introducing kirihimete
our kirihimete candles are designed to give a hint of christmas throughout your home regardless of if you're enjoying a white christmas in the northern hemisphere or a warm and sunny one in the southern hemisphere.
our household is a mixed one when it comes to christmas: my husband is from europe and was often treated to a snowy christmas morning and - after ten years of living in new zealand - still thinks it's weird that it's warm at this time of the year, whilst i am originally from australia, where the last thing i'm think of is dashing through snow in sleighs whilst it's 40 degrees celsius outside! there is one thing we always agree on, though: christmas means lots and lots of eating!
the first christmas we had together was also our first one in new zealand, and it was a very lean one. we had only arrived one month beforehand and had moved into our apartment only a fortnight earlier. my furniture and other worldly belongings were still being shipped over from australia so we had nothing but some plates and crockery to eat christmas dinner with (off the floor) but we at least had a tree. that day was a balmy 28 degrees celsius so we went for a walk on the wellington waterfront and my husband had his first christmas swim that was in ice cold water.
as the years progressed and we settled in our new lives here we spent some christmases down south with friends in dunedin before becoming regular hosts to an orphan christmas. being so far from our families at a special time of the year saw us hosting friends who were in a similar situation. one year we had a couple from san francisco, other years we've had family visiting from overseas and friends who, for whatever reason, couldn't make it to be with their families at christmas.
a very characterful pomander
photo by wendy piersall is licensed under CC BY 2.0
regardless of how i've spent my christmases over the past 40 years there have always been some common scents that, to me, will always mean christmas. the sweet and subtly spiced smell of a pomander - an orange that has been studded with cloves and left to cure dry - sings out to me that it's that time of the year, and more often than not it meant a big meal was about to come! the delicious smell of the desserts combined with the fresh greeness of a real christmas tree can only mean that there will be presents, lots of laughter with those closest to us, lots more food, and almost certainly even more booze! there are notes of all of these combined in our kirihimete candles to help get the good times rolling and the tummies grumbling.
just a small christmas spread from 2016. pretty sure this was only for four people!