The distillation comes to a sudden halt when the fragrance of the Lavender suddenly changes. It goes from the "complete" smell of Lavender to an "off" smell. The difference is at first very subtle and then then becomes quite marked. The distillation is halted while the change is a subtle and small one. In this picture you can see the change from new and unused flowers to the ones that have been distilled.
After 5 hours of distillation, Danilla collects two bottles of Hydrosol and two and a half bottles of Essential Oil. It must be noted that this was a singularly rare occurrence to obtain so much essential oil. Apparently the norm is half a bottle or less. Danilla says she distills because she wants the hydrosols, any E. O. she gets is a bonus.
It is now 5:30 in the afternoon and time to go home. It was a wonderful time and I leave with more than a pictorial story of distillation for my readers, but also with the bug to try and get a kit and do it myself.
That Clary plant that I mentioned earlier in the story, Danilla is torn between distilling the flowers when it blooms or just letting them fragrance the air. Personally, I hope she distills and that I'm invited back to see and smell. I bet it would be a very heady and exuberant afternoon.
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The author would like to apologize for the quality of the pictures. She say's "I'm the Woobey Queen, not the Photo Queen and I did the best I could Hopefully they are clear enough to get the idea across of exactly how the process is done. Cheers!"