Scents and memories with Sussex Special Candles

This post contains items gifted from Sussex Special Candles

There’s something special about lighting a candle isn’t there? For me it’s a good way to treat myself, and make the time feel more special than a usual evening, lighting a candle while in the bath is a way of helping me relax more easily. And scent evokes memories, just as taste and visuals do.

Recently I’ve been trying these Sussex-inspired candles from Sussex Special. When I saw them I was struck by the idea of replicating scents of places that I’d been, or as you’ll find out, wanted to visit. These handcrafted candles are made with a blend of natural ingredients inspired by the elements of nature you’ll find in Sussex.

I chose the Borde Hill Gardens and Brighton Essence candles and for quite different reasons, but more of that in a moment. The candles are made from 100% natural soy wax which is non-toxic, plant-based and long-lasting.

And the candles don’t disappoint. They’re good value at £12.95 each and arrived promptly and well packaged. For me that’s always a good start, once I’ve decided to order a product I’m less good waiting for it to arrive, and when it does I want the packaging to not only protect my new item, but look appealing too.

What I didn’t expect was information on candle care to be included to help get the most out of the candles. For example, the first burn of the candle should be long enough for the entire top layer of wax to melt preventing tunnelling - I’ve had candles which just burn down the middle which is disappointing, but these don’t. The website also advises that natural wax candles burn slower and are more temperature sensitive than paraffin candles, and much more.

Memories of childhood trips to Brighton

As kids growing up in South London, Brighton was our nearest seaside town and was frequently our Sunday afternoon trip in good weather. With us all piling into dad’s car for an afternoon by the sea - each of us wanting to be the first to call out that they’d “seen the sea” - something that still happens now, even though my parents live by the sea in Norfolk - it never gets old! Family traditions don’t, do they?

I’m sure our trips were full of the traditional “are we nearly there yet” type questions, and the challenge of finding a parking spot on the seafront and while tricky then I’m sure it’s nothing like trying to find a parking spot today. In fact I suspect cars can’t even park where we used to back then. We’d walk along the stony beach whatever the weather, we’d walk along the pier with me trying not to fall down any of the gaps (in reality there was no chance but I wanted to be sure).

We might wander through the Lanes, window shopping and then we’d head back to the car and back home again, often in traffic - but not like the traffic of today I’m also sure. Such happy trips, such happy memories.

So having a candle that could evoke these memories and more is a great idea - and it smelt great too. There was definitely the fresh, salty smell which gave this the uniqueness that you’d expect. I realised that the majority of my candles are wintery type smells, the smells that evoke warmth and snuggling in front of a fire, but this candle was much lighter and in a sense, more invigorating.

New memories to make

In contrast the second candle I chose is somewhere I’ve not yet visited. Borde Hill Gardens has been on my ‘to visit’ list for a while yet, but somehow we’ve not got there. I mean, I know it’s not just going to happen but I haven’t made it happen either. It’s not actually that far from us, and even closer to where my MIL lives, but isn’t that so often the case? Places nearby are the places we never quite plan well enough to get to.

It’s an independent garden - which I always enjoy - and the gardens planted are as “living garden rooms” which I’m pretty sure will equate to plenty of photos!

As you’d expect this one has a floral scent, who wouldn’t want to smell the roses, but there’s also a mix of sweet and spice too. If the candle smells this good, then I can’t wait to actually visit the gardens. I’m definitely going to make this visit happen.

The candles are in pretty glass jars which are about 8.5 cm high and 6 cm square. This is smaller than candles I’ve had in the past, but with each candle having a 35 hour burn time, their reasonable price and sustainable credentials and with the opportunity to support a family business, I think they’re good value and would make a lovely present for friends, family or yourself.

* With thanks to Sussex Special Candles for providing these candles for me to try for the purposes of this review, all views and opinions are my own.

Reflecting on my week #149

It’s been a while since I started the week with one of these posts, since the start of February to be precise. That’s most probably because weeks have been pretty similar this year - eat, work, sleep, repeat and all that - and there’s been little to say. However as the whole country works its way through the milestones of the roadmap out of lockdown we’re doing more - we’ve still not managed an outside pub or restaurant visit, nor do we really have any plans to. Up until this weekend it’s been too cold to do that.

We’ve not been total hermits though - we’re gradually going further afield and planning more, and it’s great to have some semblance of normality return, with more to follow. We’ve had haircuts, our second jab, had a flying visit to Norfolk to see my parents for the first time in six months and made plans for a UK break or two. MIL’s house move is progressing and MOH is acquiring childhood stuff from his family home, which is both interesting and challenging for all involved.

MOH has started his new job, and we’re both still working from home. I’ve bagged the warmer of our two spare rooms while MOH has finally made use of the throw in his home office, and once or twice even turned on the electric heater. He’s still brilliant at bringing me tea and cakes/biscuits, and workday lunches are usually very planned or a bit ‘put together’ from leftovers in the fridge - aka Fridge Tapas - definitely a discovery of lockdown!

I randomly won a competition just by retweeting a tweet - if I’m honest I never thought anyone ever won those, but they do, as I have. My prize arrived this week and included these five jars of jam (or four jams, one honey), a bottle of rhubarb vodka liqueur, a morello cherry candle and an apple scented diffuser - all of which I can’t wait to try.

I had a lovely week off at the end of April, which cannily ran into the bank holiday extending my time away from my day job for a little extra time - it was my first full week off since last October, which is quite a while. I’d had a few days off in between, but it was nice to spend some time recharging.

I was keen to make the most of my time off and so put some structure around my days, as otherwise I knew I’d spend most of the day wondering what to do - I have lots to do and some times the choice doesn’t help. I managed daily yoga sessions - these were short (and wobbly!) - and I promised myself I’d spend at least 21 minutes a day reading. I mean, it’s not a long time so it is surely something I could commit too going forward, and mostly I have. I also spent some time really thinking about things and finally posted my word of the year, yes just before the end of April!

During that week I also got myself back into a blogging rhythm which I’m hoping to continue with. I got out and about on foot and had a first session of craniosacral therapy, something that’s new to me and I first heard of in a podcast. Looking into it further I thought it was something that could help me overcome the stresses of lockdown, and it has. I’ve since had another session with a further one booked. After the first session I felt that my body was able to relax more, and for the first time in a long time got what was meant by ‘melting into the earth’. The second session was different bringing different feelings to the fore, but it also got me logging off an hour earlier than usual and out into the evening sunlight, which in itself is quite an achievement.

On walk home the evening was one of those with that glorious golden light and a sunset that would be worthy of any horizon, but if you look closely you can see the traffic speed hump in the foreground and a litter bin on the right hand side.

I’ve some more time off in a few weeks, and we’ll be heading up to the Lake District for the holiday which was postponed last year and I’m looking forward to that. That will be the last of my leave carried over from last year, and then I can start on this year’s leave! We have plans for a long weekend away in Sussex, which is basically us in a hut complete with a hot tub in a field, and another few days in the gatehouse of a walled garden later in the summer.

All that thinking means I’ve also had a realisation about living life, as I’m sure many of us have had in this past year, and while I’m going to do that annoying thing of not saying anything more right now, it’s been quite an eye opener and given me plenty more to think about.

Looking back at my garden in August

Today let’s head back to last August and take a look at what was going on in my garden. Even though it’s a few months ago, these photos have brought the memories straight back to the surface - funny how photos can do that isn’t it?

In the greenhouse I remember being so proud of my chillies, yes they’re small but boy were they fiery. In truth though we didn’t have a great veg-growing year, so every success was welcome. Our lack of success was I think due to the amount of shade in our garden - we need our trees cut for a better return. That’s not happened yet, so I’m considering my options for this year and plan to grow things that stand a good chance of producing a yield worth the effort required.

Our beans had nabbed one of the sunniest spots and did well, the broad beans which had been there before them less so.

My challenge for 2021 is to prevent MOH picking the borlotti beans when they look like this, the idea is to let them dry on the plant - wish me luck.

The weather was good though and so we took plenty of opportunities to be in the garden, for ice creams, cocktails and meals outside.

But there was also work to do. In the rear corner the jasmine had taken over and so we spent an afternoon cutting it back. I know it will grow again, and probably be better for a good trim. While doing this we discovered the vine which had come over the fence from next doo - it’s the thick stem that’s growing horizontally. And yes, it’s clearly been there for a while.

Not only was the stem thick, but it had fruited - and we had many bunches of grapes in our cherry tree, which the vine was using as its framework. This is the cherry tree that we had a bumper harvest of cherries from too, so they looked as if they were happy to share the space. We weren’t quite so happy, and cut out what we could, though we couldn’t get all of the vine out of the cherry tree - when we have that pruned, it’ll come out and we’ll be keeping an eye on preventing that happening again.

MOH tried a few of the grapes, which were sweet enough - I tried one, and it was ok, but there were almost as many pips as grapes so for a negligible return I was happy to pass.

Back closer to the patio a garden lights plan was being hatched. I’ve struggled with lights as if they go along the sides of the garden, to me, it makes it look more like a runway. I’m not sure how it took me so long to come up with the idea of stringing them across the garden, but it did. This string of solar lights were there as a trial, and were just about high enough for us to walk under.

The trial was a success and we bought several strings of lights, which typically arrived just as the weather turned. If our plans work out, by the time this post is live, they’ll be up and sparkling just when we want them to be. I’ll let you know.

The warmer evenings meant we spent a fair amount of time after working at home in our garden, with both the barbecue and candles being key features. And the odd bottle of wine too.

The evening light was good and the agapanthus continued to flower, and enjoy the evening sun.

We definitely enjoyed the evening sun, and the morning sun too with breakfasts in the garden as well as dinners - now that’s a real treat.

Let’s hope for the same this summer!