Have A Seat Please

This is a bit daggy but I thought it was worth a mention...

well life is about the ordinary sometimes and it can't all be holidays and pretty things...

Our dining setting is almost puritan it's so functional and there are no soft seat cushions, just good old solid timber. The table is over hundred years old and the chairs at least seventy so they have served well many generations. It's easy to overlook basic maintenance on such forgiving timber colour but every now and then I give them a good going over with the enjo cloth and wipe down thoroughly, especially where hands have been pulling them out and pulling them in. It's amazing how much grime accumulates right under our nose. A couple need a hammer punch on some nails and check that the leg rails are in good order as these help to brace the chair making them strong. A chair that has come apart and been repaired is often a shadow of it's former self so keep them maintained before they get to that stage. Check the bottoms of the legs too, do the felt pads/discs on the bottom need replacing? If you have hardwood floors, these inexpensive pads protect the flooring and make moving the chairs quieter and easier.

Next you'll probably notice some cobwebs and a few daddy-long-legs running for cover. Wipe the underside clean from debris and give a mist with the clove oil and water and wipe over. Just a mist will do and will deter the spiders for a while. You can read more about clove oil here.

Now if you have upholstered seats I don't envy you, you have an extra cleaning step and will need to follow whatever procedure is recommended for your fabric and stain appropriate. Remember a good rule of thumb for an unidentifiable stain is to start with cold water so as not to set any proteins and then go from there. Good luck.

Now excuse me, the chairs are up and I have floors to wash. 

Clove Oil and Toothache

I'm sharing a rainy day picture with you because;

a) it's raining

and

b) the inside of someone's mouth is not the most elegant or attractive sharing experience

Craig complained of a toothache last week and asked me to make an appointment for him but you guessed it, a weeks wait.

I had a look and it seems he has a piece broken off one of his back molars.

By the time Craig says something, you know he is in agony as he has a very high threshold for pain.

He has taken some paracetamol but applying some clove oil with a cotton bud has been very helpful. It has anaesthetised the area and probably helped in an anti-bacterial way too.

I wouldn't advise using this remedy instead of going to a dentist because pain is the body's way of saying there is something wrong and it could be any number of things but as a remedy to help you get through the wait period till an appointment it's a big help.

I'm a big fan of clove oil for cleaning mould and killing spores and deterring spiders and insects. You can also add toothache remedy to the list too.  

We are getting some lovely rain today, just right for the seedlings and much needed.

Big smiles all round.

Oil of Cloves

The mould was out of control in the bedroom.

I couldn't see it but I could smell it.

And it was giving me allergic asthma every night.

So today I pulled everything out of the built in cupboards, sorted a pile for the op shop and swept out a few cobwebs.

Lots of homeless Daddy Long Legs tonight.

All the surfaces got a spray with my oil of cloves mixture.

It is 1.25ml of clove bud oil in one litre of water into a spray bottle.

It can be purchased at many chemists ( I purchased mine from Gould's Naturopathy in Hobart $15.50 for 50ml). This is enough for half a lifetime of use as it is very powerful stuff but you are also getting the idea how thrifty this cleaning is too.

Mould grows in nice damp conditions and from spores. The beauty of oil of cloves is that it kills the spores giving a longer lasting and more effective clean.

I got onto this method from Shannon Lush and I cannot recommend her books "Spotless" and "Stainless" enough.

Oil of Cloves also kills moss and lichen and is an insect repellent against many hard shelled insects like silverfish. You have probably already heard that it is also a good remedy for toothache acting like a local anaesthetic in the mouth.

I lightly misted the interior of the cupboards and allowed to dry with plenty of fresh air and sunshine pouring into the bedroom today.

Then everything was stacked neatly back in ensuring that there was adequate room around piles for air flow.

The ports (you probably call them suitcases in your neck of the woods) were also sprayed and put in the sunshine and I gave the window frames and sills a really good wipe down too as this is where that black mouldy line can also be seen from condensation wet windows over winter.

It all feels much fresher and I should breathe easier tonight.

Oil of cloves is also effective on mould on tile grout, mildewed blinds, sailing canvases, in fact anywhere you find mould.

Another tip from Shannon's book "Stainless" for moisture in cupboards is to tie a bundle of six sticks of ordinary white school chalk and hang it in the cupboard. Once it has become quite wet from absorbing moisture, hang it on the clothesline in the sun till dry again and then back into the cupboard. 

As Shannon says, "20 cents for life vs. $180.00 for 12 months using an equivalent commercial preparation"