harvest 2012: lavender wands!

I had a cute title worked up for this and in the two minutes I spent loading windows and logging in, I've forgotten. We've had a sudden heat spell here in Seattle (I think the rest of you may be more familiar with the name, "summer") and I've not slept well for the last two nights. Those of you who do not know Seattle weather, here's a detail that about sums it up: on Saturday we hit 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Here's the thing: the last time we broke 85, it was mid-September 2011. That's right. It's been almost 11 months since we have had really warm weather. Sunday it was up near 90. Throw in a hearty dose of humidity and many of us just turned into zombies. Plus, we're about as ill-equipped to handle sun as we are snow: Cass and I only own one fan. On Friday night, I'd left the drapes open and we woke to hot morning sun streaming in our windows. Uf, we were so unprepared.

So, today I am a sleep-deprived zombie, but at least the weather is cooler. And don't get me wrong - I know the rest of the nation has it much, much worse. And the garden loves it, and it was nice to go canoeing on Lake Washington on Sunday. Plus, during our heat-induced lethargy on Saturday evening, I sat down and made lavender wands while Cass put on The Rocketeer. Remember that movie? It was kind of cute to watch it again.

These wands are really easy to make - especially the second, third, fourth time through. Last year I included a link to Dharma Trading Co.'s instructions for making these - here they are again. Even though my lavender was already open (heck, some of the flowers were even starting to fade!), I decided to go ahead and make these anyway. I used some silk cord from the bead store and cinched these really tight around the open buds. As I crushed the flowers inside the wand, tons of lavender oil began to saturate the silk cords. They smell amazing.

I also have some lavender stems drying by the back door again; I'll make sachets in a few more weeks. I think both the wands and the sachets make lovely gifts. Oh, that was it! I was going to say "practical perfume" or something like that, for the title - because these are great to tuck into your drawers or hang in your closet as they not only perfume your clothes, they also keep insects (like moths) away from your nice things!