Rubbish, Theatre and Lampe Berger

I am going to purchase some black rubbish bags to get rid of all my stuff tomorrow. I shall also attempt to go to the exhibition at the Hayward. I have booked a ticket to go to Women of Troy at the Lyttleton at the National Theatre in a week or so. I am trying to force myself to go out occasionally in the evenings, as I tend to vegetate at home, summer and winter. Malvolio has destroyed another catnip teabag. I must ration these as he is becoming quite the little addict. He has clawed the sofa a bit less today. I am buying a whole tub of catnip and will sprinkle this on the rattan chest, bit by bit, in order to make it attractive to him.

Came across some things called Lampe Berger. These are French glass or ceramic containers you fill with oils which they produce seasonally. There is a stone in the top and a wick going into the oil. Apparently you light the stone, leave for three minutes, then blow it out. Apparently your rooms become perfumed for about two hours and it also gets rid of nasty pongs. The lamps are very expensive, the cheapest at about £45. However I managed to find one on Ebay and purchased this for £25. I also bought some Christmassy smelling oil which I shall test in it.

The French have been using this system to scent houses since eighteen something apparently. There seems to be a bit of a cult going with the actual lamps, in that there are designer ones for nearly £1000 - and there is probably quite a market in antique ones. In fact I seem to remember a friend of mine found one in an antique fair, and we did not know what it was for. I can't remember if we put it back or if he bought it, but will suggest he hangs on to it if he did buy it. You can get the stones and wick sets for £10, and ditto for the oil, so it is worth hanging on to. If he doesn't want it I shall offer to purchase it, and put it in another room.