Weekly Flylady Thread 1st March 2021

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 - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you can.
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!
Glug some bleach down the plugholes.
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth - don't forget the legs and places where sticky fingers can reach.
Clean chairs/stools - and don't forget legs and rails!
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
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 shelves etc and check running temperature 
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 paying particular attention to manky crevices

Level 3

Choose a drawer, shelf or cupboard for special attention.  Empty, clean out, replace what is needed or useful and fling what is unused and/or out of date
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom
Wipe all the handles/sockets switches especially if people are leaving the house
A new month has begun - do you need any cards?
If your children are going back to school next week make sure you know any new/updated Covid requirements.
Get uniform/lunchboxes/water bottles found and sorted.

Tuesday Twinkles -  The Lounge, Hallway, stairs and landing

Level 1
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms
Empty bins/ashtrays
If you have a woodburner/real fire attend to that first - and lay fire for lighting
Clear gibble
Plump and straighten cushions
Wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices.  Lift seat cushions if you can and vacuum underneath
Wipe/dust coffee tables and leave tidy

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Vacuum floors - and use an edging tool to get into all the nooks and crannies - and stairs!
Clean doormats

Level 3
Dust all round - don't forget sills, skirting boards, tops of curtain rails and/or battens and top and frame of door.
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!
Dust pictures/paintings on walls - and dust behind them too!
Stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?
Extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
HHI

Wipy Wednesday

Bathroom, wet room, cloakroom, en suite

Level 1
open window
scrub loo inside and out
top up loo roll, soap dispenser
towels replaced

level 2
clean shower and or bath
clean showerhead
clean plug holes and plugs removing and rat tails (ugh)
bleach drains and overflows

level 3
clean handbasin
scrub and polish taps
dust sills and shelves
clean switches and pull handles
Polish windows and mrrors
clean floor

extras
S&S kitchen
wipes door handles, sockets and switches throughout

Thursday Thrills  - The Boudoir

level 1

open windows
strip bed
clear floordrobe and chairdrobe
empty bin

level 2
make bed with fresh bedding
clean bedside tables
vacuum/sweep/mop floor

level 3
clean windows
dust all round

extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen

Thank goodness it's Friday
kids room/spare room/guest room or wherever needs that special Flylady touch

level 1
open window
strip bed
remove rubbish

level 2
remake bed
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor

Level 3
dust everywhere
Clean window(s)

extras
hhi
s&s kitchen
s&s bathroom

[Deleted User]

I'm in. My house is tidy on the surface but needs tlc. My hard floors haven't seen a mop in gawd knows how long....

Hugs to all, I'll catch up in the week xx

Jazee

I'm in too.  Thanks for the list.  I have council work tomorrow and need to groom the dogs so will see what flying I can fit in.

mumof3.12kindebt

Thank you for the new thread  

I'm in again this week please. Lots to do and not enough time.. I'm ordering the tools tomorrow to remove the ramp at the back of our house. That will be my project this week. Along with trying to sell as much as possible. And just generally keeping on top of the house and getting it better organised 😀 

Anyway off to bed soon. 

Have a lovely week everyone 

roundtuit

I'm in. Taking my car down to the village garage at 8.30 for MOT and service. I'll walk home and go back to pick it up in the afternoon. In between? Flytime 

Rxx

Fayolle

I’m in too. Desperately need to follow tomorrow’s list, but it will most likely be a Tuesday catch up. Thank you for the lists and for all the work that goes into them. Not to mention the pretty amazing bunch of people who follow along.
Love all round. Xx

dancemum

I’m in. Two houses for me.
Thanks for the lists and friendship x
Recovering from my jab. Still tired and feel under the weather but managed a walk and an hour at dancegran’s. 1 room nearly done. I tried out my angry mum microwave cleaner there today too. 

Dysoned ground floor and DH did the ironing 

Narc0lepsy

I'm in. Need to follow the list at least level 1 this week. Plus:
move drum kit
do pay claim and post it with lesson summary to workplace student
start new online course
continue seed-sowing; having separated all mine into bags according to month, all Febs have been sown. Also need to de-weed a space for the broad bean seeds to go in as they are soaking overnight.
Must must must do photo-book sorting for Mum. 
hope everyone's week goes well.

ionafan

I have been a bad Flylady this past week, and my house is looking sorry for itself.
I did spend an hour in the garden this afternoon, sweeping the decking and titivating the strawberry plants., and I did some FH research (but for somebody in DS2's village, not me).  I cooked yummy MSE soup for lunch: cauli stalk, Romanesco stalk, a carrot, a green pepper, a shallot, 3 sticks of celery, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a stock cube and a bit of water, cooked 1/2 hour on the hob, served with a bit of grated cheese.
Thank you for the new list, Valli.  In the morning I need to make time to dust and hoover all through downstairs.
Hope everyone has a good week xx

pigpen

hi.. ty for Fred... I'm freezing.. and hungry and my ankle hurts.. I fell off a carpet last night.. it hurt.. a lot..

School for Dot tomorrow, Moomin has Drs and online college I need to kick her for..

I have asked Moomin to tidy her room so I can decorate it.. I keep wanting to do it when she trots to her BF's but it's too messy.. ironic really considering how many falling outs her and Meem had over Meems mess!

Anyway.. I have a pack up to sort.. and a chromebook to bag.. and shoes to find..

pigpen

appointment made for shoe fittings on Tuesday 11:30am.. for the grand beasties... They have grown and I will not be allowing squished 'me markets' on my grandbeasties.. I am a total shoe snob.. sorry.. it's my thing.. we all have a thing.. Putting it here as a reminder to put it in my phone when it turns back on!