Nostalgia is the only good that America will never stop producing
The local company that makes my favorite scented candles, Vieux Carre Candles, is shutting down. They say "for now", but they cited the high cost of ingredients in addition to "lack of time" (I guess it was a side hustle), and when do the costs of things ever go down. I'm actually not shocked, because the last time I bought some candles from them, they didn't have the ingredients for the one I wanted and didn't expect to for "months". I went back and forth with them and eventually picked a different candle, but it made me think maybe they were having trouble with their supply chain.
Anyway, if you like scented candles, I can vouch for these, and the code GOODBYE20 will get you 20% off your order. They're not cheap, averaging $30. But they're very big and last a long time and they are, without exaggeration, the best scented candles I have ever smelled.
The weather lately has been very normal in a way that's been comforting to me. "Normal" in south Louisiana in the summer means a thunderstorm every day, but that also keeps the weather from getting too insanely hot; it's been staying in the 80s. Last year was very dry, and that led to weeks and weeks and weeks of triple-digit heat. I felt like I was constantly on edge all summer; we used to call that "earthquake weather" in California, so maybe it was just a case of me getting my signals scrambled. I mean nothing did happen, for all NOAA's dire predictions it was a boring summer as far as storms went.
I registered for Pelikan Hub last month and got the confirmation email today that enough people signed up for New Orleans to have one. It's going to be in mid-September, probably at Papier Plume, who have the hosted the past ones I've been to. I haven't gone in several years, though. It's always on a Friday so I have to take the day off, or at least half a day. And I'd always had to find a place to stay overnight, but now of course I can stay at Lori and Jeremy's, unless they're not going to be in town or have other plans. (Pelikan Hub is a fountain pen thing; Pelikan is a German brand, I have 4 of them. 2 of those are vintage special edition pens I bought at the Chicago pen show in 2017 and are the only really crazy-expensive--by my standards, anyway--pens I own.)
I've put in a few hours of work on the music box orrery, it's coming along.
It's so satisfying to make these. It scratches the same brain itch for me that doing needlework does: hundreds of tiny parts coming together to make a larger thing.
Anyway, if you like scented candles, I can vouch for these, and the code GOODBYE20 will get you 20% off your order. They're not cheap, averaging $30. But they're very big and last a long time and they are, without exaggeration, the best scented candles I have ever smelled.
The weather lately has been very normal in a way that's been comforting to me. "Normal" in south Louisiana in the summer means a thunderstorm every day, but that also keeps the weather from getting too insanely hot; it's been staying in the 80s. Last year was very dry, and that led to weeks and weeks and weeks of triple-digit heat. I felt like I was constantly on edge all summer; we used to call that "earthquake weather" in California, so maybe it was just a case of me getting my signals scrambled. I mean nothing did happen, for all NOAA's dire predictions it was a boring summer as far as storms went.
I registered for Pelikan Hub last month and got the confirmation email today that enough people signed up for New Orleans to have one. It's going to be in mid-September, probably at Papier Plume, who have the hosted the past ones I've been to. I haven't gone in several years, though. It's always on a Friday so I have to take the day off, or at least half a day. And I'd always had to find a place to stay overnight, but now of course I can stay at Lori and Jeremy's, unless they're not going to be in town or have other plans. (Pelikan Hub is a fountain pen thing; Pelikan is a German brand, I have 4 of them. 2 of those are vintage special edition pens I bought at the Chicago pen show in 2017 and are the only really crazy-expensive--by my standards, anyway--pens I own.)
I've put in a few hours of work on the music box orrery, it's coming along.
It's so satisfying to make these. It scratches the same brain itch for me that doing needlework does: hundreds of tiny parts coming together to make a larger thing.