Checking in…

You’ve probably heard that Napa, CA had a rather large (6.0) earthquake last night, waking people up at 3:20 in the morning with shaking, damage, and power outages. It woke us up in Sonoma too, with quite a bit of shaking and rolling. My cottage is on stilts on a hillside, so the swaying can be scary. All is fine here though — we didn’t even have any bottles or items tossed to the floor (with all the bottles in my workroom, that could be a nightmare). My heart goes out to those in Napa who sustained damage.

I also wanted to mention that I am back to work on the all-natural amber incense scent. So far the notes are bergamot, elemi, Sichuan pepper, frankincense, cedar, New Caledonia sandalwood, jasmine sambac, rose absolute, beeswax, clove, cinnamon, ginger, oakmoss, patchouli, benzoin, heliotrope, and vanilla. I have a small sample that I like, so I’m scaling up to the next level. I’d like to finish this, if possible, before putting the cart back up. The Sichuan pepper is new to me but is yummy; it has opening notes that are fresh with a zingy citric (almost lemony) feeling, and then the far drydown becomes woodsy.

The first signs of fall are starting to emerge. We still have tomatoes and zucchini, but the plants are looking tired and the maples are already showing some red leaves. The mornings have been foggy and cool while the afternoons are still hot, which is typical late summer weather here.

Evening of Perfumery in Sacramento, CA

I received notice about an event in California that I thought I would mention in case anyone is interested. The American Society of Perfumers and The International Fragrance Association, North America are sponsoring an “Evening of Perfumery” event on August 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Sutter Club, 1220 9th Street, Sacramento, CA. The announcement said, “Drawing inspiration from nature, vistas, and crops native to California, perfumers Chris Diienno (drom international, Inc. USA) and Monica Aneiros-Burke (Arylessence, Inc.) will present perfumes created for this event. These unique scents will illustrate how important California is to the craft of perfumery in the United States and worldwide.” The perfumers will discuss their fragrant interpretations of California. For more information or to RSVP (before August 14) email rsvp@ifrana.org.

I think this event is part of an effort to educate the public and lawmakers about fragrance (a similar event was held in Washington D.C. last November, but with different perfumers and a different fragrant theme).