Victoria Magazine and My Pomander Project

I remember many times while visiting my grandmother she would be "working on" an orange--sticking holes in it with a large, thick needle then inserting whole cloves. I always thought it was rather a curious thing, but, you know, I don't ever remember asking her much about it for some reason. I just remembered how great the oranges would smell. Mmmmmm! Fast forward decades to a few years ago when for some reason I did my own orange. I can't remember the inspiration behind it unfortunately. I thought I'd just stick my cloves in without the needle preparing the way. I dare say, my fingers were terribly sore by the end of the project! Then I read about and saw the lovely picture in the November/December 2008 issue of Victoria Magazine of a pomander made with an apple instead of an orange. Never heard of using an apple! Well, I had an apple that was shriveling and bought some cheap cloves (aren't as perfect as the ones in the picture--but mine were affordable!) and set to work yesterday at the pleasant task of making my apple pomander. The apple was much easier to poke the cloves in than an orange, and it smells fabulous. It is now drying, and I must say I'm glad I did it. It's such a pleasant project to tackle over a cup of tea...I recommend it to everyone!