This is the last in my series of ‘organisation’ posts for this week.  Keep watching and you will find many more posts from time to time about organising in all of its guises.

Today I organised to make hot cross buns morning tea for my colleagues at work.  It took some planning as I put the dough on when I got home from work and it was almost 11pm by the time I took the finished product out of the oven.  The effort was worth it when I saw the looks on everyone’s faces when I arrived with a basket of fresh buns for morning tea.

My first attempt was a week ago from this recipe from Rhonda Jean, on the Down to Earth blog.  They worked well except that I put them too far apart and made them too large.  I also decided that we would like more spice in them.  I corrected all of these things with the batch I made last night (shown above) and they disappeared quickly at work.  I glazed them but did not do the crosses, however the ones I will make next weekend for the family will have crosses.

I rectified the problem of the buns spreading on the tray by putting the pieces of dough closer together and using high-sided cake tins.  In fact, some fused together and it was a simple matter of pulling them apart once they were baked.

This time I actually ended up with 21 buns and they were just a nice size to have with a cup of tea or coffee.

I now know that I will not be buying hot cross buns in the future.  Try the recipe and see what you think.

The Duke makes all of our bread using the breadmaker.  I have previously used it successfully to make pizza dough.I must admit that my hot cross buns have given me renewed confidence to try making the dough for other rolls and specialty breads in the breadmaker.

What do you make in the breadmaker?

How many times have we heard that time management is the key?  I believe that statement is so true.

Organisation is not all about putting things in boxes/shelves or spending hours labelling and colour-co-ordinating our stuff.

Managing or organising our time is just as important, if not more so.  Many years ago, when I was a stay-at-home Mum, I remember telling The Duke that if I didn’t get things done by 9am they did not get done.  What I was saying was that I am a morning person and I am much more likely to effectively achieve my goals if I start early in the morning.  I also know that lists are my best friend.  I write shopping lists, lists of jobs I need to get done when I get home, lists of phone calls I need to make, lists of gift suggestions, menu plans and so on.  I could probably make a list of my lists 🙂

I frequently surprise myself at just how much I can achieve.  For instance, I may put rice on to cook in the microwave for 18 minutes and in that time I can take a load of washing off the line and fold it, hang out another load and come back and the rice is still not finished cooking.

I have been writing this while I have dough for hot cross buns mixing in the breadmaker.  It is nearly finished so I will go and turn the oven on to warm as they need to rise for another half hour before baking.  I also need to empty the compost and wash the dishes.

I am taking the buns to work tomorrow to share for morning tea.  I will take a photo of them when they are out of the oven and show you tomorrow.

So, what are your best tips for organising your time?

Here are the photos of my organised laundry cupboard.  Not all of my house is like this – far from it, but this is how I would like it all.

Racks inside one door hold washing liquid, pre-wash spray and soak, mixing container, bar of soap and a portable hanger.

Rack to hang brooms and long-handled dustpan and brush.

On the other side are hooks and a cord to hang feather duster, brush, extension cord, bag of mini vacuum accessories and hangers for drying knitwear.

Also, 2 dispensers of recycled plastic bags – one is freezer bag size, the other has supermarket carry bag ones.  The vacuum cleaner lives on the floor on this side of the cupboard.

On the other side there are 2 shelves – top shelf has batteries, light bulbs, cleaning cloths and cleaning vinegar.  Lower shelf is cleaning products, shopping bags and tulle bags for fruit and veg shopping.

Finally, the laundry basket.  After all, it is a laundry.  This basket once had a hinged lid which eventually broke and it had a fabric lining which was fixed.  The lining became worn and discoloured so I removed it and made a removable lining from an old sheet.  I periodically take it out and air the lining and it goes in the wash occasionally.

I do have some other storage in the laundry.  There is a high cupboard above this one where The Duke keeps his home brew kit and spare bottles.  On the other side there is a bench with cupboards underneath.  These hold a couple of buckets as well as the cat food.  The cupboard under the sink has rags and the box of shoe-cleaning gear.

How much storage do you have in your laundry and what do you keep there?

There has not been too much organisation here today.  I had hoped to show you my organised laundry but I am unable to upload the phots (long story) so that will have to wait for tomorrow.

I did spend some time re-organising the look of the blog.  It is not finished and may change again yet. I also did the usual preparations (kitchen tidied,lunches made and clothes planned) so that the morning routine will be smooth.

Keep an eye out for the laundry photos.

Did the title grab your attention?  I wonder if anyone can guess what this post is really about?

Clove oil – that’s right, clove oil!  I bought some clove oil recently to clean the mould and when I first opened the bottle the smell triggered memories of apples stewed with whole cloves, however my friend was immediately reminded of the dentist’s surgery.  It is funny how strong the memories are, of associations with particular odours.

Since moving to Maleny I have struggled with the eternal problem of mould.  Living in a high rainfall area has a few downsides and the biggest one, in my opinion, is mould.  The last two years have been the worst due to the very wet weather we have experienced.  Mould grows on clothes, shoes, furniture, walls, doors, ceilings, light switches – is fact anything that does not move is a fair target.  I am sure it would grow on me if I stood still for long enough.  A couple of years ago we bought a dehumidifier from Moisture Cure.  We bought the LDH520 model.  It is works well but since you need to have all of the doors and windows closed the applications are limited.

I had heard that clove oil was the best thing to get rid of mould but was not sure how to apply it.  I was in despair at the state of the ceiling and cornices in the kitchen and living rooms, and they were only painted about 12 months ago!  A colleague at work had done all of the research and found that the best way to buy clove oil was from Aroma Fizz.  We bought 1 litre for $350 and divided the quantity among several of us.  I got 200ml and have been busy cleaning the ceiling in the kitchen – I cannot believe the difference.  Since the clove oil actually kills the spores I am hoping that we will have much less of a problem in the future.

Has anyone got any experiences of recurring mould after using clove oil?

A couple of weeks ago, in my post titled ‘Silent Green Giants’ I mentioned that we had our 3.7kW PV solar system installed in November.  Well, we finally got our bill today and in the 81 days since it was connected to the grid on 9th December we have completely covered the cost of our power bill AND have $181.00 credit.  This has been achieved during one of the wettest, cloudiest periods we have experienced in many years.  In fact we recorded 970mm of rain in January alone.  We probably had no more than about 5 seriously full sunny days in the whole time so we are very pleased with the credit in the light of the inclement conditions.  Here’s hoping for some fine weather in the next few months.

Our dinner tonight at ‘Rhubarb Rhubarb’ was very special and most enjoyable.  I would definitely recommend the restaurant to anyone looking for a meal that is a bit special.  They definitely concentrate on the food and leave the drinks selection to the patrons as it is completely BYO.

Today is a special day – it is our 32nd wedding anniversary.  While every day is special it is nice to set some time aside to celebrate.  We had dinner together at home this evening.  I was able to spend a little extra time on the preparation as I had been working from home today.  We had a simple meal of grilled salmon and vegetables.  The Duke enjoyed a glass of wine and I tried my rosella cordial which I made last weekend.  It was delicious with some soda water.

Tomorrow we are going out to dinner at Rhubarb, Rhubarb, a boutique French restaurant at Wooloowin in Brisbane.  We have driven past it several times and had good recommendations from friends so now it is time to try it for ourselves.

Today I have made a start on booking for our holiday in May.  We are staying at Wilpena Resort in the Flinders Ranges for 2 nights and taking a flight over Lake Eyre.  I hope to get the rest of the accommodation arranged over the next few days.

There has not been much organisation happening around here the past few days while I have been at work.  Nevertheless, I have been planning what needs doing and writing interminable lists.  Tomorrow I will be doing some work from home, going to the physio and then hopefully cross some things off my ‘To Do’ lists.  I will share some more tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I am looking for some help.  For a number of years I have tossed around the idea of purchasing a food dehydrator and am wondering if anyone has any experience with them.  Please share brands, prices and experiences (good and bad).

I have a head cold so not thinking too straight this evening.  An early night is in order I think and tomorrow I need to make a foray into the garden and hopefully find some lemons for hot lemon and honey drink.