Weekly Flylady Thread 15th May 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

Monster Monday ~ Kitchen and Dining mess

Level One...
Get that radio on super-blast...
Open the windows and let in the summer!

Clear and wipe sticky work surfaces
Wipe and replace small appliances, get rid of all those crumbs underneath the toaster
De-web and fluff the room
Level Two...
Wipe dining table and replace cloth if needed
Wipe the front of the units, kickboards and the large appliances
Sweep and mop the floor
Level Three...
Empty cutlery drawer.. wash cutlery tray and replace everything neatly.. get rid of all the odds and sods that shouldn't be in there..
Clean out the fridge
Do the 15 and 30 minute jobs too...

Extras

• MAD half hour - Go round and give all door handles, light switches and plugs/sockets a thorough good clean with hot soapy water - make sure the cloth has been wrung out
• Wash the windows
• Wipe down paintwork/sideboards/units in dining room
• Clean filters and detergent dispensers
• HHI
• Spend at least 15 minutes doing something for yourself...

Thunderstorm Tuesday ~ the boudoir (seeing as I am looking at my mess!)
Level one!
Strip, wash and replace bedding.. With the window wiiiide open
Shine your magic mirrors
Level Two
Have a fling in a cupboard! Not with the butler!! What can be set free!?
Clear the top of a cupboard
Tickle away the dust and spider homes! It is not Halloween for ages!
Level Three
Gather up stinky laundry
Wash a window
Binbag dance.. Fill it up from anywhere in the house and let it go .. To the bin, CS or anywhere !!
Extras for those who are brave!

• Tidy the towels.. Can any be donated or turned to rags?
• Clean the upstairs doors.. Oh to live in a bungalow!!
• Wash stinky pet nests!!
• Do something you enjoy for at least half an hour!! Eating/drinking/chasing loose women do not count

Whimsical Wednesday - Living room, hall and stairs!
Level One...
Declutter and vacuum!
Vacuum right the way up the stairs!
Level Two...
Wipe sofas
Wash windows
Dust and deweb!.. don't forget furry skirtings!
Level Three...
MAD half hour doing something for yourself! .. sit and watch the birds while having a nice cup of tea..
Wash any soft furnishings that need doing
Sort through coats n bags n shoes etc

Extras

• Sort through a handbag
• Sort through a cupboard or drawer of junk
• 29 fling boogie...
• HHI

Thrilling Thursday - Bathroom and study!!
Level one
Clear and declutter the desk of doom!! lol
Declutter the floors and sofas!
Level Two
Vacuum floors
Dust the fluff away
Wipe over the sofas/chairs/desk etc
Level Three
Scrub the bath, shower, basins and loos
Scrub down the tiles
Wash any bath mats, shower curtains etc that are in need

Extras

• Clean the windows and mirrors
• Delete 50 unwanted emails!
• Clean out the vacuum cleaner.. wash the filters etc make sure all are dry before rebuilding!

Friday - those frightening Friday kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One
First and foremost give your loved ones a hug if you can, and tell them you love them either via phone/zoom or face to face.

Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
binbag dance
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!!
Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!
Level Three
Strip beds and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors

Extras

• Wash a set of curtains, nets or throw
• Make all those necessary phonecalls!
• HHI
• Make a half hour time out for yourself!

ionafan

Thank you Natty x

My diary for the coming week doesn't look too full:
Monday - gym and Old Wives (I need to make scones and something GF)
Tuesday's section is currently clear for me, and DH will be out for at least 2 hours
Wednesday - gym and haircut
Thursday - coffee with a friend
Friday - gym and a meeting with my "boss"
Saturday - quiz night

That means I will have some time to sort the last of the admin pile, and possibly even clear my desk and the spare bed, as well as practising my flying with one hand and doing a bit of gardening each day.  Today I bought all the bedding plants for my big pots and carried them through to the back garden - and I even remembered to give them and the strawberries a good drink of water!  Go me!

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

thanks for the thread Natty

I have cunningly got ahead (well technically it’s last week’s cleaning) by cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, because it was sunny and i could put mats outside and have doors open while the floor dried.  

I’ve also made rhubarb and ginger jam and rhubarb crumble with more gently stewed rhubarb in the freezer and also a bag of crumble mix, which freezes beautifully and can go on top of the fruit straight from the freezer as it remains in powder form.  The aged ps brought me a huge bag from the allotment and NDN and a work colleague were gifted some too.  

And i half heartedly pulled a few weeds, read almost all of a book and have WUALTD, I used the food processor for the crumble. 
  

pigpen

TY for Fred.. I hope you are both fit and well xxx

Monday.. ring drs, SS, police (to update them)... find the remaining paperwork for Squeak.. salt report and the newest neuro report. Sort V!nted parcel

Thursday.. nail appointment

Friday.. Squeaks EHCP meeting.

Saturday.. dance/MT and swimming. Dot opticians 4:20

Monster Monday ~ Kitchen and Dining mess

Level One...
De-web and fluff the room
Level Two...
Level Three...
Extras

• MAD half hour - Go round and give all door handles, light switches and plugs/sockets a thorough good clean with hot soapy water - make sure the cloth has been wrung out

Well, I'm on one this morning!! First Monday with no children or manbeasts or upstairs-bears bugging me and the kitchen sparkles!

Thunderstorm Tuesday ~ the boudoir (seeing as I am looking at my mess!)
Level one!
Strip, wash and replace bedding.. With the window [slightly, so I don't lose cats] open
Shine your magic mirrors
Level Two
Have a fling in a cupboard! Not with the butler!! What can be set free!?
Clear the top of a cupboard
Tickle away the dust and spider homes! It is not Halloween for ages!
Level Three
Wash a window
Extras for those who are brave!

• Clean the upstairs doors.. Oh to live in a bungalow!!

 

Valli

Morning all

gorgeous day here.  WM x 2 so that can be pegged out.

Paid stuff.  Need to collect prescription.  Nice, easy tea planned - chicken wraps with salad.  Will be ready for the Valligirl’s return; she’s on placement in Barnsley.  

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

Thanks for the list, I like the idea of listing plans for the week, might keep me focused.  

Monday:  Paid stuff with a late start and finish, need to go to the library.  Shepherds pie for tea.
Tuesday:  Paid stuff then hairdresser.  Roast chicken.
Wednesday:  Paid stuff, planning to cycle in.  Stir fry.
Thursday:  Paid stuff, need to post my nieces birthday present.  Pork chops for DH and salmon for me.
Friday  Paid stuff at home, then I think DS needs me to go to hospital with him.  Chicken pie and hm oven chips.

I have been for a run so shower and a bit of hoovering, doggie blankets to hang out, then ready for the paid stuff.

Have a good Monday all x

pigpen

Amazing what you can get done in an hour with no children or manbeasts or upstairs bears wittering on.. the kitchen list is done bar the dewebbing.. My tickling stick is upstairs and I do not want to wake the bears!!

Both WM's and the DW are on.. I have no dirty pots on the sides for the first time in a while!

I am going to grab a binbag and empty cat trays next as it is binday tomorrow and I have some bin space.. I can then vacuum the world and have cleanliness. for 5 minutes.

cuppa first.. I am parched.

pigpen

I wasn't going ot be back just yet but.. I feargal'd the mat in the kitchen.. 5ft x 2 ft and it filled the canister with fluff.. that is a lot of fluff for one tiny mat.. it didn't even look messy just had a few bits on it.. madness...

WM's taking FOR-E-VER!!!!

Dw is now on too.. I added a couple of bits..

cuppa then cat trays (hoping OH comes down so I can boss him really)

ionafan

Great work, pigpen! x

I have
- wiped kitchen surfaces
- 5-min PUPA
- hoovered through downstairs
- tidied the back porch and made room for my trainers where they belong
- FUPA DH's clean clothes 
- asked DH to clean the ensuite
- placed a heavy food delivery order because I had a voucher and they had stuff I need that none of the shops local to me has in stock at a sensible price.

Now I must shower, dress, make my bed and make coffee, then start tackling the admin pile again!

pigpen

cuppa slurping going on.

10 items listed.. *FLING*

3 loads on the line.. lots aired in the dryer

a load of clean undies to go in the TD .. they are just having another rinse and spin.

clean undies put away (girls only)

I may need food.. My tummy bears are awake!

DW to empty

TD to empty

Food to find

(can you tell I do not want to make phone calls?.. it is not my job.. OH needs to do it)

pigpen

TD running last lot of undies.

DW on a clean cycle

OH made the call I didn't want to.. I made him sarnies and coffee.. I made him have the time.. I was helpful!

Twinkles pasta in new tubs.

I need to find the things to post.. then 1 more cuppa before school (or I might wee on the way back!)

Tummy bears fed.. they had tomato soup and are now quieted.