Weekly Flylady Thread 24th July 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.

Thanks to Valli for last week’s thread.

Every room comes back around next week so please don’t stress about catching up

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

Ok here goes this week

Minging Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Wash knick-knacks/canisters
Level Two
Check the smoke alarm - when was the last time you replaced the battery?
Sweep and mop floors
Empty fridge, clean shelves and doors and move any nearly out of date stuff to front to use up next.
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
Wipe all the windows in these areas!!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Check those washing machine filters and drawers for ickiness!! Tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!

Extra Mission : help yourself

• Clean the hob..
• Clean under sink - throw away any manky looking bottles/rags etc..
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 29 fling boogie.. GO!
• Buy yourself some flowers from the shop.. your reward for making the kitchen shine!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Trashy Tuesday - Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One
Clean floors in these rooms
Level Two
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks
Clear any clutter from desk
Straighten computer desk
Delete 50 emails 
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
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. 
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Collect all the dirty laundry

Extra mission: Take your pick!

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Clean the radiators in these rooms
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes
• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it
• HHI... a bit more gone!
• Check supplies of paper/printer cartridges/stamps and envelopes
• Throw away any pens that don't work

Wacky Wednesday ~ Master bedroom and Landing
Level One
Fling open windows to let air in..
Clean Cobwebs
Check firealarms are working, change battery if necessary.
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers
Level Two
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
Clean under the bed
Polish furniture
Level Three
Straighten/sort through make up
Throw away any empty/out of date bottles
Clean glass and mirrors - make them twinkle
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Clear a hotspot ~ or spend 15 minutes clearing one.
Add a personal touch - flowers in a vase on a dresser, pretty bowl etc..

Extras:

• 36 fling boogie, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• HHI
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Clean light switch of hand prints or smudges
• Clean main light and any lampshades
• Clear the top of a bedside cupboard/chest of drawers or shelf

Tantalising Thursday ~ Living Room, Dining Room and Entance/Porch
Level One.
Open windows and let air in
Clean cobwebs
Dust windowsills and front door
Throw away any newspapers/magazines that aren't needed.
Level Two
Put plants in shower & give them a good rinse. Remember to put them back before everyone has a shower in the morning - it might be a bit unnerving having to shower with a plant!!!
Clean and dust shiny things/mirror and glass
Wipe down light fixtures - make those bulbs shine at night!
Clean lightswitches of hand prints or smudges
Level Three
Move furniture, if safe to do so, and hoover underneath
Clean and straighten any drawer
Add a personal touch to the table - pretty tablecloth, vase of summer flowers!!
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Clean under sofa/chair cushions - lets see if you can find any money or even anything that you have lost recently

Extras

• Refill bird feeders
• Throw away any dead plants
• HHI
• Binbag dance - Get a binbag... fill it and bin it!!
• Wash any cushions, throws etc that need it.

Frantic Friday ~ Those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One
Open windows to air room
Clean cobwebs
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Straighten toy shelves
Level Two
Polish furniture
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! And replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!! Wash the curtains!

Level Three
Sort out outgrown clothes and give to charity/neighbours/younger children.
Put away stray items
Clean fingerprints off light switches/doors/walls
Clean under the bed - I know it's scary but it does have to be done. You could even delegate to a little pink if you don't fancy doing it yourself.

Extras

• Clean windows
• Clean/scrub bath toys
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• HHI
• Rearrange dvds/games/books

Asparklierblonde

Gosh, I’m in AND first, well I never! Thank you for the efforts you go to each and every week ladies. It is appreciated by so many xxx

I am doing my own list tomorrow, which has to include the following as bare basics:

- 6 hour shift
- ferry DS to and from sports camp
- make his pack up
- fold what is currently in the TD and hang out what is currently swishing
- give key to electrician
- empty DW
- meter read
- recycling out
- feed animals twice 
- ring for DLA Form for DD
- bag of books to community library

- make my winter prep tinned goods list 
- buy new white light switch 

I think that little lot will keep me busy for now! Alarm set for 6am to see what I can achieve before work. Sleep well friends xx

pigpen

TY for Fred. xx I hope all is well over at Natty Cottage

ASB.. the child DLA forms are online to download. HERE

Going to snaffle ice cream and will head off to my nest.. we have dance summer shcool all week.. and loads to do..

Asparklierblonde

Thanks Piggers, sadly I have no printer so must endure the task of telephoning them, then waiting for it to arrive xx

ionafan

Thank you Natty.  I will do what I can this week, but it will be mainly superficial as I have DGD1+2 here right now (unexpected overnight stay as DS1 didn't get home until after 10 last night, leaving DDiL1 ready for customers at the Royal Welsh Show), I am booked to look after my 9yo goddaughter today and tomorrow, and DD is arriving with DGS1+2 for 48hrs from Thursday (assuming they are back from Greece in one piece - they were due to fly home late last night). 

And now DH tells me he has had D&V all night.... !!!  It never rains but it pours, as proven by today's weather!!!

Hope everyone else has a better start to the week xxx

roundtuit

Morning all from a very soggy Roundland. It's tipping down again / still. And the garden is growing like a weed....oh it is a weed. Lots of weeds. Getting wet while weeding wearing wellies is not on my to do today list. But it was fun to type 🤪

I'm up, made my bed and supping my brew. I have more energy than yesterday afternoon- - when I fell asleep twice while watching the athletics. Stayed awake for Tour de France finale and F1 Hungarian Grand Prix highlights though. I can hear my Mom saying 'you'll get square eyes watching that thing' 😊

Hope all the poorlies are on the mend.
Rxx

roundtuit

I'm dressed, fed the birds, put out the recycling, tore up a box and recycled it, WUDUPA, wiped down the draining board,  FUPA some of the clothes on the airer - the dry ones 😉
Rxx

pigpen

Asparklierblonde said:

Thanks Piggers, sadly I have no printer so must endure the task of telephoning them, then waiting for it to arrive xx

I downloaded and filled it in on the lappy.. then printed off.. I would gladly print it off for you but not heading out of home for a few weeks, maybe the library? .. You used to be able to submit it online, that was so much easier. I'm waiting to hear about Dots renewal which I sent on the 3rd. have a read of THIS before filling it in.. the notes which come with it are utter rubbish and lisleading. There is THIS one too.

Uniform purchased for September and stationery for Dot.. and filled the cupboards.. not sure what I am going to pay the bills with but bellies first!

We need to trot to DD1's to drop off some stuff and the girls are at summer school until 4.

Asparklierblonde

If it's gone, it's done:

- 6 hour shift
- ferry DS to and from sports camp
- make his pack up  NEED TO MAKE TOMORROW'S NOW
- fold what is currently in the TD and hang out what is currently swishing WASHING DRY ON LINE, NEED TO FUPA
- give key to electrician
- empty DW
- meter read
- recycling out
- feed animals twice 
- ring for DLA Form for DD  I WAS ALL DONE AND DUSTED IN 3 MINS!! THANKS FOR THE LINKS PIGGERS I WILL BOOKMARK X
- bag of books to community library

- make my winter prep tinned goods list 
- buy new white light switch 

Just eating easy leftovers for tea then will complete the above. I hope you all have lovely evenings xx

pigpen

Plants and shopping deposited at DD1's

Girls had a fabulous time at dance summer school.. though they lost Twinkles tshirt going up a flight of stairs.. and they put squeaks name on Pixies so that had to be tracked down too.

I need to do pack ups x2

And I need to stop coughing, my ribs are killing.

Tomorrow the girls have dance again, I need to wrap DD2's birthday bits. I need to sort the girls room some too.. but I feel like droppings.. Squeak and Pixies birthday presents purchased.

the 14-15 yr skirt fits 9 year old pixie!!! She is NOT that tall, the length on these skirts is disgusting.

YORKSHIRELASS

Pigpen my office window overlooks the route most kids take to and from our local secondary school and I am horrified by how short their skirts are.  The uniform skirts are pleated too which makes it worse.  

DS2 has got a Batchelor of Arts with first class honours, I am a very proud Mummy.  Oh and someone has driven into the back of Dads car while he was stopped at traffic lights, thankfully they are both OK but the car has been written off and I have had to sort it all out.

But the paid stuff has been OK.  I have hoovered up some dog hairs and done a bit of laundry.  Will have to do the packed lunch and overnight oats soon.