My Recent Addictions: Incense and Timber

I am a fan of the Kyoto incense store Shoyeido (松榮堂), but am recently addicted to this set of "four season" incense from Tim:

(The Haru one is in my office)

Particularly because the aroma resembles so much those he brought to Brunswick Heads Brunswick heads - yea they are actually produced from the same workshop in Japan.

Not the sort of pure incense like aquilaria agallocha or sandal wood I used to have, they are incenses blended with different sorts of pure essential oils, and the effect is rustic and bohemian. All these formulars are designed by Tim's best friend Sal the Sicilian who runs Perfect Potion.

Haru: This handmade traditional incense blended with pure essential oils of geranium, grapefruit, petitgrain and rosemary captures the spirit of Spring.

Natsu: This handmade traditional incense blended with pure essential oils of aniseed, benzoin, lemon myrtle, rose absolute, palmarosa and ylang ylang captures the spirit of Summer.

Aki: This handmade traditional incense blended with pure essential oils of atlas cedarwood, nutmeg, black pepper, hyssop, coriander, frankincense, fir and lime captures the spirit of Sutumn.

Fuyu: This handmade traditional incense blended with pure essential oils of lavender, juniper berry, sweet marjoram, clary sage, orange, bergamot and sandalwood captures the spirit of Winter.

* * *

And here comes another addiction of Mine: Timber



This little refined timber box was hand crafted by Tim's Dad Moss. I didn't have a chance to ask him the material of it because I picked it up from his workshop in Brisbane after we left Tassie, but I do believe it is blackwood. He is such a timber lover and he has a genuine respect for the craft he would polish all the works to the very extreme.

I have bought a piece of raw Leatherwood in Tassie and when I go back next time, Moss is gonna teach me how to turn it into a bowl or something.

Among all the timber that I know I think I like the scent of Cypress Pine most, but there is so much to learn from Moss in the days to come.

And the little cutting board underneath was made of different Tasmanian timbers.

I am pleased to announce that I am now officially a timber lover.

In Memory of Rohmer@Brunswick Heads

就如同《沙灘上的寶蓮》的開端，我下車打開大閘，我們駛進 Brunswick Heads 的小屋。白色欄栅外便是湖，到埗後的黃昏，我們在湖邊一躺不知多久，看鵜鶘海鷗飛翔、捕食，直到天色漸變猩紅，又轉灰藍，悄悄入黑。湖上有座小橋，過了橋便是海灘，只數步之遙，每天早上換了泳衣跑出去，游泳後赤腳回家，在庭園沐浴，也享受日光的洗禮。晚上到海灘散步，只有我們兩人，靜極了，然海浪聲如嚎；天空清朗，舉頭滿目是星，更可以看到銀河的軌跡，似灑了一層銀白的光，遠處有 Baron Bay 燈塔的點點閃光。他說，第二天一早再來看日出，不料我如常一睡睡到日上三竿——其實日出時有醒來過的，但見他熟睡，不想吵醒他，便又倒頭睡去。他卻說，他也醒來過，看見滿天是雲，不會看到甚麼，而我又睡得呼呼，便沒有喚我。

Just as the opening of Pauline on the Beach, I got out from the car, opened the gate, and we drove in this lovely little house in Brunswick Heads, just a few steps from the lake, with the beach across it. We lay beside the lake in the evening; there, pelicans and seagulls were flying around, picking at their prey from time to time while night was slowly emerging. We walked out every morning in swim suits and came back bare feet after swimming, then enjoyed a shower under the sunlight on the lawn. In utter darkness we strolled to the beach again and lay down: the sky was so crystal clear that millions of stars were visible, even the silver white Milky May, along with the blinking light from the lighthouse in Byron Bay many miles away. We were the only two there, and it was so silent we could hear the waves dashing loudly, loudly. He said we would return in the next morning for sunrise. Turned out I slept in, as usual...I did wake up when the first ray of light was coming out, but seeing that he was deeply asleep, I went back to sleep right away. Yet he said, he got up around that time too, noting that it was so cloudy that we wouldn't see a thing, and that I was soundly asleep, he decided not to wake me.