What a roller coaster few weeks it's been! Personal stuff, business stuff, other folks' stuff -- it's overwhelming, yet . . . the sanity remains because I've got incense. And aged sandalwood oil. And a big bottle of beautiful cane alcohol. And determination not to let the world get me down. Just finished up an enfleurage of pink jasmine and made it (the pommade) into a hair serum that included some nicely aged sweet, buttery, warm, creamy Sri Lankan sandalwood oil from the heartwood. It's incredible! I'm still working on the lilac enfleurage (ran out of lilac but should be restocking those in a few days). Lilac takes a long time, especially since I don't use deodorized coconut oil. I love the rich coconut-y-ness of unrefined organic coconut oil. There's also a bit of French grapeseed oil for the antioxidants, vitamin E in particular. I'm tempted to keep the entire batch for myself, but alas, bills must be paid and work enjoyed.

Finally -- after what now, a year? -- got through all the boxes in the garage from the move and found the last bits of raw materials that had been missing from the organ this whole time. One would think that being in a dusty garage in a box for a year would make it all turn bad, but this garage is fully insulated and stays pretty much the same temperature all year round -- about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides, it never really gets hot HOT here. Found a 50% dilution of Biolandes cypress bioabsolute -- stunning! Smells like fresh fig flesh and blonde tobacco. It's really quite special. I also found a well-aged bottle of frankincense absolute, an eight ounce unopened bottle of Indonesian vetyver oil -- grassy, green notes in this one -- and my wee bottle of blue lotus phytol (3 grams remain). Oh, and a tin with 18 grams of apple blossom concrete, extra rare, that, and probably not much floating about in the world. I might be convinced to sell off a few grams since I will never, ever use it (all).

I'm once again considering teaching classes in person (I know, I say this often) but I've gotten a bit of encouragement from a local shop keep who would like to host a few workshops. I just need to get my head back into the game and make a plan for the workshops. Something I can handle with all that I do, without getting overwhelmed and wearing myself out. As an introvert, a day out shopping in crowds is often enough to send me to the divan for the remainder of the day, so a day spent teaching people eager for information can put me to bed!



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