Pink and Grey

The benches in the park next door are sunbleached and weathered.  Worn by years of strong sun, heavy rain and icy snow, the grey wood grain has the look of driftwood, or old barn doors.  They're a beautiful backdrop to the muted pinks of Hydrangea blossoms.  Hipster Hydrangea!

Not to be outdone, this lovely Lespedeza Thunbergii - also known as Thunberg's Bush Clover, is at home growing next to the weathered park bench.  The vibrant pink-purple blossoms cascade in a fountain of colour in late Summer and Fall. Native to China and Japan, the blooms look like a cross between Wisteria and Sweet Peas.  They are a member of the legume family of plants, and love the sun.   

For urban photographers, the grey wood of the local park bench is as close to driftwood and barns as we get.  I love that the beauty of nature is steps from the busy streets of Canada's largest city! A perfect spot for dark roast coffee and a business meeting with myself!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Savon Savvy

I love this little tin soapbox.  I love the purple colour, and the seven little cherubes frolicking on heavenly clouds, holding a garland of roses.  The box is a reproduction of an antique tin box designed for Gelle Freres' Savon Paradisia, or Paradisia scented soap.  The Gelle brothers' Paris perfumerie and soap factory dates back to 1826.  The Paradisia line was created in 1908.

I have often wondered about the scent of the mystery soap.  The yellow roses suggest the soap is rose scented, and the white flowers appear to be orange blossoms.  I have searched the internet, reading French and even German text, looking for the answer.  Nichts.

What I did discover, is that Gelle Freres - Jean-Baptist and Augustin - inherited the recipes of  Jean-Louis Fargeon, the renowned perfumer to the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette.  Was this one of her favourite fragrances?

A few years ago, I tried my hand at making my own soap.  It was a deeply relaxing passtime.  There is however, a point in the process which needs one's undivided attention, with absolutely no interruptions.  Those who know my life, will roll their eyes!  My soapmaking days ended almost before they began!

People have been making soap for about 4,800 years.  An excavation in Iraq, unearthed an ancient Babylonian clay container and a soaplike substance, from 2800BC.  A recipe for fats boiled with wood ash, has also been found on a Mesopotamian clay tablet, dating to 2200BC.  The Babylonians are believed to have used soap, not for bathing, but for washing wool and cotton prior to weaving.  A soap factory has been found in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy, dating back to 79AD.  The Arabs refined soap, adding aromatic oils to olive oil, and for the first time, adding sodium lye to the recipe.

Which brings me to the Hydrangeas.  Wood ash, which was the alkaline additive in the ancient recipe for soap, will change the colour of your Hydrangeas.  The wood ash "sweetens" the soil.  Soil with a pH of 7 or more, is alkaline.  Hydrangea blossoms will change in colour from blue to pink.

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.