Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A Bright Bucket


Filling a bucket with civilized lavender cleaner to go after a mysterious Nasty Smell in my kitchen this afternoon,a Smell that's been baffling us for two weeks. Two weeks!

After a focused investigation I found that apparently I hadn't used the right-hand oven since Christmas morning, a time when I might have forgotten to take all the dishes out before serving lunch . . . .

But that's not as bad as Carol losing a pot roast in her van, in the summer, right?

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had to giggle (just a little) at your post. I'm known in my family as the "one with the sniffer" as i can smell that scent that no one else even seems to notice. Well, there's been a stinky smell coming from the "fridge area" for, oh, like 4-5 days but while I could SMELL it easily enough, i couldn't FIND the source.

Until tonight. When i wen to grab the bag of radishes for a little evening snack, and WOAH! The whole bottom of the bag was a big jumbled, soggy, rotting mess! AACK. into the trash they went! BLECH!

Anyway, glad you find the culprit!

Oh, another time, there was a stinky smell coming from the "living area" but no known source. A HORRIBLE scent- one of the worst I've ever smelled.... turns out it was a little vase i had put some (get this) over-blossomed Broccolini stalks into (the yellow flowers were so pretty) and the water had started getting SWAMP LIKE! It was sooooo horrible.

Anyway, wishing you FRESH SCENTS!!!

American Home said...

Your blog is a true blessing. I have enjoyed reading it.
God Bless

Mama B said...

"losing a pot roast" ~ I love it! We once "lost" a pot of baked beans in the back of our car on the way to hunt for a Christmas tree. But, that was due to some creative driving by my dad...on the ice...=) We're all safe now, but the aroma lingered for a while.

Polly said...

This reminds me of a time when my son was about 8 weeks old and colicky (and I was exhausted all. the. time). I had some dirty dishes on the countertop on weekday and got a phone call from an acquaintance (who'd never been to my house) that she was dropping something by in 10 minutes. Never in my life had I done this, but I threw every single dish/pot/pan into the OVEN. My kitchen was pristine. The visit was fine. Then a couple of days later when I was ready to use the oven again....let's just say I had preheated it before I realized what was going on inside. It was ugly.

Mrs. S said...

So inquiring minds want to know: what kind of stove do you have that it has a right hand and left hand oven? Because, you see, my beloved (and oh! how I mean that!!!) stove has a right hand and left hand oven but that is because it is a 1950's Thermador. So now I'm quite curious....:)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a huge laugh! This reminds me of an incident in my childhood, where my mother had delayed buying a pumpkin for Halloween carving, and resorted to buying three small "sugar pumpkins" for us to carve instead. I was so taken with these tiny jack-o-lanterns that I begged to have one in my room. I enjoyed my little jack for a couple of days, and then, not being a particularly tidy child, I chucked him under the bed rather than bother with walking out into the kitchen to throw him away.

Rotting pumpkins smell absolutely horrible. Moldy rotting pumpkins smell even worse. We lived in Louisiana and that was one moldy rotten pumpkin. My parents invaded my room, convinced there was a dead rat in the walls. They found poor ol' Jack O' Lantern, abandoned and decaying rapidly.

My mother still talks about that incident, and that was, oh, about forty years ago now ...

Having a very tidy and smell sensitive Australian husband has led to me cleaning the fridge weekly, avoiding my old habit of having a turkey carcass lurking in there from Christmas - it couldn't be Thanksgiving, no, it just couldn't ... ;)

Very Verdant said...

Thanks for the good morning humor...glad you found the cause of the smell. Mmmm....lavendar now I want to scrub down my kitchen.

Girl Raised in the South said...

We lost a lb of ground beef, from our shopping trip, in the van. It rolled out of the shopping bag, under the seat and we only discovered it a week later, and yes it was summer and yes the smell was horrid.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I did that with oranges - we actually called the fridge repairman because we thought the smell meant something was wrong. It was some old oranges, nearby but forgotten!

Anonymous said...

Nothing like a little investigative sniffing in the kitchen(where is that smell coming from?) I think the lost pot roast does win the prize. But, pray tell, what item did you forget in the oven? I hope it wasn't one loved by all and missed at the table(it seems like there is something else that should be on the table?)
Amy F.

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

My daughter still reminds me of the time (long ago when she still lived at home) that I'd stuck dishes in the oven when company was coming over and forgot them...

until AFTER I had preheated the oven for another meal. :)

gina said...

i'm just glad i'm not the only one to do things like that! thanks for sharing...

Dianna said...

I'm glad we're not the only ones with mystery smells sometimes.

When I was growing up, we had fruit flies for a few weeks and couldn't find the source. Eventually it was discovered to be a half-eaten, moldy carton of yogurt someone left behind the bread bin. Yummy!

We won't talk about the time that I, as an inquisitive student of biology, decided to grow mold on various objects in my closet. My mother did not approve when she found out.

Anonymous said...

I still love the story about the pot roast! It reminds me of a time my friend left her remaining, boxed-up sashimi in the backseat of her car...ew! I think it's also a lesson in being diligent. But the Lord knows we need a good laugh! Thank you for another inspiring post, Anna.

In Christ,
Dawn

Trudy said...

Cute post - do you mix your own lavendar cleaner? You know there's a smell in our car right now. I was thinking it might be a forgotten snack but perhaps it could be a pot roast - I better go check.

A family of boys said...

Isn't it amazing how we can all relate? I remember as a child this nasty smell in the garage. Couldn't figure it out all. Finally, Mom and Dad pulled our big freezer away from the wall and discovered some salmon that was supposed to be in the freezer had slid out and under it. Oh boy...Yuck!

The worst was when we got a horrible smell in the car and huge nasty flies to accompany it. We had it completely cleaned out and still couldn't find anything. Turns out, a snake had crawled up into something and couldn't get out. Yeah...nasty

Bethany Hudson said...

hahah! Oh, I needed that! The pot roast in the van is hillarious. Thank you for sharing your foibles with us. Every homemaker needs to be reminded that she's not the only one with these absurd stories to her name :)
~Bethany

Marlaine said...

Kitchen "surprises" that leave us sniffing and sniffing. And when the kids walk into the kitchen and find their mom on her hands and knees sniffing nooks and crannies, they either want to help because it looks like fun, or they instantly transform into a stand-up comedian, which does not necessarily bode well for the mom... ;-) My most memorable "find" during a "follow your nose" incident was finding the extremely aromatic drip pan under the fridge. I'd never had a frost-free freezer before--who knew?

Anonymous said...

I love it that so many people responded to this post!

As the owner of the "lost potroast" I have to say that I topped that with several broken bottles of apple juice left in my trunk and forgotten till they fermented.

Kim said...

This makes me re-think having an extra oven in the wall!!
I can barely keep my mind on one oven let alone two.
My husband thanks you.
Kim

Lucille said...

Readers of a sensitive disposition may wish to look away, but I'll just say this: much loved missing pet hamster - thermos flask in cupboard- with - lid on. How?

The Crazy Bus said...

that's nothin! last month we discovered that our extra freezer (in the basement) was giving off a foul odor due to the fact that the door had not been closed tightly. The smell had baffled us for weeks also. Unfortunately I was the one who discovered it. I'll spare you what i found inside. Luckily all was not lost. only what was in the door. I never want to smell that smell again. I don't think lavendar would have covered it!

Ashley said...

Potatoes are the worse. We have a drawer that the potatoes stay in. Let's just say, they go bad, leak liquid onto the wooden drawer, and, well, STINK.

Anonymous said...

I'm laughing so hard! All these funny stories! The hamster one from Lucille takes the cake :)

Amy said...

Strange...must be the time of year for strange Smells. I've heard of three other people who have smelled a strange Smell in their house and have never been able to find the location. o_O

Renee said...

Would you mind posting what lavender cleaner you use and other cleaners? I am new to your blog and oh so love it. Renee Mom of four

Anna said...

I like Mrs. Meyers and Method cleaners.

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