Back From The Rose Fields

[Guest guest]

My little soldier (Alexander) took the trip well .. he doesn't turn

three months old till 5 June and the trip was a rough one .. 8 hours

going with approximately half that time on two lane, partially broken

roads with lots of truck traffic. Six hours returning as I was able to

avoid a lot of the detours. In any case, that was Phase I of his

military training program. ;-)

**********************************************************

VERY BIG GRIN!!

 

Oh Butch!! I always love reading your posts and this one was just a step

above!! I smiled many times as I read about your journey with wife and baby

boy. What a treat!!

 

I hope you have me on that back order for Rose Hydrosol!!! You were out when I

ordered. Music to my ears about a bumper crop of Rose Otto. I have been

looking at that little bottle of what I have left and keep wondering how much

longer I will have to be selfish with it. I have changed my face cream into a

face serum and the rose otto drop or two goes into MINE! HA!!

 

Glad you are home safe, happy you had a memorable journey with the family and

looking forward to more rose " stuff!! "

-Helen

 

 

[Guest guest]

As for Rose Wax .. I have first offer on 500 kilos .. same applies on

the price but I'll bet nobody around will be able to beat it. ;-)

 

 

 

=======Butch, what is rose wax?

 

Susan H.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris, other good folks ..

 

Got back last Wednesday but have been a busy feller since then .. no

time to do much but keep up with confirming orders.

 

The Shopping Cart is back up .. for now. ;-)

 

Chris wrote:

> Have a great trip!!!!!! Wish I was there .. I'm saving up to go

> again one of these years!

 

Good it is .. folks rarely come just once. ;-)

 

> Eat some Iskander kebab for me, take lots of pictures ..

 

Didn't eat Iskender Kebab (Turkish for Alexander) but did eat some good

chow and took lots of photos .. some photos will be posted to the photo

section soon.

 

> and pry as much rose stuff out of the stubborn S.O.B.'s running the

> rose show *lol*!

 

That I did do. Had three meetings on three different products .. Rose

Otto, Rose Hydrosol and Rose Wax .. and came out smelling like a " Rose "

on all three. ;-)

 

Sometime around the first part of July .. latest the middle of July .. I

will be able to fill the more than 300 Back Orders I have now on Rose

Hydrosol .. I contracted for four metric tons. Last year I got NONE ..

this year I get it ALL! I have no idea what my cost will be yet ..

won't know for another two weeks or so .. but it will be as it has

always been .. high quality and fairly priced. The largest size I will

sell this year is gallon size .. no 25 or 50 kilo drums.

 

As for Rose Wax .. I have first offer on 500 kilos .. same applies on

the price but I'll bet nobody around will be able to beat it. ;-)

 

As for the 2006 crop of Rose Otto .. its not fixed yet but it looks like

we're gonna have a bumper crop.

 

> Folks who haven't done so .. check out pictures from my trip ..

> http://www.av-at.com/stuff/triptoturkey.html

>

> One of these days I'll redo the pages and add so many more pictures I

> took! I have all that video I took too ... so much to do .. so little

> time ... Chris

 

You gotta lot more time than I do .. you're still a young gal .. so get

hot on that. ;-)

 

While y'all are checking .. check these too.

 

My writings/photos on distillation of Rose Otto .. needs updating

http://www.av-at.com/distillation/rosadamascena1.html

 

Martin Watt visited the Turkish Rose Fields in Summer 2000 - following

was published in the Winter 2000 edition of the magazine " Aromatica " .

http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/rosedistillation.htm

 

My little soldier (Alexander) took the trip well .. he doesn't turn

three months old till 5 June and the trip was a rough one .. 8 hours

going with approximately half that time on two lane, partially broken

roads with lots of truck traffic. Six hours returning as I was able to

avoid a lot of the detours. In any case, that was Phase I of his

military training program. ;-)

 

When we hit Isparta I bee lined to the Hacibenlioglu Restaurant .. that

name breaks down to .. son of the one with freckles who made the Haj.

When the Turkish Republic was formed from the ashes of the Ottoman

Empire, Ataturk .. Father of Modern Turkey .. http://www.ataturk.com/

those who are interested can click at the upper left corner on " About

Ataturk " .. and .. " Biography of Ataturk " , required the Turks to adapt a

family name .. prior to that one Mustafa was distinguished from another

Mustafa with an adjective .. like Tall Mustafa and Mustafa from Isparta,

etc. The " oglu " tacked onto the end of many names is similar to that

of many languages .. it means " son of " .

 

Anyway .. the Hacibenlioglu Restaurant is famous in Turkey .. been in

business way over 100 years .. they serve Isparta Kebab (barbecued young

goat) and its larpin' gud .. Chris, you will recall having eaten there.

And nobody ever forgets the " Hosaf " .. a fresh and dried sweet fruit

drink served in ice cold stainless steel mugs.

 

The restaurant is next to the Grand Isparta Hotel and approximately 50

meters from an ancient mosque. Most of you folks have heard preachers

who could sing .. and preachers who couldn't sing .. well .. it ain't no

different when dealing with Imams. Some sound like songbirds and some

sound like screech owls with a bad case of hemorrhoids. This mosque is

run by an Imam who sounds like the latter .. and that opinion is shared

by many of my friends in Isparta .. and he has multi-1,000 watt speakers

on the minaret from which he makes his daily calls to prayer.

 

We were sitting in the garden of the restaurant .. across from the

Mosque .. lots of folks were eating .. Alexander was asleep in his

buggy and all was well .. until .. this old Imam started screaming his

late afternoon call to prayer. Tanya rushed to the buggy but it was too

later .. Alexander's eyes got as big as the plates we were eating from

and his face turned into one of those " I'm gonna raise some hell y'all "

looks. And he sho'nuf did just that .. he drowned that Imam out with

his wailing .. folks at the restaurant were all laughing their butts off

but little Alexander found no humor in it. ;-)

 

It was most appropriate to take Alexander to visit the area where his

namesake kicked a lotta butts that deserved kicking during that period.

So, on the trip back to Ankara we stopped (as I always do) at the small

village of Gordion (Yassihoyuk in Turkish) where is the massive tomb

(tumuli) of King Midas, King of the Phrygian Dynasty.

 

The ruins of Gordion are 100 km from Ankara .. near the Sarkarya River.

Excavations so far have turned up objects from as far back as 3,000 BC,

which is actually pretty recent considering the ancient history of this

part of the world .. ruins from 10,000 BC can be found in Turkey. Many

invasions by the Cimmerians resulted in the destruction of Gordion in

the 7th Century BC. Then came the Persians .. and then came Alexander

the Great .. who promptly kicked ass on the Persians.

 

While wintering at Gordion in 333 BC, Alexander cut through the famous

Gordion Knot which had been tied (probably using elephants) by King

Gordios. After the Roman period the site was settled by Selcuks and

then Ottomans .. the history can be traced back more than 5,000 years.

 

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/gordion.htm

 

And it was appropriate to take some Rose Otto into Midas' Tomb .. which

I have done each year for the past few years. That Rose Otto will be

sold in small sizes as " Midas Rose Otto " .. and the price will be the

same as for the normal Rose Otto. Why did I do this? Some of the folks

on this list know the answer .. but for those who don't .. Midas' Tomb

is built over a natural Earth Energy Center/Field. Can I provide a

personal testimonial about having felt this energy? Nope! But Martin

Watt can .. I didn't even tell him about it but he detected it when he

was walking toward the tomb .. and there are those who swear that the

Midas Rose Otto has a different odor. Can I detect that? Nope! Not

even sure they can. But I don't take advantage of it so its offered for

the same price as the normal Rose Otto. ;-)

 

Chris, I don't remember if you experienced that energy or not .. so I'm

not gonna comment on it .. but I did tell Tanya in advance and she was

so busy tending to Alexander inside the Tomb that I think she just

didn't give any attention to it. It cold inside that tomb. ;-)

 

And as usual .. I stopped and took photos in the Opium Poppy fields ..

they are spread out for many miles in the Afyon Province which is next

to Isparta .. Afyon is the Turkish word for Opium.

 

Some of the Rose Fields are separated from Opium Poppy fields by a 50

meter strip of Carnations or other flowers. No .. don't even ask ..

there is no co-distillation of Rose Blossoms and Opium Poppy Bulbs. ;-)

 

This trip was rather hurried as I had my little one along and it was hot

in Isparta .. but for the new folks .. here is some info on the trip I

made a couple of years ago.

 

" Made a side trip to a mountain village where an old feller and his two

sons still distill Rose Otto in the manner it was done many hundreds of

years ago .. quite an operation. Everything was ancient .. wooden

hoists and levers and all .. the ONLY thing metal in the whole operation

was 4 each 70 kilo Copper containers used as stills .. relatively

effective considering how they operated but not so cost efficient. The

Hydrosol from their operation, even though they cohobate, is FULL of

Rose Oil. Arab buyers have purchased all the Hydrosol and one local

distiller in Isparta (not my source) has claims on the Rose Otto. The

old gentleman and his sons will not produce more than 3 kilos this year

using the old system. That's enough cash money to last them a year.

 

I also visited a French factory this time. They never have Rose

Hydrosol because they do TWO cohobations .. yep. They burn it a third

time to get that 1/2 percent of Rose Oil remaining. Its for perfumery -

but the folks in AT might accidentally buy some from time to time .. not

from me!

 

Plus .. they use the residue from the concrete production a second time.

They dry it out and then use it again .. get what they call a 2d quality

Concrete from which they draw a 2d quality Absolute. Again, this is for

perfume .. but it answers questions that were recently asked on another

list .. and sorta dampens the praise some put on one company that offers

1st and 2d quality Rose products. I'll say again, there should be NO

SUCH THING as 1st or 2d quality Rose Otto, Rose Absolute or Rose

Hydrosol produced by any company that is targeting the Aromatherapy

trade. It is either 1st quality or it is crap. "

 

I'll post those photos someday .. when I get time. ;-)

 

Anyway .. back I am .. and like ol' St. Nick, I'll be putting together a

list of folks who are on Back Order for Rose Hydrosol .. if you ordered

before and I put you on Back Order .. you will be notified in the next

5-6 days .. I'll announce on the list when I have notified everyone who

is on my list .. and I ask that you not write me in the meantime to see

if you are on that list .. please gimme a shot at notifying you first so

I don't gotta reply to a few hundred posts. ;-) And .. there will be

enough Rose Hydrosol to take care of all the folks on Back Order plus

some left. :-)

 

Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com