Portia

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Hello Australian Perfume Junkies and friends, So glad to have you drop by Scent Diary. Grab a cuppa or beverage of choice, sit back and check what has happened, been eaten, spritzed and seen in our lives in Sydney, Australia.

At then end please leave us some comments. What or who did you see, do, eat with. Did you spritz, purchase, have arrivals or finish a sample? What’s happening in your world? If you’re writing or reading opinions, we can disagree but keep it nice and try not to give or take offense. Right now the world needs a web of friendships and connection more than ever. We all have perfume and each other in common. That’s a whole lot.

Scent Diary: 14.9-20.9.2026

Monday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

1. Don’t Touch The Phone
2. Avoid Negative Input (TV, Socials)
3. Drink Water
4. Sunlight In Eyes
5. Move Body 3 Minutes
6. One thing I’m grateful for
7. One Small Win

Walked Momo.

Penhaligon’s Solaris

Headed off for Aquarobics but they wouldn’t let us park.

Bugger that. Jin and I headed for brunch instead. His favourite Pork Soup shop. I had Fried Chicken. YUM!

Jin had a special surprise for me. We hit the Parramatta Park Wisteria Walk. It’s the very beginning of the season but the smell was utterly divine.

Came home and fed/walked Momo.

The new dishwasher arrived. It’s bloody snazzy. BLACK! To go with the stove and cooktop. Jin got it up and running and I’m seriously excited.

Trivia Q&A. Got to it late today. Tried to stay focussed but my brain wasn’t having it.

Jin took me to watch him play golf. They are spring fixing the grass. There is a brand new duckling family.

Went to Aquarobics this evening instead. Jin hit the gym and I splashed out. It was fun.

Home to finish the Trivia Q&A, print the week and get it to the Queens. Not sure what’s wrong with me today but I just can’t get myself to concentrate. It’s done and dusted at about 10.30pm.

Fed and walked Momo. Venus was reflecting near the moon, it looks amazing.

Had some fragrant arrivals today. Yes, it’s an addiction. Yes, I love to shop. Yes, I love getting boxes in the mail. To be fair, these perfumes had been ordered over a week apart and have taken weeks to get to Australia. They arrived at the Post Office on Friday but I was in Brisbane.

This lot from FragranceNet with backup Maasai Mara by Berdoues. Things I love often get the chop so I’m insuring myself.

These are a from a site I’ve never used before, News Parfums. They came with lovely Gifts With Purchase.

Tuesday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Laundry loads

Walked Momo and bumped into Alex, from tonight’s trivia. We talked of Pink! and how we have removed her from our playlists. It seems so out of character for her and we are both sad.

Burberry Brit Woman EdT

OH NO! Bob Mackie has left the design studio. My original sewing of fabulous costumes for my sister’s dolls was inspired by him. My love of costume and fashion and breaking the rules in both, also inspired by him.

Organised my Trivia bag for tonight.

More laundry

Lunch was freaking AWESOME today. Omelette with carrot, orange, and mint salad. Still trying to eat for my diabetes. Some days I win and other days I succumb.

I also did some roast veggies. The science tells me that cooking and cooling starchy veg lowers the GI. So I’m popping these in the fridge to eat cold. MMMMM

Fed and walked Momo. Sunshine and glorious cool heat.

Jin came home. We changed the bed linen. Woo Hoo! Tonight will be CLEAN SHEETS!

More Laundry.

Jin has been using CHANEL Paris Riviera Body Lotion and stole my EdT. Sadly (for him) it makes him itchy. So he gave me the lotion and returned my EdT.

I wore them tonight. WOW!

Got gorgeous for work. We had $200 Jackpot Winners tonight., Department of WHOA!

Wednesday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

CHANEL Paris Riviera Body Lotion and EdT. (On a Missoni towel bought for us by Tara of A Bottled Rose. So freaking lavish)

Cleaned. Well, vacuumed. Folded the washing that had been brought in. A couple more laundry loads hung.

Grocery shopping.

Organising lunch.

Nikki came over. SO MUCH to catch up on. She’s just been on a European adventure. Her first holiday in EIGHT YEARS! She had a ball. So many stories.

Jumped on a train and met Jin in town to fix the dishwasher in the Redfern apartment. There had recently been an inspection and the girls said there was no water coming into it.

Realized Jin didn’t have the keys, neither did I. Drove home, got them, came back. Jin looked it over. Went to turn the hose tap off so he could safely undo everything. HA! The wall hose tap was turned off. So they’ve been in the place for about eight years and it’s taken this long to let us know. HILARIOUS> fixed.

On the way home I treated Jin to McDonald’s. He was so chuffed.

Home.

Got ready for work.

MORE CHANEL Paris Riviera Body Lotion and EdT

Fun night but a bit quiet. Two of our major teams weren’t there for various reasons. We had fun.

Home. Blogging.

Fed and walked Momo.

Read.

Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur.

Bed.

Thursday

Woke and lay in bed reading. Today’s adventure has cancelled due to family health reasons so I’m free as a bird.

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Burberry Brit Woman EdT AGAIN!!

Fed and walked Momo. the weather has taken a turn for the chill but still sunny.

Lunch was a bit naughty but still better than many

Got a bit of a start on some blogging.

Had a list of ten things I wanted to accomplish today. Got two of them done. Everything else has to wait. C’est la Vie.

Hung out with Momo on the couch. We watched shit TV. I feel blissfully happy about having given myself a big fat day off.

Bucket Bath. Learned this in India. It’s the perfect, low water usage clean up for in between baths. Body Shop British Rose Shower Gel. MMMM

Amouage Fate Woman

We headed out for our favourite Korean BarBQ with Anthony, Phil and Scotty. I am SO FULL! You have no idea how much we all ate.

Jin went straight to bed once we got home.

I fed and walked Momo in the very chilly evening air.

Faffed.

Berdoues Maasai Mara

Bed

Friday

Slept like dead people, woke bright and ready for the day SUPER EARLY.

Fed and walked Momo in the frosty morning sunshine.

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Couple of swipes of CHANEL Coco vintage extrait on my neck.

Bus and train to town.

Met Ana and Anna Maria at my favourite city cafe. we had breakfast with the waterfall giving us energy and life. We have a lot to see that Ana, on only her second visit from Croatia, has not yet got to.

We wandered over to St Mary’s Cathedral to check out the grandeur. The attached school was handing out graduation to the boys. Informal but wonderful.

Then we trotted over to the Art Gallery of NSW. First we went to the brand new North Building and did a guided tour of the indigenous section. Our guide was one of the assistant indigenous curators and was so full of well reasoned information and a broad historical perspective. She also recognized Anna Maria as Domenica’s mum on Love At First Sight Australia. She even knew Dom’s baby’s name and was so happy to meet AM. It was a cool moment.

Then we headed downstairs to the Avatar exhibition. Our guide was erudite and interesting. She kept it simple and fundamental. I enjoyed her focus and stories. The exhibition is a sumptuous look at Vishnu through his most famous ten avatars. So enjoyable.

Next we walked through the NSW Library galleries. We didn’t really stop because we had lunch to get to but there is an extraordinary collection n of early Australian invaders  art.

The three of us wandered over to the Original Royal Mint and had some lunch. It was delicious and affordable. We had a lovely shaded table and it was nice to show Ana one of our most famous historic buildings. Jin came and met us there after work.

Both Jin and I had dental appointments so we headed off for them.

Afterwards we met the girls at the Kimpton Margo for drinks and more chatter. It was a lovely way to end out day out. Anna Maria had tried the new L’Heure Bleue while we were in the dentist. I could smell it as we approached her and it is wonderful. Now I want to open my bottle.

Jin drove me home. Look at that freaking glorious sky.

We gave the dog a quick walk and then headed out for an extremely early Japanese dinner. Sorry for the awful shot of Jin, he looked so cute a milisecond before this clicked and I didn’t even check the shot. SORRY!

Home. Jin went to bed. I blogged.

Floris Platinum 22

Fed and walked Momo properly.

Bed, read.

Saturday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Walked Momo in the balmy sunshine, still dewy on the ground.

Watching Neagley. Woo Hoo!

Bubble Bath

CHANEL Paris Riviera lotion and EdT

Dressed up and ready to hit Lozzie and Dan’s Wedding. As a guest, not hosting. Very excited.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful, in nearby parkland. Laura (Los) looked more beautiful than ever. She was poised, radiant and movie star gorgeous. Dan was so obviously besotted and over the moon. Our mates Celia was the celebrant, she looked fab and did a sensational job. No pics because it was an unplugged wedding.

Came home for a bit of a rest.

Got gussied up and hit the reception. Luckily I got to sit with Celia. We had a hoot. Danced until they shut the shop. So much fun and really got to spend some time with Helen and Ian, who both did so much to help me get through the Celebrant Course.

Home. BUSHED.

Fed and walked Momo.

Bed.

Sunday

Morning Routine: 10 Minutes.

Jin is home! Today is his only day off this fortnight so he has commandeered the couch with Momo. They are happily ensconced there till further notice. Jin is here sleeping like a baby, who snores like a diesel train.

I watched a bit of TV with him, folded some laundry, cleared some of the dining table clutter. Sat out in the sun for my morning tea, turmeric and pepper. Just drank in the spring warmth. Heaven.

Came and got Scent Diary up to date. There were words but I’d not yet organised the pics.

Didn’t put on bedtime fragrance last night and have continued this morning scent free. The wedding reception air conditioning has my nose so dried out that I’m giving it a rest till work.

Kath came over for lunch. It was all very low key. I made some Chicken Salad sandwiches on my current Dark Rye Bread. The three of us chattered away a couple of very happy hours.

Fed Momo and Kath & I wandered her around the cemetery in the hot sun. Woo Hoo!

Getting some Trivia Q&A organised, so tomorrow it’s easier and quicker to get started.

 

 

Bed:

 

Now it’s your turn. Please tell us something you did, spritzed, ate, wore, bought or finished. Maybe you saw a friend, a show, an exhibition. Maybe you got through the week without having to bury a body. Whatever, please share something with us.

I read and respond to every comment. C’mon, let’s chat.
Portia xx