sense of smell
i have a super keen sense of smell. pete and i always argue that he can't smell anything, and i can smell the inner soul of people. it's helpful in that i never smell bad, but it's also a burden in that my nose makes judgments about people, places and things more than most. these judgments sometimes turn into headaches too...
so our house is super old. built in 1919 to be exact. it's a cottage of sorts, or that was the idea when the bushnell family (yup, that's right. i have the info on the original owners.) moved out here. you see, they wanted a getaway home that was close to a lake. even though...there are supposedly 10,000 of them in this state and you could probably live by one anywhere. whatev.
anyway, the point is that our house has an earthy scent to it. it's not bad. it just smells like an older house. to make it a little more aromatic, i have 2 cats who have to potty. and they do this in our basement. our basement smells, not just because the catbox is there, but because there are parts of it where years of movement or wild rodent intrusion has allowed other odors to permeate. plus, the basement is unfinished. not only is the smell down there pungent to my schnoz, but it scares the bejeezus out of me to be down there longer than it takes to throw the whites in the dryer.
so i have tried everything to take care of the odors. i vacuum and clean A LOT. i use my swiffer A LOT. i make pete change the catbox A LOT. i burn incense and candles A LOT. i don't allow things to sit for long periods of time for fear of rodent infestation either, which means i've got some more cleaning to do again. but...the other day i came across some cute little candles at target. they're part of the method line, and they had some subtle scents that i could handle for my oversensitive nose. it's a delicious vanilla apple scent, and it is heaven. and tonight when i walked into my house, i was elated. so after all that nonsensical information i gave you, the point of my story is that target has great-smelling candles. for $5.99.
4 comments:
your basement sounds terrifying. our problem in our apartment (also in an older house) is our pantry closet. even before we put stuff in it it smelled weird and now it just smells awful. maybe candles are the way to go.
you could put some baking soda in there, but it might be good to just do an overhaul in it. one of my former roommates at byu used to let her food rot, because she would buy stuff and then eat wendys instead. her potatoes always used to go bad, and it made our pantry smell like a foot and a butt together.
so basically, it's better to clean it out first and then maybe use a candle. otherwise, you are only going to exacerbate the problem.
Amanda I totally understand your super sense of smell. I have the same ailment. Everything around has to smell good. If it doesn't I track down the culprit and get rid of the stench. I feel your pain so much.
MO
amanda, hi! it's becca. your friend from provo. your friend from the katy. your friend from drawing no. 1. your friend.
i just found your blog through eva's. it is good to hear about all the things you've been up to.
i just wanted to say that i have a lychee scented method candle from target and agree that they have a lovely effect on the nose and mood.
i hope i wasn't the roommate who bought potatoes and then ate wendy's. because, yes, potatoes in a pantry do smell like old body parts.
xo
becca
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