The new house Askett & English, which offers elegant, understated colognes, is now available on the website. As Bee pointed out, these are definitely fragrances to be sprayed with abandon.

We're into the second month of my rolling discounts experiment. January saw the Lostmarc'h perfumes at 10% off their regular prices.

In February, just to be a bit tongue in cheek on the Valentine's Day theme, in the happiest sort of way, the rose-centred fragrances offered on Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume are marked down between 10% and 15%, depending on the scent. So, if you were hankering after a rose for your beloved, one for yourself or a gift for someone special, February is your month to indulge. 

Regarding Valentine's shipping, please keep in mind that the last shipping date for First Class Signed For is 9 February; for Special Deliver Next Day, it's 11 February.

But fear not: if Valentine's Day isn't your rose-scented cup of tea, you can get yourself something rosy to banish the winter blues through 29 February.  Yes, you read that right: it's a leap year. 

Which I find ridiculously exciting.

Has anyone experienced problems when trying to post comments to several blog entries (ie, write one comment to a post and then try to write another to a different post)?

I have had a report from a reader of getting a big NO SPAM message when she tried to post a second comment after writing one that went through fine.

Please let me know about any such strange experiences so I may report them to the nice people at my hosting company :)

I love and can wear all kinds of blues and reds, tones of grey, some purples. Black is no longer that great on me (alas), but I can manage it sometimes. Most browns, oranges, yellows, and pastels (big no-no) are decidedly bad. Pink is not a colour I've really gravitated towards. I can recall owning pink clothing: wearing a soft, seashelly pink silk suit to a wedding once -- and feeling completely wrong in it ("Why did you wear it, then?" you ask. Because I had bought it for some odd reason -- maybe that I thought it was 'pretty'.)

You get the drift.

But, pink. Once that idea, of what it smells like, got into my head it couldn't be shifted.

I bypassed the things with pink in the name: Aquolina Pink Sugar, Pink Manhattan, LaCoste Touch of Pink, etc.

I thought maybe I got some pink from Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, but not quite. Maybe the full toned pink that isn't bright or neon from Neela Vermeire Creations' Bombay Bling! A soft, raspy pink for Laura Tonatto Plaisir.

No pink from either Guerlain Mitsouko or Shalimar. Unsurprising. And nothing, strangely, from Duchaufour's Traversee du Bosphore for l'Artisan or Aftelier Candide... I blinked my eyes, then squeezed them shut and tried to focus -- tried to conjure something else with the smell of pink in it. 

I get purple from Thierry Mugler Alien. Can channel deep forest green from Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman (I like the name better when it was simply Ormonde). Cool silver from Chanel Pour Monsieur. A sexy, soft, tactile amber from L'Artisan Mechant Loup. A literal inky blackness from Lalique Encre Noir. A chiaroscuro-ish melange from Knize 10 of dark brown, magenta and mustard yellow.  

But I'm not getting pink. I feel I'm reaching...

Help me out here. Is there a perfume out there that smells decidedly pink to you?

Dave Robicheaux, the main character, spends a lot of time making his way through south Louisiana bayous, and thus spends a lot of time musing about mosquitoes. 

The first time I started reading through one of these musings I was wafted back to teenager-dom and camping in the northern US state of Maine. Early in my first summer there I was introduced to a number of esoteric things that now make up part of my scent memory of that time.

One of those was an insect repellant called Ole Time Woodsman Fly Dope. Sounds almost illegal, doesn't it?

The thing is the bugs in that part of the US laugh at regular insect repellants. Just burst into giggles of glee. Because: they don't do squat.

Now, Ole Woodsman comes in a bottle that resembles those used for Snake Oil. It's very dark brown in colour and is liquid but viscous. It stains the skin a nut brown colour if one is reasonably pale, as I am. Best of all, bugs do not like it. At all. Ever. They'll buzz around you, but never consider settling down for a bite or a sting.

Ole Woodsman smells of balsam and smoke. It's deep and pungent, and the only people who are likely to enjoy it on you are those who are wearing it as well.

It combines wonderfully with the smell of creosote used to protect wood camping shelters from animals that like to chew. It works well in concert with the scent of pine forest, wild flowers and sweat.

So, if you ever find yourself in northern Maine, walking the Apalachian Trail on your way to climb Mount Katahdin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Katahdin) or in south Louisiana exploring the bayous, check it out. This is something on which memories are built: http://www.hotdoe.com/ole_time_woodsman.html.

So, rather than do that I thought I'd just present a sort of random five things that stood out for me in 2011.

In no particular order, some things that I particularly enjoyed or that made a particularly strong impression:

1) The new film of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This was just sensationally good. Beautifully made, wonderful acting. If you didn't catch it, well worth seeking out on DVD.

2) August humidity in New York. Having lived away from this city for almost 15 years (and not having visited in high summer) I hadn't experienced this sort of visceral heat and saturated air in a long while. I know this sort of weather is love or hate. I'm on the love side. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the experience of air that feels alive on the skin. There's a special pleasure in a walk on a very hot summer's day which is broken up by lunch in a cool restaurant. Bliss.

3) Seeing proper snow and then being able to leave. On one of the US trips this past year we got detoured to Mineapolis, which is in the mid-Western state of Minnesota. I'd never been before. The snow drifts were above my waist. Everything was clean and plowed, as if the good people of Minnesota know how to deal with serious weather. It was truly beautiful to look at. I was very pleased to have had the experience and pleased as well that I don't live in such an environment.

4) Swimming outdoors. We're very lucky to have an outdoor pool in a nearby village. Topsham pool is open May-September. It's a wonderful feeling to go off for a midmorning swim on a warm day in warm water in a pool that's open to the sky. While this is on the cusp of the changing year, I consider it a good end to 2011 and a wonderful start to 2012: Topsham pool is open for a new year's day swim, which the man-cub has done in the past. I did it this year. As I said, great, positive way to start the new year (and bid farewell to the sloth of 2011 holidays). 

5)  Geleni the acupuncturist. On three occasions while in New York in August I had the truly special experience of being treated by Geleni Fontaine, who is a seriously gifted acupuncturist. Geleni is thorough -- she asks lots of health questions. But more than that she is intuitive and knows what really needs tweeking in her individual patients. Sublime -- and the man-cub got to play with Bean the cat while I blissed out. 

There you go. A few small bits of gorgeousness.