Hello!

126767

At the moment the only camera in the house has flat batteries, and although my phone has a camera, it's the phone which I need to take a photo OF if you see what I mean. Since this is clearly impossible, until the batteries are charged, you'll just have to take my word for the fact that I took 126767 steps on holiday.

17th - 11902
18th - 16358
19th - 12238
20th - 20083    Yesssss! I broke 20,000
21st - 16880
22nd - 19977    Why on earth didn't I take another 23 steps? I think this was the day my wallet went missing so we had to walk to the police station and back as well... maybe I was just too fed up.
23rd - 10181
24th - 7526      What a slacker, anyone would think I was on holiday or something!
25th - 11622

Debbie aka Sussex Yorkie guessed used her skill and judgement to calculate 125001.
And Ruth aka Rooknitting was close behind in the mathematical machinations with 123456. (Nice number to choose.)

So a bag-let and some yummy-but-teeny-tiny nougat will be in the post to them later today.

The Store Cupboard Challenge is gathering pace, Debbie (mentioned above) is doing it, as is Isabella aka Spinning Fishwife, and lots of others as well. Isabella is also planning to blog every day in November, brave woman. The Store Cupboard post on her blog is here.

I am pleased to report that on Saturday we had beef (freezer, bought as a going-out-of-date-tomorrow bargain) and butter bean (from stash storecupboard) casserole with potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding (sadly with shop-bought egg because menopausal chickens are a waste of space).

Sunday saw us having Thai green curry (the last of a jar of paste in the door of the fridge) with lots of veggies (reduced from Tesco) and a can of reduced fat coconut milk (from the tins box in the stash). And we had it with (almost out of date but frozen a few weeks ago) naan bread.

Last night, I'm afraid, we had Fish and Chips... but tonight I am back on the wagon again and we will have a mixed bean and chorizo (but not chorizo really, some Polish sausage instead) casserole.

This afternoon Sally is coming over because

• She is fed up with thesis-busting
• I am fed up because Gavin has just left to go to the USA for a week. I still think that the BBC coverage of the US Presidential election will be better than the US coverage. Jeremy Vine may even have a new Swing-o-meter. Do I stay up? Or do I go to bed? Hmmmmm.
• We are hatching a plan (with remote access and assistance from Jane) to offer a Mystery KAL pattern very soon, and this is a design and plotting meeting. We are thinking mittens.
• There may be a need for biscuits... perhaps the ones in the sidebar.

Mitten news soon, and tomorrow there may be a little free fibre up for grabs, because there are other plots taking shape too.

n

My poor nose.

One of the things I was determined to do on holiday was to visit Grasse, ancient home of the French perfume industry. Of course it's a little late in the year for rose blossoms and lavender flowers, but I did have a little smelly activity in mind.

If you book ahead at the Galimard studio you can create your own perfume! Galimard have been making perfumes since 1747, so I thought they must be able to guide me through the process.

The studio is light and airy... and there are bottles of entrancing (and downright horrible) smelliness everywhere you look.

Bottles to the right of you.

Bottles to the left of you.

Bottles everywhere! A hundred and twenty seven of them to be exact.

This was my workstation, and it came complete with 100ml glass mixing funnel and lots of those blotting paper things you get in shops to try out new "flavours" with.
And it also came with the guiding nose or "nez" of an expert.

It sounds easy, three base notes which "fix" the fragrance, three "heart" notes which are the main character of it, and three "peak" notes which are the initial just-sprayed-on scent.

But in between each selection the liquid had to be mixed and dipped. Then after I added the main selections I had to waft the dipped blotting paper stick in front of my nose, holding open bottles of other smells beneath so I was breathing in the newly blended smell and a potential "suitor" as well. Each time I did this there were up to thirty to choose from.
I rapidly discovered that I detest jasmine and hyacinth and adore muguet (lily of the valley), mer (salty oceans) and herby smells generally.

Eventually my perfume was a blend of 18 different components in various quantities (the "nez" guides you on how much to add).
I had to choose a name for it, and it now has to macerate and mature for ten days before I can use it.
My poor nose had olfactory fatigue, I can tell you.

And do I like it?

You betcha!
It has its own recipe (with secret number) stored in the Galimard database, and I can even order another bottle when I run out.

And....
I got a certificate... how cool is that?

n

PS  There is new yarn in the shop. Just click on "new stuff" to see the thumbnails, but the bigger pictures are better.