Busy...busy...

There is a lot of gardening to be done in the cool season. A few new comers have been added.

Bougainvillea "Coconut Ice". The colour is very luminous which does not really show in the picture. I planted it in a pot with the intention to curb its vigour a little but still let its roots make their way into the ground which will save on watering. I prune it after flowering.

This startled looking cat has found her way into the herb garden planted with a variegated thyme.

The herb garden is also turning more and more in a little rose garden. Yesterday I planted "Brandy" a hybrid tea rose, as they do generally well in winter, spring and autumn. In summer they struggle with the humidity and hot weather. Brandy is a yellow apricot blend. I also bought

again "Just Joe" also for the herb garden. The two colours will compliment each other.

Lady Mann grows in a big pot for many years. It is an Australian bred Rose by Alistair Clark.

Here she looks a bit bedraggled from the rain we had over night...

Generally she looks like this...perfect!

I also bought a new red torch Ginger for which I have to find a good spot. When I plant it I will split it and share it with my daughter Marie-Louise.

Linen...

One of my antique linen table cloth which I inherited from my mother.

I remember one of my aunts planting a field of Flax. The purpose of this was to produce linen sheets for her two daughters. Later my cousin used those sheets. When they were wet she could barley lift them! It was also a struggle to put them on the beds as they were so heavy. I think those sheets will live for the next one thousand years!

Flax fibers are amongst the oldest fiber crops in the world. The use of flax for the production of linen goes back at least to ancient Egyptian times.

Pictures on tombs and temple walls atThebes depict flowering flax plants. The use of flax fiber in the manufacturing of cloth in northern Europe dates back to Neolithic times. In North America, flax was introduced by the Puritans.

Flax fiber is extracted from the bast or skin of the stem of the flax plant. Flax fiber is soft, lustrous and flexible; bundles of fiber have the appearance of blonde hair, hence the description "flaxen". It is stronger than cotton fiber but less elastic. The best grades are used for linen fabrics such asdamasks, lace and sheeting. Coarser grades are used for the manufacturing of twine and rope. Flax fiber is also a raw material for the high-quality paper industry for the use of printed banknotes ( now mainly made of plastic.)

The pretty flowers of the flax plant.

Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name: Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum in the familyLinaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India . Flax was extensively cultivated in ancient Ethiopia and ancient Egypt. In a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia dyed flax fibers have been found that date to 34,000BC

New Zealand flax is not related to flax, but was named after it as both plants are used to produce fibres.

Flax fibres vary in length from about 25 to 150 centimeters (18 to 55 in) and average 12-16 micrometers in diameter. There are two varieties: shorter tow fibers used for coarser fabrics and longer line fibres used for finer fabrics. Flax fibres can usually be identified by their “nodes” which add to the flexibility and texture of the fabric.

The cross-section of the linen fibre is made up of irregular polygonal shapes which contribute to the coarse texture of the fabric.

Highly absorbent and a good conductor of heat, linen fabric feels cool to the touch. Linen is among the strongest of the vegetable fibers, with 2 to 3 times the strength of cotton. It is smooth, making the finished fabric lint free, and gets softer the more it is washed. However, constant creasing in the same place in sharp folds will tend to break the linen threads. This wear can show up in collars, hems, and any area that is iron creased during laundering. Linen has poor elasticity and does not spring back readily, explaining why it wrinkles so easily.

Linen fabrics have a high natural luster; their natural color ranges between shades of ivory, ecru, tan, or grey.

Pure white linen is created by heavy bleaching. Linen typically has a thick and thin character with a crisp and textured feel to it, but it can range from stiff and rough, to soft and smooth. When properly prepared, linen fabric has the ability to absorb and lose water rapidly. It can gain up to 20% moisture without feeling damp.

When freed from impurities, linen is highly absorbent and will quickly remove perspiration from the skin. Linen is a stiff fabric and is less likely to cling to the skin; when it billows away, it tends to dry out and become cool so that the skin is being continually touched by a cool surface. It is a very durable, strong fabric, and one of the few that are stronger wet than dry. The fibers do not stretch and are resistant to damage from abrasion. However, because linen fibers have a very low elasticity, the fabric will eventually break if it is folded and ironed at the same place repeatedly.

Mildew, perspiration, and bleach can also damage the fabric, but it is resistant to moths and carpet beetles. Linen is relatively easy to take care of, since it resists dirt and stains,

has no lint or pilling tendency, and can be dry cleaned, machine washed or steamed. It can withstand high temperatures, and has only moderate initial shrinkage.

Linen should not be dried too much by tumble drying: it is much easier to iron when damp. Linen wrinkles very easily, and so some more formal linen garments require ironing often, in order to maintain perfect smoothness. Nevertheless the tendency to wrinkle is often considered part of the fabric's particular "charm", and a lot of modern linen garments are designed to be air dried on a good hanger and worn without the necessity of ironing.

A characteristic often associated with contemporary linen yarn is the presence of "slubs", or small knots which occur randomly along its length. However, these slubs are actually defects associated with low quality. The finest linen has very consistent diameter threads, with no slubs.

Producers

Flax is grown in many parts of the world, but top quality flax is primarily grown in Western Europe. In very recent years bulk linen production has moved to Eastern Europe and China, but high quality fabrics are still confined to niche producers in Ireland, Italy and Belgium. Also countries including Poland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Britain and some parts of India.

The seed pods of the flax plant;

Flax seeds contain high levels of dietary fiber including lignans, an abundance of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids (table). Flax seeds may lower cholesterol levels, especially in women. Initial studies suggest that flax seeds taken in the diet may benefit individuals with certain types of breast and prostate cancers. Flax may also lessen the severity of diabetes by stabilizing blood-sugar levels. There is some support for the use of flax seed as a laxative due to its dietary fiber content though excessive consumption without liquid can result in intestinal blockage. Consuming large amounts of flax seed may impair the effectiveness of certain oral medications, due to its fiber content, and may have adverse effect due to its content of neurotoxic cyanogen glycosides and immuno-suppressive cyclic nonapeptides.

A hand embroidered linen towel also inherited from my mother.

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather.

Textiles in a linen-weave texture, even when made of cotton, hemp and other non-flax fibers are also loosely referred to as "linen". Such fabrics generally have their own specific names other than linen; for example, fine cotton yarn in a linen-style weave is calledMadapolam.

The collective term "linens" is still often used generically to describe a class of woven and even knitted bed, bath, table and kitchen textiles. The name linens is retained because traditionally, linen was used for many of these items. In the past, the word "linens" was also used to mean lightweight undergarments such as shirts, chemises, waistshirts, lingerie (a word which is cognate with linen), and detachable shirt collars and cuffs, which were historically made almost exclusively out of linen.

Linen textiles appear to be some of the oldest in the world: their history goes back many thousands of years. Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics which date back to about 8000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings.

Dyed flaxfibers found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia suggest the use of woven linen fabrics from wild flax may date back even earlier to 36,000BP

Linen was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen because it was seen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of these fabrics, woven from hand spun yarns, were very fine for their day, but are coarse compared to modern linen.

Today linen is usually an expensive textile, and is produced in relatively small quantities. It has a long "staple" (individual fiber length) relative to cotton and other natural fibers.[4]

Many products are made of linen: apron, bags, towels (swimmers, bath, beach, body and wash towel), napkins, bed linen, linen tablecloth, runners, chair cover, man and woman wear.

History

Linen was used by Egyptians in ancient times for mummification. Egyptians used linen as burial shrouds. Moreover, priests only wore linen clothes and worshippers were only allowed to enter the temple if they are wearing a linen cloth. Linen fabric has been used for table coverings, bed coverings and clothing for centuries. The exclusiveness of linen comes from the difficulty of working with the thread making it time consuming to produce (flax in itself requires a great deal of attention to grow). Flax thread is not elastic so is difficult to weave without breaking threads. Thus it is more expensive to manufacture than cotton.

The Living Linen Project was set up in 1995 as an Oral Archive of the knowledge of the Irish linen industry which is still available within a nucleus of people who formerly worked in the industry in Ulster. There is a long history of linen in Ireland.

Plutarch, who lived one hundred years after the birth of Christ, wrote that the priests of Isis also wore linen because of its purity.

In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the International Year of Natural Fibres to raise the profile of linen and other natural fibers.

Antiquity

When the tomb of the Pharaoh Ramses II, who died 1213 BC, was discovered in 1881, the linen wrappings were in a state of perfect preservation - after more than 3000 years.

In the Belfast Library there is preserved the mummy of "Kaboolie,' the daughter of a priest of Ammon, who died 2,500 years ago. The linen on this mummy is in a like state of perfection. When the tomb of Tutankamen was opened, the linen curtains were found intact.

Etymology

The word linen is derived from the Latin for the flax plant, which is linum, and the earlier Greek linon. This word history has given rise to a number of other terms:

line, derived from the use of a linen thread to determine a straight line;

liniment, due to the use of finely ground flax seeds as a mild irritant applied to the skin to ease muscle pain

lining, because linen was often used to create a lining for wool and leather clothing

lingerie, via French, originally denotes underwear made of linen

linseed oil, an oil derived from flax seed

linoleum, a floor covering made from linseed oil and other materials

In addition, the term in English, flaxen-haired, denoting a very light, bright blonde, comes from a comparison to the color of raw flax fiber.

some excerpts courtesy Wikipedia.

Words That Inspire;

A soft new tendril of a grape vine reaching out.

"Instant gratification takes too long". Carrie Fisher

Are the words chosen by Noel this week.

I do not like consumerism. I always ask myself, do I really need it?

I have come across this video and you will find it very interesting.

People have to learn to love nature and do everything they can to preserve it.

Instant gratification has no merits.

Click here for Words That Inspire;

A Sari Sari Life Hawaiian Style;

You can watch this video directly on You Tube, which is quicker and more accurate.

Words That Inspire;

"Nothing purchased can come close to the renewed sense of gratitude for having family and friends"

Courtland Milloy

I am lucky to have some of my family very close by. Here my granddaughters present a lovely birthday carte they have made for me and a beautiful Orchid.

Please visit A Sari-Sari Life-Hawaii Noel is the inspiration behind this meme.

My Library, Mornings in Jenin...

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa;

A very powerful narrative about a world of loss, of home, country and heritage.

Palestinians were driven from their ancestral villages, their homes, their land by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948.

Mornings in Jenin is haunting and heart wrenching, a novel of vital importance. Lending voices to the headlines, it forces to take a look at one of the political conflicts of our lifetimes.

It is more then 60 years since "El Nakba" The Catastroph and "El Naksa" The Disaster happened.

The western world has been and still is taciturn when it comes to tell what happened to the Palestinians and their Country. There has been and still is great injustice.

I hope, for peace in the world.

“A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.” Seneca Roman Philosopher mid first century AD

A love for scent and fragrance...perfume;

The very scented Christmas lilies.

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant scent.

Chanel Bois des Iles was my very first perfume I received a life time ago from my elegant and worldly Godmother.

Bois des Iles, was launched in 1926,

The perfume concentration is richer and sweeter, while eau de toilette is quite lighter, but magnificent. The top notes are composed of aldehydes, bergamot, neroli and peach, the heart composition consists of jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, woody iris and ylang-ylang, and the base of vetiver, sandalwood, benzoin and musk.

Gardenia a flower for the perfume production.

Always liked Arpege;

Arpège is a 1927 perfume by Lanvin. Along with Chanel's Chanel No. 5 and Patou's Joy, it is one of the three best known perfumes in the world

Perfumers André Fraysse and Paul Vacher had created the perfume for Jeanne Lanvin, one story relates that she offered it to her daughter Marguerite as a thirteenth birthday present, and asked her to name it. Lanvin's daughter, already an accomplished musician, called it "Arpège" ("arpeggio").

Lavin Arpege Eau De Parfum - Ladies Fragrance. An exquisite & mystical fragrance for women Provides a truly classical French perfume Top notes: Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Honeysuckle & Rose Middle notes: Jasmine, Iris Blossom, Ylang-Ylang Base notes: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Vetiver & Vanilla.

Orange flowers have a wonderful scent;

Green Tea (Elizabeth Arden) has a fresh citrus fragrance, nice to wear on hot summer days;

Fragrance compounds in perfumes will degrade or break down if improperly stored in the presence of:

Heat

Light

Oxygen

Extraneous organic materials

Proper preservation of perfumes involve keeping them away from sources of heat and storing them where they will not be exposed to light. An opened bottle will keep its aroma intact for several years, as long as it is well stored. However the presence of oxygen in the head space of the bottle and environmental factors will in the long run alter the smell of the fragrance.

Perfumes are best preserved when kept in their original packaging when not in use, and refrigerated to relatively low temperatures: between 3-7 degrees Celsius (37-45 degrees Fahrenheit). Although it is difficult to completely remove oxygen from the headspace of a stored flask of fragrance, opting for spray dispensers instead of rollers and "open" bottles will minimize oxygen exposure. Sprays also have the advantage of isolating fragrance inside a bottle and preventing it from mixing with dust, skin, and detritus, which would degrade and alter the quality of a perfume.

Pollution

Synthetic musks are pleasant in smell and relatively inexpensive, as such they are often employed in large quantities to cover the unpleasant scent of laundry detergents and many personal cleaning products. Due to their large scale use, several types of synthetic musks have been found in human fat and milk, as well as in the sediments and waters of lakes.

Perfume composed of largely natural materials are usually much more expensive.

Synthetic sources

Main article: Aroma compound

Many modern perfumes contain synthesized odorants. Synthetics can provide fragrances which are not found in nature. For instance, Calone, a compound of synthetic origin, imparts a fresh ozonous metallic marine scent that is widely used in contemporary perfumes. Synthetic aromatics are often used as an alternate source of compounds that are not easily obtained from natural sources. For example, linalool and coumarin are both naturally occurring compounds that can be inexpensively synthesized from terpenes. Orchid scents (typicallysalicylates) are usually not obtained directly from the plant itself but are instead synthetically created to match the fragrant compounds found in various orchids.

The majority of the world's synthetic aromatics are created by relatively few companies. They include:

International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF)

Givaudan

Firmenich

Takasago

Symrise

Each of these companies patents several processes for the production of aromatic synthetics annually.

Animal sources

Ambergris: Lumps of oxidized fatty compounds, whose precursors were secreted

and expelled by the sperm whale. Ambergris is commonly referred to as "amber" in perfumery and should not be confused with yellow amber, which is used in jewelry. Because the harvesting of ambergris involves no harm to its animal source, it remains one of the few animalic fragrancing agents around which little controversy now exists.

Castoreum: Obtained from the odorous sacs of the North American beaver.

Civet: Also called Civet Musk, this is obtained from the odorous sacs of the civets, animals in the family Viverridae, related to the mongoose. The World Society for the Protection of Animals investigated African civets caught for this purpose.

Hyraceum: Commonly known as "Africa Stone", is the petrified excrement of the Rock Hyrax.

Honeycomb: From the honeycomb of the honeybee. Both beeswax and honey can be solvent extracted to produce an absolute. Beeswax is extracted with ethanol and the ethanol evaporated to produce beeswax absolute.

Musk: Originally derived from the musk sacs from the Asian musk deer, it has now been replaced by the use of synthetic musks sometimes known as "white musk".

Other natural sources

Lichens: Commonly used lichens include oakmoss and treemoss thalli.

"Seaweed": Distillates are sometimes used as essential oil in perfumes. An example of a commonly used seaweed is Fucus vesiculosus, which is commonly referred to as bladder wrack. Natural seaweed fragrances are rarely used due to their higher cost and lower potency than synthetics.

Plant sources

Plants have long been used in perfumery as a source of essential oils and aroma compounds. These aromatics are usually secondary metabolites produced by plants as protection against herbivores, infections, as well as to attract pollinators. Plants are by far the largest source of fragrant compounds used in perfumery. The sources of these compounds may be derived from various parts of a plant. A plant can offer more than one source of aromatics, for instance the aerial portions and seeds of coriander have remarkably different odors from each other. Orange leaves, blossoms, and fruit zest are the respective sources of petitgrain, neroli, and orange oils.

Bark: Commonly used barks includes cinnamon and cascarilla. The fragrant oil in sassafras root bark is also used either directly or purified for its main constituent, safrole, which is used in the synthesis of other fragrant compounds.

Flowers and blossoms: Undoubtedly the largest source of aromatics. Includes the flowers of several species of rose and jasmine, as well as osmanthus, plumeria, mimosa,tuberose, narcissus, scented geranium, cassie, ambrette as well as the blossoms of citrus and ylang-ylang trees. Although not traditionally thought of as a flower, the unopened flower buds of the clove are also commonly used. Most orchid flowers are not commercially used to produce essential oils or absolutes, except in the case of vanilla, an orchid, which must be pollinated first and made into seed pods before use in perfumery.

Fruits: Fresh fruits such as apples, strawberries, cherries unfortunately do not yield the expected odors when extracted; if such fragrance notes are found in a perfume, they are synthetic. Notable exceptions include litsea cubeba, vanilla, and juniper berry. The most commonly used fruits yield their aromatics from the rind; they include citrus such as oranges,lemons, and limes. Although grapefruit rind is still used for aromatics, more and more commercially used grapefruit aromatics are artificially synthesized since the natural aromatic contains sulfur and its degradation product is quite unpleasant in smell.

Leaves and twigs: Commonly used for perfumery are lavender leaf, patchouli, sage, violets, rosemary, and citrus leaves. Sometimes leaves are valued for the "green" smell they bring to perfumes, examples of this include hay and tomato leaf.

Resins: Valued since antiquity, resins have been widely used in incense and perfumery. Highly fragrant and antiseptic resins and resin-containing perfumes have been used by many cultures as medicines for a large variety of ailments. Commonly used resins in perfumery include labdanum, frankincense/olibanum, myrrh, Peru balsam, gum benzoin. Pine and firresins are a particularly valued source of terpenes used in the organic synthesis of many other synthetic or naturally occurring aromatic compounds. Some of what is called amberand copal in perfumery today is the resinous secretion of fossil conifers.

Roots, rhizomes and bulbs: Commonly used terrestrial portions in perfumery include iris rhizomes, vetiver roots, various rhizomes of the ginger family.

Seeds: Commonly used seeds include tonka bean, carrot seed, coriander, caraway, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, and anise.

Woods: Highly important in providing the base notes to a perfume, wood oils and distillates are indispensable in perfumery. Commonly used woods include sandalwood, rosewood,agarwood, birch, cedar, juniper, and pine. These are used in the form of macerations or dry-distilled (rectified) forms.

Do you like to use perfumes? which is your favourite and which was your very first perfume you bought or received?

The Hot, The Loud and the Proud;

It is end of April and following Noel's meme "The hot the loud and the proud", it is time to show some of my attention seeking plants and flowers from my garden.

Crotons with their strong coloured leaves are one of them especially when illuminated by the sun.

Epidendron- or also called Crucifix Orchids are favourites of mine. I like the strong tropical orange...
...or the yellow butterball flowers shining from the dark.

Soon the hot red leaves of the Poinsettia will be a focus in my garden throughout winter.

All come in the categories of The Hot, The Loud and The Proud;

Please follow the link to be dazzled by hot tropical colours.

All photos TS