Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, April 9, and I’ve had a lovely week, starting with Easter. I took this week off from work, to rest up before the final push toward the end of the semester and final exams (I work all summer, too, but it’s less hectic once the students have left). Usually I would have had a week off for a university spring break in March, but that was canceled this year, in an attempt to reduce travel back and forth from the campus and thus spreading infection.
The weather has been beautiful, including Easter Sunday, and we were able to attend church in person, outside in the courtyard. The volunteers who handle everything from set-up to flowers outdid themselves, and everything was just beautiful. I’ve spent most of this week gardening, including in my new raised-bed vegetable garden, so things look tidier than usual!
We’re also making real progress on putting our house back together — the two semi-demolished bathrooms now have floors and tiles again, and most of the plumbing fixtures are back in place. The shower in one bathroom is mostly rebuilt. Electrical work has been done to replace lighting in that bathroom too, though the fixtures have to wait until all the plaster and paint have been redone. The living room and dining room still look like scenes of demolition, with great gaping holes in the ceilings and one wall, but those will be handled as part of one massive re-plastering. I can’t wait to have my house back, after all these months!
Meanwhile, the fragrant flowers blooming in my garden include: the first roses; Korean lilacs; late daffodils; violets; lilies of the valley. The large pots of herbs I planted last year are sending up new growth, including the pretty silver-leaved lavenders. Since I’m at home all day to take proper care of them, I’ve started quite a few seeds, and I’m excited to see how they do. I also have pots of forced hyacinths and Easter lilies in the house, which I’ll plant out when they start to fade.
How was your week? What’s in bloom near you? Do you have any favorite fragrances with notes from the flowers in my garden, or yours?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
Hi there OH,
Your Easter sounds perfect.
Loving the newly readied raised veggie beds too. Looks totally ready for action.
My Mum used to force bulbs but I never had a knack for it. Sometimes I used to buy a little pot of them ready to flower and then plant the bulbs afterwards, to usually fairly dismal repeats.
Now that we are in the apartment we have hardly any plants.
The hawthorn across the road is the cemetery is flowering madly,. as are the murraya. Fragrant and buzzing with bees. I love this Indian Summer we have in Sydney. Warm enough to walk the dogs and eat outside but not stifling.
Today I’m wearing CHANEL Jersey & French Grey by Elizabeth & James on each arm.
Two very different looks at lavender. Jersey being a cool lavender vanilla lolly and French Grey being more cologne/aromatic style. Both lovely and very wearable but neither are as magical as Caron pour un homme, which is my all time fave.
Portia xx
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I think French Grey is a great “bargain beauty” at $19.99, the price we often see in the US now that it’s discontinued.
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Yes, such a good deal. It doesn’t smell bargain at all. I think I paid around that from FragNet.
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The cherries are blooming here and we have lots of tomatoes and bell peppers on our windowsill for planting later. I tried my new brompton bike today, this was fun.i wore Cristalle Eau Verte in the morning and Niki de Saint Phalle later.
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Being a florals fan, I have perfumes with all the notes from your beautiful garden (I mean, it must be beautiful with everything that’s blooming there 🙂 ).
A thought of any house remodeling scares me stiff, so I’m usually in awe with everyone who manages to complete the project. So, I‘ll hope yours will be done soon.
I feel a strange laziness when it comes to perfumes these days: I want to wear something but I don’t want to think about the choice… but I don’t want to wear just anything… You see the problem? 🙂
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I do! I have days like that.
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I tend to reach for an easy favorite like Tiffany & Co. if I’m in that mood.
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I’ve never tried French Grey but Chanel’s Jersey is one of my top perfumes always. Love lavender. Here is my contact info addiehale (just like that, all lower case) at Gmail so I can send those samples!
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Thank you so much! I’ll email you this weekend.
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