Weekly Flylady Thread 6th February 2023

Natty68

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.

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. 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 (ooh a compound adjective) content!
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 upThese 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 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 ~ Living room/family room or other reception room!

Level One
Declutter and vacuum the floors!
Wear something purple light a candle and remember Diva and other people we no longer have with us but carry forever in our hearts
Level Two
Vacuum under furniture you can safely move!
Dust and deweb.. check those smoke alarms
Straighten a bookcase
Level Three
Polish glass, mirrors and pictures
Wipe and water the plants
Fill a binbag of clutter and fling it

Extras

• 15mins. filing
• Wash any soft furnishings that are ickified
• Clean out a cupboard.. any cupboard, If you are able/weather permitting go do your necessary garden jobs.

 

Tuesday ~ Kitchen and Dining Mess
Level One
Sweep, vacuum and mop floors
Declutter and wipe worksurfaces
Shine that stinky sink
Level Two
Wipe table replacing cloth if necessary.. I want to see pretty tables piles of mail and pens and goodness knows what else has to go!
Clear out a cupboard.. The one with baking supplies or the one with pans and plastic boxes.. GO!! Or you could, if you have one, clear the pantry!
Wipe and replace small appliances.. Clean one thoroughly!
Level Three
Wipe units and large appliances.. don't forget kickboards!
Wipe the insides of all the cupboard doors!
Organise any cookery books.. Dusted, destickified and placed back tidily!
Dejunk window sills

Extras

• Wash/replace any scanky dishclothes/sponges etc
• Throw out those bacteria breeding chipped mugs and plates etc
• Sort out and restock medicine cupboards
• Wash the brushes, mops, dustpans etc.. how gross do these get?
• Wear something purple light a candle and remember Diva, Toots, Cyclingyorkie and other people we no longer have with us but carry forever in our hearts

Wednesday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level 1
Check smoke alarms are working
Remove bed linen and replace with fresh linen
Declutter the floordrobe
Level 2
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs.. make sure to do the bed base.. mine was gross
Vacuum mattress before replacing fresh linen
15 minutes grotspot clearance
Level 3
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort one area of clothes or linen storage making sure only what should be in there is, anything that's had it's day or doesn't belong there is removed
Defluff and demuck woodwork... skirtings, window frames, door frames dados, picture rails etc

Extras

• Fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Air the duvet.. fling it over the line for half an hour if you can.. fly away bugs!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Binbag dance to go to charity shop! Or just general rehoming!

Thursday ~ Bathroom, Study and Stairs!
Level One
Declutter floors
Vacuum/mop all these floors
Level Two
Wipe keyboard/monitor etc.. bath, basins, bog.. the works!!
Check bath sealant/grout.. does it need replacing? If so either do it or arrange for it to be done
Wash bath mats, shower curtains, net etc
Level Three
Wipe paintwork up the stairs.. it always looks so much nicer cleaned and vacuumed!
Clear and tidy and sort a bookcase/shelves!
Clear and wipe the desk. Do relevant filing/shredding etc
Extras

• HHI
• Catch up on any relevant phonecalls
• Do a mini-job you have been putting off forever.. an email or letter or whatever!
• Make a start on a craft project you've been wanting to do for ages! or finish one!

Friday ~ Childrens Rooms, Spare rooms Or just neglected spaces!
Level One
Declutter and vacuum the floor!
Strip and wash and replace stinky bedding
Make half an hour for YOURSELF!!!
Level Two
Sort through a cupboard of clothing
Sort through a box of toys/junk
Binbag dance
Level Three

Tidy/straighten a bookcase/shelf unit
Wash any curtains/cushions etc that are in need
Dust and deweb
Extras

• HHI
• Make a list of 5 things you want done by the start of half term holidays.. 
• Clean out pets.. make appointments for any vaccinations they need!!
• Wipe away all sticky fingerprints and suchlike!

pigpen

TY for Fred.. I have nothing to do all week because my house is sparkling but I am staying because I would miss you all... hahahahaha..

funfairprincess

Thanks for thread x

I’ll be in as much as possible. 

I’ve managed to clean the bathroom today and make a huge dent in the washing basket. Winterdykes are full and the TD has been on too. 

DD has arrived safely at her hotel and she’s not far away from her placement.  

Just thinking about Diva, Toots and  Lady Liberty. DD was so tiny when Toots used to give her stars for helping doesn’t seem that long ago. Purple posts 😢

pigpen

funfairprincess said:

Just thinking about Diva, Toots and  Lady Liberty. DD was so tiny when Toots used to give her stars for helping doesn’t seem that long ago. Purple posts 😢

I think about them often.. Diva with her beautiful voice.. and mummyslittleboy who was so young too.. and cyclingyorkie who has a little grandbaby now and she would just adore being a grandma.. we just never know when our time is up.. Live every day as if it is your last, tomorrow isn't guarantee'd! R.I.P. our beautiful flyladies up there dusting heaven!

They would all want us to put down our dusters and do the things we love and be with the people we love and have joy in our lives.

I have an issue with the royal mail.. they put the wrong address on a sticky label they brought.. now we need to play hunt the parcel!

Hopefully the engineer will turn up to fix the DW tomorrow..

I have towels out on the line..

but best of all...

MY SHOWER IS FIXED!! It took about half an hour in the end and a trip out to buy a tiny washer!

[Deleted User]

Morning ladies

Last week was a hectic blur. Tip runs, paid stuff, animal jobs, kids - but I’m getting there. Absolutely full of a heavy cold so I am struggling to get out of bed, which is not good news as we leave the house in exactly 1hr 20mins!!

I have looooads of kindling to chop but need a new blade for my saw, I’ll order that it a mo. Spag bol for dinner but I’ll have to make it tonight as I’m not up in time for the slow cooker malarkey! 

Reminder to keep those NSDs going, February is a short month and is definitely ‘use up’ month in this house.

Right I really should move have fab days all xx

mumtoomany

Good morning ladies, at least I think we are all ladies, maybe it should be, and gentlemen.  In this week although like pigpen my house is already sparkling. Sadly that's only on the outside, and due to being covered in a thick layer of frost! But beautiful all the same.

List for today.
DW x two, at least.
De seed some chillies I bought, and plant the seeds.
Make pizzas for tea.
Hoover the stairs.
Weed the rest of the bed that I put garlic in yesterday. Anyone know if garlic would mind sharing a bed with strawberries?

That will do for now. Don't want to be to over ambitious.

Joining you on your spend free month, ASB. Really need to make some space in the freezer. We have three spare cockerels that need putting in there.

Hope everyone is well. Fingers crossed for your DW man pigpen, hugs, mumtooany.xx

Valli

Morning all

Bright, sunny but cold here, it will warm up though, the sun is shining.

I have more washing to go out on the line - I had an empty laundry basket for a while there…

Off to the paid stuff today. 

kazwookie

ASB a new chain for a saw, a girl after my own heart, a new chain makes all the difference , if I were nearer I would come and saw for you! going to put my big chainsaw back together today and test it with its new chain.

Frosty, cold but sunny here.

WM done, just got to hang it out, as the sun is coming round.

Cats fed

Kitchen is done

Have a good day

Crazycatlady2

Let’s see what this week brings….other than cleaning new job progress for hubby might be this week or next and eldest has driving test next week and middle child has exam revision sessions in holidays so hoping for a quiet week this week really as still ill….second lot of antibiotics for throat 

hope all well x 

kiss_me_now9

Morning all! First full week of my maternity leave today and I am starting in earnest with a rather full list of (tbf, quite 'small' tasks) to do. Mainly because I have several social engagements on other days this week and I wish to pretend for once I am a domestic goddess  

Todays to do list -

• Set up my diary for the week ahead
• Strip bed
• Two loads of washing (this one is mildly cheating as OH put a load in before he went to work. It's sunny and mild today so hopefully will get that on the line!)
  
• Tidy my office desk
• Dishwasher unload/reload
• Wipe kitchen counters
• Take out recycling mountain
• Clear kitchen floors
• Tidy up in the bedroom - will basically be a ten minute job as OH just left his tools lying around when he put the changing table up yesterday
• Straighten bookcase up
• Post the box of miscellaneous craft stuff I sorted out ages ago on FB to see if anyone wants it
• Read a little
  
• Drink some tea
• Design OR print and cut at least 3 stickers to start my inventory for Etsy (currently have 5 designed but only one sheet and I'm not overtly happy with them)
• Reach 1500 SB (£15 voucher) on Amazon... annoyingly I am 30 SB off and I can't seem to get any surveys to work
• Pick up our pram and car seat when OH is back from work
• Renew library books

I have added straightening my bookcase and that has reminded me to renew my library books, many thanks! 

Once my desk is tidied and I have done my more physical chores I will light a candle in memory of all those departed. Thoughts are with you all today x 

ionafan

Morning all.  Beautiful sunshine and blue sky here - but gosh it's cold!

Thank you for the new thread, Natty x

Sounds like Flyladies are a vicious bunch!  I'm not allowed to use a saw yet (sternum still healing) but I have had the screwdriver out this morning to deconstruct some cross-shaped wooden stakes that had been cluttering up the back porch since last summer.  My gardener took some away a few weeks ago but hasn't expressed any interest in the remainder, so I shall offer them to DS1, along with most of my bamboo canes.  Now that the crosspieces have been removed and binned, the stakes have been put in the corner outside the porch, and the porch looks and feels far more spacious and less dangerous.

DH has gone off to the horse piddle this morning to return his sleep test machine.
I have a shortish list of jobs that I should like to complete today.  I have already spot cleaned the LR carpet and am waiting for it to dry before getting the Dy$0n out (that's my excuse, anyway).  I've also S&S'd the kitchen and bathroom, and remembered to put on my new trainers in order to wear them in before going to cardio rehab tomorrow.  Phonecalls and emails next.

Coffee at 11.00 anyone? xxx