Cremains Box Update

Last month, I sent away for basswood boxes to hold my overflow collection.  The biggest cheapest boxes I found for under twenty dollars were the  9x8x8 unassembled "cremains box" kit.  I could have asked my handyman master carpenter husband to build me something custom, but then I would be totally indebted. Ahem.  As I bought the cheaper unassembled kit, my husband still helped me put them together with brass screws. He was wholly unsatisfied with the wonky rough fit of these boxes but it's hard to expect high craftsmanship at twenty dollars with U.S. labor.

BoxesNSuch sells this kit for hobbyists to carve the wood for a more decorative effect. I cannot imagine using these boxes for their intended purpose. Apparently cremated remains of an adult human takes 110 to 180 cubic inches where as a beloved pet horse can take much much more.  (This is an aside but if I do get cremated, I'd like a super fragrant young beeng to be burnt with me.) But for my particular purpose- these boxes snugly fit 8 beengs each.

Basswood has no odor and is often the wood of choice for gourmet food containers.  I've received chocolate covered figs and fleur de sel caramels which were presented in short basswood canisters.  My husband couldn't smell anything on these new boxes but I could still detect an acidic wood smell so I let them air out in the sun for a few days.  One of them holds shu and really it didn't take long for the overwhelming wodui scent to take over. The other holds wet stored sheng.  While these cremains boxes are not that great, I find that they are definitely more acceptable aesthetically as well as socially.  The clutter of cardboard boxes piling on top my desk could be construed by guests as a prelude to "Hoarding-Buried Alive".

I also have flat basswood boxes on top of each cremains box that my friend S gave me as a great birthday present- tea is a tricky gift for friends to give me but I will happily receive a basswood box in any shape.  One of them holds samples Emmett generously sent me last week including a nineties sheng from Hoffman 's Phoenix Collection. It's like looking into the future for my collection as Hoffman's stuff is seriously dry aged.  I'll save the Hoffman brew report for another post.  Good night.