Christmas Planning 2017 - Pomanders, Fir Cones and Scent - Setting the scene
Starting with Fir Cones I love natural things and am an avid collector of all sorts of natural bits and bobs when I go out walking. If there are fir cones laying on the ground I have to pick them up. They can be used for oh so many things especially in the run up to Christmas. I was brought up to collect as we walked. Initially when I was a child it was to pick up twigs and fir cones to go onto the coal fire in the winter months as well as helping Dad chop the kindling the sticks utilising an axe to create the perfect kindling with which to start the fire. We also used to pick the sheep's wool off the barbed wire fences and take this home and it would go in with the kindling with which to start the fire. The daily newspaper after being read the following day would be turned into fire starters. Essentially this was a couple of pages of the newspaper which were folded into long strips (concertinaed) and then the balls wrapped into knots and...