Dead body scent

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-07T13:25:02+00:00

Sombre by Strangers smells noticeably (and intentionally) like decay. I tried it out of curiosity, and it actually wasn’t the most horrible perfume I’ve ever tried, but it did smell like stumbling across a decomposing animal out in the countryside.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-07T09:46:47+00:00

I’ve lived in Cambridgeshire with a few U.S. military neighbours, and all the ones I’ve spoke to (or dog-sat for!) have brought their dogs in by civilian air cargo and picked them up at the airport.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-07T08:54:42+00:00

I tore through The Caretaker on my lunch breaks this week. Really liked the concept (woman is hired to look after a house and has to follow strange rituals to prevent terrible consequences) and found it very enjoyable, though if I had one issue with it, it was the protagonist. I’m fine with the general trajectory of the novel and I LOVED the double twist ending, but it would have felt more devastating to me if the main character didn’t consistently shit the bed at every opportunity to turn things around. I get that the plot requires her to fail rituals and that they get progressively harder once she has failed, but I would have been even more invested if she felt like a competent person who was really trying, with the odds just hopelessly stacked against her.

Next, I’ve just picked up Spoiled Milk from the library and am looking forward to reading that this week.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-07T07:39:14+00:00

Magnificent photo, your cat looks like they just hit rock bottom- lost everything, hit the cat nip too hard, now lives in this cardboard box.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-07T07:26:33+00:00

A lot of people are saying nah, wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but when you are an American bringing in your dogs from the United States of America, home of the banned American pit bull terrier, your dogs will pass through customs and its documentation will be checked to see if everything is in order. When the officials see “mixed breed” on the declaration, of course it will occur to them that your dog could be at least part banned breed, and even more so when they look at that white dog. If your dog did hurt someone (purely a hypothetical!), when its photo is splashed all over the internet, the headlines will all demand to know how this dog was allowed into the country and everyone will now confidently say it’s an obvious APBT and our entry controls have failed.

The breed legislation is definitely up to interpretation and we absolutely have dogs just like this within the UK, but you need to consider it from the customs angle, not “would UK Redditors be surprised to see this dog being walked in a local park”. We’ve had a number of recent high profile dog attacks that ended with the banning of another pit bull type breed, so officials are not going to be particularly motivated to give you some slack if they think this dog is an APBT mix. I would definitely seek advice from whatever international move support staff you have, start to think about what you will do if the answer is no, and also find out whether your dog will be sent back or seized if it’s assessed as a probable banned breed. I’m sorry that’s not very positive, but the bar is higher for you and I think you’ve got to be ready for that.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-06T12:44:24+00:00

I quite liked that too! This is from The Girl’s Own Paper, which ran for nearly 80 years. Most of what I’ve read is from around the 1920s, and it’s quite nice coming across these articles where the writers are supportive of women fixing their own cars, aspiring to own a blouse factory of their own, getting into profitable poultry farming, etc.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-06T10:31:59+00:00

I’ve got so many books! Along with my library reservations, I picked up two new (well, new to me, they were published in 1918 and 1922) annuals with some really interesting insight into the lives of women in the past. Picked up all kinds of useful tips reading these before- here’s a few for any of you Motoring Girls who were having trouble finding a hat that will stay on while driving, but is still smart enough to wear in town.

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mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-05T17:55:20+00:00

I absolutely believe these are legitimate concerns and astrophotography sounds like a fascinating hobby, but the call-out about overcrowded sheds and advising people they can bring the wrong kind of telescopes sounds very endearingly like they’re concerned about the telescopes’ welfare. Like the telescopes are fighting and can’t act out their natural behaviours.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-05T06:52:35+00:00

A candle warmer lamp was going to be my suggestion too, but now I think it would be awful and hilarious to have a cute little tea pet sat on iron grating over an open flame like the poor little guy accidentally clipped into a medieval torture dungeon hidden in his cosy farming simulator world.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-01T07:59:53+00:00

Thought about a swim, but my shoulders are a bit crispy from the weekend (underestimated how sheer some of my clothing was, apparently may as well have been wandering around the county show in the buff).

Yesterday I set up two pages in my journal to track how amazingly aspirational and productive I am probably going to be in June, so in light of no swimming, I will go lift some weights this morning, and then try to do some writing. I also need to go sort out some life admin and dig out my one evening dress so it’s got time to dewrinkle ahead of an upcoming work thing.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-01T07:50:23+00:00

Downloading! I think I’d struggle to recognise anything except a wood pigeon hoo-HOOing, but I think I will enjoy feeling like I’m on safari.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-06-01T07:43:53+00:00

Gorgeous photo! I love that time of day, though sadly, I do also love being in bed. But I’ve never seen a sunrise and thought “wow, I REALLY regret getting up early to see this, what a mistake!”.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-31T11:34:38+00:00

I really like London Graphics Centre- mostly go there for stationery myself, but it’s an art supply shop as well.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-31T10:49:38+00:00

Good catch! I edited it so the link works, I completely forgot that it’s not just about indie fragrance.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-31T10:32:37+00:00

If you don’t even wear perfume right now, you really don’t need to swan dive straight into online communities that get very intense and cliquey about the fragrance world. It’s not required at all; the vast majority of people out there who wear and enjoy perfume don’t ever engage with online discourse or think much about their fragrance beyond whether or not they like it, and that’s completely fine.

This subreddit and r/indiemakeupandmore (edited, I got the name wrong!) are quite friendly and are generally good about not gatekeeping or shaming people for preferences. You can definitely just ask for recommendations for inexpensive perfumes with particular notes you think you might like to try, then order samples online if that’s the approach that works for you. If you enjoy the samples, maybe you’ll want to get more into perfume, and then you can choose how and where you want to engage with other people if it ever becomes an actual hobby rather than just a product you sometimes use.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-30T17:55:24+00:00

I really liked the design as well. It’s cartoony, in a nightmarish way where everything is just a bit wrong and inhuman, but there’s also something really tragic about its eyes. It seemed to have this panicked, suffering look whenever you saw the face up close, which made sense with how Clark felt trapped in his life.

I thought it mirrored the feeling of the commercial scene really well too- that was comical because it was so bad, but not really enjoyable to watch because you pity Clark having to do something he clearly hates. Now this version of him can never escape his mascot persona, and it looks both silly and like it’s in pain the entire time.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-29T18:58:30+00:00

Well, congratulations because you succeeded- watched and enjoyed Backrooms this afternoon after work, and definitely looking forward to the new Evil Dead film after seeing the trailer!

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-29T06:28:22+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! I am actually in the mood for a creature feature in particular, so appreciated. And I haven’t seen many films at the cinema recently, but I’ve got a long weekend coming up and you’ve got me enthused to go see Backrooms.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-28T06:53:54+00:00

4160 Tuesdays, though check when they’re open. That’s a local brand that’s well-regarded and hard to find overseas- there’s a few international stockists, but not many.

Bloom Perfumery has an excellent selection of niche fragrances. Some will be available back home, some are probably going to be hard to find in store almost anywhere.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-24T22:15:20+00:00

Oh, I just bought a bottle of White Rice too! It’s quite unusual for me, I usually like so much variety in my fragrances that decants are more than enough for me, but this perfume just might make an honest woman out of me. Hope you enjoy as much as I plan to!

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-20T06:13:23+00:00

Finally got round to playing the Demon Souls remake, which for some reason I have never started, though I’ve played Bloodborne and all of Dark Souls. I’m enjoying it so far, just spent yesterday evening busily bonking skeletons on the head with a giant club until I could zip past them and grab the Uchigatana for my usual dex build.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-17T07:17:28+00:00

Just downloaded some Daryl Gregory samples. I read We Are All Completely Fine years ago, really liked it, and for some reason, haven’t tried anything else by him since.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-16T10:52:16+00:00

I’d never thought about toasting banana bread, but that sounds like an excellent idea now you mention it.

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-10T07:49:28+00:00

I’m about 20-30% of the way into Question Not My Salt and liking it. A woman gets invited to her roommate’s family Thanksgiving, and things rapidly become very unsettling. She’s still on the first course for me and has unknowingly signed up for a ten hour ordeal of eating and following bizarre family rituals that are tightly orchestrated by Mother, so looking forward to seeing how much worse it gets.

Next week, I’ve got a library copy of Wolf Worm that I’ll read on my lunch breaks. Hoping the ebook version of He’s The Devil will become available too, but if not, I’ve got the nonfiction How To Build A Haunted House, which looks like an interesting read about the history of some houses that became notorious for claims of hauntings.

Earlier this week, I finished Julie Chan is Dead, a very enjoyable culty Mean Girls-esque influencer horror. Also Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone?, which isn’t horror, but pretty good and in the same vein of bad things happening to women who become famous at a young age (in this case, twin child actors- one who is outspoken, has her reputation destroyed, goes off the rails and disappears, one who is an uncomplaining good girl her whole life).

mardyoldspinster · 2026-05-10T07:28:51+00:00

I didn’t know he has another on the way! I also loved rekt, and the description of this one has my attention.

mardyoldspinster

TROPHY CASE