The Chandlery
the story of the chandlery, and how it came to be.
written 12.1.23
before my tiny little place of peace became a candle studio, it was actually my husband’s powder coating booth.
his hobby at the time was powder coating and my spare time was spent in the backyard gardening. i had collected a lot of plants over the years, mostly succulents and cacti. some were gifted to me, some were inherited, some were purchased, and many were propagated. the backyard was filled with oodles of container plants and fairy gardens.
i’ll admit, it became a task moving them everytime it was supposed to rain for more than a day, and for the few frosty days we have here, in southeast texas.
as my collection grew, plant “safe zones” were harder to find.
one year, my husband found a solution. he surprised me by building me my very own greenhouse!
by the time covid hit, my husband was done powder coating and had recently sold all of his equipment. i became interested in making candles and had been doing research on the entire process.
THEN.
the great texas freeze of 2021 happened. remember that?
in preparation for this extreme cold weather event, i, along with every other crazy plant lady in the area, were beginning to realize how severely this freeze would impact all outdoor plants (not to mention the poor animals, pipes, roads and forms of transportation, electricity, store closures, etc.) i don’t think we really knew what was coming.
basically, for my plants, my greenhouse wasn’t going to do a damn thing. there’s no way they’d make it days without sun in below freezing temps.
where in the world could i safely store all of my plants?
my husband’s old powder coating booth was my only option and it seemed like a smart one… or so i had thought.
at that time it wasn’t insulated that great and only had ac. i checked on them a couple times a day and would reset the timer on the space heater.
sadly, it wasn’t enough.
the ice had melted and i dreaded opening those doors. i remember seeing them. nearly every single plant was slumped over an felt like mushy goo. my heart sank. yes, i know they were just plants, but some were inherited and were over 50 years old.
it was a loss, but i took it as a sign.
once again, my husband came through! he and my amazing family helped me transform my husband’s old powder coating shed into my very own candle studio, my tiny little place of peace;
the chandlery.
