Weekly Flylady Thread 4th December 2023

Valli

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 Natty 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/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- 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
Marvellous Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room

Level 1
Open some windows for some fresh air 
Wash up, dry up and put away (or remove all pots to DW) 
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and caddies etc.  Don't forget the splashbacks or tiles!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you can.
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks - and shine those taps - or clean them!
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish cloth or sponge and replace with a new one!  Put out a new hand towel and a new tea towel too
Good slug of bleach down plugholes and in overflows
Clean cruet, salt and pepper, wipe any sauce bottles that are used on the table

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts inside and out, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Clean microwave
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan; update shopping list as appropriate, wash shelves etc and check running temperature - we don't want any spoiled Christmas Goodies
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.
Wipe inside of washer drawer and DW door paying particular attention to manky crevices

Level 3

Sort out the plastic storage - does everything have a lid?  Need to be ready for those Christmas leftovers!
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.


EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom
If you haven't already, make a start on Christmas Cards
Update spending/budget spreadsheets/notebooks - we don't want any nasty surprises
Some people have already been impacted by bad weather - check your emergency stocks - candles, matches, UHT milk...and keep power banks fully charged


Terrific Tuesday

Bathrooms, cloak rooms and en suites

Level 1
Open window
Remove towels and fling in WM 
Scrub Loo inside and out, slug some bleach or descaler down afterwards.  Pay special attention to under the rim.

Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins including taps - don't forget the out of sight bits!

Level 3
sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate
clean windows
polish mirrors
dust and polish where necessary
Chuck any lurking potions that are not being used/are old
Clean light pull

Extras

HHI
S&S kitchen
Binbag dance…let’s clear some clutter before the big man drops down the chimney…

Wednesday - hump day
Living room, hall, stairs and landing

Level 1
Open lots of windows and let that fresh air in while beds are airing
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms
Wash out vases
Empty bins/ashtrays
Clear gibble
Plump and straighten cushions
Wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices.  Lift seat cushions if you can and vacuum underneath
Wipe/dust coffee tables and leave tidy
Sort newspapers/magazines

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Vacuum floors - and use an edging tool to get into all the nooks and crannies - and stairs!
Move furniture to vacuum under it if you can.
Clean doormats

Level 3
Dust all round - don't forget sills, skirting boards, tops of curtain rails and/or battens and top and frame of door.
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should - vacuum fabric shades; wash glass shades 
Wipe lightbulbs (if cold)
Dust pictures/paintings on walls - and dust behind them too!
Stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?

Extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
HHI

Thursday Flight Plan

kids room/spare room/guest room - welcome those xmas guests

level 1
strip bed (if necessary) and leave to air
open windows
clear floordrobe/chair drobe
use long duster and roll round top of walls and light fittings to deweb

level 2
remake bed
dust sills, shelves and furniture
empty bins

level 3
clean windows
Dust skirtings
see to floor mop or vacuum
Check lighting fully functional


extras

HHI
s&s bathroom
s&s kitchen

Friday Flourish - your sanctuary - the boudoir 

Level 1

Open windows
Clear the floordrobe/chairdrobe
Strip the bed and leave to air
Take out the rubbish
Bedding in WM

Level 2 (after breakfast/a period of time)

Remake the bed with clean, fresh linen
Dust/clear bedside tables
Clean windows, frames and sills (and wipe the open frames to clear dust and debris)

Level 3

Vacuum any soft furnishings - don't forget the headboard if it's fabric!
Dust everywhere else; as you remove lotions and potions from dressing tables wipe them over with a damp cloth. Make sure perfumes are stored in their boxes or in dark drawers. Minimise clutter/organise essentials.
Vacuum/mop floors

Extras 

Wipe door handles/touch points
HHI
Make sure whatever your tipple is there is some ready (chilling?)

Jazee

Thanks Valli, I will try my best to fly this week.

pigpen

ty for fred.. I'm just eating.. back shortly

roundtuit

Thank you for the thread. I'm in xx

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the new thread 

ionafan

Thank you Valli.  I shall try very hard to fly properly this week.  There was a 90% chance that I was needed to look after DGD1+2 tomorrow due to an INSET day, which would have meant that any flying was out of the question, but I'm in the lucky 10%.   Much as I love having them, there are limits to what I can actually fit into 7 days.  It would have messed up my whole week and I would have run myself ragged again.

Hope everyone will stay warm and dry despite the snow and rain which is forecast for the next few days xxx

Honey_Bear

Thank you for last week's list Natty and for this week's Valli.

As Belovéd was away this weekend I sneaked a couple of binbags full of unwanted gibble into the bin for tomorrow's collection.  It's not that I'm bothered by him seeing me bin stuff, it's that I really can't be bothered with answering all the inevitable questions: Is that really no use?  Can I save it for later but in the meantime could you fit it in your cupboard? Are you really getting rid of that?  Yes.  No.  Yes.  And there are a lot more questions than three, so this way was simpler.  Anyway, it's all gone - hurrah! 

Sorted out spices and herbs, binned the ones that were out of date.  I don't need to buy any for Christmas.  Good.

Wrote all the envelopes for the cards that need sending, so I can get cracking on actually writing something in them over the next week.  I've been wrapping presents as I've been buying them so I'm up to date with that, but not much else. 

Dog dosed for worms and fleas.  Not that I've seen any evidence of either but as I've got the tablet she may just as well have it.

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for thread. I doubt I'll be following it owing to the chaos brought about by the conservatory installation.
- wimped out of lake swim again as although the frost had melted by 9am, it was still foggy and drizzling. Yeuch. But annoyed with myself.
- on refreshment duty at church; we are in the village school now until the end of March as the church costs too much to heat - however, the school was cold today and people were treating their coffee mugs as hot water bottles, it was really hard to gather them for washing up.
- While I was at church, Mr N had started further investigations into the water leak in the conservatory. We took off the housing which boxed in the main pipe from the en suite, the rainwater pipe and which has the tap which we suspected of leaking. No sign of a leak, but we could see an awful lot of sky at the roofline so I suspect that is where the rodents have been coming in and out, thus letting in the rain.  Hopefully once the plumber has rearranged everything, the new roof will be more watertight......if not, I'm calling in our resident flylady plumber!!
- wrote a load more cards
- double checked timing for a family gathering in a couple of weeks time as I'd got the day wrong in my head although correct on PC and wall calendar. 
- almost finished report, am being very sloth-like with this one.
- did some drumming practice
Have a good week everyone.

Asparklierblonde

Morning all

Thank you for the lists. Up early as very very nervous about today. Any spare spoons and posi vibes would be appreciated around 2pm when I set off please. 

We are forecast rain today but none yet. Snow still underfoot. As well as paid stuff this morning I need to unload DW, get fire going, do a small WM load and make beds etc.

Stay warm all xx

Jazee

Morning all.  All posivibes heading to ASB today.

 I'm off out with DD and DGD2 today to a winter wonderland.  It's pouring with rain here but we'll be indoors.  I don't think Poppet will get a walk today.  

Right, admin first.

Have a great day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Positive vibes being sent ASB ❤️