Mommie Soph, Ellen and I were sitting in the den one evening. Maybe Mom and Bessie were in the kitchen or dinning room? And while in the den we were joined by a bat. Ellen and I bailed out and slammed the den door shut (with Mommie Soph remaining, calmly inside the den to keep the bat company… I suppose). That is one of the few times (maybe the only time) that I can remember that den door being closed.
In that corner behind the door (when it was opened) became a secret place. And I have been trying to recall its “contents”. I think it was one of the locations for HI-FI speaker (the other for sure was in the dinning room). And then I think it was home to one of Mom’s dried plant arrangements. Mom’s plants of choice were pussy willow and eucalyptus. And there may have been other locations where these plants were on display.
If we put the kitchen “fragrances” aside… and also the smell of cigarette smoke – I think the smell I remember most from 25 Alston Ave was the smell of eucalyptus. There was a dustiness to the green shade of the leaves that seemed to carry perfectly to the dusty scent.