The bees have left and this time it’s for good. Yesterday brought sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s and the bees packed their bags and left.
I’m not sure why but I’m guessing they ran out of food and needed more space. I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately and wishing the rain and cold and wind would subside so that I could get them what they needed – but I was too late.
The new focus is on finding another swarm to fill their empty nest. I hope they’re okay out there…wherever they are.
Daphne
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Things that keep my mind off gardening...for now
Wednesday night was a step in the right direction for my daphne perfume. It wasn’t a home run but at least I’m making progress. My secret agent was able to locate a perfume that has the quintessential “lemony” note that is so important and pronounced in the daphne flower. I think daphne is so hard to recreate because you can’t decipher all of the smells that pack that refreshing yet dreamy punch. I say it’s two parts lemon zest, one part tart orange juice, a 1 part star jasmine or maybe gardenia or honeysuckle, and a pinch of ginger. But I’m sure if I was to mix those together it would be a hot mess.
So to try and recreate this scent, she had a warm floral smelling perfume as the base and then we sprayed the lemon perfume over that. It smelled really nice but it just wasn’t daphne.
I’m starting to feel like this is my life’s work. Maybe my next 30 years will be more successful on the daphne perfume front.
Nonetheless, the lemon perfume has quite a story – its recipe is very very very old. Like from the 1500’s old. I like that. I’m not quite ready to give up on this one. I think the lemon is right on – the base might need some tweaking. I think it was a bit too sweet or heavy and didn’t let the tangy lemon shine through as much as it needed too. The lemon needs to be very bright and zippy.
On an un-zippy note, a crazy storm came in yesterday with steady winds of 40 mph from 10am until about 4pm and gusts up to 60 mph. It rained harder and longer than anything I’ve ever seen. It was sustained “white” rain for hours on end. I couldn’t help but think of my little seedlings getting beaten down by the rain and wind.
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| Limone di Sicilia |
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| Be 21 |
I’m starting to feel like this is my life’s work. Maybe my next 30 years will be more successful on the daphne perfume front.
Nonetheless, the lemon perfume has quite a story – its recipe is very very very old. Like from the 1500’s old. I like that. I’m not quite ready to give up on this one. I think the lemon is right on – the base might need some tweaking. I think it was a bit too sweet or heavy and didn’t let the tangy lemon shine through as much as it needed too. The lemon needs to be very bright and zippy.
On an un-zippy note, a crazy storm came in yesterday with steady winds of 40 mph from 10am until about 4pm and gusts up to 60 mph. It rained harder and longer than anything I’ve ever seen. It was sustained “white” rain for hours on end. I couldn’t help but think of my little seedlings getting beaten down by the rain and wind.
On my walk to work I took a picture of the cherry blossoms that I thought I wouldn’t get to see until next year. To my surprise they are still holding on!
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| One of the fruitless cherry trees - holding on to it's blossoms for dear life. |
After the torrential downpour and mini hurricane the sky parted and the sun poked through for the first time in days. It actually looked ominous but those few minutes of sun made me feel hopeful.
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| A view of what looked like the world coming to an end from my apartment window last night. |
And this is what today looks like from my cube - it's a big improvement!
Cheers to the sun!
Daphne
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Grey Gloom and Wet Wind
In like a tiger and out like a lamb...so they say. I would have to disagree and say, "In like a lamb and out like a Tyrannosaurus Rex!"
I would love nothing more than to be sowing my seeds right now but the past few weeks have been nothing less than Seattle-ish. Sometimes I wonder if I conked my head on a rock and forgot that I moved to Seattle or something. Whether it’s the tsunami, climate change, or just bad luck, I suppose I’ll never know what has shifted spring back to winter. What I do know is that the garden is an inch under water. Surprisingly the seedlings look okay.
My asparagus crowns and blueberry bushes are in transit from Grass Valley. I hope to see them soon.
Since I’ve had to stay away from the garden, I’ve been hanging out in the park. I noticed the cherry blossoms just came out last week and were promptly followed by 30 mph winds. Those little beauties held tight though. While I walked through the park today I noticed there was a function on the West Steps of the Capitol – it was Ag Day!! I wandered around and there were farmers and various organizations that support farmers giving out free goods. I came back to the office with an armload of fresh flowers from the California State Floral Association but others got honey sticks, t-shirts, fresh broccoli, apples, oranges, and a whole lot of information from various Ag related groups and farmers. My ex-bee group was there but I steered clear of them. All in all it was a pleasant surprise on this doom and gloom day.
Tonight I meet with my secret agent – the “Winter Daphne Fragrance Finder” secret agent. We’ll have to see what she’s come up with. So maybe there is another pleasant surprise for me today after all.
Hope you're all enjoying better weather!
Daphne
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| The current view of gloomy weather from my cubicle. |
I would love nothing more than to be sowing my seeds right now but the past few weeks have been nothing less than Seattle-ish. Sometimes I wonder if I conked my head on a rock and forgot that I moved to Seattle or something. Whether it’s the tsunami, climate change, or just bad luck, I suppose I’ll never know what has shifted spring back to winter. What I do know is that the garden is an inch under water. Surprisingly the seedlings look okay.
My asparagus crowns and blueberry bushes are in transit from Grass Valley. I hope to see them soon.
Since I’ve had to stay away from the garden, I’ve been hanging out in the park. I noticed the cherry blossoms just came out last week and were promptly followed by 30 mph winds. Those little beauties held tight though. While I walked through the park today I noticed there was a function on the West Steps of the Capitol – it was Ag Day!! I wandered around and there were farmers and various organizations that support farmers giving out free goods. I came back to the office with an armload of fresh flowers from the California State Floral Association but others got honey sticks, t-shirts, fresh broccoli, apples, oranges, and a whole lot of information from various Ag related groups and farmers. My ex-bee group was there but I steered clear of them. All in all it was a pleasant surprise on this doom and gloom day.
Tonight I meet with my secret agent – the “Winter Daphne Fragrance Finder” secret agent. We’ll have to see what she’s come up with. So maybe there is another pleasant surprise for me today after all.
Hope you're all enjoying better weather!
Daphne
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