Smells: Not so Lovely ones AND Lovely ones - A Summary

Links to all my Lovely Smells posts are below :)

Three things make a house smell off...

1. Last night's unwashed cooking paraphernalia
2. Un-emptied rubbish bins
3. Dogs

I could add... hubs shoes/feet, children, fermenting cups of tea, poo, aging undiscovered pet/infant wee, drain issues, rotting potatoes in the potato drawer, spew, other pets, carpets from 1973, old glasses of wine, etc... but they are all specific to my house.

One thing I'm pernickity about is getting the dishes done after dinner (and as anyone who reads this blog knows, mostly I should get an award for housewifely-slackarsery).  There is nothing more depressing, first thing in the morning, than to be faced with a congealed, stinking sink-ful of pots and pans.  Its a drag and I hate it, especially when the Screamies are finally settled and all I want to do is slump on the couch, but I do it (or persuade hubs to do it :)).

If you have a small rubbish bin (for kitchen waste etc) then you have to empty it more often and it doesn't get smelly.  A friend of mine had a huge bin that didn't get emptied except on bin-day, one very hot summer day she spied maggots crawling out of it. Shudder.

Dog smell seeps into everything.  I've found two solutions.  

• Wash the dog (or have him washed - that's what I do. The cost is about $40 a month, more if he is clipped, and I see that as part of the cost of dog ownership.  I do also bath him inbetween-times, but he loathes the hair-dryer so I only do it if the weather is nice).
• Glen-20 (mysteriously called Oust for a while, but now back to Glen-20).  I hate squirting chemicals around the house, but in this case, its the lesser of two evils.  Its also a disinfectant.

Making the house smell lovely can be quick and easy.  My first post is HERE. But for a quick summary...

• Open windows and doors - air the place out
• Aromatherapy (I've got a series on aromatherapy and essential oils on its way)
• Use an oil burner (I have both an electric one and a tea-light one which uses a candle, though these days you can steam ones and ultrasonic ones!)
• My favourite smells include 
• Lavender
• Tea Tree
• Eucalyptus
• Any citrus based oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit)
• My fave combination is Lime, Frankincense and Lavender
• Incense
• These days there is a dizzying array of different types of incense, my favourite at the moment is a Lemon Myrtle one
• Scented candles
• Ones with essential oils in them are the best, but also cripplingly expensive
• Brew some coffee
• My husband loves this option
• Coffee smell is very overpowering (which is why they get you to sniff coffee beans in perfume shops in between smelling perfumes. The coffee overpowers your scent receptors and you can smell the next perfume better) it is therefore very good at temporarily hiding smells
• Stick the bread-maker on

Other, slightly more time-consuming smell solutions include

• Bake a cake
• Air-freshener bowls
• Simmer pots

I've so enjoyed writing about lovely smells :)  Thanks everyone for reading. I'm planning posts on aromatherapy and putting good smells into your house using home made cleaning products.  Coming soon :)

Lovely Smells: Bake (+ Easy Cake recipe)

Sure-fire way to make your husband/wife/children love you more, and visitors think you are a stellar housewife - have something baking when they walk in the door!

If you have a breadmaker, then this is the easiest way to make this happen.  Even the lovely yeasty smell as it rises wafts about a bit.

Bake a cake.

Yes a bit more time and effort, but have a crack at Froogs instant sponge cake, and you'll see that it can be quicker than you think.  Certainly as quick as heading up to the supermarket to buy a packet mix and then coming home and cooking it.

It looks a lot like Mt Fuji, this one

For this one, which is a direct knock-off of Froogs one, (and excuse the state of the cake, I will not be baking anything that looks remotely polished until I get a new oven. Mine has two temperatures. cremating and off) I used...

250g Eggs (4x large ones, 5x the ones my chooks lay)
250g Self raising flour
250g sugar
250g butter/marg

If you want chocolate add 30g (2x heaped tbsp) cocoa
If you want vanilla add a few drops of vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together.  I use my mixer (my hand-held blender isn't strong enough for the batter)
Divide between two cake tins (greased/floured, or lined with greaseproof, whichever floats your boat)
Bake - Froogs says 30 mins, mine took about 25 in the Cremator - its ready when you stab it in the heart and your implement of stabbiness comes out clean)
Cool (as in let the temperature drop, although, though it could mean AWESOME you just baked a cake, or you've been watching the Fonz on Happy Days too much, you choose.)

Now for my favourite bit...

Ice it with nutella in the middle, and sprinkle icing sugar on top.

That's it.

No annoying icing to mess up the kitchen further.  Hurrah.

We had no icing sugar the first time I cooked this one, so I just stuck it together with nutella. Worked perfectly though you could still see the burnty bits.

Lovely Smells: Air Freshener bowls

Shelley teacup: Harebell design, demitasse cup (half size) circa 1940

I've been using this recipe for years and you can find it in various states of decay in most rooms of my house.  I originally found it in a Jackie French book.

1 cup rock salt
1 cup dried mint leaves (from tea shops, or contents of 4x peppermint tea bags)
1 cup finely grated lemon rind (dried until rubbery) You can also use orange rind
1/2 cup cloves
1/2 cup crunched up cinnamon sticks

Mix ingredients together
Keep in small bowls in the toilet, spare room and other musty places
Smells lovely, and absorbs smells

From Chaos to Control: Part 2: The Laundry

Step 1. Airing out the House is complete

The next step in bringing a feral house under control is to get the washing on.

Even if you haven't got the time or the energy to do anything else, when you stick a load on you're making a dent in the whole horrible crap-heap.

Step 2. Get The Washing On

• Place a washing basket in a central area
• Toss every article of clothing that is on the floor into the basket
• When the basket is full empty it in the middle of the laundry floor
• Repeat until there are no more clothes on the floor - this may take a while if you are a parent to girls who have to change outfits every 14 seconds
• If you have trained your children/husband to actually use the laundry baskets in their rooms, empty them on the pile - you will be amazed what you will find at the bottom. Amazed. 
• Add in all the dirty towels and bathroom mats
• Forget the beds.  Do them another time. Nobody ever died of sleeping on dirty sheets (well, not at my house)
• Have a rest and contemplate your pile of dirty laundry. 
• Now is a good time to photograph it and post it on the internet (unless you phone has a flat battery, ahem), 
• Also to check facebook, twitter and your blog stats,
• Sip your tea. Microwave it if its gone cold
• Next, sort the whole heaving mess into colour coordinated piles.

My teeny weeny laundry

• Now wash the pile that has the most important things in it
• Your own clothes first - I always used to do mine last, and never had anything to wear 
• Then, whatever you need to get you through the following day - eg school uniforms, underpants...
• Go and have a sit down and watch Dr Phil.  You've earned it.  Also he might be talking about 'abandoned child reunited with siblings,' or 'tarty girls get called tarty,' both excellent daytime viewing.

Home Made Laundry Powder

• Home made laundry powder is excellent stuff
• A lot cheaper than commercial brands
• Easy to make
• I use two parts lux flakes, one part borax, one part washing soda (NOTE: I'm having a lot of trouble finding lux flakes these days)
• Down To Earth has loads of info
• If you are overwhelmed and the house is trashed, its likely you have neither time nor energy for making your own laundry powder. Save it for when you've got time, and use the bought stuff for now.  That's what I do.
• Certain loads always need a bit more oomph (like when the article has been soaked in bodily fluids and left in a knotted up plastic bag for a week).  I always keep OMO and napisan on hand for loads like that (also tongs).

The brilliant thing about the washing is that it takes time - so if you are busy with other stuff you can do a load now and then, and still feel like you're getting the house under control.

Use the dryer, or hang-out the wet stuff - whichever is easiest. Be virtuous and save electricity when the house is calm and you have the energy.  Now is the time to use the short cuts like the dryer.

Time taken: About an hour.

From Chaos to Control: Part 1: Introduction and Smells

Stressed out, over-whelmed, over everything, stacking on weight, exhausted, short tempered and my blood pressure is on the rise.

It does not take Einstein to figure out that maybe one or two things need to change in my life.  Sadly several of the things causing the most amount of stress are beyond my control, and not able to be changed. Living with a child with Aspergers, for example.

But, a lot of things can change, and I can also arrange things so that stressors have less of an impact.  Calm Cait reacts so much better than frazzled Cait to a no-holds-barred tantrum.

My house slips out of control on a regular basis.  The clutter creep is endlessly persistent, and it only takes a few days before a clean surface is chest high in dumped stuff.  I'm inside these four walls all day, every day, and the environment being so messy irritates me constantly.  It makes me feel overwhelmed, and it takes three times as long to find anything, which is exhausting and frustrating.

The first part of the journey from Chaos to Control is getting the house in order. This is going to be no small task.  Especially as we are enduring foul foul weather so everyone is inside and messing it up the moment you get it tidy.

I begin with making the place smell better.  It really helps.

1. Smells

• Tea
• When tackling a job of epic proportions the first thing I do is make a cup of tea - true, today I couldn't actually get the kettle under the tap due to the pile in the sink, but I persisted and got a brew on.
• Tea will keep you hydrated, and give you a chance to stop and contemplate how far you've come.
• I recommend you don't put your nice hot cup next to an old half-full cup.   Just sayin.
• Open the doors and windows
• Stride around the house flinging open doors and windows.  Air the place out, banish the stale mustiness. Banish it, I say.
• Deodorise
• I use essential oils - get the burner out and get some good oils wafting around
• Lavender
• Tea Tree
• Eucalyptus
• Any citrus based oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit)
• My fave combination is Lime, Frankincense and Lavender

• Incense 
• Yes it makes the place smell like you've been smoking pot, but it keeps away flies and mozzies
• Glen 20
• I am not one for spraying chemicals about, BUT, we have a dog and we let him sit on the furniture - well, we forget to kick him off it.
• Glen 20 is awesome for getting rid of dog/cat/kid smells that may have seeped into your furnishings.  Its also a disinfectant.
• Air fresheners
• I don't use them, but there's heaps to choose from in the supermarket.  
• You can make some beautiful chemical free ones to squirt about - I occasionally do (emphasis on the occasionally).  I'll do a post on them next week.
• Scented candles
• Brew some coffee
• Stick the bread-maker on

Time taken: around 10 minutes.

So, it may seem like a weird way to start getting your house under control. Its always worked for me.  Cup of tea and freshen the place up.  Then you can get stuck into the rest of it.

(Let Them Eat) Cake Friday - brought to you by hubs

This Friday's Cake Friday offering is brought to you by my husband.  His first sponge, awwww.

No teasing

It tasted delicious, with lime curd filling - its called curd because its supposed to be full of curdled egg bits, right? right?

It did taste delicious

See, I even have proof that he cooked it...

Why yes, he is wearing scarlet underpants

Yesterday was the first day of the school holidays.  SIGH.  Very tired, very shouty children. By about 9am I had resigned from parenthood, only to be informed THERE IS NO WAY OUT and WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER.

HA.  Mowing the lawn for two hours with headphones and ear protectors on, is not being in anything together. Just sayin.

We were out of bread, so I ended up having one of those wholesomely domestic days where you cook everything from scratch, and then collapse in a heap clutching a hot water bottle to your lower back and whining a lot about your sciatica.

Morning tea was pikelets.

Ready to flip

Taa daa

Going

Going

Still going

Gone

Then lunch was bread rolls (or boulders - we could've used those babies for ships ballast)

The Devil's Marbles

And pumpkin soup - rather successful.

Orangy goodness

Afternoon tea was the pancake cake (see above)
Then scrambled eggs for dinner, with yoghurt (store bought - yes I AM ONLY HUMAN) for dessert.

Knackered. Gah.  Maccers tomorrow, or at least a chinese take-away - just to redress the balance. :)

I'm Not Sick, But I'm Not Well

I can't decide if I'm ill or not.

For the last week I've been impossibly tired, had a bit of a sniffle, but its refusing to turn into a cold or go away, my back has been kind-of twinging, but nothing that'd make me say I've Got A Sore Back. Throat a bit sore, but might just be too much yelling at the kids, head kind-of aching, but that could just be the x-rays beaming out of my laptop screen and into my eyes.

Universe, I'd like to be sick or not be sick. If I'm sick I'll go to bed, drink lemsip and get over it. If I'm not I'll to stop sneezing everywhere and feeling like I'm about to be sick.  Similarly, back, just aching when I'm driving the car and not aching when I'm slumped on the couch with my laptop setting my legs on fire, is so not acceptable. Just make up your mind already.  If you are going to go, then go, and I'll book the physio.

sigh.

Had a bread disaster this evening - out of nowhere.  Did everything right and used yeast (yes, within its use-by date) I haven't had any problems with.  Just ended up looking like this...

Looks like a brick, weighs as much as a brick, therefore it is a brick and not edible for anyone except hubby and the chickens.

So now we have no bread for lunches tomorrow.  FFS.  AND on a day when my home made bread was being noted and praised by Miss 4s teachers.
YES.
Oh hell yes.
I basked.
"Oh," I said, "I bake all my own bread." In my coolest 'its no biggie but I am, in fact, awesome,' tone of voice. And now they're going to turn up with pappy packet bread tomorrow.  Farking karma (or something).

I've been reading The American Frugal Housewife (its free online as part of the Gutenberg Project) and I'm afraid that Lydia Child (the author) would've been appalled, no make that APPALLED at my housewifely skills, and not only in the bread baking department.

Although, I have been unravelling a decrepit jumper and knitting it into dishcloths. (Look I don't know why, its just chux have always irked me. IRKED.  Actually most things irk me, but chux more than usual).  So maybe I'd be able to win Mrs Child over, well if she hadn't been dead for 130 years.  Anyway I'll do a post on my jumper unravellings when I finish a dishcloth that comes out rectangular, rather than oval, or, well, blob shaped. 

sigh.

Domestic Godessing

Spent the afternoon making Peach Brandy. See...

Yummy.

Actually it is. Have tested it numerous times.  First few times it made my right eye twitch a bit, but it's all good now.

And in case you were wondering what I get up to on a Saturday night...

Peeling nectarines, checking emails and working on latest manuscript. Yes a multi-tasking domestic goddess, me.

And then this morning I bottled them (the nectarines, not the manuscript, tempting though that thought is).

Looking forward to opening these up in the winter and making a crumble or having them warm with cream.  Well, if they don't give us botulism first.

Decided not to make the nectarines into jam as I arrived at mumndads yesterday to find dads had made about four tonnes of peach jam.

But, in retaliation I have made a significant amount of strawberry jam.

Of course the wretched wretched stuff isn't sodding setting. AGAIN. And NO I did not use jam-setter and YES I shall be starting again tomorrow with jam-setter.

But shhhh, don't mention it to Dads. K?

:)

Not admitting to anything

Here is the extent of my blogging over the weekend...

May have possibly overdone it on the wine and cheese last night.  Whilst I am in no way admitting anything to anyone, it is 2pm and I'm lying in bed with a splitting headache and plotting ways to kill the door neighbour who is chainsawing something Very Loudly outside the window.  Maybe its his fucking yappy dog that old tree.

Oh GOD. shut up. shut up. shut up.

There are people in my life who are a Very Bad Influence who refuse to realise that I can't drink like I did when I was 19 and had a liver.

After this I may possibly have passed out had a nap for several hours.

Ahem. Yes, classy.

Aside from this I spent the weekend Christmas shopping and bought myself my Christmas present for this year.  Please feel free to mock / sympathise with / laugh at / envy my new steam mop.

In fact it has already produced a Christmas Miracle. Yes indeed. Our telly room no longer smells of cat/dog/child wee.  Its all been steamed away. JOY.

Now you're thinking it can't get any better than that.

Oh but it does.

NOT ONLY did I de-wee the telly room. BUT I ALSO discovered the source of our flea infestation (a couch) AND nuked the little buggers in a carcinogenic chemical onslaught.  So now, aside from a small sprinkling of dead or dying fleas falling off the dog onto any surface that shows them up nicely, we are flea free.

Domestic goddess me.

:)