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.

I would like to thank Rhonda Jean for her inspiring blog, Down to Earth.  As many of you are aware she has readers from all over the world but I feel particularly blessed as we live in the same general area and therefore her posts regarding the use of seasonal produce strike a familiar chord for me.  When I needed a recipe to make rosella cordial I did not search my recipe books or online via Google but straight to the Down to Earth blog.  I was not disappointed as I found an entry from 2007 for making your own fruit cordial.  You can find several recipes for Fruit Cordial there.

I made rosella jam a few years ago with fruit I bought from a farmgate stall but this year we grew our own.  Rosellas, (part of the hibiscus family) are easy to grow and appear to have to no pests.  They do require a growing season of 5 months so need to be planted early in the summer and are best suited to the warmer areas of Australia.

There is only so much jam you can eat so I am constantly looking for alternate ways to use the fruit we grow and cordials seem the perfect option.

I increased the quantities in the recipe as I had 5 cups of chopped calyces to use and here is the result.  I ended up with about 1.6 litres.  It will make a special festive occasion drink when mixed with the soda water we make using the Soda Stream soft drink maker.

Finally, I saved the residue after straining the syrup.  It is frozen and I am going to mix it with stewed apples to make Apple & Rosella Crumble.  I will let you know how it goes.