Weekly Flylady Thread 21st December 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
Marvellous Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room

Level 1
Open some windows for some fresh air 
Wash up, dry up and put away (or remove all pots to DW) 
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and caddies etc.  Don't forget the splashbacks or tiles!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too.
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!  Put out a new hand towel and a new tea towel too
Good slug of bleach down plugholes and in overflows
Clean cruet, salt and pepper, wipe any sauce bottles that are used on the table

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts inside and out, 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; update shopping list as appropriate
Wash and wipe fridge shelves and baskets.  Make sure it's running cold and that air can circulate
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.
Wipe inside of washer drawer and DW door

Level 3
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.
Check freezer inventory.  
Put out new hand and tea towels.
Wash or replace dishcloth

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom
Go round the whole house wiping switches, banister rails and door handles.
If you have a cat flap - give it a good wipe!
Make sure your list for this week is sorted - shopping, cards to post *(first class or by hand),
Are all presents wrapped? Delivered?

Twinkly Tuesday Bathrooms, cloak rooms and en suites

Level 1
Open window
Remove towels and fling in WM
Scrub Loo inside and out, slug some bleach or descaler down afterwards.  Pay special attention to under the rim.

Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins

Level 3
sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate
clean windows
polish mirrors
dust and polish where necessary
clean sink plugs/stoppers including underneath

Extras
HHI 
S&S kitchen
Make sure you know when bins will be emptied over the holidays
Wonderful Wednesday - The Lounge, Hallway, stairs and landing

level 1

deal with flowers, pot plants and living trees - water - vacuum needles
empty bins/ashtrays
clear gibble
plump cushions
wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices

level 2
clean windows 
vacuum floors - and use an edging tool to get into all the nooks and crannies

level 3
dust all round - don't forget sills and skirtings
Wipe door handles, banisters, light switches and sockets - and the bits of the door where people hold to close it
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should
stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?

extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
HHI
Wipe all door handles and switches

ANNUAL FLYLADY IRONING CHALLENGE

Aiming to start the year with a non-existent ironing pile.

Anyone in? I'll start (thanks HoneyBear)

Valli 
Thursday Thrills - it's Christmas Eve...
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
Give each room a quick check - and remember a tidy room looks clean.  Deal with flowers, empty bins, plump cushions, straighten throws.
Can you get ahead for tomorrow?  Table laid?
Find some time for a bit of peace and quiet...enjoy!
Friday...Christmas Day

Have as Merry a Christmas as possible.  Relax as much as you can, accept any and all offers of help.  
Most importantly, sharee the love.
I wish you all a Happy Christmas, my thoughts are going out to those of you who are struggling or not too well, and your families.

BadCat18

Hi all

Thanks for the thread, I’m in, Sorry for being awol this week, it’s been a difficult one but I’m picking myself up, dusting myself down and getting on with it. 2 more working days then I’m off, can’t wait!

Hugs to all xx

kazwookie

Thank you for the lists.

Mentally making lists for next week

1st tomorrow is to find out why one set of Christmas lights have stopped I guess a loose light bulb but it is finding that one in a set of 50 or 60 or so lights

Goodintentions

Thanks for the lists - I am in this week!
I have already WULTD after dinner tonight, put on the DW and wiped down the surfaces 😇 I need to clear some clutter from DR. Some bits can go in the summerhouse - some will need to wait until I have finished work on the 24th. 

Vets tomorrow for Maui the crazy kitten's 2nd jabs, and we need to get a few last bits at Mr S. I did have a haircut booked for 2pm (the 1st since Oct 2019!!) but that is sadly not going to happen as we are tier 4 😭 
Have a good week everyone!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

...and his work doesn't want him in on Wednesday either. 

It took an hour to go through the Waitrose order with him. Why do we need to discuss what chicken I've ordered? (very, very expensive one). And yes, it 'is just one meal' - except for the day before when the delivery is coming, the day after, the day after that, the one following that.... In the end, I took unimportant things off the order just so he would have to go out and buy them.

There was some sort of idea about vacuuming everywhere tomorrow. Including the corners of the ceiling. He agreed to this five minutes ago.  He's just said he wants to do some baking instead. ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Narc0lepsy

thanks for lists.
Another one here frantically list-writing!  Things to do, meal plans, food shopping list. 
Went to 'carol service' this morning - just 7 of us in the congregation plus the vicar's wife and two of his daughters. Really strange and rather sad. Think as many elderly are in the village and just didn't want any risk, plus some people don't like wearing masks for a service or to have no singing. Luckily we have a musical vicar so he sang 3 songs to us.
Put slow cooker on before going for a walk next to the river, a lovely sunny day here. Picked up this week's 2 Co0p discounts as one of them was gf bread.
Watched top 10 carols on TV while having lunch, lovely.
Filled bird feeders.
Tidied floordrobe.      Boxes of decorations we haven't used moved to landing, pending me grabbing something at the last minute before they go out of the way in the loft.  That cleared a big space in the lounge!
3 long phone chats.
Printed off family charity 'present' cards, informing them of where money has been donated in their name and a bit about the charity.  Put them and Christmas cards into envelopes ready to post 1st thing.  Got a bit sad when I looked at their presents sitting in bags but we will meet again one day and many many people are worse off, such as sick friend who is failing fast.
 Went to doorstep at 5.30 in case anyone near us was doing doorstep carol service, sadly nobody. They were joining in at the other end of the village, I saw it on local FB but didn't walk up as Mr N was on the phone to BIL.
Have a good week everyone. We can still enjoy this.

pigpen

Thank you for Fred. 

I’ve planned fun for tomorrow.. Tesco after the girls are in bed , tip run, charity drop off, present drop at my mothers.. for her to wrap and bring back.  

Email prescriptions.. me and Boog.
Beanies order
photo box order

trt to summon energy to empty the back room.. I’ve been putting it off for 2 weeks already. 

This week we have a ride on truck to put together, 2 dolly cribs, a dressing table and a coat stand.. and some bulbs to plant. 

I might sit down soon! 

roundtuit

Morning xx 

Thank you for the lists xx 

WAC here- not anxious just not asleep. Heyho. At least I'm not laid worrying about something- got to look for the silver lining 😉

8 presents to wrap today then I'm ready. I must have forgotten something- I'm never this organized!!!! Maybe Flylady is finally having an influence 🙃 . 

Plan for today includes: P and S dropping by for a SD present swap this morning and  I've arranged to 'visit' DB and DSil at 3pm for a SD present drop off - this swapping presents on the doorstep is horrible- but if it keeps everyone safe it's worth it. Especially as the new variant has arrived in this area. I've a feeling that Dad's holiday in Malta is going to be cancelled,  but if it is he'll be able to accept the vaccine appointment. Silver lining. Silver lining.

Round 1will be 
make my bed
have a brew
get dressed 
feed the birds 
put out rubbish and recycling 
put Homer back together 
put cards up
wrap the remaining presents 
another brew and breakfast 

Take care. Stay safe. I'm here if you need a listening ear - pm me if you want to. 

Hugs
Rxx

Jazee

Morning all.  Shortest day today and then thank goodness there will be more light, in lots of ways.  

This morning I have minimal council work and paid stuff to do.  Will flutter during the day and pop to Mr. T for a few bits while DH is in the doctors tonight.

Have a great day everyone.

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

I have to do paid stuff.  I dont want to, my brain wants to switch off for the holidays, but there is important stuff to finish.  So that's my focus for today.

Mr A coming between 11am and 1pm.  House reasonably tidy, Christmas stuff mostly finished, except for a few cards.  Need to plan meals for the next 3 days and make a list for any final shopping bits that I might need to get when I go into the office tomorrow.

Have a good Monday everyone x

Mademoiselle

Morning all, well what a weekend you've all had!  My girls have now both arrived at the other house, put up the decorations and last night sent me a photo saying, 'and now the best part, wine, chocolates and a puzzle',  they were both really looking forward to time together and no peer pressure.  

We went to the boat and brought back, sails, cushions etc.  It was lovely and sunny so even managed to sneak in a quick beer sitting on the boat.  Neither of us slept well last night, OH spent most of the night worrying about deliveries due from UK and would that mean stopping factory a few days early.  

I am feeling quite organised and calm as all presents bought and wrapped.  I am going to email the girls a shopping list and they can get all that, but also planning to keep it simple, going with their idea of wine, chocolates and a puzzle.  Might add walks on the beach and a good book to the list.  

Better write them a shopping list and get them to check what spices etc are in the other house so I can take from here if necessary.  

The days get longer from now on, all the more reason to SMILE.  Hugs for all of you struggling.