WINNER OF THE PHALAENOPSIS BELLINA DRAWING AND: NOTHING IS FOREVER

The winner of this week’s drawing is EMILY.

To claim your winnings, just send me an e-mail at olympicorchids at gmail dot com or leave a comment on the Olympic Orchids Facebook page. 

Years ago I started trying to keep an archive of perfume samples. I carefully tagged and recorded them in a database, put them in baggies with cards, one for each brand, and put the baggies in alphabetical order in shoebox-sized plastic carriers. It’s probably been 8 or ten years since I started collecting samples, and I have recently been dismayed to find that many of the samples are not in good shape. A lot of them have leaked or evaporated, and there’s not a lot of juice left. Some may have experienced other ravages of time – I haven’t checked. 

I discovered this when I took some of the samples out of the archive to send out to winners of my drawings and free up some shelf space. Because of the preservation problems I’m slowly dismantling my archives and sending out the samples “as is”. Some are in perfect condition, some are pretty good, and some are not good. Some are cheap junk perfumes, some are the average stuff, and some are really beautiful, interesting, expensive, or rare. You take what you get because I don’t choose what I send, I just weigh out a couple of handfuls at random. Pick through them, enjoy whatever appeals to you, and use what’s left over to scent your laundry or your bathroom, give away, throw away, use up, do whatever you like with them. Like everything else in this world they won’t last forever, much as we would like them to, so enjoy them while you can. 

To enter this week’s drawing for at least 100g of samples, leave a comment about the transitory nature of perfume or other things. 

[Perishable flower photos are mine]

WINNER OF SERVER FARM DRAWING AND A NEW ONE

The winner of the last drawing is:

PARROT

To claim your winnings, just send an e-mail with your full name and shipping address to olympicorchids at gmail dot com, or leave a message on our Facebook page. 

Yesterday I spent almost the entire day packing perfume to ship and supervising the new person who was packing orchid plants. Such a lot of busy work. I’m still trying to sell the orchid business, even as it grows, so that I can spend more time with the perfume and other creative activities. 

In the evening our neighbor invited us over to sit on her back deck and drink a bottle of prosecco. We made a fire in her clay chimenea using wood scraps picked up in the woods. The high point was when we burned parts of an old, decommissioned bird feeder that was so dry that the flames leaped up immediately, crackled, popped, and sent up showers of sparks. The fire eventually settled into a red glow that just took the chill off the night air. We watched the stars come out, and the moon come up. Everything was perfectly quiet. It was like sitting around a campfire, and about as relaxing as it gets. 

There’s something magical about watching a controlled open fire. It invites contemplation, clears the brain, and brings people together in a friendly way. The smell of the wood smoke is part of the magic. 

To enter this week’s drawing, leave any sort of comment about fire. The prize will be at least 100g of perfume samples. 

[Photos of chimenea fire and rising moon are from Wikimedia. We had no devices of any kind with us last night. Moon and campfire painting by Albert Bierstadt, 19th century.] 

WINNER OF THE FIRST OCTOBER DRAWING

When I don’t post the drawing on Facebook, not many people enter, but that’s OK. 

The winner of the first October drawing is TRINITI. 

Just e-mail me at olympicorchids at gmail dot com with your current correct address to claim your winnings. 

It looks like the majority of people who commented want to hear about how I get inspiration or ideas for perfumes, so I’ll write about that later this week. Other topics were materials, so I’ll continue that series, and the effect of weather (or more broadly, context) on perfume perception. All of those topics are coming up soon! Thanks to those who commented with suggestions that will help keep me from writing about sociology and politics. 

[Photo is our woods, taken a little later in the season last year, but representative of our autumn  foggy mornings and sunny afternoons]

THE WINNER AND RUNNER-UP OF THE GIANT DRAWING

For quite some time I have been feeling guilty about not posting the winner of the last drawing. I have no real excuse except to say that I’ve been busy with teaching demands and, with the same sense of horror and fascination that one looks at a car crash, watching the farce that our government has become. It takes all the strength I have to keep politics out of this blog, so am going on the assumption that it is better not to post at all than to post my opinions, which are irrelevant to the stated topic of perfume. 

In any case the blog has been cleared of spam, the drawing has taken place and the winner of the GIANT drawing was JEN.

No, it’s not because she was the first to enter – this really was the random name that came out of the pile! I decided that, because so many people entered this drawing, I would also choose a runner-up who will receive 100 g of samples. 

The second-place winner was RICHARD FORTIN. 

Congratulations to you both. To claim your goodies, please provide your complete, current, and correct shipping address via an e-mail to olympicorchids at gmail dot com or send a PM to the Olympic Orchids Facebook page. 

[The photos are mine, taken in Hawaii]

WINNER OF THE LAST GIVEAWAY: BELATED ANNOUNCEMENT

My spring break from the university has officially started. I may not really have more time, but at least it's a prompt to finally do the last random drawing and announce the winner. And with no further fanfare, the winner is:

TARENA

To claim your winnings, just send an e-mail with your full name and shipping address to olympicorchids at gmail dot com or leave a PM on the Olympic Orchids Facebook page.

Another Monday giveaway will be coming tomorrow, so check it out.

[Decorative photo shows an orchid species, Dendrobium lawesii. My plant, my photo] 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, WINNER OF THE RANDOM DRAWING, AND A NEW GIVEAWAY

I don’t even need to comment on what a bizarre year 2017 was in the grand scheme of things. We all know it. On a personal level, though, it was a good year. We were able to travel some and spend time with good friends and family, I’m still enjoying teaching at the university, we live in a beautiful and relatively sane part of the world, and the orchid and perfume businesses are both thriving and growing. The perfume winter sale was phenomenal, and we are still shipping orders out in great volume. This year I had the foresight to have big supply of stock and packing materials on hand, so we didn’t run out of anything. As we move into 2018, I want to let my customers, students, family, friends, and readers know how much I appreciate you all.  

The winner of this week’s drawing for 100 g of samples is ANNE. Please contact me at olympicorchids at gmail dot com or on Facebook PM with your shipping address.

This past week there was a small disaster in the closet where I keep extra clothes, perfumes, samples, some jewelry-making supplies, and some other miscellaneous things. The bar that I hang clothes on also supports a wire shelf, and this whole apparatus has fallen down twice, scattering clothes and boxes of perfume samples all over the floor. I know, I know, I have too much of everything. After the first collapse I went through the clothes and eliminated some of them. The whole thing was put back on the wall and the sample boxes went back up on the shelf. This morning, the whole thing collapsed again. We are going to need to reinforce the bar and shelf, and lighten the load even more. I don’t think samples are all that heavy, but the wire shelves are pretty flimsy, too, like the ones in the photo. It's probably amazing that they have held up this long. 

This week I will be giving away another 100g  of random perfume samples, so leave a comment about anything that strikes your fancy. Some prompts might be what you’re looking forward to in 2018 and whether you’ve ever had a shelf collapse due to putting too much stuff on it. The winner will be announced on Monday, January 8.

[Graphics from Wikimedia]

WINNER OF SUNNY DAY DRAWING

The winner of last week's Sunny Day Drawing is:

CATA

Please contact me with your shipping address at olympicorchids at gmail dot com.

If unclaimed by Monday, May 22, the items will go into the jackpot for next time.

[Geranium photo is mine]

WINNER OF THE INCENSE DRAWING

It's taken me longer than I intended, but I've finally gotten around to posting the winner of the incense drawing. It is LAURIE BROWN.

Please e-mail your complete shipping information to olympicorchids at gmail dot com. Any unclaimed items will be rolled into the next prize package.

[Incense photo from Wikimedia]

FRANKINCENSE JACKPOT GIVEAWAY WINNER

The drawing has taken place, and the winner of the Frankincense drawing is:

HARLEY QUINN

The jackpot includes a 5-ml travel spray of Blackbird, a 5-ml travel spray of the Devil Scent of your choice, and some miscellaneous extras.

To claim your winnings, send an e-mail to olympicorchids at gmail dot com with your correct name,  complete shipping address, and choice of which Devil Scent you would like to try.

Because we will be on vacation, your prize package will ship after August 15. If unclaimed by then, everything will go back into the next jackpot.

[Pineapple guava photo is mine] 

WINNER OF ELEMI GIVEAWAY

The name has been drawn, and the winner of the Blackbird 5-ml travel spray is:

POLA

To claim your winnings, just send an e-mail to olympicorchids at gmail dot com with your correct name and full shipping address.

The winner has until Thursday, July 28 to claim their prize. Otherwise it goes back into the jackpot.

[Blackbird photo is mine]

PRIVET BLOOM WINNER

Finally I have gotten around to shaking up the names of those who entered the last drawing, for the Hampton Sun Privet Bloom.

The winner is PORTIA!

Please send me an e-mail or FB message with your current address. I think my last package to you went to the wrong place.

[Photo from Wikimedia]

WINNER OF CLEAN SKIN DRAW

The winner of the CLEAN SKIN draw is JOCELYN PROBASCO.

You have won the cumulative package with Clean Skin, Luna Rossa Extreme, and a few random small things. Please contact me at olympicorchids at gmail dot com with your correct name and mailing address, or leave a PM on Facebook.

If you do not claim your prize within a week, everything will go back into the pot and become part of the next drawing.

[Painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, 1910]

ARTIFACT-BOTTLE GIVEAWAY WINNER

With apologies for missing this Wednesday's materials series due to some extra, time-consuming work at the university, I am happy to announce that the winner of the artifact fancy bottle drawing is LAUREN. I understand Azar's dog Fender did the choosing.

[The photo, for no particular reason, is the green spotted hellebore that's blooming now, child of the dark red one. There seems to be no consistency in how the offspring look.] 

WINNER OF INES DE LA FRESSANGE GIVEAWAY

The drawing for the full bottle of Ines de la Fressange has been held, and the winner is ANNE. Please e-mail me (olympicorchids at gmail dot com) or send me a PM on Facebook. I will need your full name and shipping address.

The photo of hellebore buds celebrates the fact that it's hellebore season again! The original red-flowered plant, shown in the photo, has scattered seeds every year, and the first three babies that survived the house painters are about to burst into bloom. One is red, one is pink, and the other is green/white. It's interesting that they turn out looking so different from the parent.

Daffodils and crocuses are starting to pop up too, so spring can't be far off!

WINNER OF ROOM WITH A VIEW GIVEAWAY

The entries have been shaken up and the winner drawn. The $35 Olympic Orchids gift certificate goes to KSENIYA GATALSKAYA.

To receive an electronic copy of your certificate, send an e-mail to olympicorchids at gmail dot com or leave a message with your e-mail address on my Facebook Page. The certificate can be used on  the Olympic Orchids Perfumes Flagship Store, the Olympic Orchids Perfumes Original Boutique, or Olympic Orchids Nursery. Plants can only be shipped within the US.

[Photo is mine, taken at sunrise.]

SCENTS OF THE SEASON SAMPLE PACK WINNER

The names have been shaken up and the lucky one drawn. The winner of the Scents of the Seasons Winter Collection is IRIS.

Please contact me with your shipping information: olympicorchids at gmail dot com.

Thanks to everyone who commented and entered this drawing!

If not claimed by January 16, it will go back in the pool for another drawing.

[photo is from Wikimedia, for no particular reason.]

DEPARTMENT STORE DRAWING WINNER

The winner of the book offered in the Dead Department Store Drawing is:

MARLA

Congratulations!

WINNER OF THE PERFUME ELIMINATION DRAWING

The random drawing has finally been performed, and the winner is:

MARLA ROBB

Please send me an e-mail with your choice of fragrance, and your prize will be on its way to you. It’s a 5-ml travel spray. 

[Cyclamen photo is mine, from my back yard]