The Awful Smell of Fish!

Fish, the 'experts' say is good for you.  I believed them!  I bought some Haddock from Sainsburys, two to a packet, and on Saturday grilled one until burnt as you should.  I cleaned up as usual, slowly, and left the windows open for a while.  In the morning when I came through from the west wing I opened the door and was greeted by what is best described as the inside of a trawler hull! The place (should that be 'plaice' I wonder?) stunk.  While sitting in it I had not realised how bad it was.  Bah!
Sunday lunch was the other portion of burnt Haddock.  It tasted the same, it probably did me good, but it left the same fragrance throughout the building.  I took the usual precautions, cleaned appropriately, opened windows, but today once again I walked into a thick vapour of fish.  
I cleaned the place again, I even cleaned the oven, and it is nowhere near March, I scrubbed and left windows open, and thoroughly cleaned away the smell.  However after a walk in the rain, where I was reminded about the holes in the soles, I returned to the stench of Tench, well Haddock.  Even the Kippers I once, and only once, bought, did not whiff like these.  So I sit here, windows and doors ajar, the cold wind bringing the rain inside to get warm, while my only source of heat comes from the curried mince I am making for lunch.  Now that is one aroma I can suffer happily!

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Grass, Flowers, Fragrance

It was when I was sitting in the park watching the gir reading my book that I noticed it. A worker bee was bouncing along the bench just like the lassies and watching him I began to cogitate, as you do. You see I had put the book down and allowed the fragrance of the newly cut grass to fill my senses. This was more profitable in the sunshine than the book was. There is little in God's earth that is better than the smell of newly cut grass. Quite why it is so sweet I have no idea but I love it. I considered the area the gardener had omitted while mowing, a patch about thirty feet by fifteen had been allowed to remain to attract the beasties. I watched the bee stop to rest on the bench and wondered if he was attracted by smell or sight to such things. The flowers, that is to say buttercups and dandelions and such like weeds, are bright yellow and this, they say, is to attract beasties at this time of year. Surely I suggest the aroma does similar as it appeared to me our bee was getting up close to things to inspect them rather than watching from a distance and heading towards his target. Chasing the bee on his way and wiping hundreds of little black beasts from my arms as I sat reddening I considered the 'Lillies of the field.'

Flowers are such wonderful things. Delicate, colourful and fragrant, just like the women in my life. Hold on, I'm not so sure about the 'delicate' part there. Our Thai Mike often shows pics of his gardening exploits and it is amazing how varied flowers and plants can be. In the UK we possess many that are thought to be indigenous but in fact are escapees. In the 18th and 19th century many rich folks collected specimens from all corners of the globe, in a similar manner to the way England collected an Empire! Some of the seeds escaped from their gardens, often aided by passing birds, and on occasion they reached the railway lines. As the railways spread through the land, with amazing speed as it happened, they took with them the seeds from the plants that had taken root alongside the track. The wheels carried them to all corners and they remain abundant throughout the land today.