Jultember in a single word...

to be perfectly honest... i briefly considered doing a post-a-day during Jultember. however, as i have been genuinely struggling to find the will to get out of bed some days, said effort was doomed to failure before it even started. so, i took the occasional photo of the random nonsense i got up to over the course of a month that began in one season and ended in another.

this year's balcony garden project has been a literal oasis. beyond being lovely to look at, living like we do in an apartment in the middle of the city, it is especially nice to occasionally harvest something just moments before it ends up on the dinner table.

the inclusion of more flowers in this year's garden meant that there were even more colorful creatures stopping by for a visit. i was (pleasantly) shocked to see a ruby-throated hummingbird zipping around one afternoon (the visit was too brief to get a photo). one almost forgets that there is (non-squirrel) wildlife in the city, and we will definitely be planting even more welcoming flowers in next Summer's garden.

i did have to rescue a visiting cicada from potential death-by-adorable-cat. i formed a human shield between the two, until the cicada eventually climbed back through the netting and  flew away... then i spent the rest of the day threatening to climb a tree to strangle a cicada (perhaps it was the same one) whose noisy antics was driving me up a wall.

the animator was most amused.

him: if you hate that noise so much, why didn't you just let the cat kill it?
me: that would be cruel. they're annoying, but they're cute.

i found myself in need of a quick pick-me-up one random afternoon, so i made some candles. this was my first time using wooden wicks. i am hooked!

the light is stronger than with the cotton wicks, but the candle burns so slowly that it feels like it will last forever. i burned this one for close to twelve hours, and the jar was still near-full. i approve.

i have been neglecting my knitting projects, partly because it was too hot to be bothered, but mostly because i just stopped caring. this top was intended to be part of my Summer wardrobe. maybe next year.

that is some of my own hand-dyed yarn. i will talk more about the genius/lunacy involved in getting this effect on a cotton-based yarn if/when i finish the top.

 

i did manage to (finally) complete another pair of socks (more about that some other day) for the animator, which i started back in April. i also finished spinning the charcoal-grey yarn that i talked about in that same post. there is enough of this to make a whole garment, so now i just have to find a pattern that is worthy of this special yarn.

it is hard to maintain consistency across such a large spin, but i am satisfied with the end result. this is begging to be turned into a comfy cardigan.

i added some new yarns to my stash. i got a sweater's quantity of each color. they knit up into such a beautiful fabric. the fiber is a cotton-acrylic blend that will make for some comfy allergy-free sweaters for me.

i usually avoid wearing browns, but this warm gold was created to be worn next to my skin. this just screams AUTUMN!!!

we consumed a ridiculous amount of iced tea earlier in the month. there was a stretch of a couple-few weeks were the temperature in the middle of the city was hovering around 40°C (104°F), with the "feels like" temperature a few degrees above that. it was... brutal.

this was a particularly hot, dry Summer, so it was a great relief when the rain finally came about halfway through the month. which brings me to the point of this pointless thing...

if i had to summarize this past Jultember in a single word, it would be "tomato".

we got a large box of veggies from his parents' garden, including about twenty-five pounds of tomatoes... because his father is that lunatic. i roasted half of them (like i did last Summer), and the rest were turned into many tomato salads. [random aside: that plate with the chip is older than both of us.]

that particular salad was served along with a heaping plate of Greek-style lemon chicken and potatoes (made by the animator). said dish was flavored with fresh oregano and thyme from our little garden. the leftovers were equally amazing the next day.

we sent a photo of the salad to his dad, who was impressed by my neat arrangement of the slices... then he immediately began amassing another box of tomatoes. you know, in case we were in danger of running out of the stuff.

meanwhile, every now and then, one of us would step out onto the balcony, and return with a handful of freshly-harvested tomatoes. there is presently a large container of fresh tomatoes occupying half a shelf in the fridge, along with three containers of garlic-roasted tomatoes, all waiting to be used up. it is at the point where we are putting tomatoes into just about everything we consume.

the veggie haul from his parents' backyard also included several heads of celery. i chopped a few stalks at a time, and stored them in the freezer for the coming soup season.

we transplanted a couple of the smaller celery plants to the balcony garden project...

and i placed the bottom of one of the chopped up heads of celery into a pot of soil, where it promptly started to grow new leaves.

then, without warning, Jultember was through... and with it went Summer.

now we are racing toward the part of the year that i love most of all. i ventured halfway across town this past weekend to get my first taste of this year's harvest of concord grapes. i actually bought three containers of the stuff, but the first one disappeared within minutes of getting them home.

but the best bit came when the animator was checking the weather forecast earlier today.

him: apparently there is a typhoon forming somewhere in Asia that is going to bring an early Fall to Canada.
me: that must be one powerful typhoon.
him: it's the butterfly effect.
me: yeh, but with like every butterfly on the planet flapping extra hard. 
him: the last three words of this article should make you smile. you ready for this?
me: go ahead.
him: "definitely sweater weather."

yep. still smiling.

i actually did a thing...

i feel like i spend a lot of time stockpiling supplies and talking about my future-plans to make all sorts of random nonsense, so it pleases me to announce that i actually did a thing. feel free to applaud. i totally deserve it.

we recently purchased some candle-making supplies, back during my birthday three-day weekend. well, i tucked all of that away at the back of a shelf in the black-hole that is my crafting closet, and (for once) i did not instantly forget all about it. in fact, i could hear the tiny wax pellets calling to me as i laid in bed each night not sleeping. [random aside: insomnia sucks.]

so i pulled all of it out one day and actually made candles. yes... i am also impressed at this most astonishing feat.

i did not take any photos during the making part of the thing. this was a simple melt-and-pour process which consisted of melting the wax pellets, adding scented oils, then pouring the hot mixture into cleaned and re-purposed candle jars. i used three wicks in each jar, as that was the same number of wicks in the original candles from Bath & Body Works, and i adhered the wicks to the the jars with a tiny dollop of hot glue under the little metal base at the bottom end of each wick.

the trickiest part of this whole operation was keeping the wicks in place while the wax hardened, so i used a little candle-making trick. before adding the wax to the jars, i used a combination of clothespins and bamboo skewers (which i broke in half as they were very long) to position and secure the wicks. the hot wax was poured into the jars with this setup already in place.

there was one little container which did not require the bamboo skewer, so i just rested the clothespin on the rim of that jar. so adorable.

i left them to cool overnight before removing the makeshift scaffolding.

you will notice that the wicks are just a touch on the long side for these jars.

i considered purchasing shorter wicks, as most of the containers i have are this size. however, i do have a few taller ones waiting to be filled, so i opted to go for the longer wicks. all it takes is a quick snip to get rid of the extra bits. or... you can light it and watch it burn down to the top of the candle like the fuse on a cartoon stick of dynamite. [DISCLAIMER: i definitely do not recommend that last option, so please do not blame/sue me if your house burns down after giving it a try.]

i hate throwing things away, so those extra bits will not go to waste. you can buy the little metal discs that are attached to the bottom of wicks in a candle, so i will hang on to these trimmings for future use.

 
i placed my new candles in a basket...because i am lazy and i did not want to have to make multiple trips to put them away.

i also added a post-it note to the side of each jar with the combination of essential oils used and the concentration in the mix. and, yes... i actually weighed and calculated the percentage of oils... because i take pleasure in being a total dork.

some of them are scented with sandalwood and lemongrass...

and some are honeysuckle, pomegranate, and hibiscus.

i took the time to remove the labels from the jars back when i cleaned them, but there were a few labels that absolutely refused to budge. imagine my surprise when i spun around one of the jars with the honeysuckle combo, only to realized that it originally contained a honeysuckle candle. i take that as a sign that the Universe approves.

i stashed the basket of new candles on a shelf of my crafting closet, so now i am greeted with a wave of awesome smells every time i open that door. hopefully this will encourage me to make use of some more of the stuff tucked away inside that space.

day 10: no watermelon-lemonade in mid-Winter...

i gave up on the practice of making resolutions many New Years ago, as it tends (more often than not) to mean setting one's self up for failure. how many times have you found yourself, on the eve of a new year, vowing to give up some thing... only to end up disappointed in yourself a few days (or hours) later? then you give up on the giving up, get mad at yourself, and stop trying. exactly. no more resolutions for this girl.

what i prefer to do is to set myself a very vague (highly guilt-free) goal of either trying something new, or getting back to something that i may have done in the past. one of last year's goals, for example, was to knit more things. anyone who follows me with any regularity, all two-and-a-half of you, might wonder where the "new" is in that, as i am always talking about knitting.

the goal was to go from simply knitting out of sheer curiosity (which usually resulted in the project being unraveled once said curiosity was satisfied) to actually working toward completed objects that i would actually want to have in my home and wardrobe. i completed a grand total of ten garments last calendar year (two of which were for him), and—far more importantly—i have actually worn most of them. the experience was so fulfilling (not to mention, confidence boosting) that i intend to continue on filling my wardrobe (and his) with hand-knitted things. i have two sweaters currently on the go, with about a hundred more items that i absolutely want to start working on soon. at this rate, i will have to live a few more lifetimes to get through all those future projects. luckily, all that planning is half the fun.

so, in addition to some more personal objectives (being more patient with the world around me, for example), i have set myself a couple-few crafty goals for the year ahead. i want to get back into sewing, though i have not really found the right assortment of patterns or ideas to set that particular flame alight. however, there is one wholly-absurd fire that has being going for some months now, and i think it is finally time to make it happen.

i speak (naturally) of candle-making. this is one of the countless crafts i did back in my botanic garden days, where my job included teaching not only outdoor gardening classes, but also a wide range of indoor crafty activities for the whole family, especially in the colder part of the year. i had been saving empty candle jars for a few months, with no particular plan in mind, when it occurred to me that i could clean them out and refill them at a fraction of the cost of buying more candles.

naturally, this prompted a whole lot of research into said topic (fun fact: this is my approach to everything i do), until i was overwhelmed by all the how-to's and don't-do's of the candle-making world. i had just arrived at the point where i was ready to abandon the idea amidst the tidal wave of "too much information", when it suddenly dawned on me...

me: i just remembered that i used to teach candle-making workshops at the garden. it's really easy to do. don't know why i am letting all these random websites turn it into a complicated activity. i can make candles with my eyes closed. 
him: how do you even forget something like that?
me: i taught a lot of really wacky classes while i was working there. it's hard to keep them straight. however, if you ever want to recycle old jeans into handmade paper embedded with flower seeds, then turn that paper into greeting cards that can be planted directly into your garden to form a flowerbed... i'm your girl!
him: i'll keep that in mind for after the apocalypse.

i was all ready to venture off into the world of candle-making, when Bath & Body Works decided to have one of their big semi-annual sales. i only ever buy their stuff during the big June and December sales, and i only ever buy two things—three-wick candles and body creams, both in assorted season-appropriate fragrances. so, i used that opportunity to purchase some of their Wintery candles, and the candle-making adventures was quickly forgotten... until a few days ago.

i am not a fan of overly-sugary smells, so i tend to stick to the deep, woodsy, spicy (cinnamon, cloves, that sort of thing) fragrances in the Fall and Winter, and fragrances that are more reminiscent of gardens and outdoor spaces (grass, flower blossoms, that sort of thing) come Spring and Summer. i was standing in front of my current stash of candles, deciding which one to burn next, when i sought the advice of my favorite animator.

him: read me the names of the ones you have now.

so, i started to give him a list of fragrances to choose from. two candles in, he exclaims...

him: go with that one. 
me: watermelon-lemonade...???
him: what's wrong with that one? you like that one. you buy it all the time.
me: sweetie, you don't burn watermelon-lemonade in mid-winter. that is a sacrilege. 

a few more labels later, and he settled on something called "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". i lit the candle and went about my regular business. then, a short while later, i heard this voice echoing down the hall...

him: that is the best-smelling candle you have ever gotten. 

... and i was forced to agree. it smells like a freshly-cut pine tree. no unnecessary flowery or fruity notes... just pure Christmas tree. i immediately hopped on their website in hopes of finding a few more, but they were already gone, so hopefully they will bring this one back next year later this year.

so, while i was basking in the glow of the most wonderful fragrance ever, i renewed my excitement to get going on the candle-making adventure some time during this year. all i really need are some wicks, wax pellets, and fragrance oils to scent my candles as i see fit, and i am ready to create!

i have a dozen empty three-wick candle jars, plus some assorted smaller jars from candles i purchased elsewhere. when someone offers to show you their empties, you usually expect something a bit more exciting than this.

note the two Watermelon-Lemonade empties, and i still have a third (unlit) candle in the utility closet, waiting for watermelon-lemonade weather. apparently i really do like that particular scent.

the empties currently live in a large twelve-gallon garden container, like the ones we use for the balcony garden. we purchased a dozen for said project, but i managed to pinch two of them for other purposes. one currently sits on the floor near my favorite sofa, overflowing with bags of yarn, while the other one has been pressed into service housing my (growing) collection of candle jars.

i also have this jar from a Yankee Candle i purchased at my local Bureau en Gros (which is what Staples is called when you live in a place that insists on using French as its first-language).

i love love love that fresh balsam fir candle because the scent of it reminds me of all those wreath-making workshops i used to lead during the holiday season. and, yes... that was also back when i worked at the botanic garden. that place really has ruined me for life.