Hibernation

It’s December.  Happy getting towards winter? Our tree (small but plump this year) went up today (see pic).

For the time being the weather here has switched to dry, cold and bright which is a really pleasant change from wet, grey and milder. We need some frost and a snowy holiday period would be nice. The nasturtium are still growing madly and blooming, thought, which is just wrong.

My sleeping and waking are very aligned with the amount of light/dark we get. So, right now, in the descent to the winter solstice, I still wake early but have no desire to emerge from under the duvet (and now extra blanket). Sometimes my neighbour, who works in the health service, is up very early and I hear her. But even so I tend to wake first go-round at 5 AM. Mostly I go back to sleep till 6:15, at which point I just lie there with my eyes closed for anywhere between a half hour and an hour and a half. I treasure being able to stay in bed and doze/contemplate/plan. It’s a true antidote to having had to get up at 6:15 for years to get child to bus stop. No more school bus run also means that when the car is covered in frost, by the time I get outside now most of it has at least softened. I have terrible memories of freezing hands from scraping cars in the cold and dark.

So, that’s part of my late autumn into winter behaviour: mild hibernation. But oddly, I now find myself wanting to do my solo (as opposed to with dog) daily walk after dark. I take the flashlight around 7 and walk the lanes. It’s exercise, quiet time, etc. A good close to whatever the busyness of the day has been. And somehow – perhaps because I don’t tend to meet other people – it also feels like a sort of hibernation cocooned in darkness – proper dark as we don’t get a lot of ambient light here.

Further on hibernation. This is my serious candle burning season and I’ve been looking at stuff plus sniffing a lot at the farm shop. Candles so enhance hibernation.

Some things that will get a lot of use this year and a few things I’m coveting but am unlikely to add unless I just can’t help myself.

The newest addition to the winter rotation came from a US-based company called Literie. Some of their candles are NYC-smell focused and my son brought back, from his trip to NYC earlier this year, the Hot Roasted Nut Cart one (security at JFK actually made him take it out of the box and show it to them and the woman smelled it – I wonder if she then went and bought one). It smells like the name (ie, hot caramelised nuts and vanilla) and is so winter luscious. I wish I had asked him to bring two – as well as the one called the Christmas Tree Guy. The names of Literie’s candles are great (eg, Late Fees at the Library, Beers at the Ballpark).

Diptyque’s Feu de Bois is an annual favourite. I only buy the small size though at this point and that lasts a year at least for me.

I’ll pull out an almost done orange and clove candle that came in one of the hampers the guy I work for sent one year for the holidays. Very on point.

I’ll likely finish last year’s Diptyque special, Biscuit, and, finally, the Tauer LDDM candle always gets some use. I wish he’d reissue this.

As to things I’ve sort of coveting, I’m curious about DS&Durga’s candles. None of their perfumes have worked well on me but maybe a candle would do the job. Some that I’m curious about include Portable Xmas Tree, Breakfast Highlands and just because of the name the LE Lightable Latkes (unsurprisingly the notes sound a bit horrific: potato, oil, etc).

The other company I’m curious about just dropped at the farm shop. Most of what the shop stocks is fairly pedestrian, but these are very good. The Mewstone Candle Company’s Spiced Orange, Honey and Tobacco and Christmas Tree will certainly get another look. And they aren’t pricey (£18 for a decent sized candle). So, I’ll see how I go.

How about you? Are you hibernating? If yes, how does that play out? Anything home fragrance that comes out consistently this time of year? Anything you’re coveting?

pics: mine and pexels