Senses

I’ve recently updated you on my diminishing hearing capabilities (with grasshoppers joining the list of disappearing sounds) and not too long ago I confessed that my sight is somewhat compromised in low light. But what about a sense that I possess which still seems to be functioning as it should? Step forward smell!

In fact, my sense of smell is famous throughout the family for being hyper-sensitive. I can pick up on odours (good and bad) way before anybody else, and if you give me a glass of wine or a single-malt whisky I will be dismantling the bouquet into its constituent parts - plums, liquorice, tarmac, apricots, toffee - within seconds. Needless to say from that last sentence, my accompanying taste buds are more than up to scratch as well.

One of life’s pleasures is to take the time to sniff the wildflowers. There are some top smells to be had, small free hits of olfactory wonder. Never walk past Fennel without taking in the aniseed; various labiates that will sooth you with mint, lemon and various herbs; Tansy is another, and that will have the additional effect of making you salivate with its hits of rosemary and accompanying roast dinners. Most plants are worth a sniff and a foliage squeeze. I don’t do it enough, especially since it is the one sense that I am doubly blessed with.

But beware! Some plants are not your friend! Crush Black Horehound and your fingers with smell of a rancid bonfire. Other plants are poisonous or will cause blistering of the skin. You have been warned!