Weekly Flylady Thread 14th June 2021

Natty68

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’

WUDUPA ~ Washed up, dried up, put away

WUALTD ~ Washed up and left to dry

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!

Some of our abbreviations: DH- dear husband, OH- other half, KH/CF- affectionate term for ex husband or partner   DS/DD- dear son/daughter, DGC- dear grandchild, WM- washing machine, DW- dishwasher, LR/DR- living/dining room, RoD- room of doom, Mr S/A/T/M/L/Al- supermarkets Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi. You get the picture!

Any more questions I bet are answered in the wonderful welcome guide which was produced by our much loved Toots

Monday ~ Living room, Hall and downstairs Loo

Level one
Hoover/wipe the sofas
S&S the sink and toilet
Level Two
Dust the electricals
Hoover the floor and mop too
Level Three
HH tidying, decluttering, sorting
Wipe some paintwork, skirting boards, behind the toilet/sink
Extras

• Order pet supplies or make vet appointments
• Clean out pets/pet bedding
• Check you know when sports day/end of term is
• No pets or kids?read a book or do some craft

Please do make sure you keep drinking especially as the weather is going to be extremely hot today, I don't want anybody suffering with heatstroke or dehydration - me included as I'm the world's best at not doing keeping hydrated...


Tuesday - Kitchen and Dining Room

Level One

Hoover/mop the floor

Level Two

Clean the sink and shine the taps

Sort out and wipe out the fridge

Level Three

Clean the WM filters and drawer

Extras

• Wash the window
• Wipe over the hob and oven door
• Clean some shoes
• HHI
• Deal with a hotspot

Wednesday - Master Bedroom and Landing
Level One

Change the bed, hoover the mattress, turn it if you can

Drink plenty of fluids, they're forecasting a hot one today.
Level Two
Hoover the stairs, landing and bedroom
Wipe the window ledges
Level Three
Dust any dusty bits
Deal with hotspots/floorobes
Wipe the bedstead

Extras

• Arrange for boiler service or chimney sweep
• Recycle any paper/magazines lying around

Thursday - Bathrooms

Level One

Clean toilets and sinks

Level Two

Change the towels

Hoover and wipe the floor

Wipe the splashbacks

Level Three

Clean out the plug holes

Shine the mirrors

Clean the bath and shower

Extras

• HHPaperwork
• Declultter a drawer
• Me Me Me time

Friday - Children's Bedrooms or spare rooms/rooms of Doom

Level One

Strip, wash and replace bedding

Level Two

Hoover floor

HH tidying or decluttering

Level Three

Wipe the skirting boards

Wash an item of soft furnishings

Clear, then dust a flat surface (or 2)

Extras

• Find a new recipe to use
• Sort out your receipts/purse
• Check dates on passports/MoTs/insurance etc

[Deleted User]

Evening ladies

I am in. Thank you for the lists, and for all of the lovely PMs and kind wishes. You’re just wonderful. I’m feeling okay. I’ve had a lovely weekend with the children, we’ve been busy doing jobs in the house and they have been helping a lot bless them.

I’ve just set the DW going and tidied a pile of clean laundry away. I’ve also put my kitchen cloth to soak overnight in Zoflora.

I can hear lots of merriment still in peoples gardens related to the football - it’s so nice to hear people having fun again. 

Round - how are you doing lovely? I hope the drops are helping and you’re being kind to yourself x

Sleep well all, see you tomorrow xx

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for the lists.   I'm gong to be very off on my own lists this week as Mr N arrives home on Tues, bringing my mum with him. So as a minimum it will be a house tidy in 1 1/2 days...........however it isn't too bad.
Today has been pretty good although too hot for me. I started pruning the winter honeysuckle that was seriously impeding the lounge window and porch just  before 9am to beat the heat. Kind neighbour who is taller than me did the bit I was going to save till Mr N came home, so I made her a cup of tea while she was snipping.
Drove to church as just too hot to walk that distance.
Did a whole range of things in the garden, some of which were on the mega list.......
Rang a friend.
Almost finished a report and not going to bed until it is done.
Got paperwork together for tomorrow's assessment.
Got a few notes together for tomorrow's workplace training lady.
Decided there was going to be no time or inclination to visit a supermarket in person, so booked a Mr T c&c for tomorrow evening.
Keep stopping to take photos of cactus flowers; ours are loving the weather. 
ASB so glad you had a lovely weekend. 

pigpen

TY for Fred.

We have a busy day buying necessities tomorrow.. YAY! Buy Dots toothpaste and cereal and cat litter.
I need to take Squeak for a shoe check..

bedtime.. after I have made pack ups. I didn't do them earlier as we had no bread.

BadCat18

Morning all

Thanks for the thread x 

Good day yesterday, our ground clearing that we did last year exposed a whole section of the back of the neighbours fence that has never been painted so I got out there early yesterday and painted it, looks much better now, have ordered some phlox to plant as hopefully weed suppressant in that area and will also use up some hard landscaping that we already have, it’s actually outside our garden so I don’t want to spend too much on it but want it to look nice as I can see it from the side kitchen window and every time I go to the car or garage! Fence will need a second coat so may try and do that one evening if there is time. The rest of the day mostly spent reading under a parasol, very nice it was too.

Busy day awaits with paid stuff, going to make an early start before my office gets too hot!

take care all x

Jazee

Morning all.  Another one here planning to do early flying before it gets too hot again.
Have a great day everyone.

Goodintentions

Good morning
Thanks for the lists ladies. Today's looks doable! 
Hopefully I won't be making any appointments at the vets this week! I spent Saturday morning there with crazy cat - he had gastroenteritis, but otherwise apparently in good health. Only cost £65, which after grumpy dog's recent visits isn't too bad! He is now eating again, and charging about like his old self.
DS went out on Saturday (again!). He was feeling very sorry for himself on Sunday 😂 
I spent about 4 hours at the allotment yesterday 🥵 I still have so much catching up to do! But some carrots, swede & parsnips have been sown. Its a bit late for the parsnips, but none of my previous sowing came up. I took 1 litre of water, and a can on cola, with me and drank all of it! I need to go back today.
DH WULTD last night after dinner, and I put on the DW & watered the garden. He hadn't done much yesterday, but he had his jab Saturday so I'll let him off. No excuses today though! 😂 He has emptied the DW already.
We need to make a meal plan, do a food shop and I will cut the grass at the allotment and do some (more) weeding. I will also tackle the LR and clear a few hotspots. 
Hugs to those that need them. I hope those that have been poorly are looking after themselves & taking it easy.
Have a good week everyone! 

Jazee

Bedding changed and swishing in machine, bedroom surfaces sort of wiped.

Fayolle

Morning all,
Thank you for the thread. Towels are swishing in the wm, so there’s today’s flying done. 

Wfh this morning, then we are having a family trip to big city for 2 hospital appointments for DD. Another stressful day for us all, so naturally very little sleep last night. It looks like DD’s Y13 leaving dinner is now cancelled as well, which they were obviously looking forward to.
It’s a week of appointment / work juggling, plus the plasterer is here for 3 days just to complicate life further. Like Narc0, I suspect all my flying, such as it ever is, will have to be done before Wednesday. 

Have a good day all. Hugs and love all round xx

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for the lists, I'm in doing what I can when I can.

Fayolle hope the trip goes ok xx

Community nurse due today or tomorrow.

Our sleep patterns are carp, so far today I've:-

Changed bed

WM x 2 out on whirly

Hoovered whole house

Clean shower room and both toilets

Cleaned kitchen

Emptied bins and cleaned out

Helped OH with various drying / dressing things, he stops taking the morphine today, which is good as it sends him very sleepy, however he did feel up to calling and sort of talking to his son / daughter over the weekend, but it wiped him out yesterday. But very baby steps and we will get there.

Not too sure what for the rest of the day, but I think a sleep may figure

Hugs to those that need them x

roundtuit

Morning xx 
Good to hear that you had a lovely weekend asb xx
Thinking about you Fayolle xx
I think the consultant missed a bit as Boris is back and new floaters keep drifting past. I'm hoping for the best (that it's all a perfectly normal part of the healing process) and preparing for the worst (that I have to go back for more). No point worrying about it, que sera sera and all that.  I'm going back to work tomorrow, the consultant said I could. I'll take regular screen breaks and see what he says next week. Listen to me being all philosophical. 

In the meantime I am up, my bed is made and I'm supping my brew. The ottoman is empty!!! Apart from dust and biodegradable carrier bag bits. What I thought was a valance is actually a pair of bedroom curtains. The plan is to hoover inside the ottoman, then pull it out to hoover under and behind it....not this week though as I'm giving my eye every chance to heal....then sort out the piles of bedding and towels currently sat in DS's room. Keep will go in the ottoman and the rest can go to cs. 😊
Another brew, a slice of toast, then a shower and get dressed sounds like a good start.
Love to all 
Rxx