Weekly Flylady Thread 25th May 2020

Valli

 Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread.

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.

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 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- 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 former Flylady 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 stopping, 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!
Frog (or other amphibian) ~ google 'eat that frog'
Spoons ~ google 'but you don't look sick' and/or 'The Spoon Theory'.

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
Bank Holiday Monday (But worry not we might get an extra one in October *rolls eyes*)
Allocate and share tasks
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen
Peg out laundry
Wipe switches and handles
The rest of the day - share the cooking - she/he who cooks does NOT wash up
All write a lockdown pleasure on a bit of paper (board game/walk/time in the garden) and put them in a hat draw them out one at a time and do them together.
Your could put 2 in each and just draw 1
Plan some me time/self care for the rest of the week.
Sorry it's late FINISHED THE BACK OF THE POLO JUMPER! 

Triffic Tuesday Kitchen and Dining Room
Level 1

Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and caddies etc.  Don't forget the splashbacks!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you can.
Empty out caddies/storage jars or tins and wash them out.
Wipe sill, sockets, door handles and switches and anywhere fingers linger.
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks - and shine those taps - or clean them!
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
Wash and wipe fridge shelves and baskets.
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.  Run washer on cleaning cycle.

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.
Go round the whole house wiping door handles, light switches and banisters - we WILL be germ-free!

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom
Meal plan for the week.
Involve your small people according to their age/abilities/skill level 
Month end looms - birthday cards (etc) for the beginning of June need dealing with this week.
Give your laptop/PC or tablet a clean. 

Wipy Wednesday - Brighten that bathroom/shower room/en suite

Level 1

Fling open the windows
Clear the bins, remove empties
Flush the loo and squirt something down it to start the cleaning process
Fling the towels in the WM
Vacuum extractor cover and/or wipe
Clean windows and mirrors
Check for webs and flick 'em off

Level 2

Clear lotions and potions from around bath and scrub inside and out.
Prod a brush down the plughole to remove the ratty tails
Polish the taps
Slug of bleach down the drain
Scrub the loo inside and out - and bleach it
Thoroughly clean bath taps and plugs - especially hair traps - and don't forget under the plug
Wipe shower head or soak in lemon juice to clear scum/scale
Wash shower curtain/wipe screens

Level 3

Scrub the sink
Polish the taps
Dust sills and shelves
Wipe anywhere fingers linger with a clean cloth or an anti-bac wipe - don't forget the loo roll holder!
Mop the floor
Polish mirrors

Extras

HHI
S&S kitchen
Lets have a sock cull...stage 1...throw odd socks into a bag.  If you're really brave bin 'em now.

Thursday  work  through day
 - Living room, hall, stairs and porch

Level One
With warm (hot if you can bear it) soapy water on a clean cloth - rinsed frequently wipe EVERY door handle, light switch in the hoes - including entrance doors
Declutter ALL the floors!! especially in the hall
Clear the mantle of junk
Fling any rubbbish
Straighten cushions, curtains and throws
Tidy coffee/side tables
Empty bin
beat/bang doormats outside

Level Two

Vacuum/sweep all the floors.. stairs too!
Vacuum/sweep under furniture you can safely move!
Vacuum sofas
Clean mirrors

Level Three

Clean the window and door frames - open the front door and clean round the edeges af that and in the 'gutter' underneath the door!
Dust and polish furniture and ornaments
Water/wipe plants. Deal with any flowers.
Check doorbell working.  Polish any door furniture/house numbers

Extras

Dust all the electricals.. carefully.. don't want any frazzled flybodies
Binbag dance around the house
HHI
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
Allocate children a task - collecting laundry, emptying DW, taking out rubbish.


friday Frenzy

boudoir

level 1

strip bed
empty bin
open window
leave to air
Clear chair dove
level 2
remaked bed
dust flat surfaces

level 3
vacuum floor
Clean windows
extras s&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
if kids going back to school get their stuff ready

pigpen

checking in before crawling into my nest.. until tomorrow.. goodnight.. and fanks for Fred.. I've just started a purple glittery cardy for the grandpink.. she complained no one knits for her so between DD1 and myself she will have a minimum of 3. .. aran one next!

Hoping to get the paintwork in the toilet undercoated tomorrow and clear some more landing and I need to sort the middle 2's clothes.. so much flingage going on.. I am also wondering if it is worth paying the ebay fees just so I can list more.. I potentially have about £300 worth of stuff I can list.. that answers that really doesn't it? FLING!!

MeandThe2

Morning,
Thank you for this week's thread I had totally forgotten about it being bank holiday Monday!
Last week was just about the worst week in all areas....need to pull myself together somehow as we're probably in this till at least autumn and I can't be living in a funk till then.

My list for today
* 2 x WM
* Sort A'zon return out (print & package)
* Find more suitable place for donations to live until charities open
* Put paint back in the shed
* Sort paperwork out (fling & file)
*Meal plan for the week

Sunny vibes all round

ionafan

Thank you for the new thread, Valli.  I will do my best to get DH to share tasks, but he is very stubborn!

I had a very quiet day yesterday, just the dailies and the watering, which has helped the pain in my shoulder to subside.  Finished the body and one arm of the little knitted doll, working in short bursts, and hoping to get the whole thing completed today.  Thankfully, knitting is proving less painful than I had expected.  The arthritis in my fingers has improved with the warmer weather, and I can keep my elbow in close to my side - it's moving the arm out or lifting above waist level  (e.g. getting things off eye-level shelves) that gives me excruciating pain atm.

I was woken by the dawn chorus at 4.20 this morning.  Drank a cuppa in bed, watching the sun rise, and checked out a couple of big planes, very high up but clearly visible to the naked eye, on the flight radar website - but they weren't being tracked.  Kazw, do you or your DH have any idea why?  
I am now going out into the garden to finish digging over the back border and plant out the things in pots which had a good dousing yesterday evening.  My eccentric mother always used to garden at 5am in midsummer and I am afraid that I am becoming more like her!  Later I need to move the two almost empty plastic water butts in the front garden and rebuild the brick-and-slab platform that they stand on, so that when we do get some rain the second butt will be filled: the rainwater diverter system hasn't worked properly since it was fitted by our handyman seven years ago, because the platform slopes slightly in the wrong direction and also the downpipe tends to drop down from the top joint.  Having previously fitted two of the systems with great success, I believe I can sort this.  Will report back later.  

Hope everyone has a good Bank Holiday xx

kazwookie

Morning thankyou for the thread.

Iona, There is or was a large NATO air exercise going on, maybe it was that, I only use the flight tracker to stave off the boredom during the lockdown and it sort of gave me and interest in this awful times over the past few weeks. But I have noticed that the freedar tracker is not working, also off the coast here we have had HMS Tyne 'parked up' and that was not on the marine tracker either ~ so I guess 'they' are doing exercises to keep us all safe from those else where in the world.

Going to be nice here today, OH says he is out on his motorbike later on, when the lockdown was lifted slightly we went and got it out of the storage garage we put it in when we moved over here before the lockdown.

Have a good day all.

Jazee

Morning all.  Another list for me where I won't achieve everything but at least it gives me goals for the day.

physio
wash up
clean out freezer which has now defrosted
clean and sort out fridge
do finances
walk dogs if not too warm
dust living room
change bedding 
hoover through
wash hard floors
cut grass

Have a great day everyone.

Mademoiselle

Morning, what at lot has been going on!  We had public holiday on Thursday and OH had Friday off so we had a long weekend, although can't go anywhere (except to work) so tried to make it feel different and holiday like at home.  A couple of long walks done on paths we've not been down for years. 
Spotted some plants that hopefully will work as ground cover around the edge of the lawn where the leilandi hedge was cut down and sadly stumps not removed.  So going to try and find some Hypericum locally and hope it takes.
Helped OH with the new garden table he is making me, base is an old sewing machine treadle and top is tiled in old fashioned painted tiles, will try and post picture when it's finished. 
Saved some money as OH found a garden fork in the garage so no longer need to buy a new one to replace the one with the broken tine.  But spent quite a bit in diy shop for table bits.  

Better get a move on, see you later when I've done something!

BadCat18

Morning all

i was up early this morning so I’ve showered, dressed and breakfasted, wm is swishing, looks like a fab day ahead so that will be pegged out shortly. S/s of kitchen and one bathroom also done. En suite will be done when DH surfaces.

I am meeting (one) friend for a walk this morning, we planned to do it early before it gets too hot.

love the bank holiday list, thanks Valli x I’ve ticked off a couple of things... see above, no cooking will be done as we have cold meats, salad etc planned for supper, always a nice meal and results in minimal washing up too! 

Once I’m back from my walk I will s/s the en suite, make the bed, then we have a few garden jobs to do this afternoon. Definitely be time to read a book too!

Have a lovely day all, hugs as always for the poorlies or those struggling xx

roundtuit

Morning xx
Yesterday did not go as planned. I think all that activity before my morning brew meant that I'd peaked early so it turned into read a book day. 
Today is a new day   Let's try again:
Round 1 =
breakfast and brew two
get washed and dressed
wash jeans
change towels in bathroom
wash towels / tea towels
feed the birds
put out the recycling
WUDUPA

Have a good day 
Rxx

Fayolle

Good morning
Thank you for the lists x
Yesterday just disappeared. Somehow I seem to have spent all day outside, achieving very little. Although I hope today won’t be a repeat, I can’t make any promises at this earlyish stage 😉

The towels are in the wm, so when I hang those up, I will actually cross something off today’s list.
Today’s starter for 10:
have a 2nd cuppa (am loving my newly found teapot, even if it does clutter up the kitchen windowledge)
get dressed
get bread out of freezer(*facepalm*, remembered at 4am that I hadn’t done it last night, still didn’t get up to do it though)
hang out towels
plant beans at the allotment.

Have lovely days all x

Goodintentions

Good morning!
Thanks for the lists Valli and thanks Natty for last week. I'm glad to hear Mil is negative & Dave is ok. 

I need to go to the allotment but I have nothing to wear! My allotment trousers gave up on saturday and I had to bin them! 😭 They were lightweight zip off leg walking trousers that I had for years, so I will have to wear jeans when it is colder, but I don't have any shorts/cooler trousers and I will get far too hot in jeans! We may need some food supplies, so I may see if there are any cheap, flexible shorts in mr S available....

Right now I need to get & have breakfast. Then maybe make a shopping list. Some people in the street are having an impromptu socially distanced BBQ to carry on the VE day community vibe, but they are starting at 1pm, and i have far too much to do to socialise at that time! 😂 especially as I didnt do anything yesterday....... I also need to find time to sit and read the guidance that finally came out yesterday 🙁 

Have a good day everyone. I will post some progress later, if I make any!!