in late august

"August of another summer, and once again
I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.”

The Pond by Mary Oliver (1935-2019), Felicity

{ read the whole poem here }

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The last few weeks seem to have flown by, and there's been a subtle shift in the air lately, a little hint of the season to come. So grateful for all your orders this month, it truly brings me so much joy to send parcels full of nourishing and restorative plant magic your way!

The cooler mornings and evenings are inspiring me to steep more cups of hot tea, and draw the bath just a bit warmer. And at the same time, to savor every ounce of sunlight. This late summer moment usually brings a ferry ride out to the beach, and inspired by a walk along the shore, I've pulled a favorite treat from the archives this past month, a luxurious sample of our moon snail botanical perfume balm inside a sea shell. Our newsletter subscribers received these as a gift with purchase in their recent orders. Make sure you are on the list to hear about future limited-edition offerings.

A few favorite things from this past month, below:

reading:

Louise Glück & about scented geraniums via A Way To Garden

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listening:

to this new song from Ganavya, alongside this and this

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watching:

Neko Case & Rebecca McMackin talk about milkweed

above from top left:

sending out a set of botanical perfume balms. this solid perfume format is perfectly portable for travel. The beeswax base helps hold the scent close to the skin, I always find perfume balms to wear a bit more intimately than an oil or an extrait.

soap & solidarity returns! really glad to have this beautiful soap back in stock so that we can continue to support mutual aid efforts in Gaza together. thank you for being a part of this with me!

a few late summer treats on their way out to the door

above:

a little sunlight falls on the table by the door in the studio

playing with scent on a sunny afternoon, I've been using some Atlas cedar in a custom formulation and was inspired to try it together with a little lavender absolute that just arrived, and a touch of tonka bean

a freshly poured batch of our orange blossom butters. dreamy & tropical, delicately floral. formulated with local beeswax and organic sesame and coconut oils to nourish and moisturize, and scented with Moroccan neroli, ylang ylang from Madagascar and coconut pulp from Sri Lanka…

a fresh batch of our tea for dreamers, ready for your evening rituals in this in-between part of the season

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below:

a little mugwort harvested from the garden this week. i’ll bundle it up to use as incense in the studio for the autumn and winter.

I’ve just added this exquisite vintage tea strainer set to the shop, you can visit the full vintage collection here.

I’ve always offered sampler kits of as many of our formulations as possible, including skincare, botanical perfumes and teas. its such a lovely way to ensure you love something before purchasing the full size, and they also make sweet gifts!

this gorgeous vintage solid perfume balm compact has just arrived in the studio, ready to be filled with your choice of botanical scent…

below:

preparing for the cozy season ahead by pouring ever more candles!

another fresh vintage tea strainer, awaiting your autumn & winter tea rituals

infusing the organic oils & botanicals for our nourishing facial balm, one of my favorite parts of the process

and the magical little shells filled with moon snail perfume balm that went out to our newsletter subscribers over these past few weeks

In the late summer garden, the colors are most vivid at dusk, with the pinks and purples of the zinnias, the ironweed and the swamp milkweed starting to give way to the golden sneezeweed and rudbeckias. The trumpet vine, as ever, threatens to consume the stage roof, and the purple of the skullcap (Scutellaria incana) absolutely glows in the fading light. Lush and bittersweet, all at once.

Until next time,

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more summertimes

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