4 posts tagged “candles”

September always seems to ask, "Who are you?"  I'm guessing it's conditioning, a throwback to school years when September meant picking out your classes and school clothes, who you were going to be and how you wanted people to see you.  In previous years that question sometimes threw me for a loop.  This year I know the answer.  This year it's a gentle, familiar question and a matter of reaffirming a comfortable, confident answer.

I think that whole theme is also why the autumn months tend to feel so nostalgic, why my memories are louder in my ears right now than the present, remembering who I am and who I've been.  And that nostalgia is why I tend to reread books this time of year, preferring to fall into familiar favorite stories rather than try out new worlds.  It's also why I've started re-watching Buffy and Angel, from the beginning, and in order of original air date.  Everything about this time of year is so comfortable, from the cooling temperatures to the harvest flavors right on through to the nostalgia.  Life is good.

Today I'm going to roast and puree the early pumpkin my garden gave me, cook up some pumpkin-spice syrup for lattes, and throw some veggie sloppy joes in the crockpot.  I'm also going to start putting out autumn candles and decorations.  ...After I watch some Buffy and read a few chapters from one of my favorite books.

After years of keeping the bunnies contained with a puppy gate, Mia has finally figured out how to fold it out of the way and let herself out.  While amusing, this is not a good development.  I'm sure I can secure it somehow (my brain is much bigger and I have opposable thumbs), but I'm lazy and it was nice just being able to easily slide it around myself whenever I needed to all this time.

Kroger had mini-muffin pans on sale, buy one, get one free.  YAY!  I've been wanting mini-muffin pans for a while, but have been too frugal to buy the good ones and too picky to buy the cheap crap.  I made zucchini mini-muffins today.  Delicious and so cute.

I've remembered that I can view text files on my mp3 player while listening to music.  This feature never really interested me before, but today when I was debating whether I should print out my recipe or haul my laptop out to the kitchen, I remembered about the text files and instead loaded the recipe onto my mp3 player.  It was quite a nice way to work, listening to music and always having my recipe at hand for reference.  Now I'm thinking about making an arm-band, or maybe figuring out how to hang it upside down from my neck so it's readable and mostly hands-free.

It's candle season again!  I have my first two burning right now.  My MIL gave me a couple more bags of church candles, so I'm quite candle-rich!  I love these church candles because they burn so very evenly and clean.  I really need to clean my house up and get my autumn decorations out, then deck the place out with candles.  I love this time of year!

...That's all I have right now, I guess.  I spent the weekend doing very minor home improvement type things, but it feels like time well-spent because the home projects list is soooooo long that any time I can cross something off it makes me feel accomplished.  I did get the mudroom cleaned up though, and that's most exciting because I have room to work with my torch in there again now.  I'm hoping the work I have planned for tomorrow goes smoothly and I can squeeze in some torch time!

Ok.  Time to feed the bunnies and call it a night.  I'm looking forward to this week.  I intend to get so very much done.

I can't help watching the Kindle discussion forums on amazon.com.  I check them several times a day.  It's only been two weeks since I ordered mine, but I'm not handling the wait well *at all*.  heh.  There are people who ordered at the end of December that are getting their Kindles now though, so that's exciting.  Looks like the 45 day average wait might be down to 30!  *WAAAAANT!!!*  My poor husband is in total nod and smile mode whenever I pipe up with, "Oh, and it says here that the Kindle...."  I'm sure I must be grating on his very last nerve by now.  ...Just 2-4 more weeks, Sweetie.  :D

And speaking of gadgets, the LED candles I've been waiting for ThinkGeek to restock finally arrived today, and they are pretty damn cool.  Not that I don't have enough real candles, I could probably light the apocalypse, but sometimes my asthma acts up too much for candles, and sometimes I'd like to put a candle in a window without worrying about the drapes going up in flames, or even enjoy the warm light of a candle without having to worry about staying awake and keeping an eye on it.  As long as you're not looking right down into it at the rubbery fake flame, the flicker action is pretty realistic.  I love being able to blow the candle on as well as off too.  It's amusing my muchly today.  ...When I'm not prowling the Kindle forum.  *sigh*

I should probably lose myself in my book for a while.  I need to get away from my keyboard.  I'm refreshing those damn forums more than I've ever refreshed my email or friends page.  Ah, my geeky gadget of reading lust and instant literary gratification (which I have to wait for, ironically), I cannot wait until the day you are mine!!!

Craig stopped by his mom's place before coming home tonight, and he came home bearing the most AWESOME gifts from her!

First, more church candles!  A suitcase full of those really quality, huge, mostly beeswax candles the Catholic church uses.  Seriously, a suitcase full.  They never even come close to burning them down before they replace them, and since my MIL cleans the church and knows my passion for candles, she brings them home for me.  There are a few in there that have never even been used because they're slightly bent.  A heat gun will take care of that in no time!

She also sent home two of my husband's old toy tanks.  :)  I think it's funny that she even hung on to those all these years.

Then the loot also included a gorgeous antique folding fan, three antique pocket watches and an antique walking cane engraved with some initials and the date 1890.

But the very best of it all is the set of antique dishes (china??? - I don't know a thing about this stuff other than these are gorgeous!).  They're beautiuful dishes are hand-painted with a simple and elegant blue scroll pattern, large brush strokes like Chinese calligraphy.  They're marked Blue Scroll Bristol Pottery, Pountney & Co Ltd, but I can't find an example online anywhere, not even in ebay's completed listings or www.replacements.com.  They have that absolutely fabulous cracked glaze that antiques get.  I *heart* them *SOOOOOOO* MUCH!  How much do I love them?  I love them so much that I'm going to clear the books off of a couple of the diningroom shelves so I can display them properly there.  I'm going to get rid of books to make room for these dishes.  That is how much I love these dishes.

I have the most awesome MIL ever!