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: Simmer Pot

Simmer pots are something I like to get going in winter.  In Sydney it can be incredibly dry (yes, there is a torrential downpour outside right now which has been going since November, but it CAN be dry, especially when El Nino pays a visit, rather than his sister La Nina) and simmer pots are a good way to humidify the air.

I've got the instructions for stove-top simmer pots below, but I usually leave mine sitting on the wood-burning stove.

Basically as simmer pot is a pot of water on the stove, into which you place lovely smelly things.

Lovely smelly things:
Lavender, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, star anise

 Place smelly things into a saucepan of boiling water (spot my obvious mistake)

It didn't make much of a difference

Bring water to a boil then reduce to a very low simmer, smell will permeate house beautifully.

Replenish water regularly - it stinks if it boils dry (don't ask how I know that). And if you leave it on your wood-burning stove for an extended period without boiling it might begin to ferment (don't ask how I know that either).

Making lovely smells

The smell lingers for a couple of days, and is wonderful for making the house feel warm, welcoming and content.

Good recipes include...

Recipe #1
Cinnamon sticks
Apple peels
Orange rinds
Whole cloves

Recipe #2
Peel from 1 lemon
Peel from 1 orange
2 bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 Tablespoons whole cloves

Recipe #3
A few drops vanilla
Orange peels

Recipe #4 (the one I used)
1 cup dried lavender
1 tsp anise
1 Tablespoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
1 Cinnamon stick

Recipe #5
5 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon

Of course, if this all seems horribly wasteful to you, make a batch of Mulled Wine - it smells sensational too :)

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 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.