Weekly Flylady Thread 17th April 2023

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/0whoever) ~ 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 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

Magnificent Monday - Kitchen and dining room
Level One
Clear and wipe worksurfaces
Scrub down the front of units and large appliances
Level Two
Wipe and replace small appliances
Clean oven and hob
Wash windows and sills
Level Three
Wipe the table and chairs... put on a clean cloth if necessary.
Sweep and mop the floor
Degunge the fridge!
Extras

• Thoroughly clean the cutlery drawer
• Run the WM's and DW's through a clean cycle
• Clean all the filters and door seals etc
• HHI

Twinkling Thursday - Living pit, hallway, stairs!!
Level One
Declutter the floors!
Vacuum/mop floors & stairs!
Level Two
Dust over all the electrical appliances.. be careful though I don't want any accidents!
Vacuum under the furniture you can safely move!
Clean the sofas
Level Three
Declutter the inside of a cupboard or drawer!
Degrot the under stair space/cupboard.. You know you want to...!!!!
Dust mantle and polish any display cabinets or bookshelves etc
Extras

• Wipe and water the plants
• Clean out the pets
• Wash any smelly soft furnishings
• Get a pile of filing done!!

Wistful Wednesday - bathroom, study and other grotty places!
Level One
Clean the floors in these rooms
De-grot the loo/bath/shower/sink etc
Level Two
Wash the windows
Empty and clean out the bins
Clear and clean a shelf or cupboard and put back only the necessary items
Level Three
Clear the desk of mess and mush.. get rid of those
Wash down ALL the dining chairs..
Drag out the pc desk and clear under and behind it ... see how good I am to you lot!?
Extras - binbag list!

• Fill a binbag for charity shop
• Fill a binbag for the bin
• Fill a binbag for a friend
• Fill a binbag for recycling!

Twinkling Thursday - Living pit, hallway, stairs!!
Level One
Declutter the floors!
Vacuum/mop floors & stairs!
Level Two
Dust over all the electrical appliances.. be careful though I don't want any accidents!
Vacuum under the furniture you can safely move!
Clean the sofas
Level Three
Declutter the inside of a cupboard or drawer!
Degrot the under stair space/cupboard.. You know you want to...!!!!
Dust mantle and polish any display cabinets or bookshelves etc
Extras

• Wipe and water the plants
• Clean out the pets
• Wash any smelly soft furnishings
• Get a pile of filing done!!

Funky Friday - Brats rooms, spare rooms or wherever!
Level One
Declutter the dog shelf
Binbag dance!
Level Two
Strip and wash the bedding
vacuum and turn mattresses and remake
Drag all the junk from under the bed and place it all where it is meant to be!
Vacuum floor
Level Three
Wash the windows
Deweb, dust and destickify the room!
Straighten the cupboards of clothes!

Extras

• Empty all the bins!
• Clean out all the pets!
• Wipe over all the paintwork
• S&S the kitchen!

pigpen

TY for Fred.. probably not in tomorrow because I have everyone still off school due to the bug which OH has now come down with..

Jazee

Evening all.  Thanks for the list which I'll probably catch up on on Tuesday as DGD2 is here until tomorrow evening.

Hope the poorlies are better soon Piggers.

ionafan

Thank you Natty for putting the kitchen first - I still need to defrost and clean out the FF, so it will be first on my list for tomorrow.

Stay well, pigpen!

kazmeister

Thank you Natty for the thread, and Valli for last week.

Jeez Pigpen, that's a lot of poorlies, hope there is some improvement soon. 

Today's main errand wasn't a success so I have to take the successes from it, had a great day with DD, and met my aunty and we spent some time with her.

Unable to get the iPad repaired as they don't have a screen in stock! So when you email in advance to prepare for your appointment and say that the person dealing with your repair may contact you beforehand, do you not think it might have been appropriate for them to let me know that you don't have one in stock before I made a 70 mile round trip! Luckily I had met my aunt who lives in the city and she said she would take it home and bring it back in to them again when they have a screen in stock, then make arrangements to get it back to me. Bless her she's 81! 

Train back home and my legs were feeling it walking home from the station. Dinner cooked, and kitchen cleaned after DD created chaos while making up her lunches for the week. 

Now time to put my feet up and see if I can fin d the holiday that I saw yesterday that DH says wouldn't be too bad! We're only looking to go away at the end of this month if we do decide to   

Am working from home tomorrow as need the peace and quiet to compile formal meeting notes so may be around to pick up a few bits from the list. Hopefully see you all then.

pigpen

Oh if I get it there will be hell to pay.. I do not do icking.. I have severe emetophobia and can't eat anything.. my ears are hot and I am freezing.. this is my panic stations... if OH gets it am I next??? I can't eject it is I do not consume it, right?

I need to remake the bed still and drag the last cat in.

OH has work bits to do.

I need to email school about the girls too.. I am really not looking forward to it with Twinkles attendance being so appalling any way.. but what am I supposed to do? I'd rather she wasn't ill too, much more than school! I need to ring the GP about Squeaks meds and ring paeds about Twinkles appointment. I need them to check if this constant illness is related to anything untoward. Her blood tests picked up a wappy thyroid and she was supposed to have been seen in September but we've not heard anything.

Valli

i was thinking i haven’t done much today…then i remembered i cleaned my bedroom.  i removed the hairdryer with the intention of disassembling it to see if i could repair the racketty fan but it has fancy screws for which i do not have a screwdriver so i will try to take it to the Repair Cafe.  Luckily i don’t need it right now for my hair dries on it’s own as there’s not much yet.  

i also pegged out washing and vacuumed the stairs.  

and i have put 3 pairs of shoes to go to CS.  Fling!

kazwookie

Well I spent 3 solid hours this morning cleaning, if it moved, it was moved and cleaned under.

WM x 2 done all out on whirly

Door frames damp wiped over

All bins done

Kitchen, bathroonms floors all cleaned

Hoovering done, bagless thing cleaned.

Food shop done and put away.

All dandlions removed from back lawn, none on front lawn.

Cats have been busy hunting, all dead vermin removed, anything alive returned to the field.

Fayolle

I’ve had a burst of evening flying. A couple of frozen fish fillets turned into a half decent dinner. Kitchen sorted, floor swept (don’t mention the lack of mopping), sink cleaned of all the coffee stains that build up when DH and DD are left home alone. DD’s bedding stripped and ready in the wm for the morning. It’s very quiet without her here.
DH is in the doghouse - he has eaten the last piece of my Easter egg “ because he thought it was for him”… still in the box, in the DR, not with his name on it. Grrrrrrrr.

kazmeister

Evening 

Paid stuff done and conversation had with the amount I have on at the moment. Call booked for tomorrow to go through it and get her perspective on what can be put back so positive.

Got up and put the WM on before work as I was WFH and going to do that tomorrow too I think. DH did the second load and transferring over to the TD for me. Folded that this evening but still needs to be put away.

Dinner was creamy salmon tagliatelle made with the OOD salmon in the fridge, DD didn't have a clue and loved it

Have started on the list so deleted is done or doesn't need it. The kitchen drawer was minging, cutlery drawers are fine. I found all your lost teaspoons, at first count there were 42 then I found another 5!

Fayolle - in this house it will be me in the dog house as I think I eat some of DH's every time I go to the fridge.

Hope all is improving in the Pigpen household and that there is less upchucking.

Magnificent Monday - Kitchen and dining room
Level One
Level Two
Clean oven 
Wash windows and sills
Level Three
Sweep and mop the floor
Extras

• Run the WM's and DW's through a clean cycle
• Clean all the filters and door seals etc
• HHI

Narc0lepsy

Back from treat weekend, thanks for birthday wishes. We had a great time and did a range of theatre/walks in park enjoying spring flowers/photo exhibition/cable car over the Thames and of course I had my swim at the Royal Docks.

Back down to earth with a thump and loads of stuff to do.
- clothes/bags unpacked and put away
- 2 loads through wm
- went to zumba
- put a load of 'stuff' away from lurking in the kitchen
- checked and emailed a report
- went through diary to check what the next couple of weeks has to offer
- read utilities meters and input readings
- watered greenhouse, potted on some seedlings
- picked first rhubarb of the year
- messaged a few people
- sent a birthday ecard to a friend
- filed away about 15 reports that were lurking in the 'in' tray