching band. I had terrific friends there, even better maybe than my choir friends or youth group friends. And I always loved cadence; it still makes my blood itch and my feet want to move.
Bookworm’s school did very well. The show was the cleanest I’ve seen it performed yet. This competition is early in the season and designed as a clinic – i.e., for the purpose of providing bands with judging and constructive criticism to help shape the rest of the competition season. We were gratified to notice that PCHS received the highest score of the day, a quarter of a point better than that really big band from North Carolina. I’m so proud.
Sunday, Sept. 18: Since we didn’t actually take a family vacation this summer, we’d promised the boys that we’d take them to the amusement park (Carowinds, on the border between North and South Carolina, about two hours’ drive away). Today shaped up to be really great for it: temps in the 70s, mostly cloudy. Very comfortable weather, and the park isn’t crowded in the fall, so you can ride pretty much anything you want, with very little waiting in line. PETBoy went with us, and honestly, deserved a gold star or two for hanging with Bookworm, who is a roller coaster fiend. I like roller coasters myself, but there are a couple that I don’t enjoy at this park. PETBoy rode them with her, and even rode once with Taz, just so I could sit out the wooden coaster that gives me a headache. SOTD: Balenciaga Paris, which is quite nice: violet leaf, violet, comfortable tonka-musk drydown. I’ll probably use up my sample (thanks, Undina!) and enjoy it, and never give it another thought.
Got home very late and gratefully collapsed into the sheets wearing Shalimar Light.
Posted in Scent Diary, Uncategorized on August 1, 2011| 7 Comments »
Monday, July 25: Considerably cooler than the weekend, thank-you-Lord! Rained buckets at lunch time, and I had to haul the clothes in off the line. SOTD: Throwdown between Ferre by Ferre and Gianfranco Ferre. Winner will be pitted against F Malle Iris Poudre and possibly against Ferre 20.
Bookworm’s “pre-camp” band camp week started today. As a section leader, she’s involved in teaching rookies the fundamentals of marching. She said it went fairly well. SOTE: Balenciaga Paris.
Lon Chaney's Phantom, photo from Wikimedia Commons
Watched a DVD of The Phantom of the Opera on my ‘puter. I’ve long been fascinated by the story, probably after seeing a portion of the 1929 movie starring Lon Chaney as the Phantom. I’ve read the novel (translated from French) and am familiar with the music, but have never managed to see the theatrical production, so it was great to finally get the chance to see the movie. I have a lot to say about it, and I may wind up doing a separate Phantom post.
Tuesday, July 26: Temps in the high 80s today, but only slightly less miserable. Bleargh. SOTD: Ferre aldehydics again – Ferre by Ferre, and Ferre by Gianfranco Ferre (edt). The boys weeded the front walk, while Bookworm was off to band pre-camp today. The CEO repaired a tractor – I don’t know what was wrong with it, I didn’t want to know! Waited for the Verizon technicians to come and fix the buzz on my landline, which has been there for three years and has gotten ridiculously worse in recent months. It was supposed to be repaired two summers ago when they moved our line from the top of the house to underground, but it didn’t help. Today, the repair guys didn’t even show. And when I called to find out the status, the first CS guy I talked to (in India, judging by his accent) was super-nice, but the American woman in dispatch that he transferred me to was a total witch. I hate Verizon.
Wednesday, July 27: Hot again, mowed the grass. Made a sour cream pound cake from a recipe that I found for my sister. SOTMorning: Ferre by Gianfranco Ferre (edp this time, and it’s different from the edt). Waited for the phone company to come fix the buzz on the line; they didn’t show. SOTEvening: Amoureuse. Yum. I’m still missing the green notes that should be there, but the honey and cardamom almost make up for that.
Thursday, July 28: Waited again for the phone company to come fix the buzz on the line; they didn’t show. Jerks. They did call to say that they’d be in the area tomorrow… yeah, right. Look, I scheduled the appointment a week in advance. Why did I have the option to pick Tuesday if it was really going to be Friday, or even later? Total jerks.
SOTD: Balenciaga Paris (thanks for the sample, Undina!) Update: just received a call from the Verizon technician, saying he’d be here to fix our phone some time this afternoon; he mentioned that he had just gotten the assignment ticket this morning and he was surprised to see the scheduled date of 7/26 on it. Not his fault – I knew Verizon’s Customer Service was totally full of it.
Okay, so now the phone is fixed… but we can’t connect to the internet. I know these two are related. We have DSL through the phone company, and it was fine until the technician showed up, and not-fine since. Waiting for internet service. SOTE: gorgeous, fluffy Iris Poudre. Still not getting the Ferre resemblance.
Friday, July 29: Hot and humid, in the mid-90s. I hate summer. SOTD: Ferre by Gianfranco Ferre edp. I like it, it’s nice, it reminds me quite a bit of Ferre 20, but it still doesn’t call Iris Poudre to mind much. I don’t know where people are getting this from…
The CEO and I went out to dinner at Applebee’s and picked up “Lincoln Lawyer” from the Redbox on the way home. An enjoyable movie, with more of a twisty-turny plot than I had thought it would be. The CEO was thinking that the premise might make for a pretty good drama series: sleazy colorful LA lawyer has a straight-arrow Assistant DA ex-wife with whom he’s still friendly, sleazy colorful PI’s with whom he works, and sleazy colorful clients you know are guilty but still wind up rooting for. It would a fun show to watch, I think. However, I’m not sure that anybody would have the budget to produce it – it needs real scriptwriters.
After that we weren’t quite ready to go to bed, so we watched the ending of some youthful modernized-period-drama thing called “Virgin Territory” on TV. Cheesy dialogue, starring Hayden Christiansen (I swear, he must be wearing guyliner) and Mischa Barton, two of the worst actors evah… the twenty minutes of it that we watched were amusing in a so-bad-you-have-to-laugh way, although I don’t think I could have stood much more of it. SOTEvening: Ferre 20. I’m getting’ my aldehydie groove back, I think.
Saturday, July 30: Yet another mizzerble hot day, 88F at 10am and humid enough that we’re wondering if the clothes we hung out on the line to dry actually will. The Verizon guys are supposed to come by and fix our DSL connectivity problem this afternoon…
… and the technician guy actually did show up and fix the problem. Of course, now The CEO is using the internet a lot, getting ready to go to his National Cattlemen’s meeting in Orlando on Monday. SOTD: Le Temps d’une Fete.
It poured buckets for about two hours this evening. SOBedtime: DSH Chypre.
Sunday, July 31: More hot-and-humid. Went to a picnic/cookout with friends from church this afternoon, and then came home just before a massive thunderstorm. It’s still humid, but the temperatures dropped about 15 degrees F, which is good – Bookworm has the first bit of Band Camp this evening from 5pm to 8pm. SOTD: Mary Greenwell Plum.
Apparently, two kids were overcome with heat this evening and had to sit under the tent with cold wet towels for twenty minutes until they cooled off, but it turns out that they hadn’t hydrated well. The chaperones will be insisting on that this week. SOBedtime: Cuir de Lancome.
Posted in Uncategorized on June 6, 2011| 5 Comments »
Part of my mini collection
Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day): Happy birthday, Bookworm! 16 today.
Hot and hectic… I rushed around a lot and cooked a lot for the birthday dinner and had about six things go wrong, and it took foreeeeeeverrrrr… Dinner was pot roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions, with salad and rolls, and the birthday girl chose red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and vanilla bean ice cream. It was good – but who on earth wants pot roast in 88F weather?? SOTD: Lauren by Ralph Lauren, vintage used bottle via ebay. This is “80s week” for some perfumista friends on Facebook, and although Lauren was released in 1978, it smells like the 80s to me. I had college friends who wore Lauren, and if I tell you that I graduated from college in 1990, you can do the math there.
Tuesday, May 31: Can May really be gone already?? Guess so. It’s 91F today. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and it smells like grass and honeysuckle and locust blossoms outside. I hung out six loads of laundry, and it all got dry. SOTD: Yves St Laurent Paris, vintage mini via ebay. Boy, this thing is a humongous floral bomb. I like humongous floral bombs (you were not in doubt of this, were you?). The CEO has been waiting for pretty weather for weeks, and now that we’ve got sunshine, he’s makin’ hay.
We went to the band banquet this evening. Bookworm has been selected as one of next year’s section leaders for the alto saxes, and I’m proud of her. (Warning: Mom Bragging coming. Skip if this bugs you.) She started out on clarinet in 6th grade, but in 8th grade switched to saxophone because the only sax player in her grade moved away. Since then she’s also played bass clarinet in concert band. As a freshman, her section leader asked if she could march with a tenor sax because the band was short on tenors, so she tried it – but since she’s 5’1” on a tall day, the tenor kept hitting her in the knees. That didn’t work, obviously. This year, her 10th grade, she’s done the following: marching band, cross country, indoor track, concert band, outdoor track, and MACC Science (an academic competition). She’s maintained a 4.0 GPA in high school, and was selected to attend the magnet school for math and science next year. She’s done right good, I think. Also, she is terrific, and her dimples are sooooo cute I have to pinch her cheeks every now and then.
Oh, and we’ve got good news and bad news: The bad news is that one of the calves died for no apparent reason. The good news is that Sampson, the twin calf abandoned by his mama that we’ve been bottle-feeding, now has a new mama.
Wednesday, June 1: The 80s Scent Week just came to a screeching halt. I wore [Karl Lagerfeld] Chloe for a little while today, until it just got Too Hot. Too Darn Hot, people. I was outside most of the day, weeding and planting and mowing and hanging out laundry, and I have a headache and I want to cut my arm off. Gah. Washed. Contemplated some of the other scents on my potential list and couldn’t see trying any of them.
The CEO says that he’ll only have time to make two cuttings of hay this summer, instead of the usual three, because he’s mowing so late. The trade-off is that the hay’s very thick for a first cutting; I suppose all that rain was good for something.
Went to Gaze’s 6th grade awards assembly at school today. (You don’t mind if I brag just a little bit about him, do you? If you do mind, just go ahead and skip to the next paragraph.) He’s a good kid, and I’m very proud of him: Academic Achievement Award Silver Seal (GPA between 3.75 and 3.99), 20+ Accelerated Reader Quizzes Passed, and National Physical Fitness Award. He played the trombone in band this year and joined the track team as a distance runner, and is a terrific, likeable kid with a penchant for puns. Also, he has beautiful eyes.
Thursday, June 2: 80s Scent Week is back on, with Revillon Turbulences parfum. This one was released in 1981, and I bought a boxed mini for about $8 from parfum1 or one of those online places, because Fragrantica calls it an aldehydic floral. Had not yet worn it. As of today, I have, and I’m puzzled at the aldehydic part of the description: if aldehydes are there, they’ve decomposed into total baby powder. This is unusual, because my experience with older aldehydic perfumes with wonky topnotes is that they go to acetone (nail polish remover), not to powder. It’s nice. Not exciting, and I can’t see myself wearing it much, but nice. I think I might pass it on to my mom.
The CEO came home at lunch and tried to wheedle me into learning how to run the tractor with the rake, so I could rake hay for him before he baled it. I didn’t want to. I demurred on the same grounds with which The CEO himself, as a teenager, refused to learn how to milk cows (at one point, his dad and uncle were running a dairy as well as the beef cows): he knew that once he knew how to milk, he’d have to do it. I don’t want to become the backup tractor person if Jeff gets sick.
Also, The CEO seems to be concerned that I spend my time at home doing pointless tasks, since I left my paying job. He should be concerned that I’m spending enough time working on my writing, but he is obsessed with efficiency, and with packing every single moment with work. He gets like this in the summers. It’s almost like when he’s not working at the university, he thinks he’s bleeding money. True, the farm does spend money in the summers – there’s labor, and fertilizer costs, and animal meds, and baler twine and fuel for tractors and trucks, and not a lot of money coming in. But that’s why we have the cushion in the bank. Typically, he’ll get just a couple of big checks a year, when he sells yearling calves at the livestock market. Stretch the gross income, minimize the outgo, and whatever you have left over, well, that’s how much you made, and you never know how much you have left over until you finish the year.
This afternoon, Taz came home with a freshly-tie-dyed tee shirt that he just handed over to me to wash. “Here, Mom. Fix it.” (Good grief. Am I the maid-of-all-work, or the magician?) It’s come out looking pretty good, though.
SOTAfternoon: Retesting Laurie Erickson’s new “summer scent” for Sonoma Scent Studio, two versions (B and C). Last time, I preferred C; this time C is too incensey-woody and B is nicer. Weather might be playing a part here.
Friday, June 3: Last day of school. (Now, to plan the summer so that nobody kills anybody else…) It’s less hot and humid than the rest of the week has been, but still good hay weather, with temps in the mid-80s. Considered the big 80s fragrance Sand & Sable: no can do, too sticky outside. 80s Week is back off.
Chauffeured The CEO and helper Corey to a field today, and went out to lunch with The CEO after he finished baling one field. Our local gathering place has been the recently-opened Tha Dawg House, open for breakfast and lunch, with traditional Southern-style breakfasts (biscuits and all the accompaniments, such as sausage, sausage gravy, bacon, eggs, cheese, ham, grits, etc.) as well as burgers and hot dogs with homemade chili. Not the most romantic place, but it was nice.
Finally got round to testing Maison Martin Margiele Untitled. I had been enticed by the green notes but scared off my someone’s mention of an ashtray note. As it turned out, I found the fragrance a very pleasant smell – green, quiet, calm, reflective – but not what I would call a Proper Perfume. I might like to smell it in my house. Oh, well.
SOTEvening: Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur, gorgeous creamy tuberose fragrance. Ahhhh.
Saturday, June 4: Mid-80s again today, beautiful haymaking weather. In consequence I spent a good part of the day ferrying various people to and from various hayfields. Bookworm ran the rake under The CEO’s supervision, and field reports state that she did an excellent job. Still too hot for big 80s scents, so the SOTAfternoon was Parfums de Rosine Rose d’Ete, my answer to cologne wearers who cannot figure out what I do wear in hot weather – either that, or Moschino Funny!, or Annick Goutal Petite Cherie.
My parents happened to be coming through town, and suggested they take one or more grandchildren with them for a week of “Camp Nana,” but Bookworm is going to be busy this week with marching band leadership activities and with taking a math placement test at the community college for next year’s classes at the Governor’s School for Science and Math. (Good news: college credit in high school. And since it’s through a VA community college, these credits must be accepted at any Virginia college. They’re also accepted at many other colleges. The bad news: Classes start at 7:10 a.m., in the morning. I’ll be dragging her out of bed by her hair, poor baby…)
Sunday, June 5: Another not-too-hot day in which I considered several 80s scents, including the floral chypre Leonard de Leonard, and rejected them. Went with Mary Greenwell Plum.
Took cantaloupe to the church cookout (yum!), then took Bookworm to the University Mall to pick up a new pair of running shoes for her. After the sales guy (a runner himself) watched her jog around the store, he pronounced her an overpronator with a normal foot arch, and brought her six pairs of shoes to try on. She wound up with the same kind of shoe she bought last December. “It just feels right,” she said.
In the afternoon, Bookworm and I helped The CEO move a bunch* of cows with older calves from the Back Side Near Weston’s House field through the Back Side field, into the Whittaker Woods field, and from there into the Seven-Acre Field, in preparation for their receiving an anti-pest topical medicine (similar to Frontline for dogs, it keeps off the flies, fleas, and ticks) and other vaccinations tomorrow. This ought to be the last bunch that hasn’t yet had this treatment this season.
*Because this “bunch” is merely a subset of the entire group of cattle we own, it isn’t a herd. “Herd” tends to imply “the whole group.” But generally, our cows are separated out as to their stage on the reproductive cycle. This bunch was cows with calves who were born last fall.
After all that chasing cattle around the field, we watched “The King’s Speech.” I was dubious about it, first because of the swearing in it, and second because of Colin Firth, who is a fine actor but who for some unknown reason usually gives me the total willies. Bookworm assured me that she’d heard far worse swearing at school (probably true), and other than the swearing, there was nothing objectionable in the film. And Colin did not give me the creeps. I’ve never understood my aversion to him anyway, so the lack of aversion is just as baffling. SOTEvening: Ines de la Fressange (the Calice Becker one from 1999).
by creating in the dark at flickr
Muse in Wooden Shoes 