This week is a holiday for my American readers as they celebrate the 4th of July, and for me, it’s a week of family activities in Ukraine with my grandmother and my mom–going for walks together, watching movies, talking, and of course, cooking. You might remember the cherry blossoms during my May visit, and now, all trees are covered with jewel-like fruit. I’ve already set my sights on a tree near the hammock for harvesting this week. There will be brioche buns with cherries, cherry strudel, cherry compote, and chicken in cherry sauce. And of course, my grandmother’s “royal cherry jam”. I will smell of cherry juice and my fingers will be permanently stained purple from pitting pounds of dark fruit.
While I’m pitting cherries and collecting scent impressions around Poltava, my grandmother’s hometown, our Scent Diary is here (Bois de Jasmin’s reviews and articles will be back on Monday.) It’s a place where we can share fragrances we encounter, good and bad, perfumes we wear and the scents around us. It’s a way to sharpen our sense of smell, but also just to enjoy the fragrance hobby in a different way.
Whether you write down 1 recollection or 10 matters less than simply reminding yourself to smell. You can add as many comments as you wish. You can comment today or over the course of the week; this thread will always be open. Of course, do share what perfume you’re wearing or what particularly good scented products you’ve discovered.
Photography by Bois de Jasmin
112 Comments
Sandra: I would like to share some of the scents from my wedding day!
The Thursday before my wedding day was an Indian celebration! My Mehndi and Pithi ceremony.
That day I had my makeup done at Bergdorf Goodman at the Chanel counter. The woman, who knew I was going to do some Indian cultural activities douse me with 1932! I smell like a beautiful jasmine flower.
Stepping out into the New York City streets, I got a strong wiff of pretzels and hotdogs as I hailed a cab to make my way to a hotel to be too wrapped in a beautiful sari. Arriving at the celebration the room smelled like delicious Indian food, many different types of Indian spices cumin, coriander, chili, saffron and mustard seeds.
During the Pithi ceremony my face , hands and feet were covered with a paste made of chick pea flour, tumeric, and rosewater. I wanted to eat it! Both my husband and I were fed sweets, people placed red paste all in my hair and along my four head. All the guests through rice at me and gave me a blessing.
The Mehndi, or henna part had a very strong smell that lasted through the night. As I sat there for hours as my hands and feet were adorned with beautiful design, and people came along and feed me sweets and gave me sips of my drink the henna at drowned it out all other smells. Henna smells a little bit like grass, wet hay, but mostly like a bunch of strong herbs that have hung out to dry.
I guess I will see the rest of my sent diary that happened over the next few days for another day. I have to get ready for my honeymoon! July 2, 2014 at 8:00am
Michaela: Happy honeymoon, and happy marriage!
Your diary is very special, thank you for sharing!
I can almost feel the henna scent as I read. I used it to dye my hair years ago. July 2, 2014 at 8:19am
rosarita: Congratulations, what wonderful scent memories! Thanks so much for sharing the details of your beautiful day July 2, 2014 at 8:19am
Sandra: One creative touch that has nothing to do with smell is that all the bottles of wine had special made labels that said “Sandra’s Menhndi Night ” and “Sandra weds Maneesh” with the date. All the woman got bangles as party favors 🙂 July 2, 2014 at 8:20am
iodine: Only one of us smell-addicts could describe so beautifully the scents perceived during her marriage! 🙂 Thank you Sandra, have a fabulous honeymoon! July 2, 2014 at 8:37am
Victoria: Congratulations to you both! I wish you lots of happiness, love and many wonderful celebrations ahead. Thank you so much for sharing your diary. I’m reliving my Indian wedding through these scent memories. 🙂 July 3, 2014 at 10:38am
Solanace: Thank you for sharing these beautiful memories, reading it felt like watching a movie scene. Wishing you two a life much better than your sweetest dreams. July 4, 2014 at 7:09pm
Marsha: This is such a gorgeous article! I’m sitting here at my computer and fantasizing about the cherry dishes you listed. Especially the *Royal Cherry Jam.* Ah well, I can comfort myself with the fact that I will soon be taking fresh bread out of the oven.l July 2, 2014 at 8:19am
Michaela: Fresh homemade bread is the most comforting scent in the world! Your efforts are highly rewarded! 🙂 July 2, 2014 at 9:44am
Victoria: Mmmm, fresh bread is the best treat. I will be sure to share some of my grandmother’s cherry dishes, especially her jam, which is loved by our whole family. July 3, 2014 at 10:39am
Kate: This morning:
Lavender face soap, and the hot dusty old-wood smell of the attic that seeps down into the bathroom.
The two smells of coffee (ground and wet), and the warm buttery smell of fried eggs and toast.
My street smelled like garbage, rotting food — not reeking, but a noticeable whiff.
A young woman at the bus stop was wearing a perfume I didn’t recognize — chlorine and candy. (Kind of a young, mall-like perfume.)
The lindens are coming toward the end of their season, but they still have that great cucumber-rose-honey smell when you walk under them. July 2, 2014 at 8:38am
Victoria: I love reading through all of the diaries, and it’s especially fun when you include all smells, bad ones included. Just tossed our garbage out, and well, there is no smell like the smell of rotten banana peels! July 3, 2014 at 10:40am
iodine: Those cherries! In their honour I’m going to make a cherries clafoutis later…
Hope you’ll share some recipes! 😉
Enjoy Poltava and your beloved ones, V. July 2, 2014 at 8:41am
Victoria: Thank you! We’ve pitted those cherries till midnight last night, a task not made faster by our having a few glasses of beer. 🙂
Your clafoutis sounds delicious. July 3, 2014 at 10:43am
Michaela: Have a beautiful time near your beloved family! And have fun and luck with the cherry feast!
I love your picture in red so much.
My scent diary today:
– baby shampoo, herbal, friendly, tea tree – geranium soap;
– cologne, in the street;
– beautiful vetiver perfume in the elevator (elevators are friends or enemies so easily, depending on the scent);
– nicotiana white flowers, early in the morning (arnation-like scent, very powerful)
– roses on the kitchen table and coffee;
– chlorine detergent;
– black ground pepper, unique. July 2, 2014 at 9:38am
Michaela: – I get closer and closer to Chanel 5, I test a small decant. I didn’t like it in the beginning, but I came to appreciate it more and more. It’s only the today’s EDP. I wonder how pure perfume is like, not to mention the vintage one…
Thursday:
– cheese-ey smell passing by a fast food; not nice;
– warm spicy perfume, with cloves, in the street, I’m sorry I was in a hurry and never paid attention to the person wearing this – very strange for a warm summer sunny day, but not bad at all! I liked a sniff in the street, but I doubt I’d wear it all day long in the heat;
– coffee – just divine;
– Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert. July 3, 2014 at 8:33am
Victoria: I woke up early to pick the cherries, so it was still chilly. But otherwise, it’s the sundress, rather than a sweater, weather. 🙂
I’m addicted to the smell of ground pepper. July 3, 2014 at 10:44am
Michaela: – delicate scent of oleander flowers;
– fried squash (mouthwatering scent, but unbearable when it clings to my hair), baked eggplants – I adore this scent; onion, garlic;
– nicotiana at night, filling the air (it fades in the morning); this perfume is childhood summer night for me;
– raspberries;
– beer;
– fennel seeds, ground – similar scent to anise seeds, I think;
– long forgot rotten onion in a bag – by far the worst smell this week;
– empty decant of Lolita Lempicka L – I kept it to sniff it now and then, I liked it so much. July 4, 2014 at 6:02am
Michaela: …forgotten, sorry. July 4, 2014 at 6:11am
Julie: Sunday:
We headed out early morning for the Buffalo River area in little vehicle for off-roading that is open air like a jeep.
My darling’s own sexy, earthy, musky natural scent.
Leaving town, whiffs of asphalt, mimosa trees and my fresh caramel coffee.
On route; fresh cut hay, chicken manure, rain in the air, occasional roadkill.
The day; forest floor, sharp leaves and fresh smelling breezes. Apple smoked chicken from our picnic on a remote ridge that smelled of pine. Dank, wet and musty smelling cavern rocks. Wild blueberries and blackberries we stopped to sample.
Trip home; freshly cut lawns, charcoal cooking, Dr. Pepper.
Home; Tomato plants, Basil, Thyme, L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil.
Falling asleep on his chest; freshly showered and smelling of Irish Spring soap. July 2, 2014 at 10:26am
Metaphortunate: That sounds lovely! Well, more the romance and the caramel coffee and less the roadkill, but it’s all part of a day out, yeah? July 2, 2014 at 12:26pm
Julie: Amen to that! July 2, 2014 at 12:39pm
Victoria: 2nd this! Enjoy your trip! July 3, 2014 at 10:46am
Metaphortunate: My boss has taken to wearing what I’m pretty sure is Lalique Encre Noire. It smells so good on him it reminds me how much I like wearing it too – but I’m afraid he would think I was trying to copy him in some horrible corporate suck-up dress-for-the-job-you-want way! July 2, 2014 at 12:24pm
Julie: That’s too bad. Although, it may have an entirely different result on you he wouldn’t even recognize? July 2, 2014 at 12:42pm
Michaela: The idea is bright. But Encre Noire is so unique and recognizable, I don’t know… July 3, 2014 at 8:52am
Michaela: Oh, I’d feel like he’s wearing MY perfume! 🙁 July 3, 2014 at 8:49am
Victoria: Would he notice it, though? 🙂
I say, just go ahead and wear it and not worry what your boss thinks. July 3, 2014 at 10:48am
Emily Grosvenor: I’m enjoying the Cacao fragrance oil my husband bought me for Mother’s Day, from Mandy Aftel. I’ve been sneaking some of her perfume from our visits to the Cacao chocolate shop in Portland every time we go and now I can have it any time I want. My kids are practically eating me I smell so good. July 2, 2014 at 1:28pm
Victoria: Cacao is delicious without being too sweet or too foody. I like it very much. July 3, 2014 at 11:05am
Amy: Mmmmmm, cherries. I finished a bag last night and I want mooooooore.
I went for a run at lunch today and finished it up strolling through the Capitol grounds (I work across the street from the state capitol). The sun was beating down and I was reminded how much I love that summery smell of hot grass. So good. July 2, 2014 at 3:14pm
Victoria: I love that scent too. It’s the essence of summer for me. July 3, 2014 at 11:04am
Kat: I had never eaten fresh, ripe cherries until I took a trip to Greece with my husband. Unbelievably delicious!
It’s been over 110 degrees, here, so I’ve been rotating D&G’s Light Blue, Arden’s Green Tea or Annick Goutal’s Neroli in the a.m….while reserving either Samsara or Fendi for my afternoon bath time. Despite the heat, I crave something rich and enveloping at that time of day. 🙂
Some new scents I’ve recently experienced thanks to this site:
Vintage Nahema
AG’s Le Chevrefeuille
Knize Ten
Tauer Incense Extreme
Estee Lauder Knowing
Vintage Apres l’ondee
Kenzo’s Jungle l’elephant July 2, 2014 at 8:08pm
Michaela: Just curious… which one do you like? July 3, 2014 at 8:46am
Victoria: Me too! I’d love to know what you like the most. July 3, 2014 at 11:04am
Kat: Ah…thank you for asking! I loved them all for their own particular ‘character’. My mind tends to create a story for each! Knowing had to grow on me, a bit–I think it’s due to the civet? And if I had to choose a favorite, I would say…..Nahema! So round and luscious, imo. 🙂 Testing and learning about new scents has been such a pleasure, lately! July 3, 2014 at 11:44am
Michaela: Enjoy! 🙂 For me, the same, it’s so exciting to learn and encounter new scents! I’m grateful to this blog. July 4, 2014 at 5:16am
Claire: Oh I can only imagine the cherry harvest! We do have cherries here in the Pacific Northwest, Rainier & Bing cherries are in season.
Let’s see.. today I took my son to the dr’s office, so I smell lots of chemical stuff: hand sanitizer, sharp alcohol smell, then the soap, caustic scent, the chemical scent of cleaning agent for the floor.
Oddly enough, during summer is usually when I long for heady, rich scent. I’m imagining warm amber, maybe leather, heady tuberose, sweetened with a bit of vanilla and spice. I dig my stash for something similar but came up with SL Un Bois Vanille instead 🙂 Happy harvesting, Victoria, perhaps you’ll share some post about cherry delicacies here. July 2, 2014 at 10:03pm
Victoria: I sometimes get that craving too, although on most hot days, I just skip perfume altogether. Plus, in the countryside the perfume seems to attract mosquitoes, never a good thing. July 3, 2014 at 11:03am
Claire: That is v. true! Even in my measly yard, mosquitoes always gather when I wear perfume. July 3, 2014 at 7:36pm
Savita: I never really realized that there is a possibility of perfume attracting mosquitoes. That would explain alot lol.
Where I’m from it summer all year round, so I have no choice when I want to wear heady scents. July 4, 2014 at 9:36am
Deborah: My office is next to an enormous conifer hedge that warms in the sun. I walk its length and the smell reminds me of summers in my favourite aunt’s garden, playing in a large wild wonderland. The sweet fun and excitement of summer as a child. July 3, 2014 at 12:26am
Michaela: Summer holidays, for me, as a child, is instantly back again with any fir tree needle or resin I smell in the sun. July 3, 2014 at 10:07am
Victoria: I can just imagine the scent! July 3, 2014 at 11:00am
patricia.borgenon: Hi Victoria,
Thanks a lot for all the “scentsations” you bring us.
I just have one questions. Is everything OK in the region your grandmother lives in Ukraine. Thanks to the internet, the world seems so small …
Kind regards,
Patricia July 3, 2014 at 3:17am
Michaela: Oh, yes, Patricia, this is THE question! (Or, at least, is it OK for you dear ones?) July 3, 2014 at 8:44am
Victoria: Yes, everything is fine in Poltava. Of course, people are concerned and follow the events anxiously, but our region is fine. July 3, 2014 at 10:54am
Michaela: Thank God! July 4, 2014 at 5:17am
Figuier: Oh wow, cherry brioche. Need. to . make!! (any recipe in particular that you’d recommend for the brioche?) Here the lindens are still blooming, as is the privet, and the weather has been so warm and close that the smell of them hangs in the air all along the road into town.
Other smells: wearing Bomaby Bling at the weekend had me craving all things subcontinental, so in our fridge now there’s the smell of slightly unripe supermarket mango alongside a powerful whiff of spicy lime chutney (highly addictive stuff). Laundry smells, wet cloth and dry-fresh detergent.
I tried Guerlain Terracotta at the weekend, and liked the vanillic white flower melange a lot, although I don’t think I need a bottle. It reminded me of Lys Soleia, so I retrieved my bottle of the latter from the ‘sell on e-bay’ pile for comparison. Lo and behold, in this muggy weather the greasy palm-oil note disappears, and it smells like it did when I first bought it (also in a heatwave). Just juicy, green-tinged lily & tropical vanilla. No more ebay for this one! July 3, 2014 at 4:35am
Michaela: Linden flowers are gone here, I always feel their season is too short. Thank you for mentioning privet! I inhale this every morning in the street and never knew what it is. It’s scent is honey-like for me. A quick Google search and I could identify it, and I found out there is a Demeter Privet cologne. How I love this scent! Would I wear it? I don’t know until I try. July 3, 2014 at 9:25am
Figuier: I didn’t know Demeter did a Privet – very cool, thanks for the heads up! July 3, 2014 at 12:34pm
Michaela: It seems so:
http://www.demeterfragrance.com/704167/products/Privet.html July 4, 2014 at 6:04am
Victoria: If you google Julia Child’s brioche, you will find a very good recipe. I will write up my grandmother’s too. It’s rich, but not too heavy on butter. July 3, 2014 at 10:59am
Figuier: Thanks, Victoria – just checked out the Childs recipe and am tempted to make it this weekend. Do you serve the cherries separately or mix them into the dough? July 3, 2014 at 12:33pm
Victoria: You stuff the raw dough with cherries mixed with sugar (and a little bit of cornstarch), seal the buns well and bake. Or you can embed cherries on top and sprinkle with sugar. But it may be hard to explain it properly without photos. I will take pictures this weekend when we make them again. July 3, 2014 at 1:44pm
Figuier: That sounds luscious – really looking forward to those pics, thanks so much! July 4, 2014 at 5:01am
Figuier: Tried a new recipe last night – Thai beef salad – & spilled fish sauce, incredibly pungent, was still noticeable in the kitchen this morning. It always fascinates me how a condiment that smells of decomposition by itself can add such perfect depth and saltiness when mixed with other ingredients. Kind of the civet of the food world I guess. July 4, 2014 at 6:25am
Victoria: That’s perfect! I also think of fish sauce as the civet of cooking. 🙂 July 4, 2014 at 3:20pm
Patricia: Cherries are a feast for both the eyes and the mouth. I look forward every year to July when I can (over)indulge in my favorite fruit to my heart’s content.
Have a wonderful visit with your family, Victoria! July 3, 2014 at 9:13am
Victoria: Thank you, Pat! I’m trying to devise new ways of eating cherries, but I admit that out of hand lying in the hammock is the best one. 🙂 July 3, 2014 at 10:55am
Patricia: I’m in NH for the weekend, and just returned from a trip to the supermarket. Big bags of cherries were everywhere, and very reasonably priced.
I used to make a flat chocolate cake, more of a torte, I guess, filled with cherries and topped with whipped cream. Talk about gilding the lily! July 3, 2014 at 2:28pm
Victoria: Sounds out of this world, Pat! I’m craving some chocolate cake with cherries right now. July 4, 2014 at 3:18pm
Irina: Чудово Вас розумію- я так інтенсивно варю варення та роблю настоянки з вишень, що мені більше не потрібно фарбувати нігті у червоний колір :))) гарного Вам відпочинку з Вашими рідними! July 3, 2014 at 5:37pm
Victoria: І настоянка! Я майже забула, що нам і настоянку потрібно зробити.
And I forgot to mention the cherry ratafia! That’s another cherry item we plan to make. July 4, 2014 at 3:19pm
allgirlmafia: Early morning here. I’d fallen asleep last night to cedarwood incense burning beside himalayan salt candles. Heavy rain fell on my windows and skylight while soft Celtic music sang me to sleep. I was wrapped in comfort and quilts and Bottega Veneta eau Legere.
I woke rested and warm. The candles and inscense had gone with the night. I turned my face into my lovers neck and inhaled. He smelled of heat and metal and salt. July 4, 2014 at 8:03am
Victoria: This is so romantic and tender. July 4, 2014 at 3:21pm
Brenda: Upon opening my eyes this morning, the first scent encountered was a whiff of Roma by Laura Biagiotti…which I had applied before going to bed. I often apply a scent at bedtime…it helps me go to sleep with a smile on my face and it is very mood altering. I don’t always choose a ” light” scent, either…..often I enjoy something with some real legs!…as “Roma” certainly is. It lingers only until showering, when I get to choose all over again! Thank you for such a lovely place to share….. July 4, 2014 at 9:59am
Victoria: Roma has an excellent sillage, and I think that the drydown is my favorite part of this perfume. July 4, 2014 at 3:21pm
Brenda: Yes, I agree with you completely. I was introduced to it as a tiny sample on a Lufthansa flight many years ago. I have never managed to locate it in Canada and bought my current bottle in Italy … making it all the more exotic! I wear two scents that I almost always get positive comments on….Roma and Rumeur…probably my absolute favourite! I also adore Cabouchard…it’s scent is so old fashioned…it fills me with nostalgia. I have recently found your site and am enjoying it immensely. Have a lovely day….. July 5, 2014 at 4:15pm
Victoria: Thank you very much, Brenda!
I agree on the retro aura of Cabochard. It’s not a perfume I can wear daily, but it’s wonderful and very evocative. July 6, 2014 at 5:21am
Bea: It sounds lovely Victoria! Homegrown cherries that are harvested when they are almost too ripe, still warm from the sun, is a luxury that is hard to get when you don’t have a garden of your own. I envy you!
Yesterday was cold and grey in Stockholm and we decided to stay at home.
I made one of my favourite dishes: kåldolmar or cabbage dolma. I love food that involves wrapping so I had a very relaxing time in the kitchen, wrapping ground beef mixed with boiled rice in cabbage leaves, frying them in butter and baking them in the oven.
According to tradition, kåldolmar came to Sweden with the soldiers who managed to escape to what was then Ottoman Empire, now Moldavia, after the defeat in Poltava in 1709. At least we got a national dish from that disastrous battle. 🙂
It’s amazing that something that smells so horrible (cooked cabbage) can taste so good, especially with lingonberry jam.
Yesterdays smell: cabbage, fried butter, fresh magazines, espresso, hydrangeas and rosemary on my balcony, Chanel no 19.
I also ordered a sample of L’Ambre des Merveilles from Hermes after reading your review – I am on a quest for a new autumn scent.
Wish you and your family a wonderful 4th of July! July 4, 2014 at 10:10am
Victoria: My grandmother made stuffed cabbage roll the other day too, so here we are, in Poltava and in Sweden, making a similar dish. I would love your recipe, because it sounds different enough from ours, although the stuff ingredients are similar–rice and meat. Instead of frying and baking, my grandmother stews rolls in tomato-carrot-onion sauce. And I can eat lingonberry jam with anything at all! July 4, 2014 at 3:23pm
rainboweyes: Stuffed cabbage leafs (with tomato sauce) are very popular in Poland and Germany too. I absolutely love them but cooking them is a nightmare! July 5, 2014 at 5:03am
rainboweyes: Leaves, sorry! July 5, 2014 at 5:04am
Victoria: I don’t make them that often for some reason, but I love how my grandmother cooked them this time using young cabbage leaves. They are easy to stuff and cook very fast, so the flavor is fresh. July 6, 2014 at 5:15am
Bea: It’s fascinating that two countries, so far apart, still are making the same dish after 300 years. 🙂
It sounds interesting with a tomato sauce – do you have a recipe?
Every household in Sweden probably have their own way of making dolmar, but I do as my grandmother taught me.
16-20 dolmar
500 g. ground beef or half beef, half pork
1,5 dl boiled rice
1-1,5 dl cream or milk
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Mix everything. The texture is supposed to be rather loose and sticky.
Stick a big knife in the middle vein in the cabbage head and dip it in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. As the leaves become softer, peel them from the head. Continue until you have 16-20 leaves.
Put 2-3 tablespoons of meat on each leaf, roll them and put toothpicks in them to make sure that they stay rolled.
Fry the rolls in butter until brown, put them in an oven dish and pour a few tablespoons of sugar syrup over. Bake for 30-45 minutes, 225 degrees Celcius. Cover with tin foil if they start to get burned. They are supposed to be tender and not al dente.
You can serve them with just the juices at the bottom of the dish or take the juces and make a cream sauce. I prefer them with sauce. Serve with boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam. It’s a very rich dish and it smells horrible but the taste is wonderful.
Here’s a photo of how they look:
http://www.recept.nu/per_morberg/varmratter/kott/per_morbergs_kaldolmar/
Happy cooking! July 7, 2014 at 11:11am
Victoria: Thank you very much! I will definitely be trying it next. I love the idea of milky rice mixed with meat. And the lingonberry sauce to go with it all.
My grandmother makes the tomato sauce by sauteing onions in oil and a little bit of unsmoked bacon. Then she added lots of carrots cut in half-moons and 5 min later she adds crushed tomatoes. Everything is cooked for 10-15 minutes. When she makes the filling, she adds rice, beef + pork, onion, dill or parsley. She layers stuffed cabbage with the tomato sauce, adds a bay leaf, and maybe, a little bit of water. July 7, 2014 at 2:18pm
Bea: That sounds lovely and a lot more summery than my version.
Must try this – I love stuffed cabbage but the Swedish version is very rich and “heavy” and really best suited for a cold winter day. July 7, 2014 at 2:42pm
Victoria: I do like the idea of a “white,” non-tomato based version, so this seems exotic and different to me. 🙂 This is why I love learning recipes from others, because invariable I discover something very interesting. And it’s fascinating to see how the same dish transforms in different regions. July 7, 2014 at 2:50pm
Austenfan: No smells today, just hoping you are having a great time with all the cherries. The picture is gorgeous.
Recently spent a week in France where the garden was filled with the scent of honeysuckle, not quite as innocent as it’s perfume renditions. July 4, 2014 at 5:19pm
Victoria: Honeysuckle is heady stuff! I haven’t smelled it in its heady richness for a while, so I miss it. July 6, 2014 at 5:14am
Austenfan: The bush was creeping on the ground, so at first I couldn’t localise the smell. Kept sniffing all sorts of other flowers, which must have looked funny, because after every false try I would sort nod “no” to myself.
It was a very fragrant week, with a mixture of flowers, sea, tea and diesel exhaust. July 6, 2014 at 1:39pm
May: The smell of fresh, juiced kale reminds me of the intensity of summer days…the green grass, the happy voices, the unforgiving heat, bottles of water, hints of perspiration.
And then there is a mystery scent…
In the backyard of my grandmother’s childhood home, there grew a peculiar type of rose. One that would only emit its fragrance only during the night – leaving no tell tale signs of smell in the day.
So in the night, the air would be thick with the smell of roses…but in the day, there would no such smell to speak of…
What is this type of rose called? Does anyone know… July 4, 2014 at 7:16pm
Victoria: I have never heard of such a rose. Do you remember the shape or colors? July 6, 2014 at 5:14am
rainboweyes: Cherry season is in full swing here too. I love sweet cherries as a fruit snack but I prefer the tart varieties for baking, desserts and preserves. They are great when combined with chocolate or marzipan.
My scents of the week:
chlorine from the swimming pool
fresh apricots
spilled, burnt milk on the stove
grilled meat
lemon-scented rooibos tea
a pillow filled with Swiss stone pine shavings
perfume of the week was Impossible Iris July 5, 2014 at 5:23am
Victoria: That’s my favorite cherry variety too. We planted a few sweet cherries over the years, but they are still young. At any rate, by the time I’ve arrived they were finished, but the sour cherry is in full swing.
And the apricots are coming too! July 6, 2014 at 5:18am
Victoria: By the way, I finally made the coconut rhubarb cake from the recipe you gave me (via “essen und trinken”), and it was excellent. The combination of coconut and tart rhubarb was so good. Thank you very much. July 6, 2014 at 5:20am
Penny: Mmmm, chocolate and cherry, REAL cherries, are lovely together. July 7, 2014 at 6:02pm
Cornelia Blimber: Smells as usual—nothing special. BUT I have a bottle of Iris Silver Mist, the black vaporisateur!! They had only one bottle in De Bijenkorf, and that one is mine, all mine, hè,hè,hè!!! I am in the 7th heaven. July 5, 2014 at 10:57am
maja: 🙂 Totally understandable. July 5, 2014 at 4:15pm
rainboweyes: Oh, I envy you so much! I’ll have to get a bottle in the autumn too and I’m wondering if I should buy the bell jar as usual or the vaporisateur… Does ISM smell any different when sprayed? July 5, 2014 at 4:30pm
Cornelia Blimber: Hi Rainboweyes! I don’t know, I never smelled Iris Silver Mist without a spray. Anyway, it is one of the best I ever smelled. So earthy in the beginning, and then so airy, and in the last drydown surprisingly flowery (reminds me of something, could it be Climat?)…it is earthy and aloof, aristiocratic at one time… well, you are our iris expert, I think you know what I mean!
If I were you, I would go for the Vapo: € 120, bell jar € 150! The difference: 15 ml, I believe. The Vaporisateur is beautiful. July 5, 2014 at 5:09pm
Victoria: Lucky you! Enjoy it! 🙂 July 6, 2014 at 5:19am
carole macleod: Tail end of hurricane arthur, so i cut the peonies and brought them in. What a smell! Also the cat smells musky-he is all white, and a biter, so we normally give each other space. Today we are watching Fifa, and we have called a truce. Traces of smoky tea on the breeze… July 5, 2014 at 5:41pm
Victoria: The end of the season peonies are the most fragrant (or maybe, your season is still in its prime). I’m now imagining a vignette of a white cat and peonies. 🙂 July 6, 2014 at 5:23am
Patricia: Bought another bag of cherries at the supermarket today. I live for July, as cherries are my favorite fruit.
Had a wonderful hike in NH today, with cool weather and many butterflies appearing as the sun came out. I smelled the balsam of the woods and later applied the last spritzes of a four ounce bottle of Lauren that I’ve had since the nineties. It was such a feeling of accomplishment to finally finish this bottle! July 5, 2014 at 7:58pm
Victoria: Oh, the smell of balsam! How much do I love it. I keep walking through a small pine grove nearby and rubbing my hand on the trunks just to smell it. July 6, 2014 at 5:24am
allgirlmafia: Last night the sky was alive with explosions of noise and color. The air was thick with sweat and cigarette smoke as people hurried to the riverfront to witness the show.
I was standing beside a small crowd watching and sipping fresh coffee. Someone mentioned the heat. I noticed, but didn’t mind, and then there was Annick Goutal Eau Charlotte quietly comforting and privately warm. July 5, 2014 at 8:19pm
Victoria: What a beautiful story! Thank you so much for sharing it. July 6, 2014 at 5:25am
Solanace: Yesterday was our 11th anniversary! My brother in law came take care of the kids and we went out by night – freedom! For the first time, I perceived the leather smell of my new shoes as a perfume. I wore Mohur extrait and he wore Chanel Pour Monsieur as we drove all around the city. The night was beautiful, the sky starry and we ate a hot dog in the end. 🙂
Earlier, we had gone have lunch at his parent’s house. My sweet sister in law was back from Italy, and we ate smoked horse meat from Padova, which was great and very uniquely fragrant. She also brought me the most deliciously perfumed foodie gifts: funghi porcini from Piemonte, spicy smelling origanum and fiery hot but sweet smelling sun dried tomatoes, both from Sicily, not to mention a beautiful, also Sicilian pistacchio cream I’m dying to try. Does anyone knows what to do with that? Should I just eat it with a spoon out of the pot, as I am tempted to do, or is there any traditional recipe with it? July 6, 2014 at 7:14am
Victoria: Congratulations! I wish you many more years together and many more anniversary celebrations. It sounds like you had a fun day!
As for the goodies, I’m envious. Pistachio cream is delicious on bread, crepes or swirled into yogurt. You can also spread it on sponge cake and add berries. Or you can make pistachio gelato by mixing the cream into the custard base. But honestly, eaten straight out of the jar is the most decadent pleasure. July 6, 2014 at 8:57am
Solanace: It’s a beautiful, small and gourmet looking jar, so straight out of it will be. thank’s for answering, Victoria.
Just smelled a ripe banana from our neigbour’s garden. Very sweet, and I can see some links to white flowers. July 6, 2014 at 10:10am
Michaela: Congratulations! And many happy years together from now on! July 7, 2014 at 5:02am
Solanace: Forgot to say the most important: What a beautiful picture, Victoria! I’m eagerly waiting for the recipes. 🙂 July 6, 2014 at 7:16am
Victoria: Thank you! 🙂 July 6, 2014 at 8:54am
Jehane: An intensely beautiful post…thank you, Victoria!
Scent overload here as I’m house-sitting for a friend with 2 Bengal cats. Their feral fur smell, hot and meaty yet with an elusive sting or tang, mingles with jasmine and honeysuckle from the garden fence; there is basil, mint and coriander on the windowsill; and I’ve been drinking lime drinks and wearing Chamade, as the day is hot… July 6, 2014 at 5:23pm
Eva S.: How I love cherries! 🙂
Thank you for this beautiful post and picture.
Yesterday me and my boyfriend went cross-country skiing in a ski-tunnel. Xcskiing is my one of my greatest pasions in life, and the smell of snow when we came into the tunnel…you know, it almost itches in your nose..I was so happy! 🙂
Now we are back near the sea where we live, and I wear Jour d´Hermes which never fails to lift my spirits (miss the snow…) July 7, 2014 at 3:51pm
Victoria: You make me want to ski! I’ve tried it only once so far. Maybe, we will venture out this year, because my husband really loves it. July 7, 2014 at 4:44pm
Michaela: Please do so! You don’t know what you’re missing! Ski, snowboard, anything. July 8, 2014 at 6:42am
Michaela: Wow, tell me of skiing and snow scent now I’m facing 100 degrees! Wonderful, I envy you! July 8, 2014 at 6:41am
Penny: On July 4 in the evening I walked down to the lake to watch the fireworks. There is a house with a front yard garden and sitting area that I usually only pass during the day. As I walked by the house the garden had the most incredible scent coming from the Nicotiana – jasmine/honey smells that even overpowered the sulfur smoke from the fireworks. What a surprise!
This week I have been wearing Chanel Bois des Iles alternating with 1932. I love them both, but I especially am enjoying 1932 in the warm weather. It blossoms and seems to grow more beautiful as it dries down in the heat, but isn’t at all overpowering.
My husband has been making a fruity iced tea with lemons, cloves, and just a touch of cinnamon. It makes our kitchen smell deliciously fresh and spicy. July 7, 2014 at 5:58pm
Victoria: Your iced tea sounds wonderful! What kind of fruit does he add? July 8, 2014 at 2:32pm