Smells Like Wednesday

[bluemoon]

My sitting-room is now almost finished - not really an achievement as it was supposed to be done for Christmas 2006 - the new fire was installed earlier in the week and now I just have to find the right carpet and it's done. The new fire though has been a bit of a problem; it looks great, but a bit of metal trim shows finger-prints so well that, were more more things to be made of this stuff, entire CSI teams would be made redundant, and worse the marks don't rub away but just seem to smear. Do they still make Brasso? I wondered in desperation. Yes they do and it worked a treat, but last night when I went to sit in there I had to quickly leave. "Go in there," I instructed OH - "it smells like Wednesday" He thought I was mad, but dutifully went for a sniff and had to agree.

You see we both had Grannies born in the late 1800's and they stuck to the whole certain jobs for certain days routine. Washing on Monday - even if it was bucketing down and the forecast said Tuesday would be nice.- Ironing of said washing on Tuesday, polishing on Wednesday.... which is why a room which vaguely smelled of Brasso and lavender (air freshener in our case, mansion polish in Gran's) could take us both back so vividly. I wonder why the sense of smell seems to be hardwired directly to our memory banks? I suppose it's so our remote ancestors would smell rancid meat and immediately remember the acute vomiting which followed the last time they smelt it, before it was too late and they were tempted to try it again. But it is rather lovely that the system also works so that to have a whiff of something can make you six years old again and back in Granny's parlour.

Today, being Saturday, is baking day, so I might have to make a cake or two, just so we don't end up too confused.

[yoanbob]

oooh congrats on your living room we know how you feel our kitchen was supposed to be finished last year and we havnt started it yet,
we have just finished the outhouse though, it smells like daddy and dark nights, even tho we have put electric in and painted it white.
my hubby didnt have an outhouse when he was young so its just my memory.

[zazen999]

When I was about 6 months old, we lived in Canada and had a house built, and we used to visit there whilst it was being built. It smelt of fresh concrete eery time.

Now, even though I worked in Civil engineering and smelt more fresh concrete for 14 years than I can to remember; every time I smell fresh concrete, it takes me back to being a toddler in Canada. I even worked in a civil testing laboratory, next to a concrete lab for 8 years, and smelt concrete every day - but still it takes me back.

i studied psychology a few years back; and you can improve your chances of remembering things for exams etc; if you visualise the room in which you were taught the subject you are trying to remember. Memory is the most powerful tool, it's quite scary.

[sallym]

The smell of tomatoes on the vine always takes me back to when I used to spend the day with my Dad on his allotment when I was small, and was allowed to help myself his to toms in the greenhouse.

[willowstar]

i absolutely love the smell of cows and cow manure...I used to go up to my granny and grandads dairy farm every summer and xmas when I was little and now the association is so strong of the happy times and the stability those visits offered. not that I had an unstable upbringing but parents split and we moved around a lot etc...the farm was, and still is the most constant thing in my life. a huge new dairy farm just opened up a few miles from us on the main road and whenever we go past my OH winds down the windows so I can get a good sniff.