Smells

With us having friends over for dinner tonight, it means we will need to clean. And make the house smell like anything other than what it currently smells like.

We have animals, and with them comes their peculiar odors. Between the cats and their cat smells and the smells that are associated with their litter boxes, and our dog with her dog smells and various skin allergies and all the smells associated with that, along with the fact that this carpet is ass-nasty and still has a funny smell after being professionally cleaned and deodorized, our house is full of randomly unpleasant smells. There is only so much Febreeze one can use on the soft surfaces.

And so now the dilemma is to locate the candles and various other nice smelling devices to counteract the not-so-nice smells that were probably hastily packed away without reference on the outside of the box as to what lies inside its cardboard compounds. Nice. Although this could work to our advantage as there shouldn’t be too many of those boxes left in the garage. Perhaps a quick peek will unveil the happy smells. I hope, anyway. Wish me luck.

Candles

I don’t know what it is about candles, but the addition of small flames dancing around a room seem to completely alter an atmosphere for the better. I doubt I’m the only one who feels this way.

Spring and summer I can go candle-less. I mean, they can be there, but I don’t find it necessary to light them during these times. Fall and winter on the other hand almost seem to beg for lighted candles. My theory is that less daylight from nature’s candle, the sun, requires a similar energy to make up for it. Of course, I could just be talking out of my ass here, but in all honesty I feel that having candles lit during the fall and winter helps prevent sunlight depression. Sadly, sunlight depression is also known as SAD, (seasonal affected depression) and that’s sad. Okay, so SAD is a real thing, but in all honesty, unless you live in an area that actually has no sunlight for a long period of time you probably just need to spend a few minutes outside every day to form vitamin D. Or drink a glass of milk. Or take a pill.

Candles add a certain ambiance that cannot be duplicated. When company is coming over we usually light candles in both of the bathrooms, leaving the doors open of course, as well as the living room and sometimes the dining room. Typically I don’t use scented candles for the dining room, but if only one is going to be lit and it happens to be meal appropriate, like, say, the cranberry scented candle I had on the dining room table for Thanksgiving, go for it. Otherwise unscented is best so as to not overpower the smell of the food.

As much as I love a roaring fire, personally I find that having a large candle holder fit into the fireplace is not only interesting to look at when not lit, but also gorgeous when it is. Not to mention that lighting it and putting it out is way easier. Well, until we get a gas insert for the fireplace which we can turn on with a remote control.