ever smelled something so bad you could taste it?
I have that problem right now.
Every November since I've been here, there has been an awful smell in the air, from one or more of the local trees.
It's strong, pungent? acrid? hard to describe, but awful.
It permeates everything, getting into my home even with doors and windows shut. It doesn't seem to bother anyone else, or maybe they just don't complain like I do.
It is so bad, the smell stays in my nose and mouth affecting the taste of almost everything I eat.
At first I thought it was the weeping willow near my front door, I've never seen one as "white" as this and thought maybe it was pollen from the clusters of tiny yellow flowers. Then I wondered if it was the really big cypress next to it. I know there are many types of cypress, but I don't have a clue which is which and I'm not 100% sure this is a cypress at all, but it does look like the pictures I've seen. And there are quite a few of them in this area.
I block off my nose and mouth and breathe through a hanky when I pass close by these trees, but can't spend my whole day doing that and the two trees are so close to my front door. The smell, ( I can't call it fragrance) is like Jasmine, spreads for a fair distance and is stronger at dawn and dusk.
Anyway, I was passing a tall hedge just yesterday, in my street, it appears to be the same cypress, just trimmed to hedge size, and the owner of said hedge was trimming it with a chainsaw/hedge trimmer thingy and there was that smell, so very much stronger, coming from the freshly cut branches and leaves. (needles?)
So now I know which tree is the problem. The cypress, not the willow.
Although that doesn't solve my problem of having that smell as a taste in my mouth.
And now I'm off to buy more antihistamine, since this is making my nose run like a waterfall.
Every November since I've been here, there has been an awful smell in the air, from one or more of the local trees.
It's strong, pungent? acrid? hard to describe, but awful.
It permeates everything, getting into my home even with doors and windows shut. It doesn't seem to bother anyone else, or maybe they just don't complain like I do.
It is so bad, the smell stays in my nose and mouth affecting the taste of almost everything I eat.
At first I thought it was the weeping willow near my front door, I've never seen one as "white" as this and thought maybe it was pollen from the clusters of tiny yellow flowers. Then I wondered if it was the really big cypress next to it. I know there are many types of cypress, but I don't have a clue which is which and I'm not 100% sure this is a cypress at all, but it does look like the pictures I've seen. And there are quite a few of them in this area.
I block off my nose and mouth and breathe through a hanky when I pass close by these trees, but can't spend my whole day doing that and the two trees are so close to my front door. The smell, ( I can't call it fragrance) is like Jasmine, spreads for a fair distance and is stronger at dawn and dusk.
Anyway, I was passing a tall hedge just yesterday, in my street, it appears to be the same cypress, just trimmed to hedge size, and the owner of said hedge was trimming it with a chainsaw/hedge trimmer thingy and there was that smell, so very much stronger, coming from the freshly cut branches and leaves. (needles?)
So now I know which tree is the problem. The cypress, not the willow.
Although that doesn't solve my problem of having that smell as a taste in my mouth.
And now I'm off to buy more antihistamine, since this is making my nose run like a waterfall.
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Just as some people are "super tasters", with more sensitive taste buds, perhaps you are a "super smeller"!
ReplyDeletePrivet can be quite overpowering too and there is a lot of it around.
ReplyDeleteChemical smells do that too me often. Baygon. I can smell it, I can taste it, and it gives me an instant headache. I can't go into shops selling incense or past manicure places either. Garden scents are ok. Though years back I had a course of desensitising injections to allow me to breathe in spring.
ReplyDeleteI take Zyrtec in generic form and pseudoephedrine in the generic form to be able to breath in spring and in October. I feel for you. I was at a farmer's market and the evergreen, don't know what kind, were killing me.
ReplyDeleteAt least it's only a week.
ReplyDeleteI would rename that tree the Putree.
Marty Damon; I'm definitely a super smeller, I'm the one who can detect meat products 'on the turn' before they actually go bad, same with fruits and potatoes. It was a very handy skill at the checkout.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; and it's going to start blooming soon!
Elephant's Child; chemical smells were what started me coughing so badly when I first moved here, so I thought I had bird flu or that other disease passed by birds, starts with a C. I have to wear a mask if I want to spray Baygon, (which has now been taken over by Raid and isn't anywhere near as effective now)and when I change the kitty litter too.
Linda; zyrtec doesn't work for me, so many products don't and the most effective nose spray gives me massive nose bleeds.
joeh; it's about six weeks altogether, starts in November and lasts until near Christmas. :(
... so sorry to hear about your allergies, River.
ReplyDeleteSpring is pretty ... but it can be pretty awful for some of us.
I wish I had help and answers for you... but i don't.....Hugs and Blessings.... Barb xx
My sympathy. Like EC, I am very sensitive to smells and avoid the detergent aisle in stores. At a show once my canopy was set up by bushes that smelled like a dog urinal if brushed. Awful weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh yes...I've had that experience. Any kind of perfume, or chemical cleaner, laundry detergent,fabric softener, gasoline, cigarette smoke...it all does it to me. My sympathies.
ReplyDeleteThat's unfortunate. Touch wood, there's nothing around here that affects me so. (No pun intended re the touching of wood)!!
ReplyDeleteBarbara; most of spring doesn't bother me, just the heavier fragrances, jasmine, oriental lilies etc and a few others, plus chemicals.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; my local stores don't have as big a problem as they used to in the detergent aisle, I'm able to walk through and select my product now, unless someone has spilled something.
Delores; I don't like the newer range of fabric softeners with the "exotic" fragrances, instant headache. There is only one older product I like and it is now available at only one supermarket chain, I buy a dozen bottles at a time and hope it will still be available next time I need some. Most perfumes are okay for me just the really heavy musk based ones and anything patchouli, I literally cannot breathe when patchouli is near. I've had to get off buses sometimes and wait for the next one. For most other things I can just breathe through a folded hanky until it is gone.
Lee; it seems to be getting worse as I get older too, thankfully I am retired now, so can stay home with windows and doors shut when I need to. But this tree fragrance seeps in through the air vents high on the walls. I'm going to have to cover them.
Maybe it's the time of the year to take a holiday?? It's awful when you can't get away from something that irritates you or affects you badly. Good luck with finding a solution.
ReplyDeleteI've not noticed any smelly trees around here but there is a plant that grows as an understorey in the karri forests down south that smells vile when it is in flower.
ReplyDeleteI also remember mum calling lantana the "tom cat bush" because of it's smell.
I have a sensitive nose and although it doesn't cause allergies (thank goodness) it reacts very strongly when Candy poots.
Hope the trees near you soon stop being so annoying.
Phil and I both take Claratyne regularly these days and Karen rang me this morning and said her sinuses were playing up. It's that time of the year here in Oz.