Weekly Flylady Thread 11th November 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...

FLYLADY THREAD PICK'N'MIX

I'm not going to list the rooms by day, just by room but you are free to either do a whole room (all three levels) or mix up the levels across the week - so, for example, you might pick level 1 to do for all rooms. Just post what you HAVE achieved! Sharp-eyed flyladies will notice there are six lists...because YOU are picking and mixing. You might choose the worst room to really make a difference (and because you have the time) or the least minging because you're short of time.



Bathroom, Cloakroom, En suite

Level 1

Remove all rubbish (bin bag dance)
Clean windows
Dust all furnishings
Polish mirror, shower screen
Wipe shower cubicle out

Level 2

Clean loo - and bleach
Clean basin - don't forget to clean the underside of the plug
Wash toothbrush holders/toothmugs
Wipe loo roll holder

Level 3

Clean bath
Clean floor
Wipe door(s) down paying special attention to handles
Wipe pull switches
Check cabinets - wipe sticky shelves

Hall, Stairs and Landing

Level 1

Clear rubbish/binbag dance
Clean windows
Wipe all handles and stair rails/banisters
Wipe sockets and switches

Level 2

Dust skirtings
Attend to plants
Dust everywhere

Level 3

Sweep, mop, vacuum floors
Clean mats
Check outdoor/security lighting is fully functional
Check smoke alarms and CO monitors

Kitchen/dining room

Level 1

Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances
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
Clean microwave
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 , TD and DW filters

Level 3

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

Master Bedroom

Level 1

Open windows w-i-d-e unless it's persisting it down/freezing
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

Living room

Level 1

Open windows
Empty out any rubbish
Clear and clean coffee table/side tables
Recycle old newspapers and magazines
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

Kids room/spare room/guest room

Level one

Open widows
Strip bed (if needed)
Remove rubbish
Deal with flowers
Remake aired bed

Level 2

Clean window
Dust level surfaces
Check lighting functional

Level 3

Dust skirtings
Wipe mirrors
Vacuum floor

Daily little tasks that keep the whole house running smoothly

S&S kitchen (unless it's kitchen day)
S&S bathroom(s) (unless.. you get the idea)
HHI

Other key tasks

Pick and choose if/as necessary

Check smoke/CO detectors
If you're posting cards/gifts overseas check last posting dates.
Inventory freezer - use up what you can to make space.
Write your xmas grocery shopping list and start some advance buying.
Make sure drains/gutters aren't blocked with leaves.

Jazee

Thanks Valli, I'm in.

ionafan

Thank you Valli for the new list - and Natty for last week's.

I will do whatever flying I can this week. I cleaned downstairs and changed DH's bed on Saturday, DH hoovered the lower half of the staircase (just that - nothing else), and I will try to finish cleaning upstairs and change my bed tomorrow before going to my routine horse piddle appointment. After that, my diary is pretty full with work-related stuff for the whole week...

At least I'm ahead with Christmas, having made puds, mincemeat and cakes last weekend. Yesterday I braised a red cabbage that had been sitting in the fridge since September, along with a lovely apple that I picked up on an NT visit a couple of weeks ago, and that is now in the freezer :money: My Christmas cacti are in full bloom already! Yesterday I finished knitting camel no.3, but the dreaded sewing up still has to be done.

Dizzy and YorkshireLass, have you tried making Twink's Hobnobs? They're like a flapjack biscuit, and they're pretty well foolproof, so long as you don't put the balls of mixture too close together or overcook them - they need to be golden rather than brown. Very more-ish!

Hope that Dizzy's pumps continue to do their work and that everyone else is keeping warm and dry.

(((Hugs)))) spoons and sticks all round, as needed xx

Dizzy_Imp

I'm in again...pleased with the result so far since rejoining!

DH has this week off work and DSD is coming to stay, so not sure how productive I will actually be, but...

I'll try the Hobnob recipe Iona, but if I fail at them, I will throw away my baking trays. Need more oats now though, so may not be until after I do a full shop and I'm trying to delay that expense for another week.

See you all in the morning x

BadCat18

Morning all

Thanks for the thread, I’m in for the week, busy week of paid stuff here this week so will do what I can to stay on top of things. House is not looking too bad, I have some more wardrobe tidying and sorting that I want to do so have to try and maintain momentum on that and fit it in....

I’m not feeling great this morning after a very poor sleep so not a brilliant start to the week... I’m going to finish my cuppa and then get myself ready to face the day!

Have a good week all, hugs to those in need x

[Deleted User]

Morning all

Thanks ladies for the lists xx

I must have a sleeping sickness, I fell asleep again at 7pm last night!

As such the kitchen is a tip and I have no time this morning so sort. Oh well there's always this evening! Have lovely days all xx

Jazee

Morning all.

I've been up about an hour. Just having breakfast but I have already dusted in the living room.

Have a great day everyone.

ionafan

Bit of a theme going on here, I think - bloomin' dog woke me at 5:00 because she wanted to go out in the garden ...grrr... and I haven't been able to get back off to sleep again since :mad: She's now squeaking her toys at me, demanding attention. Not a good start to a busy week! At least DH has hauled himself out of bed and has started breakfast, judging by the clattering in the kitchen.

So my list for today is
[STRIKE]- check finances[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- FUPA bedlinen and my clothes[/STRIKE]
- FUPA DH's t-shirts - half done: I've taken them off the airer and put them ready to take downstairs when I go
- breakfast, then shower and dress
- clean bathroom - a quick job, now that the clean washing has gone and the airers have been put away
- WMx2
- send Toddler Group reminders
- add TG and other events for the coming 2 months to FB page
- sort and file papers and books in the study - I made a start on this last night
- make phonecalls
- dust and hoover upstairs
- if time, clean windows upstairs
- routine horse piddle appointment at 11:00
- friend coming to do my nails at 2:00
- Rosie's walk
- some paperwork has to be done today
- sew up and stuff 3 camels - a frog that I'll be glad to see the back of

And amidst all of that I shall probably have to have zzz.

Have a good day, all x

ionafan

Note for Dizzy and anyone else trying the Twinks recipe:

It says, "Mix the flour, oats and sugar, melt marg, syrup and water in a pan. Stir in bic soda and add to dry mix."

I always melt the marg, sugar and water in a large pan, then add the flour, oats and sugar to that. Saves on washing up!

Honey_Bear

Ooooh, Twinks. Must make another batch; it's been a while. I add chopped preserved ginger to ours. Fabby.

Must finish dusting the high up places I put on the list on 7 October, and do the bathroom today, plus a bit of vacuuming. That I can manage, but I'm not sure about anything else.

pigpen

YL/Dizzy .. I cannot for the life of me make soup.. flapjack is easy peasy.. but I eat the entire tray full lol.. Twinks are delish.. definitely worth making.

TY for Fred.. I am still flinging from various parts of the house and have made a tiny bit of difference mainly through restacking rather than flinging. I do have 2 binbags for CS and 2 for my sisters friends daughters. I need to scrabble through Twinkles clothes again because I keep getting things out which are simply too tiny.. She has grown loads the last few months! Pixie has just had a big growth spurt so is looking super skinny again.. 3cm in 5 weeks!!! She is going to be so very tall (just like me!! haha)

I need to sort Dot a new coat.. she has EATEN hers!



Christmas shopping almost done.. 7:12 offspring done, 3:5 (grandbeasts) done and 11:13 miscellaneous family/OH's done.. 9 left! Oh, I haven't sorted OH yet either.. best add him on! I have my mothers list to do then and have zero ideas there!

Best go arrange repairs on the TD and WM and see if I can get back my head back in flying mode. Everywhere is neatly stacked so I am a bit reluctant to mess it up to sort out what I can fling lol. It is all surface clean but could be much better.