This month's essence
Bottling December
Hello friends and welcome back into the still room at the start of this fresh new year.
The final vial of the old year has just been added to the shelf, preserving the scents of December and drawing 2025 to a close.
This bottle is not what I expected it to be. Many of the scents I associate with December are missing. But the result is true, and reflects the fact that somehow, this year, December was not quite its usual self.
Here is what I have bottled:
Top notes: sweet scent of clementines
Mid notes: the warming aroma of beeswax from a candle, and of cloves rising from a pan of red cabbage
Base notes: Comforting wafts of woodsmoke
In any other year there might have been the fresh scent of pine captured while on a wintery walk, and gathered-in greenery; of spices from a freshly-baked batch of gingerbread; or of cinnamon infused mulled wine. And I might have been challenged to try to describe the scent of frosted air and the particular smell of a favourite childhood story book.
But these will have to wait and I’ll need to work harder at making space for them to emerge in the Christmases to come.
Until then, there is a whole year of seasonal scents to capture and already I’m anticipating what January will bring.
Warmest wishes to you all for the year ahead. May many moments of joy, light and wonder await you . . .
With thanks as always to Beth Kempton for the writing prompt that inspired these monthly posts.
You can find Beth’s beautiful writing community, Soul Circle, here
This is lovely Helen. I sense the fragrance in the air. How beautiful.