Just Like Christmas

I got my Secret Pal package! Saturday!@

Because I'm really nice,† I'm going to share.‡

My spoiler was Helen from Alabama. And I was right. She *does* sing.%

First, an overview -- there's some Addi lace needles and... huh... you can't see the bath salts, but they're there, they probably ended up behind something, there's a copy of the Knitter's Almanac and a nice bookmark.§




Oh, but that's not all. Some things require a close-up:





Brown Sheep Wildfoote sock yarn in Rhapsody and Mountain Colors Mountain Goat in Wild Raspberry.




Skull tattoos... dozens and dozens of 'em.




A knit bag¶ with a lovely lining.




I tried hard not to tear the Alice in Wonderland paper, but there was *tape*.




Lookie! I got a scarf! It's, like, nine or ten feet long, which puts it in Dr. Who territory.^




And a toilet brush!

It's really a toss-up as to which of the scarf and the toilet brush is my favourite. Nobody but my mom ever knit me anything, and the hat and scarf she knit for me are long gone. It's just really cool to have something hand-knit of my own.

On the other hand, how cool is a skull-encrusted toilet brush set? And it comes with a funny story: The handle of the brush screws into the brush part. When I opened the box and started pulling stuff out,# I pulled out a tissue-wrapped bundle that contained... a toilet brush.

And I looked at it.

And I wondered.

And I decided Secret Pal Helen certainly deserved the benefit of the doubt, but still secretly wondered if she had accidentally wrapped a replacement toilet brush up and was even now wondering how she was going to get her toilet clean with a needle gauge or a box of tea or some such.

I pulled out a skull-laden candle holder,†† but it wasn't until I came across the skull-topped magic wand†† that the lightbulb went off.

Almost as good as Nintendo, I tell you, putting the pieces of that puzzle together.

Thanks, Helen! And thank you for all your comments too -- it's been great getting to know you.
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I'm doing Week 3 of the pushups over again. I had some lame moments, both literally and figuratively, in the last round. I'll let you know how that goes when I actually START Week 3, part 2.

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Sublime Balkiss - The Different Company

Marin says: A shriek of grapefruit over a solid base of a warm-but-not-sweet wood. The wood smells like teak looks. And the shriek fades away quickly to a kind of bitter, herbal, green smell.
In the spirit of a hell of a roll-out, a warm, powdery ambery scent - very light - wraps around it.

Then the oddest WTF blurt of plastic and sour citrus. It's one of those I keep sniffing every few minutes because it develops so intriguingly. I'm not sure if, ultimately, it's all that wearable for me.

I'll definitely give it a fresh shot on another day.

TPC says: Sublime Balkiss is named for the Queen of Sheba. The Different Company describes it as a modern chypre fragrance without oakmoss (real or synthetic) or animal-derived raw materials.

Created by Celine Ellena, it has notes of the traditional patchouli, a modified modern patchouli which emphasizes the cocoa powder notes, bergamot,$ violet,$ black and purple berries,? blueberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, lily of the valley, rose and lilac.

Hans says: That smells like swimming pool. [Second sniff] Earthy. Like vegetable-y... like roots, not dirt. [Much later] Elephant.

‡‡§§¶¶##
@FOOTNOTE (atted): 'Cause, you know, didn't check the mail 'til Monday, had to take pictures, small delay, all is well. *ahem*

†FOOTNOTE (crossed): I feel you snickering, Brother. I know where you live.

‡FOOTNOTE (double-crossed): Well, I mean I'm going to show-and-tell share. I'd guess I won't be distributing any goodies anytime soon. I'm not *that* nice.

%FOOTNOTE (percented): More than just for my birthday, that is.

§FOOTNOTE (swerved): With a mermaid.

¶FOOTNOTE (paragraphed): I really love the gold yarn on the bag, Helen. What is it?

^FOOTNOTE (careted): The old Dr. Who. I haven't so much noticed David Tennat wearing a long, stripey scarf.

#FOOTNOTE (pounded): Not at all like a kid at Christmas.

††FOOTNOTE (ddouble-ccrossed): Or so it seemed.

$FOOTNOTE (on the money): Ha! Sort of got one! OK, bergamot is a bitter orange, so it could read grapefruit and violet always has a sort of plastic/petroleum product air to it. So I'm giving myself some credit. Shut up.

?FOOTNOTE (WTF?): I so did not get any kind of berries.