Weekly Flylady Thread 10th August 2020

Natty68

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 Valli 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- 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

Ok here goes this week!

Monday Marvels ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...

It’s going to be a hot one, please keep up with your fluid intake!!!
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two...
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean the fridge
Wipe dining table..put a nice vase of flowers on it to make it look pretty!!!
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round.
Wipe all your small appliances..toaster, kettle etc..
Wipe & declutter all the windows sills in these areas!!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Wipe door handles..
Check those washing machine filters and drawers for ickiness!! Tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!

Extra Mission : help yourself

• Wipe down the hob and oven, go on you know you want to!!!!

• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!

• 32 fling boogie..

• GO! buy yourself a treat.. you deserve it!

• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Tuesday bluesday ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum through the living room, hall and stairs
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean windows and all glass.. including the tv screen
Clear the mantel and only put back the items which are supposed to be there.. and that doesn't include letters, keys or other treasure!
Level Three...
Open a drawer.. sort the junk within!
15 minutes sort of the junk on the landing!
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Name all the school garments!!

• Wipe down any paintwork that needs it.

• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!

• Wash any cushions, throws or curtains that need it

Wednesday warts ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
PLEASE DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AS IT'S ANOTHER HOT AND STICKY ONE!!

Clean floors in these rooms
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks.. shine the taps with a toothbrush
Clear any clutter from desk
Polish the monitor drag out the pc case and dust the top and back!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Pull out the pc desk and clean BEHIND AND UNDER it!!!!!!
Extra mission: Take your pick!

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms

• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes

• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it

• Clean the outside of all cupboards in the bathroom

Thursday Throwout!!- Master Bedroom & Landing

Level One...

Check fire alarms are working.. mine needs a new battery... I didn't think it was working until it alarmed at me the other day!

Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.

Fling open the window and let in the rain/sunnyness

Level Two...

Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..

Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..

Air the duvet

15 minutes floordrobe clearance

Level Three...

Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing

Sort through a cupboard and fling everything that is dead

Clear a hotspot.. or spend 15 minutes clearing one.

Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• 32 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter

• Clean all paintwork on the landing

• Clean windows in these rooms

Clear out your spare linen.. all those holey sheets, manky duvet covers and stained pillow cases.. FLING!! (Afraid I actually mended my sheets rather than throw them out…lol)

Friday Frenzy ~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms

Level One...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Make an appointment for some ME-time.. hairdressers? manicure?date night? .. Whatever just do it!
Level Two..
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Level Three....
Clean 2 windows
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
Extra Task List

• Find 5 things to ebay/freecycle

• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!

• Binbag dance!!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Thanks Natty.  I am in, going to be a busy one tomorrow.  I have agreed to meet an old work friend for a coffee, dont normally do socialising and I get very anxious so now wondering why I agreed!!  Have done a hilly 9.5 mile walk so I am really tired and DS is back at work, he has to be there for 6am so I think we are going to get woken up early, might go to bed soon and get up and get an early start.

[Deleted User]

Thank you ladies as ever for the lists I am well and truly in this week.

Whilst I've achieved loads this week in terms of the drains etc, other areas have suffered as a consequence - especially the floors as I've been trudging in and out constantly. Also I started stripping DDs wallpaper today - will be getting plasterer quotes this week, what do you think ladies for a 'standard' bedroom (fits a single bed, desk and drawer unit)? Walls and ceiling? I've no idea what to expect cost wise and any money I can save on that goes into the wallpaper and bed fund! 

First job tomorrow is washing machine. I also need to lag the outside pipes (found lagging whilst decluttering garage, woop!) and continue to strip lining paper.

Kids are really totally bored out of their brains now, I cannot wait for them to go back to school and nor can they. Almost five months they've been with me every single day bar two - it's like having the umbilical cord reattached 😂😂

Sleep well xx

ionafan

Thank you Natty.  I will do what I can this week.

Good news - DH's second test result is negative, so we can go ahead with plans to meet up with DD on Friday

dancemum

Hello there, I will try to be in this week. Thank you for the threads. Can we still change the colour of the text? x

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list.  I'm in of a fashion as I'm still officially on holiday, the boiler is being serviced today and the dogs are being groomed.  Have been in the wide awake club since 2am.  Anger at being kept awake by neighbours is simmering.

Have a great day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

Hot, hot, hot here already! WM doing its thing, DW unloaded, I will finish this brew then roll my sleeves up and get going. Will no doubt bob back later, have fab days all xx

Jazee

Dogs walked, garden watered, washing on line.  DH has put recycling out.

roundtuit

Morning xx

I'm in - pootling along doing my own thing as usual but at least something gets done if I keep inhaling flylady dust,

Thank you for the lists as always Natty and Valli xx

I'm up! Bed is made. Bath mats are swishing - I picked them up, brought them down and set WM swishing: might as well make the most of the good drying weather.  First brew has been slurped.

YL - we are obviously from the same gene pool! I like the idea of meeting up with people (old colleagues etc) but on the day I always wish I'd opted out. Thinking about you xx
ionafan - glad to hear that DH is a member of the negative club too. xx

Round 1 =
get showered and dressed
feed the birds
put out the recycling 
peg out the bath mats

Rxx

Jazee

Rubbish out, admin done.

roundtuit

Round 1 done + gathered up all loose washing and bunged it in to make a load. It is now swishing. Rubbish out. Hair washed. Leaking forehead wiped x eleventy one times. Now sat with fan on and a cold drink. This does not bode well for further action today but we'll see.

Keep cool.
Rxx