Weekly Flylady Thread 18th May 2020

Natty68

Welcome to the weekly Flylady thread. If you need help organising your week or getting motivated when it comes to housework then come and join us.

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.

Thank you Valli for last week's 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.

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 content! (i.e. it should be on-topic)
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- thats 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

Monster Monday ~ Kitchen and Dining mess
Level One...
Clear and wipe sticky work surfaces
Wipe and replace small appliances, get rid of all those crumbs underneath the toaster
De-web and fluff the room
Level Two...
Wipe dining table and replace cloth if needed
Wipe the front of the units, kickboards and the large appliances
Sweep and mop the floor
Level Three...
Empty cutlery drawer.. wash cutlery tray and replace everything neatly.. get rid of all the odds and sods that shouldn't be in there..
Clean out the fridge
Do the 15 and 30 minute jobs too...

Extras

• MAD half hour - Go round and give all door handles, light switches and plugs/sockets a thorough good clean with hot soapy water - make sure the cloth has been wrung out
• Wash the windows
• Wipe down paintwork/sideboards/units in dining room
• Clean filters and detergent dispensers
• HHI
• Spend at least 15 minutes doing something for yourself...

Thunderstorm Tuesday ~ the boudoir (seeing as I am looking at my mess!)
Level one!
Strip, wash and replace bedding.. With the window wiiiide open
Shine your magic mirrors
Level Two
Have a fling in a cupboard! Not with the butler!! What can be set free!?
Clear the top of a cupboard
Tickle away the dust and spider homes! It is not Halloween for ages!
Level Three
Gather up stinky laundry
Wash a window
Binbag dance.. Fill it up from anywhere in the house and let it go .. To the bin, CS or anywhere !!
Extras for those who are brave!

• Tidy the towels.. Can any be donated or turned to rags?
• Clean the upstairs doors.. Oh to live in a bungalow!!
• Wash stinky pet nests!!
• Do something you enjoy for at least half an hour!! Eating/drinking/chasing loose women do not count!! 

Whimsical Wednesday - Living room, hall and stairs!
Level One...
Declutter and vacuum!
Vacuum right the way up the stairs!
Level Two...
Wipe sofas
Wash windows
Dust and deweb!.. don't forget furry skirtings!
Level Three...
MAD half hour doing something for yourself! .. sit and watch the birds while having a nice cup of tea..
Wash any soft furnishings that need doing
Sort through coats n bags n shoes etc

Extras

• Sort through a handbag
• Sort through a cupboard or drawer of junk
• 29 fling boogie...
• HHI

Thrilling Thursday - Bathroom and study!!
Level one
Clear and declutter the desk of doom!! lol
Declutter the floors and sofas!
Level Two
Vacuum floors
Dust the fluff away
Wipe over the sofas/chairs/desk etc
Level Three
Scrub the bath, shower, basins and loos
Scrub down the tiles
Wash any bath mats, shower curtains etc that are in need

Extras

• Clean the windows and mirrors
• Delete 50 unwanted emails!
• Defrag the pc
• Clean out the vacuum cleaner.. wash the filters etc make sure all are dry before rebuilding!

Friday - those frightening Friday kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One
First and foremost give your loved ones a hug if you can, and tell them you love them either via phone/zoom or face to face.

Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
binbag dance
Level Two
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade!!
Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!
Level Three
Strip beds and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors

Extras

• Wash a set of curtains, nets or throw
• Make all those necessary phonecalls!
• HHI
• Make a half hour time out for yourself!

Goodintentions

Thanks Natty for the lists, and Valli for last week.

I am sorry if I have given you all summerhouse envy! 😂 It is a glorified shed really! It would be nice to use it for something more useful than storage. It is insulated, so keeps things dry and they don't go mouldy (like car seats & buggies). It does have a desk, but it is filled with seedlings! It is half full of toys,etc and half full of c$*p! 😂

Well, after 3 1/2 hours at the allotment I came home as DS & DH were getting ready for a run, so I decided to go with them!!! (yes, you did read that right!) I only managed about 15 minutes, and 1.8K, but at least I went. I will go again sometime this week 😁

Night night everyone, sleep well 😊

pigpen

Thank you for Fred .. hope all is well at yours

I'm innish... kind of!

MeandThe2

Thanks 😁

Will be joining you all again this week

Narc0lepsy

thanks for thread.
Well done for your run Goodintentions. I now have 2 'ParkRun alternatives' of 5km so I'm determined to keep up my target of a ParkRun every month this year.  I'm lucky to have an old airfield (just used as such during the war; now it is agricultural/microlight areas) 5 mins walk away which has numerous footpaths across it, as well as being rural with fields and woodland, so I can do a huge range of loops to add variety or make runs longer/shorter.   At the moment I'm trying (trying being a key word) to do one day run, one day cycle, one day core or other gym-type indoor online fitness. This gives me scope to do all that twice and have a day off each week.  I'm still sure that I'm bigger than I was pre-lockdown. 

Garden still progressing, managed to dig out some fleece and protect beans and peas from the cold nights.  However something evil has started chewing my newly planted-out broccoli and kale. Sulk.  I had a small envelope in the post on Friday containing a packet of seeds, all in Chinese!!  Mr N joked they were Covid seeds, huh. On reviewing my early-lockdown panic to source seeds, I found an order including Basil which I'm sure hadn't arrived, so it must be them.      Planted out marigolds today as we aren't forecast any more frost.  Much entertainment in the garden as we have at least 2 families of baby starlings squawking about begging for food. Must order more bird food.

House is vaguely under control i.e. not completely filthy as I do run round with the vacuum (that's my idea of cleaning some days....).     RoD study is so nearly there and I need to do a final sort of debris.  At least spending more time in the garden means we aren't making much untidiness indoors. 

Online course on ADHD is proving interesting and updating my training, last course I did on it was a few years ago.  Email from uni disabilities manager suggests I'm unlikely to get any work before October, which is what I'd expected. 

After the weekend's excitement of Mr I and Mr T deliveries, with a Mr T booked for 26th, I thought it was about time to book another so got June 7th. 
Enough waffle, like I've said before, I don't do much these days!!  

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for the lists and work that goes in to them.

Showed OH the summer house last night, he now wants a garden pub  https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/6-x-4-179m-x-119m-premier-garden-bar-and-store-12mm-walls-roof-floor-15759836  !! how much??  he has carefully been told we are having a standard shed if there isn't one, which he can convert / add a shelf bar to it, circ £300 or there abouts, I think that is more than enough for a shed.

Daily stuff to do

Still waking up at the crack of dawn.

Have a good day keep safe

Mademoiselle

Morning lovely ladies,
I'm in again this week.  

Bed stripped, clothes picked up
WM on
DW on (thank you OH)

Off to the garage, big car has a nail in the tyre so that is first task then need to take DD1's car as stripped a wheel bolt when changing from winter to summer tyres yesterday.  She's gone back with my car and OH has gone to work in his 'toy' car.  

She you all later

Jazee

Morning.  I'll be in of a fashion.

Dog field is booked for late morning.  Once I start moving, I intend to get out in the garden before all the flowers DH bought me die off in the greenhouse.

Have a great day everyone.

Dizzy_Imp

Morning girls!  Loving all the summer house dreaming!  I've got a potting shed/greenhouse combo on my wish list, but the one I really want is about £3K, so I'm going to have to squirrel pennies away for ages to get that. Having DH home has opened his eyes to the potential of our place...grow veggies, sloping banks to grow wildflowers.  Just got to save to afford it all.

Kitchen is looking pretty good, so hoping it won't be a long job getting it sparkling again. Cuppa on the go and then I'll make a start.  Catch up laters xxx

Fayolle

Good morning all,
Thank you Natty and Valli for the sanity lists. I’ll be in as much as I can this week. The DR got a clean through yesterday so that just leaves the pit of a kitchen to tackle yet again. 

Working from home today. The newly sorted back bedroom is back to being a dumping ground again, not helped by me being n there all day when I'm working. Another thing back on the list. 

Off to fire up the laptop. It is so ancient that actually lighting fire under it might be the kinder answer....

Have lovely days all

roundtuit

Morning xx
I'm not fussed about a summer house, but I would love some chickens, a pond, ducks, a herb garden, a veggie garden, dogs, cats, and a cottage on the edge of a village (isolated, bit not too isolated). And in this dream I am slim with long hair and I wear Laura Ashley dresses and big straw hats with a ribbon round it. 
I do have a lavender border down the front path - that was on my wish list too. And why I would like a herb garden is beyond me as I don't cook - chives grow in my back garden every year and I just look at them and think they look pretty. 
I'm up, my bed is made, and WM is swishing whilst I sup my morning brew.
Round 1 =
breakfast and a second brew
get washed and dressed
feed the birds
refill the birdbath
put out the recycling
WUDUPA a bowl of pots

Groundhog Day indeed.

Have a good one
Rxx