I’m back in my summer office. The bright pink color was the choice of our neighbor, who as a part-time gravedigger has a philosophical outlook on life–“have your fun now”. It’s a small room I share with spiders and a mouse. Small cracks in the ceiling send rivulets of crumbled plaster onto my notebooks. The earthen floor produces copious amounts of dust, and I’ve resigned myself to the reddish tint on my shoes.
Yet it’s the most serene place I know, especially in the mornings when the garden holds only me, birds and visiting cats. The house is built in the old-fashioned manner of wood and clay mixed with hay, and it breathes. I can smell the said cats if they have been too playful nearby, but I also notice the green sweetness of crushed milkweed and tea roses that vie for a spot in the sun and grow in a thick tangle over the fence. Breakfast is only a strawberry patch away. The water for tea is in the well. (The amenities are thankfully in a separate house close by).
It was in this rustic place that I finally had time to fine tune the engine that runs Bois de Jasmin and do much needed backstage work–cleaning up the databases, adding tags, pruning categories, etc. As the site grows, my goal is to make sure it remains user-friendly and that the archives are easy to access. The main menu is now fuller, and in contrast to the past when categories were separated between menus and sidebars, now everything appears in one location. Just by glancing at the main menu you can find the full spectrum of Bois de Jasmin’s topics: perfume, flavors, beauty, books and much more. Perfume doesn’t exist in a cultural vacuum, after all.
Bois de Jasmin is also now on Instagram, and you’re welcome to follow me there. I look forward to discovering your own images and snapshots from your life.
Of course, please let know if you find any glitches or broken links. If there is any other topic you would like me, Elisa, Patricia or Andy to cover, do comment.
Photography by Bois de Jasmin, my summer office
122 Comments
sandra: What a wonderful office! Does your husband share that tiny bed with you? Looks cozy and romantic! Sounds like you are having a wonderful summer!
I use twitter to follow the news and Facebook to see how everyone is doing in their lives but other then that I usually stay away from all other social media, but good luck with Instagram!
I hope everyone had a great Father’s Day yesterday-I was missing my Dad a lot-but turned my sadness into happiness by celebrating my wonderful husband who is a great father.
The summer is very busy for us-I won’t have time to check this blog for a bit (sigh) but will catch up once the traveling ends! Bon Voyage June 22, 2015 at 8:15am
Victoria: Have a wonderful summer, Sandra! I look forward to your stories when you return home. June 22, 2015 at 1:48pm
Marsha: How adorable! You look just like a little girl in her doll house. June 22, 2015 at 8:41am
Victoria: A crumbling, dusty doll house with lots of spiders. June 22, 2015 at 1:49pm
Tijana: Looks great and you look great in that setting! Thank you for doing all that “grunt” work to ensure even a better user experience for all of us! June 22, 2015 at 9:11am
Victoria: I never realized how much of a computer geek I am until I got a blog. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 2:10pm
Karen 5.0: What an enchanting office/nap area! You are surrounded by nourishing nature and I bet you take refuge in the solace it can bring, just like Elizabeth Berg imagines George Sand did in her novel, The Dream Lover. Good luck with your pruning~ June 22, 2015 at 9:11am
Victoria: It’s a perfect place to work and just lounge around. It also changes my whole schedule–I fall asleep early, and I wake up at 5-6am. It’s just so good to wake up with the birds. June 22, 2015 at 2:19pm
Celeste Church: I had no idea,you were twelve! Kidding, of course, but you look so young and cute in your pink office! I used to have a tiny pink office myself, back when I wrote an (unpublished) book. Maybe pink is a creative color? Anyway, you look darling! I will follow you on Instagram for sure. Thanks for all the hard work you put in, and enjoy your summer. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 9:18am
Victoria: I have no idea, but my first reaction after the room was painted was “Oh, my gosh, it’s so PINK!” I would have picked a more subtle shade myself, but then again, it’s fun. It’s like a rustic Barbie doll house. If Barbie were a farmer, of course. June 22, 2015 at 2:20pm
maja: “If Barbie were a farmer” hahahha good one. I really like your summer office, I’ve had great time with my parents in the countryside and I already miss them. June 22, 2015 at 3:31pm
Victoria: Do they have a similar house or something more modern? June 24, 2015 at 2:06pm
maja: A bit more modern, it was built in the 70s but so different from our modern apartments. They have a summer kitchen/garage so that’s where we spend most of the time. Besides, being outdoors all day is incredibly good for your night sleep. 🙂 June 24, 2015 at 4:31pm
Victoria: It really is! I fall asleep instantly here. 🙂 June 26, 2015 at 11:11am
Jeri: I’m a grateful reader, but often don’t feel savvy enough to comment. Today, I would like to say thank you for all that you share. I have been a long time lover of your site. You are an inspiration. June 22, 2015 at 9:20am
Victoria: Jeri, please don’t worry about it. Just jump in and comment away. We are a mixed bunch here. Some people know more about perfume than I am, others are just starting to learn. So, if you have any question or observation, it will be more than welcome. June 22, 2015 at 2:23pm
Phyllis Iervello: I do Facebook but never have gotten into Instagram (even though I have the app).
Your office is charming and you look very serene and happy. I love your blog and look forward to reading it every day. Have a wonderful Summer! June 22, 2015 at 9:27am
Victoria: A few of my friends on Instagram have been nudging me, so I tried it and liked it. It’s a fun app.
I call it office, but it’s also called a summer kitchen around here. It has a stove, and in my great-grandparents’ time, the food was cooked here on hot days, rather than in the main house. June 22, 2015 at 2:25pm
Elisa: I’m so glad you’ve joined Instagram. I love your photos! Hoping to see you sneak some perfume collection photos in there… June 22, 2015 at 9:33am
Victoria: I swear, the rest of you have much more impressive perfume collections than I do! June 22, 2015 at 2:27pm
Michaela: Your pink summer office, that’s a surprise! 🙂
Thank you for all the work! June 22, 2015 at 9:36am
Victoria: I would love for it to be transported to Brussels. I’ll miss it. June 22, 2015 at 2:28pm
Michaela: That would be nice! 🙂
I know what’s missing: a cat! June 23, 2015 at 5:59am
FearsMice: I agree: the pink office would be a perfect setting for your mom’s beautiful Viola! Like others, I don’t comment much but I do follow your blog faithfully. Thank you so much for all your hard work in keeping this space such a lovely place to visit. And thanks for sharing your pink idyll with us!! June 23, 2015 at 7:00am
Victoria: Too rustic for our lady Viola. 🙂
Thank you for visiting and for reading. June 24, 2015 at 2:30pm
Victoria: There are plenty of them around, but we don’t have any permanently residing on premises. My grandmother doesn’t like cats. June 24, 2015 at 2:26pm
limegreen: Just to say thank you, your site is so wonderful to read and all the “pruning” and organizing that you do makes it easy to use as a resource. I love reading and re-reading the notes section and always look up a fragrance to read if you have a review.
(I read about pink being a calming color. Not that it’s relevant here at all 🙂 but they have experimented with painting prison cells pink for inmates with violent tendencies.) June 22, 2015 at 10:28am
Victoria: Believe me, when I spend enough time reading news, I need much pink to calm me down. Maybe, it really does work. 🙂
The biggest the site grows, the more work it needs just to keep on running. I’m happy to hear it remains user-friendly. June 22, 2015 at 2:34pm
Tammy: Where is your rustic idyll located? – if I may be so prying as to ask… June 22, 2015 at 10:30am
Victoria: In Ukraine, at my grandmother’s. June 22, 2015 at 2:34pm
Portia: Your room makes me smile Victoria.
Portia xx June 22, 2015 at 10:57am
Victoria: It’s a calming, serene place. I also have a samovar. June 22, 2015 at 2:35pm
MontrealGirl: Victoria, you should post a picture of your samovar. They always look so marvellous…like time has stood still and all that matters is the pure, slow enjoyment of a great cup of tea. July 1, 2015 at 6:32pm
Victoria: There is a picture either on my Instagram or Facebook. It’s a very pretty samovar, painted with red berries and flowers. July 5, 2015 at 5:03am
Karen: We should all heed your part-time gravedigger’s advice! Wonderful update on your very cozy little space, and many thanks for keeping Bois de Jasmin running so smoothly. June 22, 2015 at 11:03am
Victoria: I like when he comes over. He’s 80, and he’s a sharp, funny guy. He also taught me how to repair clay floors, saw wood, fix fences and use a shovel like an expert. Skills that may not come in handy during my regular city life, but you never know what life might throw your way. June 22, 2015 at 2:37pm
maja: Oh, gosh, I’ve learned so much about various practical things in the past month or so spending time with my parents (I am 40 🙂 ) so I can totally relate to what you’re saying. You never know when you’ll need those tricks about picking plants or baking in an oven that uses wood. June 22, 2015 at 3:35pm
Victoria: I love learning something unusual like this (unusual for my urban existence). There is much pleasure in working with one’s hands. June 24, 2015 at 2:07pm
Karen: I agree with Maja, the more skills one has the wider variety of tasks you can accomplish. Even if it’s simply because you are teaching your yourself new things and therefore feel more capable! Plus, knowing a gravedigger just seems like a wonderful connection to the whole life cycle (and also sounds really cool, as we are usually pretty removed from that aspect of death) June 23, 2015 at 7:46am
Victoria: He is a fascinating person, and one of the most interesting people around here. An honest, hardworking guy. I also love to sit him down and hear him talk politics. He makes sharper observations than most professional politicians I know. June 24, 2015 at 2:31pm
Victoria: Here, you aren’t too far removed from death, also because funerals are major social occasions. Whenever someone passes away, the whole village is invited for a meal after the first few days and then after 40 days. According to the Orthodox beliefs, the soul leaves our world after 40 days, so the period is marked somehow. June 24, 2015 at 2:34pm
Cornelia Blimber: That’s interesting…Jesus was 40 days on earth before his resurrection. June 24, 2015 at 4:08pm
maja: Exactly, there is something both strange and profound in going to a funeral and then sharing a meal all together. That is how The Brothers Karamazov ends, if you remember. They are coming back from the little boy’s funeral, promising each other resurrection and going to a funeral dinner.
“Well, now we will finish talking and go to his funeral dinner. Don’t be put out at our eating pancakes—it’s a very old custom and there’s something nice in that!” laughed Alyosha. “Well, let us go! And now we go hand in hand.”
Forty days are marked by a shared meal, too. June 24, 2015 at 4:42pm
Victoria: I don’t like Dostoyevsky, I have to admit, but I remember this scene vividly. Thank you for reminding me of it. June 26, 2015 at 11:12am
Neva: You’ve done a great job! Since I’m reading your blog for less than a year I have a lot to catch up so I appreciate your effort to make your blog more user friendly. Thank you for sharing your passion with us.
Your summer office is just lovely and I can well imagine the scents surrounding you as you sit there – it’s so precious. June 22, 2015 at 11:20am
Victoria: Thank you for stopping by and sparking my curiosity again and again with new suggestions, recommendations and just fun talk. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 2:38pm
Victoria: Right now it smells of drying lindens and rose blossoms. June 22, 2015 at 2:38pm
spe: Just looking at you in that delightful space makes me joyful! Your blog is top notch. I’d like to request links to the WWD reviews, please.
Thank you! June 22, 2015 at 11:30am
Victoria: Thank you for reminding me. I will sit down one weekend and pull of the links together. June 22, 2015 at 2:39pm
spe: Wonderful! Thank you for the work you do and for sharing so much with us. June 22, 2015 at 5:09pm
Victoria: Very happy to do so! Thank you for visiting. June 24, 2015 at 2:11pm
Wesley Hall Parker: What a wonderful space! It looks like an amazing retreat. Victoria – thank you so much for inviting us into your world. I’ve been a reader for years, and I find it so inspiring and delightful. It’s a joy to see the world through your eyes and the unique lens of your family’s traditions and history. June 22, 2015 at 11:34am
Victoria: Thank you very much, Wesley! It means a lot to me. June 22, 2015 at 2:40pm
Annie O: And the other truly great photo of you in the South of France, sitting up to your gills in pink rose de mai, also has you in pink splendor!
Both photos are favorites! Pink must be your color. June 22, 2015 at 11:35am
Victoria: I love pink for its lighthearted, uplifting effect and because it’s not a high-maintenance shade. One of my favorite dresses is strapless, with a tight bodice, a full ballerina skirt and a wide hot pink sash. One day I was walking down the street in it, and I passed a little girl who looked at me in total awe and whispered loudly to her mom, “is that a real girl or a doll?” I thought that it was the best dress comment. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 2:47pm
Michaela: Gorgeous compliment! Sweet little girl…:) June 23, 2015 at 6:16am
Victoria: She was lovely. June 24, 2015 at 2:27pm
Hamamelis: Looking at your summer office ( sanctuary? ) allows me to experience a little of its atmosphere. Warms my heart you share it with 4 and 8 legged creatures.Thank you for all your work for BdJ, now I will try and seek out instagram! June 22, 2015 at 1:00pm
Victoria: Right now the table is covered with drying linden blossoms, wild thyme and roses. The table is my favorite thing in that room. It’s a huge, heavy, oak table.
Spiders destroy any flying insect within seconds. Good thing I have nothing again spiders and I’m not squeamish when it comes to any 8 legged creature. Otherwise, it would be impossible to inhabit this room. June 22, 2015 at 2:50pm
Kat: I have a firm rule that anything with more than four legs is not allowed inside the house. Those that don’t trigger any phobias I try do discard with by putting them outside. The others I’m afraid are not so lucky – I do however apologize (there’s a stack of books on Buddhism in my bookcase.) June 22, 2015 at 7:55pm
Victoria: I mostly don’t care, but spiders are welcome to stay. The only exception are the fist sized ones I used to see a lot in my student housing in North Carolina. Those are plain frightening. June 24, 2015 at 2:13pm
Jani: You and Bois de Jasmin add so much joy to my life! Seriously, when I feel stressed or depressed, I only have to read a few pages of your blog and I’m in a better place. When I first discovered Bois de Jasmin (2006 perhaps) I imagined you to look like Jane Alexander—lovely, elegant, but far more mature (ahem!) than your photos suggest. Now you reimind me more of Katie Holmes; I even read your voice differently! Of course, you are YOU and in my opinion, more interesting than any actress I can think of. I regularly wear Vero Profumo’s Rubj, influenced by your outstanding taste. (However, I’ve tried to like Cuir de Russie, but I just can’t do it). Thank you so much for informing and enlightening me on fragrance (and culinary ways to use flowers) for almost a decade now. I loved pink all on my own, though. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 1:41pm
Victoria: Thank you, Jani! It’s always a pleasure to share. Ultimately, all of you inspire me a great deal, and if I’m ever away from BdJ for too long, I miss our chats. 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 2:10pm
Nancy A.: Virginia Woolf knew what she was talking about…a room of one’s own. Enviable little hideaway. June 22, 2015 at 3:04pm
Victoria: She really did! I love this idea. June 24, 2015 at 1:52pm
Joy: Thank you for sharing your lovely, private space. Without your revues, comments from other readers, perfume would be overwhelming for me. It did not used to be that way! But now there are just too many choices. I could not weave my way through that world without your analysis and help.
I love reading your articles first thing the morning. Oh, and last year your article on plum compote inspired me to plant four Japanese plum trees on my planting Boulevard in front of my house. Next year it will be rose petal jam! June 22, 2015 at 3:06pm
Victoria: It’s true, the perfume market now is beyond overwhelming. I used to be able to keep track of most new launches, but now I can’t. I do my best, but I also have come to terms to my inability to smell many new things. Oh well…
Thank you, Joy! I’m so happy to hear this. June 24, 2015 at 1:57pm
maja: Yes, there is an infinite joy in simple things and spaces. Thank you for being such an inspiration.
Hugs! June 22, 2015 at 3:38pm
Victoria: There is! I get recharged here. June 24, 2015 at 2:08pm
Ellen: I love the pink of your summer office. It makes me want to duplicate it somehow. There is something very soothing about how you look in it. Enjoy the birds, the strawberries, and the roses. June 22, 2015 at 3:38pm
Karen: A few years ago I painted our living room pink – went through the Perfect English books and realized my favorite rooms were painted pink. It’s a wonderful color and both paintings and textiles work really well against it, much better than against white. Plus, it’s a soothing color, so give it a try! June 23, 2015 at 7:53am
Raquel: I love your summer office. It reminds me so much of my beloved grandmother’s house. A very rustic but clean house in the middle of a garden full of flowers, orange and “marañon” trees, a stream and birds. Spiders, a bat at night, sometimes scorpions and other spices I’ve never seen before are part of the place. The house had electricity for the first time en 2003. Enjoy and thank you for sharing this beauty. June 23, 2015 at 10:12am
Raquel: *species… June 24, 2015 at 10:22am
Victoria: Raquel, same here. Our house also didn’t have some basic amenities until very recently. I still remember the time where the only running water around here was the rain.
Your grandmother’s house sounds beautiful! June 24, 2015 at 2:36pm
Victoria: I’m now wondering how I can duplicate it at home. Another thing I like about it is its simplicity. But pink is definitely an amazing color for a living space. I’m feeling its effects. June 24, 2015 at 2:08pm
Figuier: What a gorgeous, inspiring post…I’m just back from a weekend away at my parent’s in law, who live in the most beautiful countryside, by the sea. As we were driving & walking around I kept picking out rustic-looking cottages & imagining living and, above all, working there – your pink room is exactly the kind of room I’d imagine creating! Thanks for all your work – your blog isn’t just packed full of great content, but it’s always a pleasure to use. June 22, 2015 at 4:38pm
Victoria: I keep dreaming of just staying here, although whenever I go back to Brussels, I realize how much I miss my room and my new city. So, I’m content to dividing my time. June 24, 2015 at 2:11pm
Aisha: FUN!
I used to do a lot of blogging as a “mommy blogger.” But I’ve kinda given that up since my son turned 12, and have been sharing photos on Instagram instead. I hope to return to blogging though. It was such a great outlet for me when I first gave up full-time employment at the local paper.
I’m following you on Instagram now. I’m “JustMomJM.” 🙂 June 22, 2015 at 6:36pm
Victoria: I hope that you will return! Blogging is a lot of work, but it’s rewarding.
Thank you for letting me know your user name. I’ve followed you too. June 24, 2015 at 2:12pm
Hannah: That office kind of seems like something in a Studio Ghibli film. June 22, 2015 at 10:22pm
Victoria: Your reference is not something I know, but I will look it up! June 24, 2015 at 2:15pm
sajini: You look like you are sitting in the middle of a Matisse painting! Thanks, Victoria, for all you do to make this site so beautiful. June 22, 2015 at 11:16pm
Victoria: I love your comparison. On a sunny day it sort of feels like it. June 24, 2015 at 2:16pm
Sofia: What an amazing summer office full of character! Just followed on Instagram! I only comment on your blog once in a blue moon, but you’re one of my favourite blog reads ever, since years ago, so happy you’re joining in the instagram fun hehe… June 23, 2015 at 2:30am
Victoria: Thank you so much, Sofia! I’m happy to chat anytime. 🙂 June 24, 2015 at 2:18pm
Cornelia Blimber: My mother used to say:
Spinn am Morgen, Kummer und Sorgen.
Spinn am Mittag, Glück am dritten Tag.
Spinn am Abend, erquickend und labend.
So don’t look at them in the morning!
Enjoy your rustic office! What a big contrast with Brussels. June 23, 2015 at 3:13am
Victoria: The only thing in common with Brussels my office has is the stacks of books. They keep on growing. June 24, 2015 at 2:21pm
iodine: 🙂
Enjoy your summer office, Victoria.
The magnolias at Giardini Pubblici send you their fondest greetings! June 23, 2015 at 4:11am
Victoria: Thank you! I was just thinking of the gorgeous magnolias and the wonderful time we shared in Milano. June 24, 2015 at 2:22pm
rainboweyes: What a lovely and cosy room!
Its colour reminds me of “marsala”, the Pantone colour of the year 2015. Very trendy 🙂
Spiders are very useful creatures, that’s true. I mostly let them live in my house too (at least the thin-legged kind 😉 ) June 23, 2015 at 4:22am
Hannah: I really don’t get why people have such an issue with non-poisonous spiders. Where spiders hang out and where humans hang out are usually not the same place. Why should it bother me if I see one sometimes? Not to mention, to kill them requires you to get *closer* to them and it is more effort than its worth. June 23, 2015 at 4:28am
Michaela: Good point, Hannah! 🙂 June 23, 2015 at 6:14am
Cornelia Blimber: Of course Hannah is right. And you should never kill a spider. But some people have a strong fear for spiders. It’s irrational.
I am not afraid of spiders, but have a terrible fear for bumble bees. I know that’s nonsense, but I just can’t help it. But I don’t kill them of course. June 23, 2015 at 6:49am
Kat: Arachnaphobia is not something you can ‘get’ – it’s deeply irrational. Mine is no longer as bad as it used to be and I can handle tiny spiders (even let them be if they’re not right over my bed). Your body jumps into a fight and flight response at the sheer sight of a spider – even if you know exactly where it is. You get the adrenaline rush, blood pressure and heart rate elevate etc. That’s pretty stressful – and rationalizing (it’s not poisonous) has no effect whatsoever. There’s no arguing with the amygdala – just be glad it’s not something you have to deal with. June 23, 2015 at 7:44am
Michaela: You are right, Kat. Any phobia is irrational. I know what you mean. I can’t bear the sight of worms. June 23, 2015 at 8:14am
Hannah: But most people don’t have a phobia of spiders. Perhaps you really have a real phobia (I have a phobia of masks, so I really didn’t need the explanation) but it is a highly overused word.
Most people just think they’re icky and therefore don’t deserve to live. Like almost every response to bees dying that I’ve heard in real life is “Good! I hate bees!”. For the most part, spiders and bees actually only do good (bees might sting people, but at least they don’t stab people?) but they’re just considered to be little, ugly things. They fact they’re devalued is not because of phobias. June 23, 2015 at 3:24pm
Karen: I think you need to hang out with more gardeners food lovers and people concerned about our environmental Hannah! I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone express happiness over the colony collapse of bees (and the decline of butterflies). June 23, 2015 at 8:04pm
Victoria: Yes, it’s like the animal protection charities that get more money by marketing “cute” animals. On the other hand, saving lions or pandas involves saving habitat for other creatures. June 24, 2015 at 2:39pm
Austenfan: And please let’s not forget tigerswans 🙂 June 30, 2015 at 8:31am
Victoria: I will tell Diadia Borya this, and he will get a kick out of it. “What! I just mixed some nice bright color for you,” I imagine him saying. June 24, 2015 at 2:23pm
Aurora: It looks like the house of the 3 bears, so adorable, you must get a lot of inspiration in that comfortable setting. I’m curious about the earthen floor, does one just sweep it? June 23, 2015 at 5:55am
Victoria: 🙂 A house of the 3 bears sounds so funny. The bed is the old-fashioned box spring, and until I found the right kind of cardboard to prop up the mattresses, I felt like the Goldilocks myself–too soft, too hard, just right.
The clay floors are swept in the usual way. Traditionally, they were covered with calamus to protect the earthen layers, but I have no idea where to find it. Instead, mine is covered with wooden boards, and the exposed part near the entrance with the plastic placemats. Not terribly glamorous, but works well. June 24, 2015 at 2:26pm
Aurora: Sorry, most important of course, all my thanks for your stellar work on your blog and now Instagram. Perhaps it will encourage me to join. June 23, 2015 at 5:59am
Victoria: Thank you so much! June 24, 2015 at 2:26pm
Drakecito: Victoria, beautiful setting. I hope you enjoy it.
I just wanted to thank you for one of the prettiest blogs out there.
Spiders are endearing, cute little animals … 🙂
A hug from Spain. June 23, 2015 at 6:24am
Victoria: Thank you very much! I don’t know why I have always loved all of the animals and insects others found repulsive–frogs, spiders, mice, bats, lizards. I even had a pet lizard. 🙂 June 24, 2015 at 2:28pm
Kate: What a lovely and serene place to work. I hope you are recharging your own batteries as well as the site’s!
On an unconnected note, it was nice to see you mentioned in the Guardian today, in their article about summer perfumes 🙂 June 23, 2015 at 9:47am
Victoria: Thank you, Kate! It was a fun article. 🙂 June 24, 2015 at 2:34pm
Raquel: And I love the pictures you share on IG! June 23, 2015 at 10:13am
Victoria: I’m happy to hear it. My phone is ancient, but for now it manages to take photos. June 24, 2015 at 2:36pm
Alicia: I like very much the pink of the walls with the blue you are wearing. I notice a rug with some geometric designs, and the different rectangles of the composition. Vermeer might have changed his usual palette, and paint that room en rose with the reading woman in blue, a theme he loved. Retouching a well known poem, this image of you in your space brings to my mind these lines. I’ll rephrase a little:
Tout y parlerait
À l’âme en secret
Sa douce langue natale.
Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté,
calme et sérénité.. June 23, 2015 at 1:16pm
Victoria: What a gorgeous vision! And a beautiful poem. June 24, 2015 at 2:37pm
Annunziata: That picture is wonderful! Sometimes, it just makes me happy to be reminded of people around the world who still read. If they are ensconced in charming pink rooms, so much the better. June 23, 2015 at 3:01pm
Victoria: I once saw a photo exhibit of people reading during their commute. Perhaps, fewer people read, but on the train I notice how many are engrossed into a book. June 24, 2015 at 2:38pm
Annikky Lamp: This is so lovely. I have come to intimately understand how much work it is to maintain a blog (apart from the writing and other more creative elements). Congratulations with getting it all over and done with! And as always, thanks for blogging and existing. June 23, 2015 at 5:18pm
Victoria: Thank you, Annikky! It’s a lot of work, but really, it’s rewarding in so many ways that I don’t think of it as “work”. But I also don’t set unreasonable goals for me. It takes a while to find the right balance, of course. June 24, 2015 at 2:44pm
Cerulean: Your office is just heavenly. I could gladly call that home. I’m another one of your silent readers who escapes into the world of perfume and hardly wants to leave. Love your blog, thank you! June 25, 2015 at 6:58am
Victoria: Thank you very much for your nice words and for coming here. 🙂 June 26, 2015 at 11:18am
Austenfan: You know what your photo reminds me of? Of the fortune teller scene in Jane Eyre. Don’t know why. Just another of my random associations.
Glad to read that you are still enjoying your stay in Ukraine. I wonder, if the earthen floor gets wet does it go muddy? June 26, 2015 at 4:18pm
Irina: So excited you joined the instagram because I love looking at your wonderful pictures! Your blog is one of my to-go web places when I need a shot of happiness. It’s an incredible guide to the world of scent, and I enjoy reading random archive posts like a book – from cover to cover, including comments.
Those colorful Ukraine posts are among my favorites, as they bring back the childhood memories that I thought long forgotten. Just like Proust’s madeleines 🙂 Your gravedigger friend has a great eye: this pink brings softness to the rough-hewn earthiness of that room and its furniture. This is an artist’s room 🙂
I don’t blog, but I instagram as bond_girl 🙂 June 29, 2015 at 9:42am
MontrealGirl: Wow! You look like you are in an Ivan Biblin drawing! The trim along the ceiling, the wallhanging behind the bed, the patterns on the bed cover and the chair…it looks like a perfect cottage! You are a perfect doll in your wonderful cottage. Your room reminds me of my childhood dream of having an attic room to myself to do up like a beautiful hide-away for reading and day dreaming…
Thanks for ‘Spring’ cleaning your blog; much appreciated! Glad to hear you found it enjoyable. As an IT designer and lover of organizational structures I know how satisfying it can be to make things nice in tidy, even if they are virtual. 🙂
As for the spiders, they make me think of “Charlotte’s Web”. July 1, 2015 at 6:55pm
Victoria: Thank you! You’re right, this place makes me think of fairy tales, especially with its decor and colors. I guess, I also had a childhood fantasy of a little garden cottage. July 5, 2015 at 6:35am