Serge Lutens et Chedwick

In 2007 the French Government gave Chedwick and Serge Lutens both the title of "Commandeur" in the Order of Arts and Letters. Serge and Ched have been close pals ever since.

"We just hit it off." ~ Chedwick

"Chedwick est un chat épatant!" ~Serge Lutens






Ched enjoys many of the Lutens fragrances.

"I've learned that ginger and pepper can be quite refreshing in hot weather." ~ Chedwick on Five O'Clock Au Gingembre.


Ched is not the only famous perfumed cat. His distant cousin, Jean Paul, not only appeared in a Nahema advertisement, but was the pet of the famous Guerlain family.

Sunday

Empty perfume bottles make nice little vases. Play with the photograph in iPhoto for a minute, and it looks like a painting.


This post is for my father who loved flowers and the scent of Shalimar.

Hibbing Trek

Blogger Kim and I are planning a winter trek to Hibbing, Minnesota. First we'll wait at this friendly looking Greyhound bus station for our bus to Hibbing.



Once in Hibbing, we'll go to The Chamber of Commerce to get a Bob Dylan Walking Tour folder that includes this map. We'll have lunch at The China Buffet which used to be a clothing store where Bob's uncle's best friend's cousin once worked, and see Bob's childhood home as well as the schools he attended and places where he may have once smoked a cigarette.





We'll want to get warm after walking around the winter wonderland that is Hibbing, so we'll duck into a nearby museum to see a diorama of the very first diorama being built.


Finally, the Greyhound Bus also has its roots in Hibbing, so we'll go to the Greyhound bus museum and take pictures of each other waving out the windows of very old Greyhound buses, before going back home on a modern Greyhound bus.

We haven't set a date for the trek yet, but as soon as really cold weather sets in, we'll be on our way to that bus station. If anyone wants to join in the fun, let us know!


Photo Credits: Vplus (Bus Station), Hibbing COC (walking tour map)
Hibbing Museums (Diorama, Bus Poster)

Chant D'Aromes

Chant D'Aromes (1962) perfumer: Jean Paul Guerlain
head notes: mandarin, bergamot, honeysuckle
heart notes : gardenia, jasmine, ylang-ylang
soul notes : woods, earthy forest note, vanilla

An extremely light elegant floral with a nice base. The name says it all, a scent that sings. It starts off soft and powdery, and the first time I tried it I spritzed on too much and couldn't appreciate it. But I've been wearing it during this heat wave and find it to be a quiet honeysuckle gardenia blend with a note that reminds me of a high end cocoa butter (probably the earthy forest note blending with the famous Guerlain vanilla.) I think this one would be either too old fashioned or too demure for most people~ a good summer scent though. I have to give it two paws up.

Jeff Bridges in Granny Panties

Chedwick thought the Jeff Bridges doll that Dennis ordered was creepy. The Bridges doll's body is muslin and his granny panties are 100% cotton. Made in USA.

Ched's Green Art

I like to use found objects to paint on, but usually it's a piece of wood or metal I find in someone's trash. This morning, this object was brought into the house, and while it's rare for one to come into our house, I started thinking of how many of these are out there, being brought into homes and offices every day and never used a second time. So I decided to decorate this one and re-use it the next time we get our coffee or Chedwick Cola to go.






Why do the people at my house prefer drinking Ched Cola over Coke or Pepsi? The answer is easy. Ched Cola is always chilled to perfection and contains delicious Jamaican Rum.

Neglected Garden, Sleeping Fawn

Just moments after I took this picture, I walked across my neglected garden and began pulling weeds out of a thick fuzzy patch that had been neglected for years. Out flew a fawn. But for some reason the fawn stayed in the yard (although huge gaps in the neglected fence are everywhere) nibbling delicious weeds and staring at me.


More curious than frightened the fawn let me get pretty close. My Stone Age camera has no fancy lenses. After I backed off, it continued to chew and look at me, then after awhile to chew and ignore me.

Now this is the second time in two weeks that I've walked right past a sleeping fawn. And I mean close enough to almost trip over the fawn. The first incident was in the Catskills, in the woods, where I blithely hiked past a sleeping fawn that suddenly sprang up right in front of another blogger, Kim, who was walking just a few feet behind me. A few days ago, while touring my very neglected suburban garden, this second awakening of a fawn happened.

1. Coincidence?
2. Is Mother earth trying to tell me one of my totem animals is a fawn?
3. Is the New York State deer population at an all time high?

If it is #3 , people, please spay and neuter your deer before letting them go outside.

Bigger than a Breadbox?

Where did that question come from "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" It seems we have the original host of the Tonight Show, Steve Allen to thank for it. (From Wikipedia: The most common reference to breadboxes is the phrase "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" when trying to guess what some surprise object may be. This question was popularized by Steve Allen on the American game show What's My Line? and remains a popular question in the game 20 Questions.)

Breadboxes were very popular until many preservatives were added to breads and bakery items to keep them fresher longer.

Chedwick is curious and he wants answers!

What about other old popular phrases such as:
* raining cats and dogs
* a little bird told me
* a penny for your thoughts
* happy as a clam


-- what's the difference between a barefaced liar, a baldfaced liar, and a boldfaced liar?

why would anyone be trying to get your goat ? Since we don't all own goats, why would a friend or family member say to us, "He's just trying to get your goat."

why do they say cook the books ? What is a whippersnapper exactly ? Why is Merle Sneed a dude ?

Are there any answers out there? Cats are very curious creatures.

Jungle Elephant, Jungle Snake

Chedwick was a little unsure of these based on the names, but elephants and snakes are both fascinating creatures.

Jungle L' Elephant by Kenzo

What fabulous Head notes ~ Mandarin and Cardamom
Heart notes of Clove, Mango, Caraway flowers,, Heliotrope, Yang-ylang, Night scented Stock (Phlox)
Soul notes include Tonka, Vanilla, Woods, Roots, Patchouli

Packaging: Well done, nice bottle design. I like it, but it won't make my top 30. This scent is pretty popular and at first it seemed too foody a scent. The notes are just plain weird and each time I sampled I used a tiny bit. When sampling you don't really want to be AWARE of the scent, but just want to live with it in the background, wafting up once in a while so you can enjoy it in a quiet way. Finally I have to say, the Kenzo people love phlox. I give it two paws up.

And now, how do you like my interpretation of a snake?



Cuba Jungle Snake for Women
Head notes Angelica Rose
Heart notes Jasmine Tuberose
Soul notes Musk, Tobacco leaf, Woods

Packaging: Box and bottle seem collectible as the bottle is made to look like a cigar, the cigar band label looks cheap though. Too masculine for me, the woods and musk are a little heavy. Not at all bad though-on the right person, this would be great. One paw up.

Neglected Garden

Today we look at Chedwick's back garden. As I shot a picture of this rugged Canadian rose that I assumed was only about 6 feet tall, I glanced up and saw a number of branches had climbed very high into a tall pine tree.


It was astounding how high the rose (named Bill Baffin for the famous explorer) had climbed. Bill was so high up he could look down at the roof of the house. The name certainly suits the rose well.


As I was marveling, a package was delivered, and inside was this Mary night light, some perfume and other items from a friend who knew just what to send. I was thrilled to bits with this package. There was even a really beautiful journal, the kind you never buy for yourself because it's too nice, and I had just come to the end of my last journal--the timing was perfect. I started writing in it immediatley, and of course the first two paragraphs were filled with praise for my friend.

And then I dragged an aluminum ladder under the pine tree so I could climb up and marvel again at how high Bill Baffin had climbed. (and to get a better shot of his blooms.)

Really amazing what can happen when you go off and "neglect" things.

Tangled Up in Loquats

A jumble of orange things found around the house, and Dune by Christian Dior.

Dune is famous for being the first so-called androgynous perfume. The first blast reminded me of spice gum drops so I used them as my little dunes in the picture. On me Dune is dry and maybe a little beach-y in a plant life of the beach sort of way. My friends tell me this was wildly popular with young ladies at one time. Every friend who went to high school on Long Island had some vivid memory of the scent. Either they wore it and loved it, or everyone on the bus was wearing it and it made them sick, or their mom wore it and they used to sneak some for themselves.

Originally I was going to post about apricots, persimmons, (shown above) and other eats like carrots and orange bell peppers because I like them a lot. If anyone posts a picture of a loquat I'll be shocked. When I was in high school we rented a house that had a loquat tree in the backyard. (It was Los Angeles and fruit trees were everywhere.) Because I had all of the free loquats, I became addicted to them. I haven't seen a loquat in quite awhile. Apricots and persimmons kinda sorta remind me of them.

About Loquats

Loquat Wine Recipe

Loquat Cobbler Recipe

A Tribute to Napa Valley's Bob

I decided to cruise around Napa Valley using my imagination.

I first read about Napa when someone gave me a copy of this book about ten years ago. It was a fascinating history of the valley and Bob Mondavi was my favorite character in the story.

Robert Mondavi died recently, and last night I opened a bottle of wine with his name on it, to offer up a toast. "Here's to you Bob - rest in peace, and thank you for all you did in Napa Valley." I purposely chose a type of wine I'd never tried before. Mondavi was a star in Napa, known by all to be a kind and generous man.

"Wine to me is passion, family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the art of living." ~ Robert Mondavi

Robert Mondavi's autobiography is Harvests of Joy. It's on my summer reading list.



Bob Mondavi was born June 18, 1913 (Another brilliant Bob from Hibbing Minnesota.) His early childhood was spent in Hibbing, but when the family moved to California, Bob fell in love with this beautiful place. He had a great flair for business and a deep love for Napa Valley.

At the age of 53, he started Robert Mondavi Winery, the first new winery in Napa in thirty years. He traveled in Europe to learn the best way to think about, respect, and make wine. After another company took over Mondavi Vineyards a few years ago, he was asked to stay on as ambassador. Already over 90 years old, he kept very active, always working, and eventually created new vineyard with one of his sons. He was either in his vineyard, or visiting his friends, some of whom owned businesses in Napa. People were always very glad to see him. I'm certainly not the only person who posted a tribute to Robert Mondavi.

My Favorites

This thing gets a lot of picnicky food put in it. Picnic food is my favorite!


You wouldn't go on a picnic and not take me, would you?






oh. you would.
OK, so I'm not going on the picnic... no roasted birds, no little cubes of cheese, no kipper snacks... sigh...

I'll just stay home and travel via photo blogs then.
My favorite photo blogs: Jules and Chuck ...and I like to scamper over to Larchmont, New York every morning. Plus I like going to see Cergie, and many other blogs coming from French towns.

and Singapore, too!


I wish I could visit every photo blog every day , but I have a brutal napping schedule that must be observed.

Me, Me, Me, Me!

My dearest friend, Mickey Blackcat, has asked me to describe myself in Seven different ways. Number One: I am shy if in a crowd, so I avoid parties. If a party happens to happen at my house, I hide under the sofa for awhile.

Number Two: I am an optimist, even though my life has had many ups and downs. I am forever jumping into my imaginary Alpine Sunbeam and motoring along the Utopia Parkway that runs through my life.


Numbers Three and Four: I like doing pilates and power napping.


Number Five: I am into perfumes. Number Six: I am a good roommate for a mad cat named Dennis, because I am patient and see that he has a lot of good points.


Number Seven: I'm a bookworm and I love my dictionary.

YSL

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint-Laurent

Born August 1, 1936
Died June 1, 2008

paris roses des vergers eau de printemps by YSL.

a light soft bouquet of various roses, blended with the blossoms of orchards in springtime (pear, apple and cherry blossoms)
in an amber sandalwood vanilla base.


perfume photo by ched

It Smells like Sweet Freedom

A friend of mine showed me a blossom from a plant that blooms here in early June that "smells like the last week of school" and I breathed it in. I said it smelled like Easter to me. We sniffed again and decided the blossom smelled like white chocolate and mostly marshmallow, sort of, a blend. (Things that smell better than they taste, we thought.)

"It still smells like sweet freedom!" she said, "but Easter certainly makes sense too." To her Easter's biggest scent was the Lily.
"The potted lilies that my father brought home for my mother," she said "seemed to soak the house in this sudden spring, even if there was still snow on the ground outside, the hothouse lilies created this impression of June weather."

My friend loves the month of June, can you tell? She is a summer girl, born in late September, funny enough. She loves summer clothes and sunshine, grew up on Long Island, reading books on the beach and on a sailboat. To her summertime is sweet freedom.


Penhaligon's Lily & Spice is the finest scent evoking the Easter Lily. It is really amazing in this respect and the body creme is fabulous too. (but only if you want to savor this scent.) Its one I like to smell more than wear, but I do wear it around the house on grey winter days, to evoke spring.Of all the Penhaligon scents, Lily & Spice is the strongest and most modern.

It was forbidden to display an Easter Lily or a poster of an Easter Lily in your home if you were a Catholic living in Northern Ireland. If you had a potted lily, you'd better keep it hidden in a back room. I don't know when this rule was lifted, but I do remember visiting there when the rule was enforced. Any thought of the Easter Rebellion was not allowed. The scent of freedom, yet again.

For me, summer has always been mountains, either the Alleghenies or the Catskills.

Photo: A meadow in the Catskills with a chair for Merle Sneed to relax in.

Heirloom Botanicals

Jamie Smith Helper is the founder of Heirloom Botanicals.


Glad I stopped by the farmer's market today, because I got to meet Jamie. I bought a bottle of Lavender Mist and her incredible Herbal Cocoa Butter Bar which melts into your skin after a shower or bath to moisturize. The bar smells fantastic as it's a blend of cocoa butter, jojoba oil and organic herbs like rose geranium and lavender. Her products are all natural, tested solely on willing humans, and are excellent. Visit Jamie's online shop at www.heirloombotanicals.com

Celebrity

This diner has celebrity. It was Andy Warhol's favorite Hell's Kitchen hangout back in the olden days. This celebrity helped those who wanted to save it from a wrecking crew. It now sits in the Catskill Mountains and has been lovingly restored. When I first saw the diner on the hill, a local knucklehead informed me that it had been moved all the way from Hollywood, which seemed ridiculous to me. He also told me the town had paid for the diner and the move, which was also not true.


Frank "Tobacco is my favorite vegetable" Zappa and what looks like a bottle of the popular fragrance Opium. But it's one of the other Opiums that use the original's celebrity name. I could never wear the original, but the lighter versions I like--they're softer without being too far removed from the original. I did see Frank once, and years later, I saw Dweezil perform. He did a couple of his dad's songs and it was an excellent show.


Here is an old news photo of the diner in it's other life. It was used as a setting for scenes in many TV shows including Law & Order and Seinfeld. Diner-loving preservationists wanted to save a bit of Americana, and they did. The pie and coffee is on Ched should any of you care to visit the Munson. (Located less than four miles from the Chedwick University campus.)

America the Beautiful

There is another cigarette outlet a mile or so down the road, and plenty o' liquor stores nearby. Why? Ever hear the phrase...Whatever the market will bear?

Kim, the blogger of Mouse Medicine, arrived in The Catskill Mountains yesterday, and the bonding was easy, because we are like twins, almost.


Kim brought me these lily of the valley from Lofty, Pennsylvania. They're from her grandfather's garden. Some have roots so they will be planted here.


Besides visiting cigarette and beer outlets, we took long tramps through the woods and fields, startled a sleeping fawn, watched a scarlet tanager, and found a small colony of *Red Eft salamanders near a stream bed. It's been a great adventure, but now we're heading back to our other lives.

*This is the land form of the red spotted newt. The brilliant orange salamanders are about 1 to 3 inches long and live in the forest, wandering for 2 to 5 years before going back to the breeding ponds as sexually mature newts. They have very soft, dry skin--not slimy at all. Very beautiful, and the easiest salamander to spot here in the mountains.

A Message from Chedwick

See ya later!

Time to Read

I thought I was reading less than I used to due to blogging, but I'm averaging 3 books a week, so I must be finding some time to read. The commuter train is an excellent place to read, standing in line at the grocery store too ~ when it's crowded they close all check out lanes except one or two.



Dennis says his favorite place to read is on the sofa. Lounging with friends... and having a human bring him a cup of tea every so often.



I read a story by Maeve Brennan where she talks about returning to a bookstore to find a book she was looking at earlier that week. In it was the recipe for Balzac's favorite thing to eat. He'd smush up sardines with something into a paste and eat it with bread. She can't find the book again, but goes to a little French restaurant and orders sardines and bread anyway. She enjoyed the meal. I thought about this and thought maybe he mashed the sardines with olives to make a paste. (I don't know) Like Maeve Brennan, I got hungry for some form of Balzac's favorite dish myself. I was all out of sardines, and so substituted anchovies. I had a nice loaf of bread on hand and some olives. And like Maeve's meal, it was delicious.