Weekly Flylady Thread 9th January 2023

Natty68

Welcome to the 2nd Flylady thread of 2023... This week will see a LOT of newcomers which happens every year, sadly many of these ladies and gents do not stay long. This influx usually means the thread is very very busy, please do not lose heart if you cannot keep up with everyone else or reading the thread, don’t try to reply to everyone and please remember to include something about flying in all your posts, chat is for the weekend when your home is looking beautiful!!! Things will settle again in a couple of weeks so don’t worry it will return to normal and we will hopefully have some new fledglings.

 

If you need help organising your week when it comes to housework, or just the motivation to do the dreaded housework tasks you have to do, come and join us, hopefully make it a little easier. You never know, you might start to enjoy it!

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

OOD – out of date

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

 

Ok here goes this week:

 

Monday ~ Living Room, Porch and Hallway
Level One
Declutter floors and sweep/mop/vacuum
Wash windows
Level Two
Clean doors and door furniture
Check smoke alarms..
Sort coats and shoes and bags.. fling out the ones that no longer fit and note who needs new wellies etc!.. oh.. umbrellas.. check all those too!!
Level Three
Wipe over sofas
Vacuum under furniture you can move without damaging yourself
Put away the final bits of christmas gibble
Sort services/chimney sweepings and suchlike

Extras

• Make appointments you have been putting off.. dr, dentist, optician etc..
• Clear and clean fire surround
• Sort through one hotspot.. see how long you can keep it clear!
• Wipe/dust electricals and sockets and switches!

Tuesday ~ Kitchen, Utility and Dining Area
Level One
Wipe and replace small appliances
Declutter and wipe work surfaces
Level Two
Sweep and mop floors
Wipe units/appliances
Clear and wipe window sills.. do not put back the junk.. bin it!
Level Three
Tidy, clear and wipe the top of the fridge and freezer
Clean one small appliance thoroughly.. microwave, kettle, iron,
Clean appliance filters.. WM, DW, Kettle, Vacuum cleaner.. cooker hood.. 

Extras

• Sharpen knives
• Order and organise the spices and sauces.
• Sort the cutlery drawer
• Medical box - restock and inventory. I'm sure a lot of us will have run out of the vitals the last few months!

Wednesday ~ Study and Bathroom/loo
Level One
Declutter and mop/vacuum floors
Clean the bathroom fixtures and fitting.. while the pc defrags!
Level Two
Polish mirrors and taps and pictures and shower screens etc
Wipe over all the paintwork..
Declutter the desk and clean the keyboard etc.. icky germs.. and shake out those biscuit crumbs!
Level Three
Declutter 50 emails and have 15 minutes filing/organising spreadsheets/debtbusting!.. see if you can alter any of these payments to free up some cash!
Defluff behind the radiators.. and wipe the fronts so they look nice
Clean the downstairs curtain poles/tracks.. furniture polish is a foolproof way of making the curtains run smoothly again!

Extras ~ just 3 today as they are time consuming

• Gather insurance documents/guarantees/important papers together in one accessible file
• Change any dead lightbulbs and defluff any old ones.. if you can change some old ones for eco-bulbs.. save a few pence where we can
• Check passports, do they need renewing? If yours needs renewing for a holiday this year get it done now to save that last minute panic.

Thursday ~ Master Bedroom and Landing
Level One
Declutter the floor.. and vacuum it!
Strip the bedding, wash and replace!
Level Two
Vacuum the dust mites off the mattress and turn it if can!
Declutter your make-up.. it breeds all manner of germs!! and bin any ancient smellies
Organise the towels and spare bedding.. fling what needs to be flung!
Level Three
Find 5 items from each cupboard to be binned/charity shopped.. pairs of things can count as 2... holey socks, pants with no elastic etc..
Clean fronts and behinds of radiators!
Wipe tops of upstairs door frames

Extras

• Sock pairing session.. you have to pair up at least 20 odd socks!
• Clean vacuum innards, pipes and filters.. do not use again until it is all dry!
• Wash some stinky trainers!! .. We all have some!
• Mend 1 item you have been putting off for weeks!

Friday ~ Childrens/Spare rooms.. or any other room you have neglected
Level One
Declutter and vacuum floors
Strip wash and replace bedding.. Vacuum and turn mattresses is not beeen done in a while!
Half an hour of you time.. no star if you don't do it!
Level Two
Wash duvets/curtains etc if not been done for a while
Sort through a box of toys.. find 5 that are no longer required and rehome (sshhh, do this quietly!)
Photograph as much as possible to ebay on the next free listing day.. if you don't ebay BINBAG DANCE!
Level Three
Sort through ALL the childrens undies.. whose pants are dead? Whose vests are now crop tops?
Sort through all the games and make them nice and neat (or disappear)
HHI

Extras

• Mend an item you have been putting off.. 
• ALL the dirty laundry to the wash baskets
• Wash a set of curtains and rehang.
• Sort school uniform ~ fling or mend those holey or stained items

Valli

Hi, I'm in (ish)

vacuumed hallway today *proud*

Natty68

So glad the cards from Piggers arrived with everyone, and if it hasn't arrived yet it is in the post.

I have another load to send tomorrow too so they'll be with the card swap ladies in a couple of days 😉

pigpen

AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now that is out of my system... thank you for Fred..

My spotless kitchen is disgusting when I got back.. rubbish and pots and gravy granules and mess and the cat found a ball of wool and made a cats cradle in my house.. I am really not happy... and moomin will be beeing told.. I am not a flipping maid!!!!

Uniforms to find and pack ups to build.. I will check what it for lunch tomorrow they might want to stay hot dinner and have pizza a third day running!

SIL was told to get the floof off me... MY BODY!!! She was blathered as usual.. I will be speaking to adult services tomorrow. I cleaned the sink in the toilet which had faeces on it.. I cleaned out the dishwasher and put the 'clean' pots away after washing half of them, it needs salt and rinseaid 'but we don't use that'. We were not there long enough for me to get stuck in, I need a week... I want to stay somewhere close so I can trek round and gut the whole house.. she was griping about not having a gardener and there is food on the wall in the back room, poo on the hand basin, and a smell in the kitchen like rotting something.. and I forgot to take my paint stripper to fix the doors so they close! OH was angry from the second we got here until we left..

And I have 2 parcels at a neighbours and they are lazy and were in bed when we got back!

funfairprincess

Hi all x

Thanks to Natty and Valli for the running of the thread. 

I’m in the best I can. I’ve not made the rota for work yet I’m debating whether to do 5 or 6 shifts. Really need to be doing 6 but don’t want to 🤣

Piggers sounds like a complete nightmare. I hope adult services can offer some help x

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for thread.
Goodness Pigpen, as if you haven't got enough to do with your own brood!
It rained really hard all today, especially when I was walking back from church.
However, the house is fairly ok as we had a rush round and fly yesterday before our friend stayed over.
I am up to date with all reports, just need a final 10min check of one tomorrow morning so it can be sent off. 
Have booked accommodation for training thing at Stoke.
Really making an effort to keep up with drum practice; I'm a teacher for goodness sake - I know how important practice is!!

This week's main aims:
- back to all sorts of exercise this week
- sort wardrobe clothes so those I plan to use in the next 2 weeks will go on the borrowed rail; those I don't plan to use can be folded in the spare room or in a suitcase; those I can't justify keeping will go to the CS.
- having done the above, old shelves/rails will be dismantled, area cleaned and painted.
- prepare paperwork for 2 assessments this week. check I have enough test forms for the rest of the term.
- go through flagged emails.
- try to do at least level one each day for each room.

Have a good/healthy/peaceful/active week everyone - delete as required.

BadCat18

Morning all

thanks for the thread x I shall try to be on board!

Did a load of batch cooking yesterday, lasagne x 2, bolognese x 2 and lots of soup, my future self will thank me! Freezer is looking good, I still have some more to use in there so will be trying to cook once, eat twice over the coming weeks. Very little effort to do this but time saved is great!

So far today…
windows open in bedroom and bed turned back to air
ensuite swished
lounge tidied, cushions plumped etc
litter tray scooped and refreshed
dw emptied
wm set to swish 

I have a busy day at the paid stuff and am out this evening so that might be it on the flying front, will see how it goes.

have a good day xx

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

I echo what Narco said Pigpen, as if you havent got enough to deal with, but I suppose someone has to do something.

Struggled to get up this morning, late start and finish at the paid stuff today.  Have emptied the DW and put the doggie blankets in to wash, have another load to hang out when it gets light enough.  Will make myself do an exercise class next, clean out the LR fire, have a general tidy around and put some mince in SC for DH.

LR windows need washing, but not sure if I will get that done this morning.

Have a good Monday all, going to be a long week this week, let's just pace ourselves x

roundtuit

Sweetie died in the night. 
I just came down and found him.
😭😭😭😭😭

Jazee

Oh no Round, I'm so sorry to hear that.  Hugs xx

Honey_Bear

Oh Round I'm so, so sorry.  I know how important he was to you, and it must have come as such a shock.  (((Hugs)))