The scent of a woman

I have asthma, it isn't serious now, many adults grow out of it anyway and since I don't smoke and currently live in a part of the UK was the cleanest air I have ever breathed, I am not really suffering with it. 

I recall a very traumatic experience when my mother practically fought me to put some noxious spray on my neck, not only was I not in the least interested in girlie things in general (I was well into my T-shirt and tartan phase, aged 12) I did not like the smell, it made me choke....and burned at my sensitive skin.  Anyway, I am unsure whether Mother got her way, I do know she accused me of being a 'lesbionic person' and got very cross with me but I remember little else of that experience.

Since that point I have been virulently anti perfume, I have received countless bottles of posh scent over the years from clueless family members and beaus trying to court but I have never hidden my disinterest or dislike for the stuff....it is one of those things one gets a woman isn't it? I have either passed them onto others or used them to fragrance the toilet....yes, folks, my  Chanel/Gucci/Dior/whatever went down the loo. I did sell and pass on others though.  One friend even gave me a Britney Spears perfume......Britney......Words fail me.

I have found myself unable to breathe when caught behind a woman wearing a lot of perfume, my lungs seize up and I have had to use my inhaler, often gathering dust in the bottom of my purse.

One day however I was at a conference and came across a Pan's Pantry stall. They usually sell incense and herbs but they had in something with an Ankh on it, which drew my gaze. Turns out it was supposedly a scent, which looked like a dark red or black liquid, it was an ancient Egyptian scent and it was.....heavenly....oh my goodness.  It wasn't in a spray bottle but in a roller tube and you just rubbed that against your skin.  I wore that scent just about every day and when I tried to get some more....gone.
They don't supply it anymore, but I always wondered what it was in it that made me fall in love with it, this ancient smell.
Having been so anti perfume all these years I was never the best at identifying smells, I couldn't tell one perfume from the other and thought it was a party drink when one friend would say to the other 'Ooh is that Chanel No. 5?'  

Of course since then I have been the head nose in the family business, I might not be able to pick out one scent from the next half the time but I know what I like and so, buying in a new ingredient the other day I finally, after ten years found out what it was about the Egyptian blend that I fell in love with.....

Sandalwood

In all my years buying essential oils, in all my months running a toiletries business how on earth could I have missed this amazing smell? mostly because, of course, I practised aromatherapy, I brought oils according to their properties, not their smell, it seems Sandalwood is often used to treat acne and anxiety, which are not conditions that has been a problem with me, hence my ignorance.

It has a lovely, woody ancient smell though and it's now part of a scent of this woman!

Yay!!!! Big Amazon parcel yesterday.....

The book about the PRB came today and the DVD of the BBC series also. I don't know if they actually show any Artistic Reform clothing or Arts&Crafts but I am hopeful.

x

Casing the new house.....

I am getting a bit frustrated with the lack of news regarding the house move, mostly because I am afraid that I will be out of town when we are supposed to move and I need to have my mind put at rest, but also because we do not have a lot of time now to pack. 
So, yesterday I went out to have a look at the new place, well, besides a well placed conservatory (the winter sun was shining right on it, it is going to be a great place for plants) the exterior of the house is pretty average, it is a link detached three bedroomed house.  The dining and living rooms are separated with sliding doors which we will keep closed (which honestly, I prefer anyway). 

So, what could I see? Well pretty much this picture except on the opposite side  I saw a rather small square living space, in the left hand corner opposite the window was a bunch of wall cabling which I will assume is for the entertainment system, behind that was a built in bookcase which was only about three shelves high and useless for bibliophiles (we need a library really) next to that was the 'fireplace' which holds a wood burning stove which we think is a Squirrel.  And next to that the door to the hallway.
I wish I could say I could see more but I couldn't, I should take some pictures really.  I look forward to moving in though and getting to work.

Political rant

Another reason to do this:

I have been flicking through the channels, I seem to have an inordinate amount of shopping channels, channels that I don't want, selling things I don't need.


Yesterday I was chatting to one of my partners about consumer culture and the fact that we have far more than we need, he said he will try to buy less new clothes this year, I said I wanted to make my own, it is worth it, in a situation where you DO have the freedom, to indulge that freedom to dress how you want and present how you want, how often do we truly get that chance?

Finally today we had a VAT rise, it means almost everything we buy will now cost more. I wasn't entirely bothered by this at first but what really made my blood boil was hearing this 'this country relies more on consumer spending (ie shopping) for its economic wealth than any other country in Europe....'

Wow....so, you mean we have destroyed our industry to such a degree in this country that we need to constantly be buying to encourage economic heath?  No wonder we are constantly being told by the media that 'we love to shop' no wonder we are always being sold something, no wonder when we buy our things just don't last that long.  Everything has a built in lifespan so we have to buy again.  It saddens me that so many of my compatriots buy into it as well.  I told my mother that there was something wrong with my phone (a minor issue) and she said 'why don't you upgrade'?  She saw my Stove and asked my why I hadn't brought a new one yet?  (the old one works perfectly, it just has a cosmetic problem).  We are constantly told what we should want, the newest, bestest shiniest thing EVAH!!!   And we fall for it, not always realising that it is a ploy by the government to spend more to boost the nations coffers...how desperately cynical is that?

I turned off the news when the chancellor repeated the same phrase to the journalist for the third time in a short time frame, desperate to toe the party line and looking like a deer caught in the headlights.  I have very little patience for that tactic, it drives me loopy and it just makes the interviewee look moronic and since these are the people running the country I would rather not think along those lines.

So, the upshot of this rant is.....I think I am along the right track, I don't WANT to be a mindless consumer.  Do you remember when they started using consumerist language almost everywhere?  You were no longer a patient, a visitor, an interviewee. No, you were a customer or a client, even our most rudimentary interactions were transformed with consumerist actions, so we no longer acted in a personal way but we are there to engage in the act of business. Whether you are selling a service or a product.  I am not there to interact with you as a person but to interact with you as a supplier of something I need.

Are we constantly being reminded of how 'fun' spending money is?  Aren't all those people on the advertisements smiling and laughing....".look this is fun this new gadget, or look how more attractive I am to the opposite sex now that I wear this......Look, I brought this incredibly expensive sofa and I got two cushions for FREE!!!  Yay me...result!!!!"

It is enough to make you weep.