Weekly Flylady Thread 20th February 2023

Natty68

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 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 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

Magnificent Monday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Fling open that window and blow those cobwebs out!! Air the room!!! Nothing worse than a bedroom smelling of parps!
Remove and wash bed linen
Level Two...
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
30 minutes floor clearance.. that includes floordrobe and junk!
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort 10 things from a wardrobe/chest of drawers that you can get rid of... and a pair of shoes only counts as one thing! Likewise socks!.. and it is time those knickers you have had for 37 years were binned.. let hem go liberate yourself!!
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs have moved in....

Extra Mission

• 39 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Wipe or dust over the upstairs light fittings.. don't go injuring yourself please, you have the rest of the week to work through!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down the skirting in the bedroom and on the landing

Twinkling Tuesday - Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms
Air the room.. fling open the windows and let in the springy air!! I don't care if it is 13' below!! lol
Level Two...
Clean baths/shower, toilets, don't forget under the rim! 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 etc whatever needs cleaning.
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Collect any stray laundry from upstairs.

Extra mission:
Pick whichever you want to attempt:

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wipe down the doors and frames in these rooms.
• Clean the radiators in these rooms
• Wash the windows in these rooms.. and shine the mirrors
• HHI... a bit more gone!
• Spend half an hour with your little ones, for those that have them, doing anything they fancy

Whitening Wednesday ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two...
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, clean out any spills or grots in there! Is there anything that needs to be made into a yummy soup!!
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 out the cupboard full of pasta and packets and pickles..
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Check those filters and drawers for ickiness, gackiness and fluff!!

Extra Mission
Choose one or more of:

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• Clean oven if it really needs it.. or just do the hob or a knob!!..
• 29 fling boogie.. GO!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Thundering Thursday- Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum floors and sofas
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything & water & wipe the poor neglected plants!
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Level Three...
Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister
Clean windows & any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. Are there any that need rehoming?
Wipe skirtings, doorframes and other paintwork

Extra Mission:
Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.. the bottom 6 inches is just rubbish it has been there so long I'm surprised it isn't compost!!
• Change any dead lightbulbs in the house!
• Clean a radiator or two.
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• HHI.. get that mountain gone

Finally Friday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
Level Two...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!! paint your nails, make an appointment to have your hair done, a lovely soak in the bath.. whatever you feel like!! I'm having my nails done this morning as usual
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets & pillows need freshening up too!!
Level Three...
Rummage ALL the junk from one shelf and sort through it..
Sort through a toybox chuck out all the things they don't need any more.. charity or freecycle or whatever.
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors

Extra Task List

• Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• 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!
• Half an hour in the garden clearing the mess and making it nice for spring to arrive.. the sooner your garden is nice the sooner it arrives! Honest!

Narc0lepsy

thanks for thread.  Good - master bedroom. The fitter is arriving at 8am tomorrow morning to put on the final, hopefully now the right size, wardrobe door.    So that should give me an incentive.    I also want to finish a report.
This week's main excitement is that after 18 months of waiting and 10 days of the stuff sitting in the fridge, Mr N has his first supervised injection of the new RA treatment on Wednesday. 

Today I went to church,  started cleaning out the greenhouse, did a tiny bit of report, spoke to Mum, DB and bereaved friend on the phone and arranged for something to be sent back to Amaz0n (who decided they would do a refund but didn't want the item - a windscreen wiper blade - back!). 

pigpen

I'm .. pootling.. I am in out and shaken all about.. 

I need emergency childcare for Sunday.. 
I have parcels and a dishwasher delivery and laundry to my ears and a downstairs toilet to install and a squillion other things.. all the things.. 

Thank for Fred xx

I have added what I would 'like'' to get done but in all likelihood won't. I am focusing on keeping on top of the kitchen but also making baby steps towards the rest of the house. I am so fed up of the clutter and stuff everywhere and it wasn't like this until Squeak came along but with OH working 9-5 it gives me full days to do what needs doing even though I do have to do it all in short bursts I will get there eventually.. in theory!

Magnificent Monday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Remove and wash bed linen
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing

Twinkling Tuesday - Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Clean floors in these rooms
Clean baths/shower, toilets, don't forget under the rim! and sinks.
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required

Whitening Wednesday ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
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..
Check those filters and drawers for ickiness, gackiness and fluff!!

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms

Thundering Thursday- Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Vacuum floors and sofas
Dusting, .
Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister
Clean windows & any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Wipe skirtings, doorframes and other paintwork

Finally Friday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms

I will get to the childrens room but for now I am focusing on making the downstairs presentable, that is proving tricky enough!
Extra Task List

• 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!
• Half an hour in the garden clearing the mess and making it nice for spring to arrive.. the sooner your garden is nice the sooner it arrives! Honest!

Valli

DW x 1, WM x 4
slept like a log, changed bed yesterday so am in the zone for the list.

Dizzy_Imp

I'm in...it's half term and I need to remain sane (well as close to it as I can manage). Been up, let out the dogs,  made DH his lunch as he is not on half term (lucky sod) and made tea/coffee. Climbed over floordrobe to get back into bed with a cuppa, so delighted to read Master bedroom is today's task.  I'll see you on Thursday, maybe when I resurface?

Send chidlers to me on Sunday Piggers - they can join my ferals exploring the barn x

Crazycatlady2

Hope everyone had a good weekend, was stressful here and can’t see it getting better anytime soon x 

pigpen

DW delivery between 10-1pm.. at least it's not school run time!

Dizzy.. if I could, I would! They would love a day in a barn.. Dot would have the best time and Twinkle would whine about 'bits in her shoes' and Pixie would be all 'ooh there's a bit of dirt' while rolling in faeces and mud!

Right.. loo.. cuppa.. Social services.. 

ooh.. 30 minutes until delivery.. I will do the above things quicker.. drag out the DW and then ring SS.. 

pigpen

Old DW emptied.. 
Table cleared
maggot bin filled
gates unlocked
dirty pots stacked neatly ready to go in the new DW.

right.. I need a screwdriver for the jubilee clip and the old DW out.. 

Crazycatlady2

Have fun with the new dishwasher

hope goes ok with social services 

Crazycatlady2

Oh I’ve hung up the wet washing…pretty much nothing else getting done other than food and coffees today 

pigpen

Old DW unhitched and outside

Floor under said DW scrubbed.. and scrubbed.. and scrubbed.. 
Rest of the kitchen swept.. and the edges.. scrubbed.. 

Feargal is in the kitchen waiting to slurp up polystyrene.. I cannot abide that stuff!! It can go straight in the car to run to tip on Saturday.. it cannot be in the house. 

Cuppa made and run up to OH
1 sock put in WM
Cats fed and watered and hoofed out of the kitchen. 

What even is todays list because my kitchen is getting blasted.... ah... I can't do the bedroom for 4 weeks.. OH is in training on video.. I do need to get in there and vacuum and deflea.. I need to deflea the hairy beasts too.