Perfume in the Barley Field

This morning the sky was low, with heavy clouds and a very humid feel to the air.    It looked as though rain would soon be falling.    Still, no matter what the weather, dogs need their walks, even lazy dogs like Dobson.

He would rather spend extra time snoozing rather than risk getting his paws wet.  

I cut through the large barley field, taking the diagonal right of way, which takes one right to the heart of the field.  Dobson trotted off to enjoy all the smells which interest dogs so much and I was free to wander at my own pace, enjoying the peace.

Gradually, I became aware of a wonderful scent in the air, presumably compounded from the barley and all the plants in the distant surrounding hedges, everything being trapped by the humidity and low cloud.

It is difficult to describe the smell, other than to say that it was lovely and reminded me so much of one of my favourite perfumes from the past...which one though?  I don't know for sure, but my inner eye kept giving me the image of a silver, black and blue container - which I think contained the perfume Rive Gauche.

It is many decades since I used that perfume and I cannot consciously recall the scent at all.  I shall have to investigate next time I am shopping in town.

This evening the clouds are still low down, the air is filled with moisture and I have just walked Dobson around our little patch of woodland.    The smell in there immediately transported me back to my childhood days and our visits to the Botanical Gardens in Hong Kong.   I loved that moist and humid smell of greenery.   To be honest it could be smelt in other places, but it was always that much more intense in the Botanical Gardens due to all the foliage and plants.

The floor of the woodland is carpeted (to a height of 5 or 6 feet) with Queen Anne's Lace, Hogweed, Jack-by-the-Hedge, red campion, nettles, dock, buttercups, and lots more which I cannot name at the moment.

The gap between all this greenery and the green canopy of the trees themselves traps the air and the scent is concentrated.    

Bring on warm sunshiney days, but in the meantime I'll enjoy these lovely and evocative scents.

I borrowed the image from http://cyrustravelogues.bravesites.com