The sweet scents of summer

Well, I have finally joined the 21st Century and purchased an iPad. The last week has been spent exploring the inner recesses of the Web, finding all sorts of fascinating things.

There is a famous Shetland poem and song - Da Sang o' da Papa Men - which speaks of the men going out to sea in rowing boats to fish. They would row far out into the open water, forty or even sixty miles offshore, and be guided back by the scent of flowers wafting over the water. It is a wonderful song and is performed by many groups; our sea shanty group does a version, and you can purchase the music in the book Da sangs at ah'll sing tae de from local music shop High Level Music.  At this time of the summer the scent of flowers is strong, heather with its sweet smell in particular. The scent will always remind me of the Shetland sunshine wherever I am in the world.

Scents are amazing things for jogging the memory. The smell of sweet peas takes me back to my garden in Africa where I grew the flowers for the house, and roses always remind me of childhood days spent roaming the garden of our friend's farm where the roses were a pride and joy. So imagine how happy I am to have found a podcast all about the sense of smell! Easily downloadable on the iPad through the Podcasts icon, Life in Scents promises many happy hours of listening.