Weekly Flylady Thread 8th January 2024

Natty68

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread.

We often see new flyers (gents welcome!) around this time of year so please don't worry if you feel you cannot keep up.  Similarly if your house has been neglected it won't be turned around in a day - but if you stay you will get into some good habits which do help!  Happy flying.

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/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

Here Goes This week...

Marvellous Monday Mayhem! ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level 1
Vacuum through the living room, hall and stairs
Most important of todays tasks.. HH-knitting or whatever delightful creative pass time you choose!
Level 2
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean windows and all glass.. including the tv screen
Pounce upon the piles of coats and shoes and fling the ones that are no longer worn/needed/fit/wearable
Level 3
Wipe and water plants
Put all your hotspots in one pile and work your way through it..
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Filing.. find a pile and file it
• Wipe down any paintwork that needs it.
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• HHI

Terrific Tuesday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
And have you half hour crafting or whatever relaxing thing you love to do!
Replace all your dead lightbulbs!
Level Two
Sweep and mop floors
Clean the 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 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

• Muck out the fridge.. use up all those bits that are on the verge of getting themselves out of the fridge and biting you!.. or just eat them... nomnomnom
• Empty the medicine cabinet.. throw out everything manky/out of date (some medicines are actually poisonous after a certain length of time!!.. AB's being one of them!!) and restock.. all those coughs and snots that are flying around you must have depleted your stock, sore throats and wheezes... go on.. shoo...........
• 34 fling boogie..
• Empty the kitchen bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Wonderful Wednesday wishy-washy-wipe!- Master Bedroom & Landing

Level 1
Check fire alarms are working, and replace any dead batteries..
Clear a cluttered top in your room.. or spend at least 15 minutes doing it
Fling open the window and let in the freezing cold wetness.. even if just for half an hour.. it's actually quite nice here
Dont forget you very important HH-craft/knitting/you time!
Level 2
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level 3
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort through a cupboard and fling everything that is dead
Air the duvet
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• Clean the sticky hand prints off the wall ALL the way up the stairs! (apologies to those with more than 2 floors!)
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Sort your own shoe and bag collection.

Thursday Thrills- Bathroom and Study/Pc Area

Level One
Clean floors in these rooms
Spend that half hour crafting, knitting, cross-stitch.. whatever thing makes you happy!
Level Two
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks.. shine the taps with a toothbrush
Clear any clutter from desk
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.. defragment your pc while doing this.
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
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes
• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it
• Empty out the bathroom cabinet.. clean it.. fling what you don't need and stash the rest in a beautiful manner.. colour ordered so you have a cupboard rainbow..

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!!!!! paint your nails, make an appointment to have your hair done, a lovely soak in the bath.. whatever you feel like!!
If you have half term next week.. get the uniforms and coats washed quick!!.. no stress next Sunday!
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
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!.. If you've not worn it this winter.. get rid!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra Task List

• Open a drawer you haven't actually looked in for weeks and deal with whatever treasures you find within!.. What is the most random thing you found?
• 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!

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for lists.
Today has been a nice mix:
- went to church. Was on refreshment duty so does that count as flying? Got LPA signed by church friend.
- one load through DW, put away.  I will add that while I was at church, Mr N did one load washing and hung it out, and was gardening when I got home....nearly frozen mind you.
- have started knitting friend's gloves.
- pleased to report 4/4 items 'most critical' finished on task list; 4/4 'would be nice' and 1/2 'not a chance.    Have transferred the 1 leftover onto the 'most critical' for tomorrow and so far just added one more 'would be nice'. 
Still wrestling with very difficult jigsaw puzzle.
Put away some dry washing.

Ooh if I have items on my list, it saves time writing this one (well that statement made sense to me.....).

pigpen

TY for Fred.. back in a bit.

Valli

ty for thread from me too, LR is a good shout,  Have started next knitting project, ejected a spider, swallowed numerous tablet, actual medication, medication to deal with side effects of actual medication and parrots.

my ‘would be nice’ for tomorrow will be to check where i am with knitting project 1 (ie measure it against the back) and see if shoulder needs casting off or if i’m not quite there yet,  (assuming i’ve correctly understood how some of Narcos list works…but not sure about not a chance?)

Towels in WM.  DW nowhere near full.  

Before i cleaned bathroom i put bleach soaked loo roll in strips over mouldy seals.  Pleased to record it’s been pretty effective.  Not perfect but much better.  Note to self rinse bleach away thoroughly before spraying bathroom cleaner in bath *cof* *cof*

Cloth_of_Gold

@Asparklierblonde glad you all had a lovely day.   When we were children we would go to Brid or Scarborough in the winter and walk the dog on the beach. They had a completely different character in the winter than in the summer but still nice. Hope it's set you up for your busy day tomorrow. 

@roundtuit thank goodness P has had a diagnosis and, even better, that it is treatable. What a weight it must off all your shoulders it must be.

I got up too late to go to the 8.30 Mass so went to the 12.15 instead; it was very busy. I don't know where the rest of the day has gone really. I did the usual things, eye meds, prepare meals, wash up, but I don't seem to achieved much else but I was busy all day.

I ought to bring a couple of amaryllises in from the top of the stairs as it will be cold out there tonight I think but other than that I'm sorted for going to bed I think.

Asparklierblonde

Morning all,

Thank you for the thread girlies xx

Today I have TOO.MUCH.TO.DO. But it will be absolutely worth it by the end of the day. My big girl pants are pulled right up. I won’t post a list because it’ll bore the socks off you all and it’s firmly ingrained in my head anyway😊

The last of the surplus cockerels are going this morning, hurrah, three less mouths to feed! DD is back to school today, I’m not sure how happy she will be with the 6.30am wake up, I’ll take her a cuppa to ease her in!

WM is doing it’s thing. I’ll go out to feed the hens shortly and fill the coal bucket up, the fire is still glowing so it won’t take much to get it going again. 

I sold an item on fleabay overnight, £65 incoming, that will be a huge help this week. 

Right I’d better go and separate these cockerels and feed everyone, have fab days all xx

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, It's another cold (-2) but dry morning here. 

My list for today
Shower and get dressed
Feed the animals
Paid stuff
Hoover downstairs
Dust the living room
Empty the TD from yesterday, put it away, or add it to iron mountain
Wash the sweaters that were removed from the wardrobe yesterday. - Not going to another load at the moment as nowhere to hang it to dry
Spend an hour checking codes on the smart meter
HHI
Sort bags/lunches/clothes for tomorrow. 

Think that is everything that I need to tackle today. Hope everyone has a good Monday.

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

Lovely 8.5 Mile walk around the Moors yesterday with DD1 and GF and we saw a steam train!  Lots of giggling as GF and I tried to stay upright on some very muddy paths. 

But now it's Monday, and paid stuff.  Late start and finish, debating whether to dust LR because the fire is too hot to clean out and I like to do that first.  My general worries around the paid stuff are not improving. 

But anyhow, Pilates first then quick shower and on with the day.  My walking kit from yesterday is swishing in the WM.  Oh I need to call at Li@l today too. 

Valli

Morning all

Off to the paid stuff for my shorter working week.  I’ll be popping to outswim cancer but must remember the roadworks which begin today, and are advertised for lasting for 3 months, on the roundabout which would be the most direct route to the baths (and to my favourite shop).  So i’ll need to rat run past the back of Mr L.

WM x 2, TD x 1 so they need emptying.  

Hope everyone has good days and those lists are shorter by tea time!

roundtuit

Good morning my lovelies xx 

Losing Weight for the Wedding starts today. So I got up, made my bed, and got weighed- not really shocked as I had a good idea what the damage would be. Unfortunately it was as bad as I expected...heyho. I can only start from where I am. 

To Do Today
Brew 2 
Unearth kitchen scales (portion control!) 
Breakfast 
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
WUDUPA 
Laundry shuffle 
Strip my bed 
Wash bedding 
Hoover H/S/L 
Text H 
Write shopping list 
Recycle Birthday & Christmas cards 
Find homes for Christmas presents 
HH Admin 

Unearth and prep new kettle
(my trusty MR kettle bought in 2007 for £9.99 has developed a leak. That was a very mse buy)

That should keep me busy. I might have to hoover the stairs 1, 2 or 3 at a time, then rest...but I'm determined to do it.

Tomorrow 
9.15am Dentist's 
Shop at Mr Al 
5pm Tea at village pub with Sh and A 

Thursday 
9.45 am Birthday brunch for L at posh farm shop cafe 

Have a good day.
Rxx

pigpen

As suspected Dot is wandering around the house refusing to do anything, including eat breakfast whining and snivelling and I may have to place her in the bin..

I didn't get much of the landing cleared yesterday.. but the cardboard did get vacuumed and I evan did a bit of DS2's room so he isn't walking fluff out onto the carpet.. there is a small bit which I need to clean so I shall get my wee scrubber on that later.

I'm going to sack off life for an hour or 2 and go slob in bed and read my book.. I might take my knitting up too.. *considers laptop* .. nope that can stay downtairs.