Oooh That Smell

We have a large Sweet Olive tree in the front yard that bathes the whole place with its wonderful scent. I knew where the scent was coming from but I sometimes forget my Beloved “ain’t from around here.” We were driving down Prytania one evening last week with the windows down. The air was heavy with the scent of the many Sweet Olives that line the street. My Beloved asked where the scent was coming from. The trees. When we got back home, I pointed out the one in our yard. He made the comment that they just don’t have  that up north. True, but they don’t have melt your face off heat and humidity either.

I thought of a place I used to live, the fences invisible under the drapery of honeysuckle, jasmine, and wisteria. Sweet Olives poked through the jungle and roses filled the flower beds. Moonflowers climbed the side of the windows to draw luna moths into view. We would sit outside in the evenings, weeding and laughing as my then 18 month old grandson chased “fey” aka fireflies around the property. The scent on the evening breeze was intoxicating. I thought if I could bottle that scent, I’d be a millionaire. My grandson will be nine this year and I can still remember the way the place smelled so vividly.

Now that the weather has cooled off, we have turned our attention the outdoor spaces of our home. The patio was a disaster area. Cast offs and ugly things left by the previous tenets littered the space. We moved, threw away, and cleaned. It’s become our favorite place to be. The previous tenets left a quarter circle bar on the patio. It was in an awkward place and hideous. I’m really bad at remembering to take photos of things before I decide to alter them so I have nothing to illustrate my point here. The trim was coming off and the front is textured like rock. Except they left it the color of the texturing product and slapped fluorescent lime green paint on it in random blobs. Like I said, it was hideous. My first thought was to drag it out to the street with a sign declaring “Please take this.” We do need some sort of storage for extra planters and barbeque stuff. So I nailed the trim back in place and painted the whole thing a dark grey. Then I mixed up some varying greys and smushed and sponged. When it was dry, I dry brushed the base grey on the high spots of the texture. I love it now. We have a place to stow stuff out of the way and I don’t want to bleach my eyeballs looking at it!

We have more planned for the area but it will have wait for now. I have sewing projects lined up and waiting for some attention.