Thursday, February 10, 2011

Smells like home

So, I am a smell person. I experience very strong nostalgia from certain smells. LJ doesn't get it but that's ok. It's one of my charms. :)

I picked up the best jasmine oil the other day. Auracacia jasmine in jojoba. A few drops shaken with some Epsom salts makes for a nice bath. Mom has jasmine planted all around the house. I planted star jasmine at the old place, and still need to put some in at the new house. Heavenly smell. Smells like summer, childhood, and home. Makes me think of crickets, freshly mown grass, and playing hide and seek in the dark at the ranch.

Lilac, lemon blossoms, horses, and saddle soap also smell like home. Yardley lavender soap, gardenias, and eucalyptus remind me of grandma and her ranch. Crepes, maple syrup, and sage remind me of Ceska, my mom's nana. Old Spice, burnt metal, and PVC pipe glue are dad smells. Racing fuel and burnt rubber take me back to nights at the Redding drag strip. Pigs smell like softball practice (our field was next to the ag barn). The fair smells like the horse shows we went to when I was a kid. Cow manure isn't an offensive scent, as I grew up between two dairies. When pig and cow manure have positive connotations, it puts a whole new spin on aromatherapy, don't ya think?

5 comments:

ILoveMyDogandMy Music said...

I agree with you so much about smells. I love jasmine. Night blooming jasmine in Florida. I haven't smelled it in many years, but just thinking about it reminds me of walking out of my house as a teenager into that magnificent smell. I love lavender. It doesn't remind me of my grandmother, but it's my scent. (of course, I'm a grandmother..lol). It's so relaxing. And I will agree with you about cow manure. It was never offensive to me as I would walk by many a field with many cows. However, I have to say that pig manure is just horrific..No positive spin of that particular smell for me.

Paula said...

You're lucky to have so many good places to remember. I am very fond of the smell of jasmine also. Lily of the Valley is another.

I'm also mighty fond of the smells of beer brewing and barbecue!

Rae said...

I highly recommend the Auracacia oils. I usually find them at stores that carry organics, natural foods, etc. Though if you're gonna go into one of those stores, patchouli better not be offensive to you. Just saying. :) Seriously though, it's an easy way to stir up good memories.

Paula, I'm with ya on the BBQ. Still have to learn the smells of home brewing. LJ has all the equipment. I just need to get him motivated!

Paula said...

I have to admit that getting Steve to brew was not that hard. Probably because he grew up in Germany and has had beers from all over Europe (he's not too fond of Belgian beer, however). He always was a beer connoisseur, but once I got him interested, he delved into heavy research first, and now he's bona fide beer geek.

Homemade beer, done well, is waaaaay better than commercial. And once you start amortizing your equipment costs into your brew, it brings the price of everything down. Steve has started managing his yeast and batches, so that he can brew several batches off the same yeast, which is probably the most expensive component, now that he's brewing 100% grains, as opposed to using malts, which is how he started. This is his second year brewing, and he makes really good beer! He's now getting his batches down to around $20 a batch, which nets him a little over two cases. Finally, if none of this is getting to him, I'm going to guess that Steve is older than LJ, and he shouldn't be letting the old man show him up! And did I mention that we have three hop plants?

My neighbors in Florida had a HUGE night blooming jasmine in their backyard, and on summer nights it would waft over their two story house and across the street to me. It was lovely. I had a bunch of Auracacia oils in a tin and I can't find them, and don't remember what I did with them. I'll have to look for them again.

Rae said...

Yeah, LJ currently finds it easier to just buy beer. I just may end up being the household brewer. :) He made a batch when he first got the equipment, and it was baaaad juju. Something went very wrong. Perhaps he's just discouraged. I'll have to work on him. I have a couple coworkers that homebrew, and the results are most excellent.