Carta D'armenia

Last night I was looking at some amazing little scented papers I bought in New York. Apparently they are made by the Santa Maria Novella Convent in Firenze (no wonder they cost so much) by a group of Dominican Friars. They are made to some age old - like 11th century - recipe and were used to ward off germs and sweeten the air. The papers are imbued with a special resin and floral oils and on burning them you notice any unwanted odours disappear. Thought I would give them a go today when I was trapped indoors with the dogs waiting for the oven repair man. Well, what do you know, they're wonderful and smell suspiciously like what was burning on a fire in a hotel I was in a couple of weeks ago. You only burn a little and then put the paper out. They aren't too cloying and floral - just a note. My son says he loves them but they make the house smell like a church. Maybe more like a cross between a church and a day spa. I think they are divine. Check them out online. Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.
Oh, and the site tells you that the monks also developed a rose scented disinfectant that they used in trying to ward off the plague. I think they failed in the plague department but as far as I'm concerned these little papers are a winner.

Men and the Mystical Floral Arts

I'm just about to embark on trying to encourage people to buy flowers and realise that before I even start I am really only preaching to one half of the population. There is a whole history surrounding the use and wearing of flowers and once the wearing and carrying of flowers involved as many men as it did women but in recent times, (at least the past hundred years or so) it has become one of those truly gender specific things. I've waxed on and on about it on www.flowergirlbrisbane.com.au but does anyone have an opinion? Why don't men give flowers to each other? Why don't we girls give them to our guys? Girls give each other flowers and it doesn't mean anymore or less than the sentiment of the attached card. So why can't a man sympathise, congratulate or celebrate with another bloke by giving him a nice bunch of blooms without being thought of in sexual way. Let's buck a trend and expose the other half of the population to a hitherto ignored part of our popular culture. Give a fella a flower today!