Been feeling twitchy the past few days. It’s the time of year – I like summer into autumn, but it does make me think that it will soon be hunkering down time: shorter days, getting colder, and here getting decidedly wetter. That’s pretty much the true autumn into winter for the area: less and less light, greyer days and damp, with periods of heavy rain.
But, I’m now on countdown to returning to the house-house (which is positive, but a lot to do). The agents have started showing the rental I’m in and it’s around a month till moving. I’ve started closing utility accounts and resurrecting the dormant ones; booked the dog into camp for moving day.
And this week my fence guy is coming in and taking the bay tree out of the garden. It simply doesn’t work. It’s too big for the space (he’d already pollarded it in the hope it could stay — uh, no — and why anyone would plant something like this so close to the house is beyond me). This past weekend also started clearing one bed out (so that Meredith could actually see the bay tree) and cut all the climbers back as they have been buried under bind weed all summer. The real work will start once I’m back in the house though. The garden really needs some re-thinking.
Anyway, two of the four samples I received last week are really not to my taste. I found them both to be quite mediocre, which made them in one case simply irritating and in the other a scrubber. I appear to be meeting a fair number of scrubbers lately.
The simply meh one was Comme des Garçons Wonderwood. This (launched 2010) came as the ‘extra’ in my sample order that included the quite astonishing Areej le Dore War and Peace. To my mind, it was very much a throwaway: “This purchaser chose some ‘out there’ things from more obscure companies. Perhaps she’ll enjoy this because CdG is ‘out there’”. Sigh. Singular lack of imagination.
Wonderwood is woody – in the least interesting sort of way. It reminded me of Gucci by Gucci pour Homme (2008; the one positive thing about this is the ad which features the Bryan Ferry song ‘Slave to Love’). Which is to me a cedar-ish mess. Wonderwood (notes: vetiver, sandalwood, patchouli, Guaiac wood, Virginia cedar, oud and cypress) smells like those wooden trinket boxes I bought as a child and young teenager as souvenirs on family holidays from trading posts in US southern states. They smell like wood but not in a good way. More like something that wasn’t seasoned properly and is just sort of both dry and oily, and sour. Sampling it made me want to contact the sample seller and say “what point were you trying to make by sending me this?”
The other fail, which was the much bigger one because it was the scrubber and I’d actually chosen it myself, was Bogue Profumo Mem (2017). This focuses on lavender – and while I love lavender as a plant, it’s not a favourite perfume note, and I should have known better. My bad. Notes include petitgrain, mandarin orange, grapefruit, four types of lavender, ylang-ylang, champaca, damask rose, bourbon geranium, vanilla, mint, laurel, malt, and it goes on and on into the base notes [sandalwood, cedar, etc, etc]).
Sour lavender and a bit of wood. Unpleasant and irritating and got washed off.
Ah, well. It happens. I am reading a great book though – the second by Paul Sussman, The Last Secret of the Temple, and I am very pleased that he wrote two more. I’ll write about something stunning next week, I promise.
Well, just think, the more things you try and hate, the more room you have for things you try and love? Well, there’s always more in the hate or meh pile than love to be sure!
Bad perfume but good book – at least it wasn’t a complete letdown! … and don’t be too irritated by the bay; a lot of times people don’t really research before they plant (blushing here) – I have a sumac that wasn’t supposed to get more than 4′ tall – heh. I’mo move it later (after I tackle the dreaded Zebra Grass that is in the wrong place – need to bust out the Sawzall for that one). Nobody to blame but myself…. sigh.
xoxoxo
I know someone who was gifted with a tiny redwood sapling which she planted next to a wall in a communal lawn area. I bit my tongue: ‘do you have any idea how big those grow? have you thought about what the roots will do?’ Apparently Meredith went to look at the bay today (he’s supposed to do the work tomorrow — he isn’t replying to my texts asking what he thinks…).
Cinnamon, you are inspiring me to deal with the invasive grape vine from a long-ago neighbor which grows into my yard and covers over my verbena bush! It’s a pain to deal with every year, and ironically the new neighbors don’t have any plant life in their yard. Sorry the samples were a let down.
Glad to be useful. I really am looking forward to taking a good hard look at the garden and making some ‘hard choices’. Plus, I have this fantasy, after watching way too much Gardeners’ World, of actually doing something extreme with the lawn. I’m not sure what but it’s in my head.
I always try to tell myself when I’m in a sample rut that the next fabulous thing is juuuuuuuuust around the corner!
My sample buying recently has been irritating. That By Killian, that Rihanna wears, that’s been my best score and I only did that because of reviews here. I need to get metaphorically get out more.
Best wishes for a smooth move back! I don’t like lavender as a note either so I was surprised to find Kuumba Made Lavender Lace was surprisingly tame and light and likeable. The accompanying vanilla note works wonders here.
There is one lavender I remain very curious about, Caldey Island (apparently made by monks). It’s cheap as chips and one day I’ll just buy it because, well, I will.