Okay own up, who here likes scented candles? Come on
ladies, I know lots of you like to have those yummy smells emanating from every
room in the house. I mean, there are SO many to choose from, so many different
scents.
Choices choices
It can take me half an hour or more in a shop to make my selection, while
my long suffering husband Steve, returns to the aisle again and again asking, “How
can you not have chosen one yet?” The reason it takes me so long, is simply
because I absolutely HAVE to smell each one. I make purchases based on whether
or not I pull a face and say, “Ugh” or whether I make a happy face and go, “Mmmmm
that’s a nice one”.
You can't have too many candles
You need a fresh lemony one for the bathroom, a
nice frangipani one in the bedroom, or maybe a vanilla or patchouli. Then,
there’s the living room; chocolate, amber, coconut, all manner of berries,
orange, and even fig. The list is endless J
What's not to like about a Fairy Dust candle?
Our house is always filled with candles, which at
times can be a bit of a bind as lighting them all can be pretty time consuming.
To get them all lit before it goes dark, I find it’s best to get a head start
and begin around 3pm. No I’m exaggerating, but seriously, how long does it take
to light them all?
I use good old fashioned matches as I don’t have a
lighter. This adds to the time taken as often the match lights (which is kind
of the least I expect from a match), but then it splutters out disappointingly
before I have had time to hold it to the wick. Other times the match burns
brightly, and I get over confident and try to light too many candles with it.
You know exactly what I mean here right? The match is burning down to your
fingers, but you think you can get one more candle lit from it – ouch, no you
can’t!
I love my candles, but burnt fingers are the norm!
There have been times, especially over the festive
season, where I have been known to light so many candles, we have had to open
the door to let some cool air in, such has been the resulting generation of
heat, complete with complaining spouse, who sits mopping his brow wearing no
more than his boxers. J
While being a faithful candle lover, I have also
been known to dabble with incense sticks from time to time. Now these are
different smell creators altogether, and can, if not used with caution, cause
watery eyes and a fair amount of coughing as they helpfully give off their pleasant,
but smoky fumes.
Pretty ......... pretty smoky
The ash is also quite annoying afterwards, as no matter how
carefully I try to transport the little wooden holder to the bin, I inevitably
end up with ash all over the dressing table and floor. The other drawback with
incense sticks is that they always fool Steve into thinking that there is
something actually burning, which in effect there is. He will suddenly sit up
like a well-trained gun dog, sniff the air and declare, “Something’s
burning". I then explain that it’s an incense stick, which brings an air
of relief as he settles back down, with the threat of disaster averted.
More recently, I have discovered the joys of
scented resin, more specifically Frankincense resin. As some of you may be aware, Steve suffers from bipolar disorder, and I was advised that the smell of frankincense can help, by producing feelings of euphoria. Worth a try I thought, so having placed my Amazon
order and had it delivered, I happily ripped open the box to find little
nuggets of the stuff, just waiting to provide me with a house full of its pleasing
fragrance.
Frankincense Resin
What I did not know is that you don’t as a rule, “just light”
Frankincense. I stared at it for some time wondering how I actually employed it
in the release of scent, before resorting to good old Google for the answer. I
was fascinated, yet somewhat dismayed to find, I basically needed all sorts of
other paraphernalia in order to get the best from my resin.
Special burners are required
I was advised to get charcoal sticks to burn with
it, and of course special burners in which to place the resin. Sadly, patience
is not one of my virtues, and so I put the problem to Steve who, as some of you
are aware likes nothing more than to solve a problem for his woman, thereby
confirming his undeniable man skills. Literally 3 minutes later, he had
produced a receptacle, which would do the job. We placed a candle in the
bottom, put the resin nobbles on top in another holder and waited. It turned
out to be quite a long wait, but eventually, we detected the waft of
Frankincense in the air and for a short time, I was satisfied.
I couldn’t help thinking though that I could make
it burn more effectively and my chance came late last night as I was doing some
writing. I fancied it would be nice to have the pleasing aroma of Frankincense
in the air as I worked. Hmm, remembering how long it took to get going last
time, I went for a more direct approach. Using a stone candle holder, I put a
few pieces of resin in and set light to them.
Delighted at their eagerness to burn,
I added more, and before long I had a merry little blaze going on the dining
room table. Of course, there were a few match sticks in the mix as well as I’d
not been quite quick enough to prevent them from falling in when I lit the
resin, but no matter, they were clearly helping it to burn. I continued writing,
glancing at the mini inferno now and again to make sure it wasn’t getting too
enthusiastic. In my infinite wisdom, I then decided to turn a brass candle
holder upside down over the resin – surely it would help to tame the flames and
contribute to a more even burn?
Err no, what actually happened, was that black
smoke started pouring out of the decorative star shaped holes in the side of
the brass holder, and I think the word for the emitting fragrance was acrid! L
NOT what I had in mind
I tolerated it for a minute or two before admitting that it was actually out of control. I then had to root around for an oven glove
(I hate oven gloves and hide them in the cupboard out of sight as I never use
them) Having eventually found one, I grasped the brass holder and then danced
around for a while as I tried to decide where best to set it down; after all,
it was red hot. The smell of burning rubber from the oven glove was thus added
to the mix. I then turned my attention to the mini Vesuvius in the stone candle
holder. Foolishly (I now realise) I tried to blow it out; sigh, this was not a
good idea as now I had sparks flying across the thick plastic table cloth, as
well as a goodly scattering of black ash. It didn’t do my coaster any favours
either.
Oops
There was nothing for it; back to the oven glove
and under the tap it went, where with it was finally extinguished with a
vicious hiss.
I then tried to return to working, but the
resulting smoke, not to mention the disgusting smell was a pretty good
inhibitor. I contemplated opening the door, but given that it was one O’clock
in the morning, I knew that to open the door would be a solicitous invitation
to the hundreds of giant moths which reside in these parts, not to mention, the
bats, which knowing my luck would also rush happily in.
I lit a vanilla scented candle in vain – it was simply
not up to the task.
I struggled gamely on for a few minutes, among the malodour of burnt brass, rubber, ash and resin, before I heard Steve stirring in the
bedroom, where he was blissfully unaware of the evening’s combustible theme.
“I can smell burning” he called
anxiously, ever alert for hidden dangers in the night, "is everything okay?"
And of course, not wishing to alarm him I replied,
“No it’s fine darling, I’m just burning some of
that lovely resin”
Happy Candle burning everyone J
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
As unlikely as it may seem, given my inane ramblings here, I have actually managed to get 2 books into print, thanks to the support of Faraxa Publishing. The first entitled Known to Social Services is a hard hitting fictionalised tale of my own experiences as a child protection social worker.
The second, titled, Gozo Is the Grass Greener? Is about our experiences in moving from the UK to the lovely Maltese island of Gozo, where we lived for over four years. Both books are available from Amazon as downloads or paperbacks.
Freya
