Weekly Flylady Thread 13th February 2023

Valli

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.
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 Natty for last week's 

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 up
These lists are only suggestions and not a must do list; you are more than welcome to post hhand 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...

Manic Monday

Kitchen/dining room

Level 1

Put away pots; clear sink
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and flexes
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too
Wipe sill, sockets, door handles and switches
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish sponge and replace with a new one and/or soak dishcloth in bleach.

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Clean microwave - steam it out!
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan
Dust dining area/room
Clear WM , TD and DW filters

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean windows

Extras

Register your appliances if you haven't already done so - in the event of a product recall you won'r miss out.  Even if they are just 'new' to you!
https://www.registermyappliance.org.uk/
HHI

Ruby Tuesday

Living room, hall, stairs and landing

Level 1
Open lots of windows and let that fresh air in while beds are airing
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms
Wash out vases
Empty bins/ashtrays
Clear gibble
Plump and straighten cushions
Wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices.  Lift seat cushions if you can and vacuum underneath
Wipe/dust coffee tables and leave tidy
Sort newspapers/magazines

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Clean doormats
waggle a long thin duster or brush behind/between radiator panel and remove all that fluff and dust.  

once the dust has settled vacuum it all up.


Level 3
Dust all round - don't forget sills, skirting boards, tops of curtain rails and/or battens and top and frame of door.
Wipe door handles, banisters, light switches and sockets - and the bits of the door where people hold to open/close it.
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should - vacuum fabric shades; wash glass shades 
Wipe lightbulbs (if cold)
Dust pictures/paintings on walls - and dust behind them too!
Stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?

Extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
HHI

Wednesday Week


Bathrooms, cloak rooms and en suites

Level 1
Open window
Remove towels and facecloths and fling in WM
Scrub Loo inside and out, slop  bleach or descaler down afterwards

Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
De-fuzz plugholes
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins
Wipe plugs - especially underneath!

Level 3
sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate
clean windows
polish mirrors
dust and polish where necessary


Extras

HHI
S&S kitchen

Thursday Thrills  - The Boudoir

level 1

open windows
strip bed
clear floordrobe and chairdrobe
empty bin

level 2
make bed with fresh bedding
clean bedside tables
vacuum/sweep/mop floor

level 3
clean windows
dust all round
Wash combs and brushes

extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen
Get in touch with a friend or relation you’ve not spoken to in a while

FRIDAY FLOURISH - Kids room/spare room/guest room 
Level 1
Open window
strip bed
clear detritus from floor
occupant of room to assist if available
Empty bin

level 2
anything that needs to be homed -put away occupants of room to help
vacuum floor
If spare/guest room check all lighting fully functional

level 3
clean window
wipe sockets and switches
dust all around

extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen
HHI
read through a recipe book or Google a rarely-used ingredient and find something new to cook this weekend

ionafan

Thank you Valli.  I shall join in when I can.

Hope everyone has a good start to the week xxx

pigpen

TY for Fred.. I have so much to get done this week and I am absolutely exhausted already.. I have done about a quarter of my pit

Valli.. I never add water when cooking honks of meat in the SC, they have that much water added it is not needed. 

Monday I have Meems desk and a few other bits to take to her at my sisters.. looks like she has moved out again. 
I need a food shop.. my cupboards resemble those of Old Mother Hubbard!
I need to visit DD1 and the grand squiggles
The  new DW is supposed to be being delivered so the old one needs hauling out and taking to tip. 
I want to get some bits listed to sell.. 

I need to order Dots school uniform for September.

I have nagged for the utility bill to be put on a budget plan.. I will fling them an email tomorrow to make sure it is being done.. they are utterly incompetent so it may take a while. 

I need to rehome a little table and stool to make space for the new to them desk. 

I need to sleep.

[Deleted User]

Morning ladies

Thank you for the thread. I am in, but still fighting this blinking virus. My house is a sty and I’m working full time this week. 

Today is - 10 hour shift, unload DW, sort dogs, feed everyone. That’ll do.

Take care friends  xx
 

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list Valli.

 I will walk the dog and potter this morning then I'm going out with DD and DGD2.  First of two wash loads in machine.

Have a great day everyone.

kazwookie

Morning all

Snowdrops are coming out, plus the early daffs are starting to show.

Thank you for the threads.

I'm on a roll this morning as I want to go to local auction to have a wander around.

So far

Whole house hoovered again

Bagless thing emptied

Several cats fed, my 3 have had 2nds as well!

Whatapp with NDN on her hols to assure her, her cats are well and up to tricks with mine, she says she is missing them and her dog, which is staying with the breeder.

WM x 1 pegged out, but it looks a bit grey and lifeless out there.

Kitchen done

All floors mopped

Bleach down toilets, and sinks

Sort out postie who had a parcel for NDN, and was quite agitated he couldn't open their front door, they normally leave it unlocked and lock the inner door.

Bin done

Birds and deer fed

Now having a wander around interenet, toast and water.

Have a good day

roundtuit

Hello xx

I'm up, made my bed, got dressed, opened windows upstairs to let some fresh air through, eaten breakfast and I'm having a brew. 

Over the weekend all the laundry was washed, shuffled until dry, and put away. All pots were WULTD- including DSil's cake tin, which can now be returned. Looking for the positives!

While laid awake beating myself up over being a failed human being living in squalor I decided: today I will sort one of the drawers under my bed. (Although why I thought that was a priority  I dont know!) And promptly started to panic.....  It's OK, it's OK, you don't have to. It was just an idea. Sheeesh. I have a head full of ideas: I  could do this, I could do that, I could make a start on this, I could make a start on that. Then I get buried under the avalanche of ideas and freeze. Ooooh that's a good metaphor / simile / thingy. Not an alliteration defo. 🥶

So. February 13th 2023. A good a date as any to make a(nother) fresh start. 


Ooo I have ionafan whispering ' How do you eat an elephant?' in my ear. And there's piggers wielding anti-bac, a fluffy mule, and a heart full of love. Oh. A coach load of supportive flyladies wishing me well. How lovely. ❤ Does anyone know where the magic scales are? 🙃 Now if you wonderful ladies would throw sticks to keep the black dog distracted ( I think he snook in while I had the bug) I'll do something. 

Round 1
Feed the birds
Fill the birdbath
Put out the recycling 
DUPA the pots

List the ideas and tick them off as I actually complete them. Instead of chasing them round my head at 3am. 

Sounds like a plan.

Thank you one and all.
Rxx

Jazee

Thankyou Round for making me smile.

pigpen

Round.. I have magic scales.. they say things like 'you are worthy' and 'you are beautiful' and 'you are not superhuman but you are amazing' and 'it will be ok'  .. best scales ever! *shoots the dog with a tranquiliser gun*

Millions of things to do.. and I am tired.. I was at DS1's until 3:30.. he was having a meltdown because his friend in portugal is sending pictures of him self harming.. what the heck does he expect DS1 to do about that??If he was here or I could get there I would give him a blooming slap! 

Meems stuff to sort.. in my half asleep stupidity I am considering asking Pixies friend round and my idiocy is after going to soft play on Friday.. I clearly hate myself.

Washing to do
girls bedding to change
desk to rehome
washing to hang out

Cat trays to sort
shopping to buy

No word on the delivery of the DW.. I will be nagging momentarily about that. 

Have a lovely productive day.. or sit on the sofa and rest day.. 

pigpen

Pixies friend invited.. she is coming Thursday.. She is a lovely girl and the 2 of them are thick as thieves. 

OH has a presentation to do for tomorrow as part of the interview for the training position.. he is not going to do great at this.. honestly though.. it is a simple presentation and just needs to speak confidently.. it is stuff I know he can do but he will get inside his head and be ridiculous like he will be tortured and murdered if he does rubbish.. they're just people he is talking to and only 2 of them .. if he saw them in the world of online in WoW he would not behave like this.. 

I've written a very boring shopping list and am thinking I may do a click and collect because I cannot face battling the marauding masses. They are only people but I don't need them in the shop when I am in, they get in the way! lol

10 minutes before washers finish. I MAY have been exploring the 15KG american style toploaders.. I could possibly get away with just having 1 WM then BUT.. they need a hot feed which would mean pulling my kitchen apart.. maybe one day! 

OH is off to feed Pixie.. and I am going to pull the middle room apart. 

Crazycatlady2

Good luck to OH pigpen…mind also has interview tomorrow

been to docs again and told throat problem might be silent reflux so gif something for that to try 🤷‍♀️

washing on line and ironing done but not much else…might start a book 😂