What Makes Your House Stink?

     Does your house stink? Are there odorous odors plaguing you from all directions?  I can personally answer yes to both, but whether you answer yes to them or not, the recipe in this story is for you.
     You see, not only do we have a cat box (and an old three legged cat that can't quite seem to get situated in the cat box correctly), farm boots, and boys that purposely make the most disgusting smells, we also have well water that has a distinct odor of sulfur. In fact, our whole area deals with it...the water smell, not the boy smells (I don't think).
     We have a water system in the cellar that filters out the nasty smell of the water.  It works well, unless the motor breaks, and we have to save up for another.  I was so excited when the day came to order the part...even more so when the part got here.  I ever so carefully unwrapped it from the box, skimmed over the directions for replacement in three languages I couldn't read before settling on the ones in English, and then set to my task.  No, Hon wasn't home to help me. Yes, I suppose it would have been better if he had been...but then again, he wouldn't have bothered with the directions.
     So, lets skip to the part about the water pump being turned back on, shall we?  I successfully put everything together where it was supposed to go, hooked it all back up, turned on the water to the house, and also turned on the new motor.  It started right up, I was happy to finally be able to banish the sulfur smell in the house. I cleaned up the mess I made and headed upstairs, not a care in the world.
     Well, I should have thought to check on my handy work a little later instead of just basking in my world of happy.  As I was enjoying reading my book, Hon went down to the cellar. He didn't come back up, but some words did come wafting up the stairs, some about being kind of, hmmmmm...shall I say wet...over near the water filter. I went downstairs to ask what was the matter, fending ignorance. "Why Hon, I just don't know what could have happened..." "I didn't have any extra parts..." "Well, there was one part that flung into the air, but I'm sure I didn't put it in backwards..."  Yeah, focus on that last comment. That'd be the one.
     After waiting for that particular area of the cellar to dry better (thank you floor drain and dehumidifier), I set to the task of taking apart what I had put together, finding that part I was sure had been put back in correctly, and put everything back together...the right way. Surely you don't doubt me.  I cleaned up my mess again, turned on the water, turned on the water filter, and PRESTO, success.  Of course, I couldn't help but take many walks down into the cellar to eyeball my project to make sure there wasn't anything crazy going on (like the filter working backwards again).  Nope.  Perfect.
     So, now back to those odors...  I'm no longer dealing with the sulfur smell, although if I could open the windows I would be happier.  I do, however, still deal with an an old cat I dearly love, barn boots, and three boys that make enough odors on purpose that have driven me to the barn at times.  What do I do to make our home smell nice for the holidays? Put the boys out in the barn you say? Well, I suppose that's an option, but it hasn't gotten to that point yet...although it may come to that after several incidents in the van.  
     What I do is make a nice smelling natural air freshener.  I got this idea from my friend, Lois, earlier this month at a Christmas party, and it works quite well. She gave everyone a baggie full of the ingredients we needed - a very useful and thoughtful gift.  This is what you do ~ Buy four things (some you may already have): oranges, cranberries, whole cloves, and cinnamon sticks.  You'll also need a small sauce pot and water.  Next thing you'll do is peel the orange, saving the peels for the pot (eat the orange, though, it's good for you).  Then you'll grab a handful of the cranberries and put them in the pot with the peels.  After that goes in a small piece of cinnamon stick, and some cloves.  Fill your pot up about half-way, place it on the stove top, and turn it on to a medium setting until the water heats up.  Caution ~ the cranberry skins may "pop" open as the water heats. After the water is hot, turn the stove setting down to a low setting.  That's it...just keep an eye on the water level.  You don't want your pot to dry up, which would be the opposite of what happened in the cellar.
     Here's another neat thing about this air freshener...when you're finished with it, put it in the refrigerator to use again tomorrow.  That's what I did. I took it back out the next day, added some more water, and set it back on the stove for more delicious holiday smells.  The smell wasn't as strong, but it was still nice.
     So, there you have it folks.  Water filter's fixed, although I still think there's lingering odor upstairs...from the sulfur, not the boys. My natural and fantastic smelling air freshener is happily heating on the stove top, and our kitchen is beginning to smell fantastic.  Thank you, Lois, for such an awesome idea!  Smiling & Waving, Sharon 

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