I've started making candles again. My new idea is flower candles.

I bought some flower shaped flexible cupcake molds. Planning on taking advantage of the contraction of the cooling wax, I filled in the depressions that form at the top of the solidifying candles with a different colour wax. I had hoped they would look like nice flower centers. However, the wax didn't fill evenly, making for extremely irregular centers that don't really say "flower" at all. For my next batch, I'm planning to pick up some metal rings at the hardware store that I can use as a secondary mold for the center. If they turn out well, I'll post pictures.

From the The Universal Household Assistant or What Every One Should Know (1884):

Household Hints. — Do not deposit wood ashes in a wooden vessel or upon a wooden floor.    Never use a light in examining a gas-meter.    Never take a light into a closet.    Never read in bed by candle or lamp light.    Never put kindling wood on top of the stove to dry.    Never leave clothes near a grate or fire-place to dry.    Be careful in making fire with shavings, and never user any kind of oil to kindle a fire.    Keep all lights as far from curtains as possible.    Always fill and trim your lamps by daylight, and never near a fire.    Good nice pie-crust can be made by always observing the following rule. One-quarter of a cup of shortening to every cup of flour used; to be mixed as dry as possible with cold water, and mixed only with a knife.    Take sweet butter only for baking purposes, and never fail to thoroughly beat together your butter and sugar, if you would be sure of good results in cake baking.    Have metal or earthen vessels for matches, and keep them out of reach of children. Wax matches are not safe.    Ground mustard mixing with a little water is an excellent agent for cleansing the hands after handling odorous substances.    Cut hot bread or cake with a hot knife, and it will not be clammy.    Salt extracts the juices of meat in cooking. Steaks ought therefore not be salted until they have been broiled.    In boiling dumplings of any kind, put them in the water one at a time. If they are put in together they will mix with each other.    Do not cut lamp-wicks, but trim them by wiping off with a scrap of paper.    Never boil vegetables with soup stock, for if you do it will certainly become sour in a short time.    Boil your cream for coffee, and see if the coffee will not taste better, as well as keep hot longer.    Pin-cushion covers made of cheese cloth embroidered and trimmed with lace, wear well and keep their looks.    Some one says that leaves of parsley, eaten with a little vinegar, will destroy the odor of breath tainted by onions.    Hot liquid lye is recommended for removing obstructions in waste pipes. Or let the potash dissolve over night in the pipes.    To wipe dust from papered walls, take a clean, soft piece of flannel. Of course it must not be damp, but the dry flannel will remove the dust.    Varnish the soles of your shoes, and it will render them impervious to dampness, and will also make them last longer. This is a good plan.    Clean the mica in stove doors with vinegar. Take clinkers out of stoves by putting a few oyster shells into the grate, when they will become loosened, and may be removed without injuring the lining.    Save the droppings from spermaceti candles, tie them in a cloth, and keep to smooth rough flat-irons.    Never starch napkins.    An old black bunting or cashmere dress may be made to serve a further period of usefulness by being made into a petticoat.    Between two evils choose neither.    Writing a will does not shorten life, and yet many men fear it will.    Save old suspender rings, and sew them on the corners of kitchen holders to hang them by. It will be easy then to flip them on to a nail, and they will not be so likely to get lost.    Powdered borax with a little sugar, blown into the cracks and crevices with a small bellows, will drive away house-ants.    Have a high stool in the kitchen to sit on when tired, to continue your work if necessary. Perched on its top you can wash dishes or iron with ease. A low stool placed on a wooden chair forms a substitute, but a poor one. A soft sheep-skin mat is restful to stand upon.    There is nothing better for cleaning brass or copper than coal ashes. They are also good to scour knives and forks with. For tin, whiting or fine sand is best.    To cleanse jars or jugs or any earthen vessel slaked lime is good, or warmed lye.    To keep a stove smooth, take a coarse and pretty large piece of flannel, roll it hard, and dip it in fine sand. Proceed to rub your stove whenever you are through cooking. Almost any stove will look better for being done the same way occasionally. Boiled starch is also very good to keep a stove looking well; put it on where it will not burn off — around the back and sides where it doesn't get very hot.

brontosproximo posted something a while back about drilling holes in pennies to save money on washers. That inspired me to do something similar in my candlemaking. I've been using pennies as wick bases, which is not only more convenient (I don't have to run out and get them), it is significantly cheaper than buying bases at the craft or even using washers for the task. Best thing is, I don't even have to drill holes in them, the pennies work find as is.

ravenways came up to visit yesterday. We had planned to take some photographs, but never got around to it. Instead we made candles, chatted, and tooled around Arlington. I've noticed lately that I tend to have plenty of fun with people even when we don't end up doing whatever we planned on as long as we keep a good attitude. Getting together with friends and family shouldn't be about the activity, it should be about the friends and family. The activity happening or not is insignificant compared to the time spent together.

Tonight I made candles for the first time. I'm very happy with how they turned out. I only made a few, but I learned a lot that should help me make more in the future.

This photograph was taken about a little over an hour before I left Saint Thomas for London — after the hair fire incident. The candles in the photo are the ones that my hair was caught with. The robe I'm wearing in the photo is the inexpensive article of clothing I lost on my journey back to Boston.


photo by goldmourn

Collecting my stuff in preparation for my departure for Boston later today, I didn't notice I was leaning over a lit candle. My hair caught the fire. While the flames seemed quite large, it appears I only lost the equivalent of two or three locks, the damage not really noticeable amongst the rest of my hair.

It sure does stink in here now.

I went to the Casino St. Charles with my parents last night. Went with $20, left with none. I don't plan to do any more gambling, as that was my loss limit. I don't think I could head out here without hitting the boat though. Both my parents, however, left with more then they went with.

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This morning, my mom and I went yard saling, where I spent $2 at one of them and got 2 belts, some candles, and 4 bottles of Selson Blue. I don't know why a yard sale had Selson Blue, but they did and they were cheep. I've very excited about the belts as well, as they will go with some of my more edgy outfits.

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I've been spending a good amount of time with Jonas. He a little sponge for information, taking in and learning everything he can. It's amazing to watch him, as I haven't really spent this much time around kids his age since I was a kid myself. So far, I'm very glad I've taken this trip.

I just got back from davis_square. purpleglitter drove me there so I could light several candles in memorial of the dead and in hope for the struggling survivors of Katrina. I wouldn't feel right buying new candles to put up, as any money I would spend on them would be better sent to the relief effort, so I used ones I had lying around the house_of_clocks plus one donated by merryperseis. I lit them on the concrete pillars on the side of the road by the park in the square. I wanted to put them in a prominent place, but the best location (the compass needle) was already dedicated to 9/11 with a large memorial plaque. I know someone else had already noted the pillars as a good place to light a candle as there was already fresh wax on one of them (although the candle was gone). I know what I did really doesn't help much, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Christmas was great. Spent the day with purpleglitter and merryperseis. We sat around our foundling tree in the morning and opened presents while drinking tea and cocoa. I got a bunch of purses purpleglitter made by hand for me. purpleglitter also got me a subscription to Scientific American, soap, and made me a recipe database. merryperseis gave candy and a pre-registration to Anime Boston and candles. From merryperseis's mom I got a small stuffed Canadian goose, which completely my collection of totem animals (my other totem animals are the raccoon, squirrel, and skunk).

For Christmas dinner, merryperseis took purpleglitter and I out to the Chai Café for Indian food. Not traditional, I know, but Indian food is fabulous for any occasion. After dinner we headed over to purpleglitter's apartment to watch Rudolph, during which I fell asleep.

All in all I had a wonderful Christmas.

My therapist said she wanted to hear some of my poetry. So I made several gray splotchy printouts as my ink cartridge is dying. Here are the poems I've selected to bring:

Broken Angels The Candle Flame Chatter Paths in the Corn Waiting for the Gentle Dawn We Can Make It All Better Snow Queen

Watched Amelie with purpleglitter and merryperseis last night. merryperseis had never seen it before, and liked it so much she added it to her interest list. It was nice watching such a wonderful movie with my two favorite people in the whole world.

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I plan on spending today with purpleglitter, although I snuck in a valentine's day kiss with merryperseis at around 1:00am. purpleglitter and I don't quite know what we're doing today yet other than my daily workout. However, that is not romantic, and we need to come up with something romantic to do. Maybe a candlelight dinner or something along those lines. We'll think of something as the day progresses. I love purpleglitter and am glad I get to spend the day with her.

purpleglitter is asleep behind me. purpleglitter and my anniversary went very well. We had a candlelit dinner of Indian food. purpleglitter got me an electric blanket, so I'd be warm even when she couldn't put her arms around me. We spent a relaxing evening eating pistachios and talking over 9 years of memories. I love Lake, and I always will.

Last night, purpleglitter and riga_mortia came over for dinner. The power went out shortly before I was to start cooking. dan4th joined the three of us in the candlelit kitchen as I cooked, and ate with us as well. I don't see nearly enough of him. We had mini quiches for an appetizer, and for the main course I made an artichoke pasta salad laced with merlot.

After dinner, purpleglitter, riga_mortia, and I went to riga_mortia's house for drinks and movies. Unfortunately, riga_mortia's roommates were already watching a movie, so instead we went upstairs to riga_mortia's room.

We tried a mixed drink called "hot sex". It was quite good. I am definitely a big fan of hot sex.

We also drank buttershots. Those are yummy. Over the course of several drinking games, the three of us all proceeded to get drunk. As neither purpleglitter and I could drive, we ended up sleeping over. In the morning, purpleglitter gave me a ride home. It's wonderful that we're all getting along now. I'm quite amazed at all of it still.

Met coolwhitestare by the bike trail at 4:30am. She had mentioned that we'd need light for our trek through the great meadow, so I brought a candle. I dressed in flowy black and wore my black hat with the purple flower on it. I haven't dressed like that in a while, and while I think it worked for this morning's excursion, I don't think I'm going to go back to it as my everyday style.

The walk to the Great Meadow was very refreshing. I am surprised that the candle was able to stay lit in the cold rain, but somehow it did.

Upon entering the wood, I discovered that the candle wasn't quite as useful as it had been on the bike trail. I could actually see better without having to deal with the glare of the candle constantly screwing up my night-adjusted vision.

The trail to the stepping stones is still flooded out. I find that quite strange, because waterlevels around the state are extremely low. There must be some fundamental change to the waterflow of the bog, flooding the trail. I don't know if there is another way to get to the stepping stones, or even if the stepping stones themselves are above water.

We spent some time just talking in a clearing. Very peaceful and quiet...I love the wood in the early morning, in the late evening, or during neitherday. Actually, I love the wood during the day, too. I just love the wood.

We left the way we came. Back on the bike trail, the candle was completely unnecessary, as the sky had begun to brighten. Still completely overcast, but definitely brightening. A perfect tone to end a wonderful excusion.