Weekly Flylady Thread 25th July 2022

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 Melee ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Clear 1 window sill
Open windows and let in that summer sun!!!!
Level Two..
Sweep and mop floors
Scrub out the sticky fridge!
Wipe dining table.. (clean table cloth if necessary)
Level Three..
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round
Wipe and replace all those small appliances.. kettle, toaster etc
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Clean out your mankiest kitchen cupboard..
Extra Mission : help yourself

• Clean the hob
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 32 fling boogie..
• Phone someone you love just to tell them so!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Tuesday Twister! ~ Living room, halls and stairs
Level One..
Vacuum floors and sofas and hall and stairs
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe and no-one can have any accidents falling down them...
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
HHI
Level Three...
Wipe and water plants, or better still gather them all up, then run some water in the bath and put your plants in the bath for a couple of hours to have a lovely soak...
Sort through a dumping drawer/cupboard
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks 

• Clean windows & any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
• Sort through shoes and coats and bags
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• Wash any cushions, throws or curtains that need it

Wednesday Winging & Flinging ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...

Open windows and let fresh air in through the house..
Clear floors of guff and stuff
Muck out any pets make them all smelling sweet we don’t want stinky pets in the hot weather….
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains, shower curtains etc
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Sweep and mop and deslop the floors in these rooms.
Collect all the dirty laundry
Extra mission: Take your pick!

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wipe the tops of the cabinets and cupboards in therse rooms
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes
• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it
• HHI... a bit more gone!

Thursday Thllliiing!~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Fling open the window and let in the fresh air
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 the cupboard and fling everything that no longer fits
Clear a hotspot.. or spend 15 minutes clearing one.
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• 34 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Clean all the upstairs door frames
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Clear the top of a bedside cupboard/chest of drawers or shelf

Friday Frenzy ~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Open the windows and let in the fresh air...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Level Two...
Make an appointment for some ME-time.. hairdressers? manicure? night out with friends? .. whatever just do it!
Level Three...
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!!
Clean 2 windows
Grab a toy box and throw/rehome anything that is no longer wanted.. it'll be chrimbo before we know it and we need the space!!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra Task List

• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• HHI
• End of week fling!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!
• Vacuum the floor
• Update bank accounts/finances
• Bake a cake/buns/Twinks hobnobs with the children..

ionafan

Thank you for the new list, Natty x - and thanks to Valli for last week's x

Great to have you back in the Flylady fold, Dizzy x

DH is doing OK - thanks for all good wishes.   He still hasn't been out of the house, but it's been raining so I haven't insisted.

This evening our meal included 3 runner beans and a dozen French beans harvested from the garden.

Tomorrow morning my friend K is coming round to help me clean windows, for which I shall pay her in cake!   I shall let her get on with it while I dust and hoover.  Everywhere is tidy, apart from the usual RoD = study.  I have a heap of admin with four very short deadlines, but I did manage to write a report yesterday, so that's one thing off the list.

Gentle strokes to Littleydog and (((hugs))) spoons and sticks to everyone else xx

Narc0lepsy

I'm back and needing to tackle all the cobwebs which have sprung up in our absence.   Garden looks dreadful; so many crispy plants, it was really upsetting to walk round.  We're just focusing on hanging baskets/patio pots and edibles for watering now and also saving any washing up water etc to chuck over things.  Tiny amount of rain this evening, don't imagine it will make any difference.

It was a couple of degrees cooler in the Peak District so we had a fab time, I managed to get in 2 wild swims.

Hugs, spoons etc to all. 

Valli

Ah Narco… yes it’s a bit cooler up there.  We get snow up there and it’s fine here.  I don’t miss DS’s footballing days when we had to head up to Buxton for a match…

I’ve lost my reading glasses…I think I might have left them in the pub on Thursday but when I ring it either doesn’t get answered or goes to a busy message.

a bit of tidying today and some slimy carrots have made it into the compost bin - and my ironing is up to date.

I itch where I’m stitched.  Hopefully the plasters will stop me scratching and ripping myself open.

pigpen

I've been run ragged again.. and I will be all week.. I get to sit down on Sunday.. if I am lucky!!

I may be meeting myself coming back.

BadCat18

Morning all

Hoping to rejoin if you will have me? Life has rather overwhelmed me the last few weeks / months… not sure how long it’s been. Have been following along with you all, sending hugs, sticks, spoons and GWS wishes to any in need.

Flying has been the basics only, and it shows! Work as always is busy but I need to get back in to a flying routine. Will be my own lists I think so I’m starting at the top of the house in my office… as I have to spend a lot of time there I want it to be a pleasant space. I’ve been needing that ‘blur background’ function on video calls rather too much recently!

righto, cuppa first, then a walk for some fresh air before I begin!

back later…

Valli

Morning all

going into the office today and I am walking there….not least because I cannot drive.

hope you all have a good day

[Deleted User]

Morning ladies

Thank you for the lists as always, and welcome back to Dizzy and Badcat.

Positive stuff first - our pigs arrived yesterday and we’re in love already 💕💕 

Annoyingly I have tested positive for the lurgy this morning (I just knew deep down I had it), feels just like a heavy cold at present TBH. I am going to spend some time ebaying to bring some much needed funds in, I’d forgotten how much the children eat when they’re off school! 

Sending very gentle hugs to you Valli, I wish I could help in some way. 

Right I’m off to feed the pigs and bleach my teaspoons xx

BadCat18

Me again

well 30mins has restored order to my office!

• All surfaces dusted
• Bedding taken off sofa bed (only been a week since we had guests ) and bed folded up
• Wm run with bedding and pegged out…with one eye on the weather
• Windows cleaned
• Paperwork stacked, still needs sorting but at least it’s tidied now
• Basket of gibble that belongs in other rooms put outside, again needs to be sorted later
• Mugs (wondered where they all were lol) glasses etc in to DW
• Vac run
• All office items not in use put away
• Bin emptied

Much better! I can work now, I’ve allocated another 30mins later to do some admin then that will also clear the paperwork pile (it’s not all work but I reckon they owe me the hours that I can take some time out of the working day to do that!)

Baby steps and all that, target to do next room tomorrow or sooner if I have time.

kazwookie

Thank you for the lists.

Bed stripped and remade

WM x 2 done out on whirly

Kitchen done

Whole house hoovered

Car taken to garage for service and MOT, walked back

Throughly cleaned where cat eat, as they 'love' to drag their food across the floor.

Cleaned inside of conservatory windows

Took hand brush and have brushed out side of all window ledges to remove cobwebs etc. yuk

eby parcel to post, nearest Post Office is approx 2 miles away, so I'll walk there and back, that should be walking done for the day, with the other steps I have already done today.

Keep safe

roundtuit

Morning xx

Taken my car to the garage to get exhaust fixed, walked back.

Made my bed, WULTD a bowl of pots, bowl refilled with remaining pots, fed the birds, taken out the recycling. 

I didn't feel well at the weekend- so minimum flying done: got all my laundry washed and dried on Saturday though so not completely idle. I did a test for the lurgy yesterday but it was negative. But I still feel bleurgh. 
Take care my lovelies. Good to see some 'old' faces back 👋

Rxx