Weekly Flylady Thread 16th September 2019

Valli

What is FLYLADY? Well, it's our version of the US flylady idea - but we work on the principle that housework is not fun, it's boring, can be time-consuming, is often thankless but, unfortunately, necessary. It's here on Old Style to provide the support we all need and to make the whole task easier and quicker. We also accept that, sometimes, life just gets on top of us and we can't keep up, maybe because we're time-poor, not in the best of health and/or we have littlies who need us. We are definitely NOT control freaks aiming for perfection and utterly spotless show-homes.
Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. You're more than welcome to join us in the everlasting battle against dust, grime and gibble. The aim of our thread is to make those onerous tasks less daunting, and to support each other - and to make time for the finer things in life!
Please do remember we have to abide by MSE rules; each post should, ideally, include some mention of flying.
Thank you Natty for last week's thread.
Please follow the forum rules on this thread as Flylady has been here a LONG time and is a fabulous support and resource for lots of us. All posts should have some Flylady-related (ooh a compound adjective) content!
The idea is that even if you are really busy you don't need to fall off the wagon!
Every room comes back around next week so please don’t stress about catching up
These lists are only suggestions and not a must do list; you are more than welcome to post and follow your own lists.
Also adding a declutter mission each day will help to gradually clear the clutter and make flying easier.
A few of the basics before we start the week
Hotspots are areas where if one thing gets put there, loads of other things follow!
Daily routines are anything you need to do on a daily basis like washing, swish and swipe kitchen and bathroom, ironing, making beds, vacuuming high traffic areas, making meals etc.
Night-time routines are all things which make getting ready in the morning easier, preparing clothes for the next day, making lunches, swish & swipes of the kitchen and tidying the living room before you go to bed plus personals like shower/brush teeth etc.
Fling Boogie - stick on some loud music, grab a bin bag and whiz around the house finding items that can go out with the rubbish, recycling, for charity shop, basically anything that will stop it cluttering your home.
Swish and swipe/S&S means have a quick wipe over an area such as a sink or toilet to prevent the build up of dirt. This is usually done on a daily basis

HHE/HHC/HHI Half Hour exercise/challenge/ironing ... run around for 30 minutes to the Benny Hill music frantically cleaning exercising or ironing.. .other music may be used if you prefer!
WM ~ Washing machine
TD ~ Tumble dryer
SC ~ Slowcooker
BM ~ Breadmaker
DW ~ Dishwasher
SOAADFA ~ Sit on 'bottom' and do 'nothing'
KH/XH/FW ~ Ex-husband and other not so polite versions
DH/DD/DS/DW/DP ~ Dear husband/daughter/son/wife/partner/whatever
OH/SO ~ Other half/significant other
NN ~ nice neighbour
Toxic (friend/mother/sister/whoever) ~ person in your life that seems to exist to make your life miserable
AF ~ Aunt Flo 'time of the month'.. nothing to do with flying but it comes up often.
ETA ~ Edited to add
Gibble ~ miscellaneous crap that appears forever homeless
Dot-to-dot ~ pick a small area (not a whole room) like a chair/coffee/table/shelf/worktop or wherever- that’s your first 'dot' - totally clear it - clean it - and only put back what should be there - deal with what you have removed (not just move it somewhere else) then if you have time move on and do the same to another 'dot' -the idea is just like a dot to dot puzzle, you aim to join up all the dots and have a tidy room. The trick is to keep each dot tidy until you get them all joined up! All credit to AnW's Mum for this one
RoD ~ Room of Doom, the one room that feels like it is a permanent pit and cannot be used to its potential!
MAD half hour
- Mad is the abbreviation for Make A Difference.
The idea is that you have a Forth bridge (ie never-ending - or just huge) task but that you work on it in half-hour bursts. This way you know you ARE stooping, and that you won't get it finished but you will make a difference - so it might be clearing out - the garage or shed, or clothes sorting, or weeding - you get the picture - but rather than keep going until you've lost the will to live you do half an hour...but, eventually those half hours will get the job done!

Mr S/A/T/M/L/Al - supermarkets Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi. You get the picture!!

Click here to read Toots wonderful welcome guide

ok Here goes this Week...

Manic Monday - Kitchen Kapers/Dining Room

Level 1

Clear sides and wipe down
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too
Wipe sill, sockets, door handles and switches
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish cloth or sponge and replace with a new one!

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clear WM and DW filters

Level 3

Pick a cupboard; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean windows


Extras
HHI
Mad Half Hour
Binbag dance
Start weaving freezer contents into meal plans - need to make some space for seasonal goodies - just over 3 months to go :eek:

Terrific Tuesday Bathroom Blitz

Level 1

Shine the sink and taps
Clean the loo inside and out - scrub under that rim
Slug some bleach down
Wipe the light pull switch (and any other pull switches)
Empty the bin - wash and dry outside
Rinse the loo brush and put it outside to dry in the sun - if it's grim add one to the shopping list!

Level 2

Clear the bath and clean it completely - check plughole is hair/gunk free
Clear the shower cubicle/screen
Fling towels, cleaning cloths, flannels and bathmats in the WM - on a HOT wash.
Bleach down the drain and overflow

Level 3

Wash the windows
Scrub the floor
Replace the towels etc
Wash out the toothbrush holder
Wash shower curtain
Wipe down any units
Polish all taps with a fluffy cloth
Dust sills, cupboards etc

Extras

S&S kitchen
MAD half hour
HHI

Wonderful Wednesday Living room

Level 1

Open windows
Empty out any rubbish
Clear and clean coffee table/side tables
Rehome anything which is out of place
Wipe coasters
Deal with any flowers/water & wipe plants

Level 2

Dust and polish any wooden furniture or just dust
Check corners for cobwebs/spiders and remove
Dust skirting boards
Wipe handles/sockets/switches
Dust electricals

Level 3

Lift chair/sofa cushions and vacuum under them
Wipe leather furniture/vacuum sofas
Dust lightfittings - and bulbs!
Dust skirting boards/dado rails etc
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor

extras
clean windows in lounge
HHI
Binbag fling - grab a bin bag, run around the house and fill it with gibble and CHUCK IT OUT
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom

Thrilling Thursday - the boudoir. Your space to re-charge and re-energise and find peace and tranquility

Level 1

Open windows w-i-d-e
Strip bed
Allow to air
Remake bed

level 2
Clear floordrobe and chairdrobe
Clean windows
Vacuum, sweep or mop floor
Empty bin
Put as much stuff as you can away - clear the clutter

Level 3
Dust all sides and shelves
With a just damp cloth wipe all your lotion and potion bottles, hairdryers (especially if you use product while blow drying) etc. and put all perfumes away in a drawer. The sun/heat will damage the contents.
Rinse the cloth and wipe sockets and switches
Polish mirrors
Vacuum/dust light fittings and lamps

Extras
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
HHI

Friday - final flying day of the week Halls, stairs, landing, porch


Level 1

Clear out the clutter
Whack the mats against a wall
Clean windows and mirrors

Level 2

Dust all horizontal surfaces
Wipe banisters, light switches and sticky finger traps
Sort shoes - assign shoe-cleaning duty to shoe owners. Do any need repairing? Throwing?

Level 3

Check high places and dark corners for webs
Open the door and clean/wipe the frame.
Sweep, mop and vacuum the floor - whichever's best for your flooring

Extras

Find a frog and start to nibble it and/or MAD half hour
S&S bathroom and kitchen
Check smoke and CO detectors are fully functional

Fayolle

First in? That’s a first.
Thank you for the threads, I don’t know where I’d be without them. I had a completed fridge turn out this afternoon and a bit of a veg batch cook, so something ticked off level 2. Another first.
Cheering you on, Badcat. What an end to your holiday.

ionafan

Well done BadCat and your DH :T:T
Hope you're feeling better now, Jazee, and had a good celebration with your family.
Glad your new job is going well, Jojo.

Thank you Valli, and thanks also to Natty for last week's lists. I think I shall be working mainly off my own lists for the next couple of weeks, but I will fit in with yours wherever I can.

Tomorrow I hope to find time to
- check finances, make sure I've got enough in my current account to pay for new wardrobe
- send DH off to his exercise session at the hospital gym, hopefully rather than sending him to A&E** [see note below]
- S&S kitchen
- S&S bathroom
- hoover through downstairs
- WMx1 at least, depending on the weather
- empty cupboards and drawers in the downstairs bedroom and find somewhere to store the contents (probably in plastic crates / boxes in the dining room)
- sort jigsaws and toys to be taken to the CS
- take down pictures and mirror
- carry DGCs' toys upstairs and store temporarily in my study
- strip the spare bed and wash the bedding (unused for sleeping but jumped on by two DGC who should know better than to test Granny's patience!)
- move the keyboard and stool into the LR
- find somewhere to store the thick music books and basket full of sheet music
- dismantle shelves and fill holes in wall
- take down curtains
- paint one wall
- plant some bulbs
- take Rosie for her walk
- have a meeting with a family in the early evening
- phone a friend
- advertise the old wardrobe for sale at a bargain price

**DH appears to be running a temperature this evening, so I must also keep an eye on him in case he's sickening for something again

Here's wishing everyone a good week.

[Deleted User]

Good very early morning all,

I have a pounding headache so have got up for tablets, water and a biscuit.

Thank you so much for the lists I am well and truly in this week. General rubbish day tomorrow and I intend to fill that bin to the top! So will do a Binbag dance before I go to work today. DW was on overnight, I'll put the WM on at a more respectable time :rotfl:

Badcat - cheering you on love that sounds awful.

Right I'm going to try and catch another hour before work. Have lovely days all xx

BadCat18

Hi all

I’m joining you on the early shift ASB also woke up with a headache so having tablets and a drink.

Thank you all for your support, much appreciated to have people cheering me on xx

I will need to start work early today, after 2 weeks away the emails will be :eek::eek: so want to get a head start on them. Kitchen was mostly done yesterday, this week I think I will be flying from my own list... so today

Paid stuff
Collect cats from cattery
Start phoning people for quotes
Collect stuff from launderette
WM x 2 if possible, first load is set on timer so should be ready to put on line in a couple of hours.
S/s bathroom
Banking check and money shuffle
DH will change our leftover holiday currency back and pay in to the house fund!
Go for a walk for some fresh air
Mow front lawn

Have a lovely day all, hugs to those in need x

Jazee

Morning all. Hope those with headaches feel better soon.

I had a great night out with the family but am oh so tired this morning. Today I have work and a rather vigorous activity to attend. Think I'll sleep well tonight.

Going to do a quick bit of admin, get my bag ready for the day then have breakfast.

Have a great day everyone.

[Deleted User]

I managed another hour in bed, got back up and AF had well and truly arrived. That explains the headache!

Right off to the coal face, have fab days all xx

Mademoiselle

Morning all,

I'm in this week as have only 4 days as family joining us in holiday house on Friday morning for a long weekend. So I need to get my act together.

Yesterday there was no flying here as we went to the beach for lunch with some good friends. Unplanned which made it even more fun and special.

Today am picking friend up at garage then going to work then maybe hospital visit to another friend.

Have got 30 minutes before I need to go out, I'm up showered, dressed. Bed's made and breakfast eaten so time for HHC. Sorry perhaps a bit early for you but I'm an hour ahead.

kazwookie

Morning


Thank you for all the lists.


So far
DW on
WM on, first load out on line, but it does look a bit overcast.
Whole house is hoovered, bagless thingy emptied
All bins done, rubbish out in collection bins
All toilets bleached
General sorting done


Off out volunteering


Back later.

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for lists.
Last week went ok flying wise, at uni Wed and Thurs. Friday began well with a run, got home and began sneezing, sore throat etc so blamed hay fever/dust. By the eve it had turned into hot/cold shivers so the weekend has been mainly bed and lemsip. I never used to get so many colds, and never such debilitating ones which is a mystery as I get loads of fresh air and fruit/veg. Germy students at uni?

Today I am determined to feel better and catch up; apart from needing to fly for it's own sake, next week Mr N, my brother and I are taking the motorbikes to France for a few days so I need to get organised.

Hope other sickies are feeling better.

redofromstart

Hello everyone, and thanks for the list Valli

I did a HHC at lunchtime (joys of mostly working from home) and sorted recycling, got some washing on, emptied and filled the DW and cleared some junk off worktops. Doesn't sound like a huge amount but it was several trips up the stairs.