Clearing House

So.  Well.  Okay, I guess I should just get to it.  So.  Back in October my life took a really fast left turn – for awhile it looked like a disaster for me – but as y’all who read this blog regularly know, it turned out just foine for me and The Girl.  El O has moved out – and on – (to a galaxy far, far away) and I bought and kept the house, which is a blessing, since who really wants to have to bounce at the onset of Winter, with limited simoleans, a 4BR house’s worth of furniture and 130-lbs of teeth, right?  It’s a little shotgun shack but it’s now MY (and Jane’s) shotgun shack, it keeps the rain off our heads and we’re okay.

So.  This all jelled (gelled?) from his offer to the closin in less than a week and after that it was all about getting him packed and out of here – that happened in stages through to Christmas and is now finished – at least as regards the house)  – the other stuff will happen soon and doesn’t really have to involve me overmuch, since my people still don’t trust me not to bludgeon him.

But! The House is what I want to talk about today – this was a Very Ugly Transition, for absurd reasons best left unsaid (until I write that screenplay – and Floyd KNOWS I’mo do it, yes I will!!!) – and once he was out of here, I was desperate to get the aura cleansed and everything emotionally ‘righted’.  March and I discussed smudging (of which I am a huge fan) but the leaving occurred just as the first blizzard hit, so there was no way I could subject my sinuses to a round of smoke in a closed house.  I scrubbed every nook and cranny with vinegar, to neutralize , which was great – except then the house smelled like vinegar – and still smelled of fury.  Not a good combo.

So I turned to flowers.  And essential oils….that smelled of flowers.

And diffusers.  And wax melts.

And…vi-OLA!  Suddenly, what had smelled of fury and murderous rage (mine) and the cleanup of a crime scene (which didn’t happen, blessed be – but we came close.  Maybe sometime I’ll tell you about how I came to have a metal pipe in my grip and how, suddenly, I found myself gently cattle-dogged by a friend right the hell out of my own garage!  with the pipe somehow magically removed from my grasp!  Well, there.  I just told you! still don’t know how that happened – but I’m glad it did)……. well, after all the wax started melting, suddenly I found that I LOVED walking into the rooms of this house, no anxiety, no fear that I would finally snap, leap upon him and rip his throat out with my fangs….just…peace.

What did I use?  Well!  I always have Trapp Bob’s Flower Shoppe diffusers around the house but as I had them for the 10 Years of Despair I didn’t want to use that beloved, but familiar, scent.  I’d bought some Fresh Cut Tuberose and Golden Cypress wax melts back when I was at the Mothership in July – and December seemed like a perfect time to light ’em up!  O.M.G.  Separately, they are incredible!  Mixed together in a melter (with 2/3 tuberose to 1/3 cypress) it gives a Carnal Flower vibe that is stunning!

trappfragrances.com

Agraria’s Citrus & Lily room spray and diffuser – this is a collaboration with Monique Lhuillier and is everything that I love in a lily: rich, unctuous…but undercut with a sharp green slice.

agrariahome.com

Interestingly, I’d bought the room spray and diffuser way earlier in the year, before this whole drama exploded, but refused to use them – I think I knew this was going to happen (not persackly like it did – but Life gets giggly sometimes) …. it is now the Smell of Freedom for me.  And beauty.  And, like Bob Trapp’s wax melts, Peace.

And I’m sure I’ll be back to Bob’s Flower Shoppe in short order.   It’s too gorgeous a scent (the smell of a florist’s cool room) for me to give up.  I just need to let some time go by.

But you know the best smell of all?  The smell of Love.  Love of friends and family who rallied around me and Jane, as we navigated this shift (okay, just me.  Jane is a 130-lb predator and she would’ve been fine in the car – or a prison cell – as long as I was at her side).  Friends, like Saturdays Francine, who trained all the way down here and brought me a gorgeous solar windchime, to celebrate my not having to leave my garden.

makes me smile!

My bfffe who lent me the simoleans to make up the balance on the fast (4days, CASH!) house buy (and my other very dear friend who, when it looked like bfffe’s check might be late, said ‘squoo that!  if you don’t have it by Monday am, lmk and I will wire that dough into your account.  you’re closing Wednesday no matter what!!’ can you imagine?  I was verklempt.  And humbled.  And honoured.  And even more verklempt.) – then bffe visited for a few days,, got my electronics sorted out and made the transition seem ‘normal’, just by hanging out and yakking about Nothing.  And…omg…. my new office!  made FABULOUS by the gift of these amazing silk curtains -I hated the very sight of this room, Chez El O, and now?  It’s a gorgeous, comfy, south-facing place to be productive and peaceful all at the same time!

aren’t these STUNNING?!!?

And all of you, who knew zip about the details, but still took a mo’ to send good vibes to me – if you think that was taken lightly, think again!  It takes a village, a global village, to get folks through trials and tribulations – your giving of your time and concern to support me through this really did help!  Thank you all!

Footnote:  the dust has mostly settled and my murderous rage has abated – El O and I are not scheduled to EVAH be friends but I am  to a point of polite disinterest –  no fond thoughts but I wouldn’t leave him to drown in a freezing river, either.  I’m just happy to be able to move forward in my own life, with my goofy, Giant dog and all these amazing smells helping me navigate my days!  Especially the smell of LOVE.  Caring.  Giving a damb (even if it’s just a phone call to say ‘how the f*ck are ya, today, you evil bish?’ (which one of my primas actually said to me! I’m still laughing about that!).  Y’all dropping a line here on the P to ask that very thing (albeit a whole lot more ‘civilized’ ;-)…… those are the things that get us through our days.  I hope to always be there for others, even if it’s just to ask them ‘how the eff are ya today?’  Because I think it really does make a difference – it did for me!

and…wow!  My House (MY house!) is full of flowers and flower smells – it smells GREAT! and it feels like LOVE!  Which is what I wish for all of you, as we traverse this thing called Life.   We are in this Life together and we are all deserving of Love.

When things go awry, what smells do you use to cleanse the aura?