Weekly Flylady Thread 28th February 2022

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
Wash up (or remove all pots to DW) and clean the draining rack and board.
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.
Empty out caddies/storage jars or tins and wash them out.
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!  get a new hand towel and a new tea towel too

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; update shopping list as appropriate
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.
Check the ceiling/crevices for cobwebs

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.
Plan in some me time - hair appointment, nails, long bubbly bath - something for YOU - you cannot pour from an empty cup


Twinkly Tuesday master bedroom


level 1

Strip bed
open window
Take out rubbish
clear floor and chairdribe

level 2
remake bed
vacuum/sweep/mop floor

Level 3

Dust light shades
dust all round, wiping lotion and potion bottles with a damp cloth

extras
wipe all sockets and switches with a damp cloth, and plugs and cables.  Make sure all are dry Before reconnecting 
s&s kitchen
s&s bathrooms


wipy Wednesday bathroom cloaks etc
1
ope n window
slosh some cleaner down loo
empty bin
scrub toilet bowl and the grim rim
wipe outside of toilet and bin those wipes

2
wipe out bath and or shower
cleans taps, plug, drains and hose and head
wash shower curtain or clean screen

3
scrub handbasin and taps
wipe round and dust
wipe light pulls
polish mirror
clean floor

extra
s&s kitchen
hhi


Thursday -lounge or other reception room

level 1

deal with flowers
empty bin
purge magazines/newspapers
clear and lay fire (if you have one)
clear/tidy and wipe coffee table
plump cushions and straighten curtains
remove anything that doesn't belong


level 2
vacuum/sweep/mop floor
clean windows

level 3
dust ornaments, clocks, pictures
dust/polish furniture
Lift chair pads and vacuum under them
vacuum/wipe sofas and chairs

extras
s&s bathrooms
s&s kitchen
check diary for month - do cards need posting?
is there any household admin to arrange - insurance, servicing of appliances etc?
what is planned for YOU?  Hair appt? Nails? Do share...we all have cups to fill!
Check smoke alarms


Friday finale

hall, stairs, landing, utility or other neglected room

clear detritis
decide what would be most improved by 15 minutes focussed cleaning eg floors, or dusting, or windows
sit down with a cuppa
bung a casserole in the oven or sc

good enough is good enough, so that will do

pigpen

TY for Fred...

My house is FULL of gubbins.. and cats... and people.. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today..

Pets at home.. Tesc0.. musical theatre rehearsal.. putting away shopping.. laundry.. pots.. I need to do pack ups and uniforms and my bed is still buried under a mountain of stuff we had to pull out so we could fit OH's chair in.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Back from a lovely couple of days walking in the Peak District with DH.  Partly paid for by DS1 for our Christmas present so it was a lovely treat.

Day off tomorrow then back to the paid stuff on Tuesday.  We need food shopping and I need to make a plan for the rest of the week.  I have sold a couple of things on Ebay so they need posting.

Thanks for the lists Valli, particularly the idea of allowing some me time.  Everyone needs to make this a priority if you can x

ionafan

Thank you Valli.

I will join in as much as I can this week.  I am halfway through cleaning DH's ensuite and BR, so must finish those first thing in the morning.  Then I need to put away the bags of books etc that I took out today, and sort banking before I go back to work on the accounts.  I didn't manage to do much today beyond two church services and a meeting .

Very tired now,  so I am off to bed and hoping to get a better night's sleep than last night.

I think I have solved why DH's phone wasn't charging - looks like his new wireless charging pad is kaputt.  The old charger is working and I have managed to open his phone with the password for his iPad!!!  Now I've just got to get it to him at the horse piddle...

G'night all.

Fayolle

Thank you, Valli. And Natty for last week.
And I fully agree with Valli and YL - none of us can pour from an empty cup.  Looking in particular at you, Iona, Round, and Pigpen xx

As ever, I will be in as much as I can. Here, today has been all about DD, because as always in my book , she deserves it especially for her stoicism. Proud mama.  

Here’s to a better week for everyone x

pigpen

Well.. Twinkle has had a poonami.. the stairs and bathroom and shower and bath have now been cleaned.. and the pjs burned.. 48 hours of no school.. again... I sent an overly familiar email saying she was not going in and they should be glad it did not happen at school!! OH said 'please tell me that sound isn't Hazel' (Cat with a terrible bowel habit) .. I said 'It's not Hazel.. but it is a 2-man job!!!'

Uniforms found.. still have pack ups to do..

bed found.. ebeast/v!nted stuff reboxed in newly acquired stacking boxes.. it is so much better than 5 shopping bags!!

DW loaded again

Cat trays detoxified..

Washing outside now inside and needs running upstairs to be folded and put away.. OH can do that shortly.

Chair and M@lm unit built.. so Meem can unpack a suitcase.. she's been here since August lol.

Dot was forced into the bath with a rainbow bathbomb and Meem scrubbed her.

We need a tip run with many, many boxes and bags of rubbish and a CS run with 4 binbags of flingage.. YEET!!!

So.. Monday..

• more laundry,
• post 2 parcels (minimum),
• Tip run if we have time,
• DW, pack up,
• uniforms,
• listing sh-tuff for pennies..
• Build a mini greenhouse..
• Squeaks lessons
• Twinkles reading practise and maybe some maths workbook.I need to clear some landing space so the brown cupboard can go upstairs and house the girls bedding.. or maybe the towels.. I haven't yet decided but it seems sensible to have the towels outside the bathroom!
• Take DD1 the step
• Ring nail shop and complain that 3 of the nails I had 'fixed' on Wednesday have fallen off.. NOT acceptable!
  
  Then I can do my knitting!
  

Jazee

Morning all.
Thanks for the list.
Yesterday I managed all my list except the dogs only got one walk and I made a start but didn't finish the cupboard of doom.  Did one wash load though and had a nice walk in the sunshine with DH.
Today will mostly be spent at the vet then with DD but I'll see what flying I can fit in.
Have a great day everyone.

Mademoiselle

Morning lovelies, you all amaze me with your busy weekends, I feel rather ashamed to say that Sunday OH and I went to the nearest bit of seaside and had a lovely walk and lunch (using vouchers so MSE).  The excuse was he wanted to actually use his new car.  He's had it since early January but still has a company car so we use that as it's fully expensed.  Lovely day out and the car has charged up nicely on cheaper overnight electricity.  

I am a nagging mad woman about the house not getting untidy anywhere, there is zero tolerance!  It's working, it's still tidy!

Next is better cleaning and sorting all the drawers, cupboards etc but without making a mess

Bed made, clothes picked up  and room aired
WM on
Banking and spreadsheets checked.  

Next, make OH coffee as he's wfh, put my energetic SMILE on and get on with the list, thanks Valli & Natty

ionafan

Mademoiselle, if your house is clean and tidy when you and your OH go out, it should still be clean and tidy when you get back - you should suggest he takes you out more often!  I always find that the times I go out on my own are the danger times for DH re-cluttering.

Still no word from DH.  he will doubtless tell me that he is in a mobile signal deadspot.  I will ring the ward later to enquire how he is.

I slept (on and off) from 10.00 last night until about 6.00 this morning without any interruptions from Rosie, though I don't feel particularly well rested.  I managed to clean most of DH's ensuite (gross!), tidied up the utility and kitchen (easy!) and did a LFT (still negative) before sitting down to eat my breakfast.  I need to finish the ensuite and BR next, then settle down with the accounts again.  

Will catch up with the thread again later.  I hope everyone has a good day and overall a good week.  GWS to Twinkle xx

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Round 1
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
Laundry shuffle x ?
WUDUPA 

Rxx

kazwookie

Morning

The new to me dentist yesterday was good, he can carry out the work I want, but refuses to do anything more ATM until the results of a recent type2 blood test is done and he has the results direct from my doctors, how ever he is muttering an eye watering amount of £££.

This morning I ring the doctors to ask for a blood test, to get you 'are not on our recall list for type 2,' OK how do I get on the recall list? I then get a series of questions, and an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, with the diabetic nurse for a catch up and discussion as you haven't been seen for 3 years!

So far today

Bed changed

2 x WM out on whirly

Birds fed

3 fed up grumpy cats as I won't let them out, cat 2 is off to the vet for his post op check up, if I let one out they will all go, so they all stay in! they have food / water / trays / toys etc.

Hoovered bedroom

Bins done

Toast eaten, moldy bread out for sea gulls.

GWS to all those who are not well