Weekly Flylady Thread 22nd 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...

Monday Rooms of Doom and Bathrooms
Level One
15 minutes or more tidying/decluttering in your RofD
Clean sink and toilet, wipe the dust that settles on the back of the toilet pipes
Level Two
Clear and wipe one surface in the RofD (or bathroom)
Empty the bins
Level Three
Clear out the bathroom cupboard, bin anything yucky and old
Descale the toilet and taps - vinegar!
Hoover and wash the floors
Extras
HHI
Wipe the bath panel
Clean a window

Tuesday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Wipe the table and work surfaces
Sweep/Hoover/mop the floor
Level Two
Wipe the hob
Clean anything higher than eye level
Level Three
Make time for somebody else, a child, a pet, a friend - in memory of our friend Diva
HH Me time for everybody
Clean the sink/DW/WM drawers
Extras
HH Paperwork or bill paying/budget updating
Dust any surfaces which need it

Wednesday - Living Room, hall and stairs
Level One
Wash any throws or cushion covers that need it
Hoover floors including the stairs
Level Two
Clean a window or two
Clear and wipe coffee table
Level Three
Declutter anything that doesn't belong in this room
Give all the remote controls and phones a wipe
Dust the mantle and tv
Extras
Eat a frog
Clean and polish some shoes
Recycle any old newspapers/magazines/catalogues (eg Argos)

Thursday - Kids or Spare Bedrooms
Level One
Open the windows, even for a short time, to get some fresh air in
Strip a bed and remake it
Level Two
15 minute tidy up of your messiest room
Declutter any toys/books which are beyond their time
Level Three
Hoover as much as the floor as you can
Wipe the window ledges
Lay on the floor/bed looking for dust and grime from a different angle - remove it
Extras
Clean out any pets - does anybody need worming/flea treatment
Clear wipe one surface
Check library book returns

Friday - Master bedroom and Landing
Level One
Strip, wash and remake bed
Clear landing
Level Two
Clear bedroom floor
Hoover floors
Level Three
Turn and hoover mattress
Dust the bedframe
Dust any pictures
Extras
HH me time
Clean windows and sills
Sort that box of stuff - you know the one! I'm sure we all have one somewhere, whose will contain the most obscure of useless item?

Natty68

I've popped the whole week up for next week instead of doing it daily..as someone of you may know I am struggling and am taking a break from social media (it feels weird not going on FB, etc but it's done me the power of good so far!)

But I didn't want to let you my friends on here down so I've popped the list up as always - trying to keep some normality going

Cloth_of_Gold

Thank for the new thread @Natty68

I'm sorry you are struggling. I wish I could come and give you some practical help   but I am sending you lots of hugs and good wishes.

soappie

@Natty68 Huge hugs xxxx  Thank you for being caring and taking the time to post today but, please, make sure you take enough time off for yourself without worrying about us wittering on here xxxxxx

MinnieMousesMummy

Evening all, I didn't get around to posting a list for Sunday but most of the day was taken up with paid stuff and daily tasks (feeding animals, putting food out for the birds, and organsing clothes/lunches/bags for tomorrow. 

Thank you for the new thread @Natty68. 

Time for an early night, I will be back in the morning with my list for Monday. 

Asparklierblonde

Natty you're a sweetheart - take care of you and yours xx

Thank you to both of you for the lists - NEVER EVER underestimate how much we all appreciate it.

Thanks for the love ladies. You are all just ruddy wonderful. We had a nice day, and the power hasn't gone off (yet!!) thank goodness. I've just flung a load of coal on the fire and I'm enjoying a cuppa before bed. 

We have two external doors here, one of which I replaced 2 months ago. The other, which leads straight from outside into the sitting room, has water pouring in the sides I suspect it's the direction of the wind, and the heavy rain, but clearly that has now gone up the 59 page long list of things-to-sort-in-this-250-year-old-home. Sigh. Bath towels are down and that is all I can do for now. The new door to the boot room was just over £2k. That being said, I started a brutal re-evaluation of my budget yesterday and it shows that I need to earn more to keep us going. Given that I work FT this isn't easy!! But I have been offered some cleaning hours for a friend of a friend - will bring in another £120 a month which will at least pay the electricity bill. And it is after I have finished work for the day so I can slot it in. Not ideal, but needs really  must. 

Laundry over airer by the fire. I am heading to Bedfordshire, Nice biscuits and Bettys tea in the pot. Sleep well friends xx

pigpen

Natty.. TY for the Fred.. if you need time out please just shout I would be happy to help out.

ASB.. my back door is the same.. £1700 Iwas quoted for that.. £1900 for the front door and one place quoted £6000 for my front bay.. but another place said £2500.. needless to say none got done!

I have grandboys tomorrow afternoon..

Blowing a hoolie here.. we have flying bins outside.. mine are safely stashed but next door went flying throwing beer bottles everywhere..

This week I would love to get the girls room sorted.. I want to give it a reshuffle to give Squeak some private space.. this requires moving a shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiii-ton of stuff.. I can't do anything tomorrow.. very little Tuesday.. not much Wednesday.. so Thursday and Friday.. maybe.. yeah, I'm not achieving anything this week am I?

Monday Rooms of Doom and Bathrooms
Level One
15 minutes or more tidying/decluttering in your RofD
Clean sink and toilet, wipe the dust that settles on the back of the toilet pipes
Level Two
Clear and wipe one surface in the bathroom
Level Three
Descale the toilet and taps
Hoover and wash the floors
Extras
Wipe the bath panel
Clean a window

Tuesday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Wipe the table and work surfaces
Sweep/Hoover/mop the floor
Level Two
Wipe the hob
Clean anything higher than eye level
Level Three
Make time for somebody else, a child, a pet, a friend - in memory of our friend Diva.. my whole life is about someone else! But make it purple!
Clean the sink
Extras

Wednesday - Living Room, hall and stairs
Level One
Hoover floors including the stairs
Level Two
Clean a window or two
Level Three
Declutter anything that doesn't belong in this room
Give all the remote controls a wipe
Dust the mantle and tv
Extras
Eat a frog

Thursday - Kids or Spare Bedrooms
Level One
Open the windows
Strip a bed and remake it
Level Two
15 minute tidy up of your messiest room.. they are all as messy as it is possible for them to be!
Declutter any toys/books which are beyond their time
Level Three
Hoover as much as the floor as you can
Wipe the window ledges
Extras
Clear wipe one surface

Friday - Master bedroom and Landing
Level One
Strip, wash and remake bed
Clear landing
Level Two
Clear SOME bedroom floor.. there is no way I could manage it all.
Hoover floors
Level Three
Extras
Sort that box of stuff - you know the one! I'm sure we all have one somewhere, whose will contain the most obscure of useless item? My house has about 8million doom boxes!

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for the lists.
Take care everyone - both of the wild weather that is around and all the trials and tribulations of everyday life that seem to be affecting many at the moment. Life doesn't often stop to give you all a break when you need it. Hugs to all of you.

Today hasn't been major fly-wise: went to church, filled bird feeders, phoned DB and Mum, did a bit more of a report, did a bit of drumming practice.    Also did a bit of knitting and jigsaw.  There's a definite "bit" theme in this.......

Hope you all have a reasonable night. We already heard some big noise in the garden; think it is some wood which was leaning against the fence. Or the bird feeder stand.   So relieved we got the new non-leaking less creaking conservatory in place. 

thriftyscotslass

Natty - thx for the thread; please look after you, sending (((hugs)))

ASB - pls don't burn yourself out; thinking of you & sending (((hugs)))

I enjoyed the group hug earlier today - much needed - thx Round

DH & DS both proper poorly. 

Hopefully the winds will drop in the next few hours as Isha goes on her merry way.

Flying will happen this week - WMx1 today & nowt else.

Cloth_of_Gold

thriftyscotslass said:

DH & DS both proper poorly. 

Hopefully the winds will drop in the next few hours as Isha goes on her merry way.

Sorry to hear they are ill - nothing serious I hope.

I had to laugh this afternoon. A said, completely seriously, that he though it odd that that they would name a storm after place in Surrey, Esher, and that he thought they were all given the names of people. I was confused too until I looked online and saw that it is spelled Isha.

Valli

Yesterday i made a delicious roast dinner and I made the dessert, loaded the DW, washed up after making the tiramisu and then washed the glasses and bowls by hand after we had eaten, sorted the table, pegged out towels for a blow and didn’t feel done in so v. pleased. Towels on maiden to finish off.  DW and WM x 1.  So pleased with all that as I have been worried about my stamina or lack of it.

Piggers Hope your friend makes a full recovery.  There is loads of help and support out there if she wants it.  I’ve decided I don’t need therapy so I haven’t joined Moving Forward or gone and had massage or acupuncture or any of the other, imo dubious, therapies. 

Swimming today…my bag is packed, ready.  

There’ll be left over roast dinner for tea.

ASB…they WILL appreciate everything you’ve done. 

Natty thanks for the list.  Hope you’re ok