Of Candles and Dirt

 

There are certain puzzlements in life

even I cannot figure out.

Dirt is one.

Candle wax is another.

And both have made a mess of my perfectly perfect home.

Dirt – there is natural dragged in dirt of course (I am tempted to make everyone remove shoes upon entry but have never sunk to that earthly level) – or the real sneaky dirt that comes in potted indoor plants!

Even my plastic plants die, but at least they don’t leave soil on the carpet or stains on the furniture!  Real living specimens are supposed to add healthy qualities to the air we breathe.  But as they begin to slump (and die) I try revival tactics like taking them to the bathtub for a drenching and dribbling wet dirt all over the place on the way back.

Fake Palm – No Soil

And no matter where those plants sit, they leave dirt rings, dirt spots, dirt stains – dirt.

Though I loathe admitting it, there are no more real live plants in the house – only close replicas that do not add breath taking qualities except in their remarkable likenesses to the real things.

Candles – well, candles “take the cake” and I haven’t stopped using them on birthday cakes, but…..

I have tried everything I know to avoid wax damage.

My niece gave us two elegantly tall candlesticks with catcher plates at the top.  Aha!  I will put those on top of the wood stove for ambience.  One night I craved ambience so lit them, and fell asleep.  So much for romantic illusions.   Results: WAX all over the wood stove top.  Plastic greenery is now a camouflage technique.

Wood Stove Camouflage

The candles in this photo are still in their wrappers and are now just for “show.”  Bill removes all of it when we need the warmth of the wood stove .

• To date, there is also a wax ruined dresser top.  Thank goodness for old fashioned doilies.
• There is a saved glass topped coffee table but that took hours of scritching and scratching to remove all the melted wax.
• There are numerous perfectly fine candles that have been trashed.
• And I threw away a pretty candle snuffer that kept sticking to melted wax and dripping onto the wrong places.

Yes, there are candles in the house (on birthday cakes sure) and for emergency black-outs in jars (which I still put on saucers), or for romantic illusions floating in holders that start with water and look like full champagne glasses, or there are tiny little votive candles dropped into rose bowls for fancy dinners.  I guess I haven’t completely given up on ambience after all.

But feeling somewhat lacking and intimidated by the fact I cannot grow clean  indoor plants or light regular candles that don’t drip beyond their saucers I am seeking help in the blog-us-fear.

Any solutions to the problems of candles and dirt?

 

 

 

 

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