The Spice of Thyme

"...All this bubbling of sap and slipping of sheaths and bursting of calyxes was carried to her on mingled currents of fragrance. Every leaf and bud and blade seemed to contribute its exhalation to the pervading sweetness in which the pungency of pine-sap prevailed over the spice of thyme and the subtle perfume of fern, and all were merged in a moist earth-smell that was like the breath of some huge sun-warmed animal."
-Edith Wharton, _Summer_

This will be typed in by my awesome helper Rebecca; I'm not well enough to use computers currently but you know that detail wouldn't stop me from popping in to say hey, I'm still here and I'm still with you! And, though it is the "dead of winter," a fallow time in the Northern Hemisphere, especially tucked into this rural pocket in Vermont blanketed with thick wooly snow, I hold strong visions of the Summer that will be here soon enough...

xox - Nicole / P.O. Box 1812 / Brattleboro, VT / 05302

Support for Nicole

Dear Littleflowers supporters and friends,

We are in crisis and could really use your help.

After spending eight months bedridden and unable to function due to a massive relapse of her chronic illness, Nicole had to be hospitalized in June, for starvation--she had developed food sensitivities so severe that a bite of any food put her body into shock ...

To read the rest of the update on the immense struggle we are currently up against, please click here

We are reaching out for your support, and hold hope in our hearts that you'll join us. We have no time to waste. THANK YOU!

love,
N & J

12 Essence Natural Botanical Perfume Kit for Beginners

Ok, what we have here is an opportunity - a reeeeeely nice natural perfumer's startup kit at a SUPER sweet price. If you missed the essence kit I posted in my shop a bit back, here is a killer second chance at one from The Scented Djinn, a supremely dedicated and talented perfumer who really knows her stuff and who is not afraid to share it with you! If you can't get to her in-person classes at Intermountain Nursery and aren't currently immersed in her online course, this is the next best thing. Instruction sheets are included, and if the essences are not superfine quality (there are a LOT of crappy essences being a-blended out there), well, then I will eat my shirt. One of the essences is even distilled by the perfumer herself. The kit can be found at the Djinn's satellite etsy atelier. If I were you I would jump on it.

The Listing:

"Curious about natural botanical perfumery but not quite sure where to begin? Looking for a little guidance? This kit includes 9 mls of each of 12 essences diluted in organic golden jojoba (no need for additional carrier oil), 25 scent strips, 3-2ml blending vials with corks, 1-1oz blending bottle with cork, 2-9ml perfume bottles, and full instructions and evaluation methods, eval sheets, etc. Nearly everything a beginner needs to start experimenting in natural botanical perfumery.
(pipettes not included in this kit)


Top Notes:
coriander leaf 10%
fresh lemon essence (home distillation by yours truly) 10%
bergamot bergaptene free 10%

Heart Notes:
jasmine grandiflorum 1%
cananga 10%
boronia absolute 2%

Accessory Notes:
fig (home extraction) 30%
cardamom CO2 10%

Base Notes:
Vanuatu sandalwood 10%
ambrette CO2 10%
vetyver 10%
patchouli 10%"

because it just makes me smile

taken 9/8/07
We are doing this, baby. Have loved you to hell and back and will just keep on with the day-by-day - I can do it if you can.

So I petitioned some Appalachian witches

to help us find our new home. They're two sweet guys who work together and run one of the few witchy web shops i've seen that didn't make me cringe when i read their fine print (Otherworldly Apothecary). Smart witches usually stay pretty quiet in the public sphere, haven't you found? So I was happy to bump into them and take advantage of their assistance, as well as their boundless energy, of which I'm currently in short supply!

A little sprig of white magic in one pocket, the simplest of prayers in the other. Energy gentle as it is fiercely potent. Now let's bring it.

You Might Not Want to Miss This

Perfume Auction on Ebay! Full bottles and sample vials from my beloved private collection, most of them full or near full - give the bottles a quick dusting and please bestow upon them the love they deserve! Opening price (sans s+h) is $15. No reserve, yo. Sound like fun? You can't win if you don't play!

xoxox.nicole

Come to Mama

Who knew it'd be a challenge to locate first-floor housing in south eastern Vermont (kind of near Brattleboro, hint to those who might have a lead!). Seriously - it seems that people who migrate to this area stay put. Which bodes well for J and me in the long run, I figure.

I've been feeling so antsy to get up and go, and have been seeking constructive, grounding outlets for this buildup of internal static. Since my energy's still low and I'm in bed I've been using whatever works - big grounding hunks of quartz crystal, home-simmered soups, organic chocolate chips, a new Twitter account (did I say constructive and grounding? i feel this list quickly skittering to the other side of that spectrum), craigslist blitzes (we've met some astoundingly helpful and friendly realtors!), marathoning Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I didn't watch TV through most of the 90's so it's been education to see what I was "missing" - remember that phase when it seemed that everyone had two super prominent blonde streaks framing their face?). In a similar vein, I'm also watching Alias with partner-in-crime, J - apparently the criteria for mindless house-hunting-downtime entertainment includes dramedies with both intentional and unintentional humor, covert operations, a supernatural twist, and most definitely a woman protagonist who has mastered the fine art of kickboxing and is not afraid to use it.

The critically acclaimed German documentaries just aren't doing it for me at the moment. There's something about a good dose of cheap adrenaline, I've found over the years, that really calms me down! One of the smartest people I know turned me on to bad TV - we used to watch together and call it "ocular freebasing."

Ok, time to shut down the television and computer and sink into meditation, for real. To turn the burner down lowwwwwww. On all of it: the ecstatic, the horrific, and the in-between.

xox.n

As Promised

Something o so new and entirely different has hit my littleflowers shop with a BOOM and a bit of gold dust settling in its wake. As Jason and I gear up for - exciting news! - a move to southern Vermont, and my senses are feeling all prickly and heightened in anticipation, I lay this at your feet. For a limited time.

Now. Take my hand and come with me, dear.

xox.n

art saves

memory lane . . .

Phaedra's Letter creme parfum

Blue Lotus & Leather creme parfum extrait

Divine Rose self-love balm!

assorted scent lockets

Diana's back on the hunt . . .