What's your Proustian madeleine?

[BrightonCalling]

Simple things that hit your memory/nostalgia button?
Things that take me right back:

The smell of limes
Airplane trails at dawn or dusk
Hearing seagulls from in bed
Lawnmowers on summer days
A weird one: an open window with curtains gently flapping

The smell of creosote fences on a hot summer's day
The sound of crockery being laid out for lunch through an open window again on a summer's day
A dog barking in the distance at dusk
The smell of fresh oregano

Thanks OP I have just spent a very happy 5 minutes drifting through memories

The smell of pine needles on the ground.

Birds using a birdbath or hanging pranut dispenser.

Seeing a Renault 4.

Hearing crows chatter.

They can all drag me back to certain happy places.

The smell of leather - riding my horse on a hot sunny day.
Church bells - my childhood village.
Cigar smoke - my grandfather.

The scent of hay

The scent of a perfume called Alien

The pattern of sunlight beneath the surface of a swimming pool

The scent of turpentine

The sound of a cricket ball on a bat

That specific smell/feel in the air when it's raining very gently in England in June and the air is warm and slightly moist and a blackbird is singing.

The sound of the viddy printer from the football results.

Chlorine on warm skin.

The music of Swan Lake.

Loads more, no doubt, that I won't think of or remember until I experience them!

fresh grass
outdoor clapping (very English crickety sound!)
church bells
crisp cold morning smell

Petrichor
The smell of rosemary
The smell of distant bonfires

Didn't realise that I was so focused on olfactory memory!

@MyOtherUsernameisaPun
"The pattern of sunlight beneath the surface of a swimming pool"
Wow, yes!

@fourquenelles
"A dog barking in the distance at dusk"
I dont share it, but I get it, I can see it

Creosote and cut grass reminds me of the first warm days of the summer in quiet suburbs at my grandmother's house.

My other granny had an outbuilding that smelt of turpentine, damp and lawnmower oil. Also at her house I have a vivid memory of being a child in bed and occasional cars would go past outside and the headlights would light up the ceiling through a gap above the curtains.

@fourquenelles

The sound of crockery being laid out for lunch through an open window again on a summer's day

So evocative.

Certain mid-late 90s songs take me back to summer fun in the sun, laying on the grass. Probably at school!

Certain aftershave from so long ago that I can’t remember which one, but give me a physical jolt. My first boyfriend wore it, and although we parted under bad terms the smell just takes me back so easily.

A certain kind of coolness that reminds me of walking through my childhood home in the summer, to get to the garden.

Oooh interesting.
The sound of acoustic instruments being tuned up.
Washing blowing on the line on a windy day.
The stylus landing on the vinyl record.

The smell of rain on the warm ground. It takes me back to the downpours we had in southern France, when it would be bone dry again less than 30 mins later.

Also, creosote on fences.

Smell of an old oiled sewing machine.
Freshly picked rhubarb
Coal
Lying in bed and hearing the music theme from the south bank show

The sound of a wood pigeon (coo-coo, coo-coo) takes me back to my grandparents house as there was one that sat in the tree outside.

Comes back with memories of them, happy days and special times like Christmas.

Rive Gauche perfume (Mum)
Raw onions sometimes remind me of being a child and my mum wiped my face. I could smell onions on her hands.
The smell of suncream and hot skin make me think of sex. I am so much more up for it in Summer!

@Mercedes519 ohhh you've reminded me of the same! One lived in the garden of my first home and I remember lying in bed as a child hearing that sound in the evening! For years!

A very particular school dinner smell.

Long meadow/grass verges - I think it's from nettles or cow parsley or some such.

Straw bales.

The smell of sugar beet being processed, but there's nowhere in Britain that processes it so I will likely never smell it again.

The sound of the football results being read for the pools.

I’ve a couple of slightly odd ones:

The way my mum makes a cup of tea. She always stirs with a tea spoon and then chinks the spoon twice on the side of the cup. The sound is so nostalgic to me.

Another one is the sound of my dad blowing his nose. It reminds me of being a kid and hearing him getting ready for work before I got up in the morning. It’s a really oddly comforting sound!

The smell of my mums perfume. Even better, the smell of my mums perfume on my little boy. She looks after him once a week and I love it when he comes back smelling of her. It’s like a double whammy of loveliness!

The smell of warm canvas. It reminds me of camping as a kid.

The smell of sun cream and skin warmed by the sun.

Yes to sugar beer smells!

The smell and sounds of a Kenwood Chef whirring away. Think the oil had a certain smell to it as the machine worked.

The smell of warm skin on a sunny day, also the smell of hot tarmac. The smell of petrol stations - not just the petrol but the fresh papers and magazines.

The sound of a honking goose brings back memories of a very special time.

outdoor clapping (very English crickety sound!) Oh yes, the way it drifts across the grass and through the air.

The stylus landing on the vinyl record. YES! That evocative crackle. So exciting.

Also the sight of certain tall grasses –the ones with a lovely graceful arch and the seeds hanging down. Can't describe them but they remind me of a southern England childhood, brushing through them as we played in the fields all day. You could run your fingers up them and pull off the seeds so they collected in a bunch in your hand.

The sound of rain drumming on the car roof reminds me of being little and going for walks in the woods at weekend, but it always seemed to be pouring rain and we'd have our sandwiches in the car in the forest, and my parents having tea from a flask.

The smell of buddleia.
Church bells.
Smell of PrittStik.
The sound of children playing in their school playground, but from a distance.
The Drifters (mum loved them).