Generally speaking I don’t think of the scent of flowers when I paint them. I just love painting them, especially these Spring Watercolor Flowers I painted for The Graphics Fairy membership.
Of course, having been a florist I’m quite used to flowers without a strong smell. Particularly the refrigerated blooms. Daffodils manage to emit their sweetness refrigerated or not, along with certain colors of roses.
Are you familiar with Sterling Silver roses, the lavender with a grey tinge? My wholesaler would always set a bunch aside for me when they came in, I loved the so much. Not to sell, just to enjoy their lovely essence in the shop.
Yes, flowers can have beautiful scents . . . but some can smell nearly rancid. If the leaves aren’t stripped from the stem below the water line – whoo boy, you might need a strong stomach. And bleach. Daisies are notorious for a horrific odor which amazes me since their buds are so bright and cheerful.
Anyway, I wanted to take a minute to get you caught up with my so-called Life, living with my grandson’s family near Sacramento. Besides getting to see Santino every day I’ve reconnected with my best friend, Penny, from 30 years ago. We walk in a park twice a week then grab a bite to eat. Last weekend she had me (and my boston terrier) spend the night.
It.was.blissful.
After living with 3 children for a couple of months, my short respite at Penny’s was so enjoyable. We talk and talk and talk, play Scrabble, and talk some more.
Thirty years is a lot of time to catch up on!
I don’t believe she reads my blog, but then, I haven’t written much in the past couple of years. Something I intend on changing . . . starting today.
I really haven’t felt much like writing since my mother passed in October 2014, which is odd because we shared stories and laughed daily. At any rate, since today we’re talking about smells and odors I have a couple anecdotes.
One day I told my mom there was a horrific smell in the car. I had the neighbor check under the hood, fearing a mouse or squirrel perished inside. But it was more in the interior. When Mom smelled it she was ready to make an appointment for detailing – using money I didn’t want to spend (not on a car smell). Instead I bought some Febreze spray and sprayed the daylights out of that car. Did it work?
Um, no.
Finally I started emptying everything out of the back of the car. Ev.ry.thing. There were a bunch of plastic shopping bags that I grabbed but one felt particularly heavy. I peaked inside and nearly keeled over from the smell. Inside were two tubs of Safeway deli soup from whoknowshowlong.
Have you ever gone thru a drive-thru and when you got home realized part of you order was missing? Yeah, well something like that with grocery store that used to drive me crazy with poor customer service and empty shelves.
So that particular day that I purchased two tubs of deli soup weren’t in my shopping bags when I got home. Or so I thought. In my haste to judge, I assumed the checker missed that bag and I went charging back to the store and they – quite politely – gave me two more soups.
#nosoupforYOU
Name that TV show.
The second stinky happened much more recently, here at Tino’s house. All three bedrooms are at the back and when I walked down the hall a waft of yuckiness hit me. I presumed it was a wet towel hiding under a pile of other towels and kids’ paraphernalia.
Exactly the same way my kids did 20 years ago. Sigh
I mentioned it to Tino’s mom and she started the investigation. It didn’t take long to find the offensive odor. A while back Tino’s stepdad had a sore back and, in lieu of ice, Mom gave him a bag of frozen broccoli.
A while back.
Quite a while back judging the stench.
Along with Sterling Silver roses, freesia are another of my faves. ahhh. Which flowers are your favorites, in terms of scent?
If you’d enjoy having the full Spring Watercolor Flower kit, including all kinds of extra goodies, head over to The Graphics Fairy and join their membership! Every week the membership receives exclusive deals and Photoshop Element lessons. I absolutely love it.
And I love being able to contribute too.
Colleen
A always I enjoyed reading your post It is obvious it comes from the heart as it shines through in the way you write it. Also Enjoyed seeing the flowers done in water colors cause they seem to look soooo realistic that you can almost smell their fragrence . You do a great job painting them, maybe one of these days I will try my luck with it. I love doing crafting and am particular about things coordinating, a hangup of mind from when I was knee high to a grasshopper.
Oh yes, I think my fave flowers are rose, cause of the fragrance and all the varieties and I love camellias too. Gonna save up some money and buy myself one, they are so darn expensive.
As for forgetting about food I too am guilty. I purchased something and put it in the fridge and down the line spot it when it has died and ready to crawl out. sigh!
Dear Rose, your name is so fitting because you’re so sweet! I love garden roses because of their scent. Florist roses barely smell. u
I understand your hang up. If you’re read my bio on the blog you’ll know why I didn’t paint for 20 years after a comment from an Art teacher in college. smh
xo
Colleen
I’m so happy to see you back writing I’ve missed your posts. I used to tole paint a lot but over the past few years my tremor has become more pronounced and I haven’t been doing it. But, I enjoy seeing your work and I also love seeing a slice of your life with your narratives.
A few years ago I was shopping for an elderly lady. I picked up two packages of chicken breasts on sale. One package for her and one for me. When I got home I forgot the package for me in the back of the car. Two days in the middle of July doesn’t do wonders for chicken. Suffice it to say it was a while before I could face chicken again in any form.
Hi Terri, I’m SO sorry to hear about your tremor. I’m having problems with my left hand, luckily I’m right-handed. phew!
I can’t imagine the smell from that chicken. Thanks for sharing! lol. Makes me feel a whole lot better.
xo
Colleen
How fun! Flowers have been on my mind, especially the blooms falling off the trees around here. As always, I love your work.
Ps. I’ve commented here before but, I’ve changed my profile a little.
as I have said before it is always a treat to see your blog’s name in my inbox. today was especially refreshing despite the odors. they invoked laughter and memories. one potato escaped the bag and drifted under the spare tire in the trunk of our car at one time. this was while the kids were still at home so stinky football jerseys and/or equipment was suspect. we searched and searched for what could have occurred. the footballer even removed some of the car seats to see if there was something lurking under them from a classmate prank. finding a flat tire early one morning before school and work finally delivered the culprit.!!
your watercolor flowers are tempting to reproduce. favorite flowers are alas the non scented tulips. GLAD YOU ARE BACK
so glad you back I don’t know how paint but I love looking at things’ bloggers do. I first started reading you post when your Husband passed & Your mom .I glad you started getting things back Thank’s Hug’s.
Lovely to see your post, Colleen, and your flowers are beautiful!
I love the soup story! My smell story is a bit more gruesome, unfortunately. I lived in a teeny house that when it was built in 1905 had been a caretakers cottage in a BIG apple orchard in the northend of Seattle. One summer day I arrived home from work, opened the door and was hit with a terrible blast of something awful. I cleaned that whole house from top to bottom trying to find the source of that stink. I even braved it and went under the house searching for dead something. I found nothing and every day for about 3 weeks I would rush home and open all the doors and windows and air the house out. It finally faded and disappeared. In the fall, I did a thorough cleaning again and this time I took the covers off the baseboard heaters as I did every fall and vacuumed all the fins cleaning them for winter. Alas, in the process, I found a poor little mummified field mouse. Poor guy was the source of all that horrendous stench. The cat must have sneaked him in and injured him enough so he crawled away, hid and died. I’m an animal lover and felt sad, but was awfully glad to rid myself of my dried up little friend! I have never, ever had a repeat of that experience.
On a happier note, my favorite flowers are old fashioned roses, freesia, jasmine and lily of the valley. I love the scents of all of them dearly. I’m lucky enough to have two old hybrid tea roses in my yard and their scent is WONDERFUL. My grandpa always grew lovely roses, so roses, to me, smell of love.