Now WHERE did I ever get the notion that sticking cloves into oranges and lemons was something one did just for Christmas?
Moving into the farmhouse in January, I found some forgotten, squishy lemons and oranges.
Ok, just one of each, to be more accurate. Work with me here for the sake of the title, ok?
What to do with squishy citrus?
Put in the fireplace near the front to release scent as the fruit burns...but we did not have the fireplace cleaned out and crackling at that time.
Cut up and put in one of those little simmering crock pots to scent a room. I had not found either of my little crock pots at that time in the farmhouse kitchen.
Unc did not think there were any cloves anywhere either, and he and Mama had been IN CHARGE of the farmhouse kitchen, so he should know. I trusted his knowledge of the farmhouse kitchen, gave up on using the fruit in a constructive way, and tossed the squishy fruit in the garbage.
So, the next day, I found almost a QUART of whole cloves we had bought in bulk sometime, right there on the second shelf of the full-size spices cabinet. It was a large clear apothecary jar with ground glass lid, hiding near the front of the shelf.
I then fished the squishy orange and lemon out of the garbage. (You think I am kidding about all of this, right? *evil chuckle*) I had found a short length of pink ribbon under an appliance a few days earlier, so I was set to make lemonade pomanders from squishy citrus!
Wait, there was one more crutial part. The bobby pin I used to securely skewer the knot of the ribbon into the top of the lemon was found in some weird place. I honestly forget at the moment.
The ice pick to pre-punch the holes for the cloves was right where it was supposed to be. Right where it had been stored for right at 50 years in the farmhouse kitchen. Yippee! My crafting adventure was looking up!
That's really the whole story. I had fun poking holes and making pomanders out of found objects. The lemon is hanging from the window over the sink. The orange is drying in a yellow mug that I've seen in that kitchen all my life. It is scarred by the dishwasher and has a chip or two, but it brings back happy memories.
These pomanders are almost dry now. I plan to use the same ice pick, one from my grandmother's house, to punch a deep hole and fill up that whole with lavender essential oil.
What other things can one can do to a pomander to make it deter moths in a closet. Netting comes to mind. What else?
Now why did rescuing an orange and a lemon from a mildewy death lift my spirits so... besides the pretty colors and the familiar smells of the past?
One could make a bowl full of pretty yellow and lime "eggs" to decorate for Easter. What else might one poke into the citrus rind that would smell wonderful and also preserve the fruit?














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