The Bluestocking Women's Pub, in which Gosie returns to the trail

[Magpiecomplex]

Next thread!

Nah. I went for up close and personal.

I bet Rosalind would make a fantastic side kick. She seems to know the answers to questions Gosie has yet to think of.

You can buy 1ml for £5.71 plus £1.95 postage from here or 5ml for £23 from here postage free.

What it will smell like after being opened and decanted into their own tiny bottles I couldn’t say.

I used to work with someone who kept it very quiet that her husband worked somewhere (Harlow? Letchworth?) where they devised and/or produced very expensive perfumes for many brands and she could buy them at very reasonable prices. We are both retired now, so I can’t ask her.

DH will remember where it was - we drove past the headquarters on the way to a theatre recently, he’ll remember the town - but he’s not home at the moment.

I’ve decided to save today’s chapter as my bedtime story, to be read in bed.

The lure of battenburg cake was too great. Maud has gone for a sleepover with Fawley at @KnottyAndPistey house.

Something... untoward has happened to K&P's plate of Battenburg.

If you can someone else’s perfume when you’re not giving them a quick hug or air kisses, or in a confined space like a car, is that a good thing?

Yes, in the case of my friend's aftershave. He has several, but the one I like most is I think Italian.

No, in the case of adolescent boys trailing clouds of Lynx or whatever the modern version happens to be.

@MyrtleLion Thank you for the new chapter-loved it!! 💜

I think you can simplify that answer. It's yes if you like it, no if you don't (or it's triggering an asthma attack or a migraine).

Looks like Maud snaffled the marzipan!

You might have a point, but I have hyperosmia - a heightened sense of smell. I did think at first it was the Walrus’s beard oil, but the woman came back from the loo and it became stronger so I realised it was her. She was sitting about two feet behind him.

I looked up the name of my condition and read that there is anecdotal evidence that amphetamines can cause hyperosmia. I’m not on amphetamines but my ADHD medication has a similar effect on the nervous system, so that may have increased it.

I am also sensitive to certain smells so I can’t stand Chanel No 5 or Poison.

And there was insufficient food colouring in the cake batter.

I used to love perfume, but the past decade or so have become extremely scent-averse and very sensitive to it. I now have to use unscented everything, even, in the past year or so, unscented shampoo and conditioner. 😑Boring.

I definitely don't like it when people wear so much scent that you can smell it three blocks away and an hour after they've already passed by! I wonder if it's my sensitivity or are they just nose blind to how much they're wearing?

On trains and in enclosed spaces, I do get headaches, thankfully no perfume migraines yet.

For some reason, FB is spamming me with ads for enormous knickers (which I do not need) and bras designed for dreadnorks (which I do not have).

My hunt yesterday for various household items seems to given the algorithm something else to think about, but not quite enough - it's still throwing giant pants and dreadnork bras at me, just not quite as many.

I am also sensitive to certain smells so I can’t stand Chanel No 5 or Poison.

I think Poison is infamous for being very strong. I don’t know about Chanel.

Has your hyperosmia developed since you started taking the ADHD medicine?

To be fair I don't know anyone who does like Poison. I'm the opposite, and variably anosmic. Some things I can't smell at all (strawberries are hardly ever as sweet as most people think they are) and some things I can only smell if they're strong. I wear Shalimar when it's not the height of summer, and make sure I only apply a single spray because I know it's strong, even though it doesn't smell that strong to me.

I went to a small industrial estate today to get a new bathroom design done. On the way i noticed a DEERING TRACTOR SALES OULET WITH AN OUTDOOR DISPLAY.

No I’ve always had it, but she was sitting further away than I would usually notice a smell. I’ve only been taking the medication for five days, so it may be worth investigating.

OMG!

Did you stop and look? Could you resist?

The Walrus has been unaware of our joint fascination with tractors and has just intoned “John Deere are evil” in his most menacing voice.

Apparently they lock farmers in with their software, breaching the Right to Repair.

Just letting you all know…

Sign me up, Hedgey.

I got stuck in some very slow traffic this afternoon, on a main-ish road, trundling along at 40mph. It then slowed a little more before speeding up, and as I passed a very long lay-by I saw a header on a trailer, the tractor, the combine and then a van with a flashing light on the top, all pulled over to let everyone else past.

Two years ago, harvest was just starting. This year, apart from a very few fields of wheat and the (disastrous) spring barley, it's all done everywhere around here. After a month of frenzied activity, the combines will shortly all be put to bed at the back of various machinery sheds.

Ridiculously tired again, so am off! Looking forward to Gosie's next installment and hopefully less humid weather tomorrow. Night all, sleep well 😇🌠

I'd like to book the sleep gerbils, please.
Last night wasn't great, featuring far too much doomscrolling and sudoku in the small hours.

I had a too hot midday nap and now i am posting all over the shop.

I hardly ever wear perfume because my skin reacts badly to a lot of fragrances - especially deodorant. Perfumed deodorant leaves me scratching under my arms like a chimpanzee. I do like Y de St Laurent, but it's a dead waste of money buying it because it hangs around so long it goes off long before it's used up.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the three new chapters, Myrtle - thank you!

I hate Cousin Kate, Kitty - how Heyer makes the mother the villain more than her violent psychopath son! The only Heyer I've got rid of rather than re-read every year.

It's been a trying day on most fronts here today. But I'm determined tomorrow shall be better.

We’ve had a disappointing day too. DH had a physio appointment for his ankle and was told it may take up to 16 weeks to heal and he really must only do minimal walking on it and not to join the gym yet. She’s given him some specific exercises for it meanwhile.

So that really does bugger up the rest of the summer. He really doesn’t like not going out and doing something, and will need to be very disciplined about food if he can’t exercise.