Weekly Flylady Thread 21st August 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

 

Monday Minging & Flinging - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two..
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean oven and hob
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 & declutter all the windows sills 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!!

Extras

• Clean the fridge.. is it smelly?!!
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 31 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

Tuesday Triumphs - Bathroom and Study Area
Level One...
Clear floors of guff and stuff
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks. Make them sparkle, sparkle!!!!
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Wipe house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains, shower curtains etc
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Hoover/Sweep and mop and deslop the floors in these rooms.
Collect all the dirty laundry

Extras!

• MAD half hour
• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Empty the cupboard and clean it out.. colour ordered bottles inside!
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes, do you really need that empty shower gel bottle?
• If you have a shelf.. empty and clean it
• Grab yourself a toothbrush and scrub the manky bits between the tiles

Wednesday Thllliiing!- Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One..
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Fling open the window and let in the sunnyness

Level Two..
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
Air the duvet
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three..
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort through a cupboard and find 10 things to get rid of!
Freshen up any curtains or bedding that needs doing!
Extras

MAD half hour….

• 34 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Clean all the upstairs door frames
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Do half hour clearing of the place you hate doing the most..

Thursday twirls- Living Room, Hall and Stairs

Level One..
Vacuum floors and sofas
Declutter and dust the mantlepiece if you have one, if not shelves/units..
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Clean the windows
Level Three...
Wipe and water plants - how about giving the leaves a nice shine too. I hear milk or banana skins are good for this..
Put all your hotspots in one pile and work your way through it..
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself - pregnant ladies and those that aren't allowed/can't move things get someone else to do this for you!

Extras..

• MAD half hour….
• HHI
• Wipe down any paintwork that needs it.
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• Wash any cushions, throws or curtains that need it

Friday Flyday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One..
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!!
Level Two..
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..
Clean 2 windows
Tidy a chest of drawers/wardrobe/floordrobe!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extras..

• MAD half hour….
• Find 5 things to ebay/freecycle
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• HHI
• 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!

ionafan

Thanks Natty.  Hope your packing is going well xx

I will try to do a bit of flying every day this week (there's not a lot in my diary, for a change), but I'm still sorting family history papers.  It's too easy to get distracted and start researching again!

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

i did write a post saying Was pleased Mr N home and commenting on Iona’s “black sheep”.
Home.  unpacked, changed bed, showered.  I am probably going to dream about escalators.  Almost fell out of bed both nights in hotel…i suspect was a narrow bed. Am shattered.

kazmeister

Morning

Back late yesterday and everything from the car got dumped in the dining room. I'm at home today so list will consist of:
Finance update
Dealing with paperwork
Checking meal plan for shopping list
Kitchen cleaning
Dining room tidy/clean
Bathroom cleaning
Hospital to visit mum

Back later

Narc0lepsy

thanks for thread.
I'm getting really, really fed up with this month.      Yesterday Mr N wasn't recovering well and by the evening in a lot of pain so we rang the hospital where he had the op. Took him in straight away (lots of road works and traffic lights en route) and although kind and thorough, they felt he should go into the local NHS hospital for better equipment.   Suggested I drove him (via road works etc) as current ambulance waiting times 10hrs.     To cut yet another long story short, i got home at 1.30am this morning and he was left in hosp. While driving in to see him this morning, a wasp came in my car and I was stung at least 5 times before I managed to eject the blighter. Arrived on the ward with a reddened swelling neck and hands.   Went to local pharmacy for antihistamine.     Mr N now doing much better after several unpleasant and embarrassing investigations but good news is that it is not major bowel obstruction which cost him 2m of intestine 9yrs ago......I'm going off to bring him home shortly.

However flying wise I have done washing, watered greenhouse, washed up and generally tidied.    Cancelled today's dental appt and re booked for Friday.    I've probably done other stuff in the past 24hrs, who knows!
No more hassle this week/month/year please. 

kazmeister

Evening

sorry to hear about yours and Mr N’s trouble Narco. Glad he is ok to come home. I went to see mum today and when I got there, there were 13 ambulances outside A&E and a lot still had the patients onboard waiting to off load. When I came out 2 hours later there were still 11. Everyone blames the ambulance service for the delays but it’s not their fault. We live in a rural area and that number of vehicles is more than we have covering the whole of our area. The hospital is just not big enough to cope with the increase in numbers since it was built. We have the go ahead for a new hospital (the current one is literally falling apart) but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is outgrown before it is even opened. Mum’s sepsis is no better and whilst there was some improvement on Friday I think she has gone backwards today. The staff looking after her are so stretched but doing their absolute best. 

I did everything on my list apart from the bathroom so I will need to make an effort to do it tomorrow after work.

Hope everyone else is ok, it’s very quiet this week.

Valli

hope Mr N is home and pain free, also Narco …hope you’re ok after the wasp attack.  And hope Kazm’s mum is ok

yes…scarily quiet on the thread.  

DW emptied before work, and lots of washing pegged out.  WM and DW both refilled, work phone has been returned but needs charging.  

Still need to put case away but have ironed all the dried washing. 

Asparklierblonde

Morning all

I am here, still reading along. I am finding the summer holidays a real struggle TBH, so having time and energy to post is an issue. I will try harder though, double pinky promise ☺️☺️

The house is a bit of a disaster at the moment. I’ve had builders in to do some remedial works for damp / mould and it’s still just as bad 🫣🫣 very pleased I haven’t paid them yet. We have such an old house so high up that it’s to be expected. The longer I live here the more I realise just how little this house has been properly looked after by previous owners. 

One piece of brilliant news - I have a new job 🥳🥳 the best part of all is that it’s WFH, so no need to trail out of the house 40 hours per week. This will be such a blessing particularly in winter when I won’t have to rush to do all of my outside jobs in the dark at 5.30am before work. I just have to push through these last two weeks of the school holidays working full time with zero childcare, the kids will have to be in the office with me. 

Flying wise - I am managing the basics but that’s it. It’s one step forward and two back. The puppy did a wee on the bedroom carpet earlier in the week, thankfully the carpet is old and horrid anyways, but still…. 

Speaking of outside jobs I really had better get my waterproofs on and get out there. We need to leave at 8, finish work at 4 and DD is having a friend for a sleepover. Sausage and mash for tea.

Love to all especially Mr and Mrs N - I hope the rest of the month is much kinder to you xx

ionafan

Lovely to see you, asb - and congratulations on the new job.  It certainly sounds as if it will make life easier for you xx

Hope Narc0 and MrN are both feeling better xx 

Coping vibes to kazmeister and family xx

So far this morning I have
- written an anniversary card for our friends in Peterborough and ordered suitable flowers
- half-cleaned the bathroom
- S&S'd the kitchen
- PUPA downstairs
- stripped the beds
- done WMx3, with 3 more to go (I am washing bedding and everything that we might need to take away on Saturday). 

The windows are all wide open, so of course Rosie is a bit jumpy today, barking at the slightest noise if she is not actually with me - and she refused to stay out in the garden with me while I was hanging out the sheets.  Sam the landscape gardener/decorator (who has worked here previously) came earlier than expected yesterday afternoon, before I got home from Action Heart, to give us a quote on the new decking, and I think that has rattled Rosie, as DH shut her in the kitchen.

I have to do a very early lunch for DH: he's just gone to be weighed at SW but has an interview at 1.00 with the stationmaster on a country station on the heritage railway.  It's a good 45 minute drive from here.  Timing is not his best skill atm.  Scrambled egg it is, then.  See you later xxx

SandyShores

Busy weekend but had more energy today so I set the robot vacuum off this morning to do the downstairs, not as good as the shark but it certainly makes a difference.  This evening DH cooked again so I did a bit of flying.  Took the end off the hoover and got the nozzle into all the corners of the stairs, then carried on to the landing and into the main bathroom.  Almost filled the container!  Then after our evening meal I opened up the new dishmatic I bought from Asd@ and added some washing up liquid and white vinegar (saw on a fb video).  Scrubbed the kitchen window and gave it a wipe down with a wet cloth, then used the £1.50 window foam also from Asd@ which I buffed up with an old window cloth - sparkling!  Just need to do the upstairs windows soon - something about the sunlight which is really showing up my window cleaning neglect at the moment.

Valli

so a bit of a lazy day really.  washing out on line, hand washed a coat DD wants to sell.  Made a fruitcake for the aged Ps and delivered it this afternoon.  Mum and sis had a slice.  Did it in a loaf tin because i have loaf liners and I thought it would be easier for them to slice.  One of the photos from the session we had came up on facebook memories…mum has aged incredibly since then and seems so tiny and frail (hence the cake).  Downloaded bank statements ready to reconcile account.  Finished unpacking, put case away. Finished baby cardi sleeve and started second. 
DW set but washing up left as i am tired