Weekly Flylady Thread 26th February 2024

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
Wash up (or remove all pots to DW) and clean the draining rack and board.
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.
Empty out caddies/storage jars or tins and wash them out.
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

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, 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 and wipe fridge shelves and baskets.
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.
Check the ceiling/crevices for cobwebs

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
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
Meal plan for the week.
Month end looms - get those financial spreadsheets/notebooks up to date

Twinkly Tuesday master bedroom


level 1

Strip bed
open window
Take out rubbish
clear floor and chairdribe

level 2
remake bed
vacuum/sweep/mop floor

Level 3

Dust light shades
dust all round, wiping lotion and potion bottles with a damp cloth

extras
wipe all sockets and switches with a damp cloth, and plugs and cables.  Make sure all are dry Before reconnecting 
s&s kitchen
s&sbathroom


Wipy Wednesday bathroom cloaks etc

Level 1

open window toilet in some fresh air
slosh some cleaner down loo
empty bin
scrub toilet bowl and the grim rim
wipe outside of toilet and bin those wipes

Level 2

wipe out bath and or shower
cleans taps, plug, drains and hose and head
wash shower curtain or clean screen

Level 3

scrub handbasin and taps
wipe round and dust
wipe light pulls
polish mirror
clean floor 

extras

s&s kitchen
hhi
month end looms..time to submit meter reads

Thursday -lounge or other reception room

level 1

deal with flowers
empty bin
purge magazines/newspapers
clear and lay fire (if you have one)
clear/tidy and wipe coffee table
plump cushions and straighten curtains
remove anything that doesn't belong


level 2

vacuum/sweep/mop floor
clean windows

level 3

dust ornaments, clocks, pictures
dust/polish furniture
Lift chair pads and vacuum under them
vacuum/wipe sofas and chairs

extras

s&s bathrooms
s&s kitchen
check diary for March - do cards need posting? And be aware … Easter is early!
is there any household admin to arrange - insurance, servicing of appliances etc?
what is planned for YOU?  Hair appt? Nails? Do share...we all have cups to fill!
Check smoke alarms, last day for meter reads!

New month, nearly spring and because so many of us seem to be statues atm I have resurrected a nice Friday list

hall, stairs, landing, utility or other neglected room

clear detritis
decide what would be most improved by 15 minutes focussed cleaning eg floors, or dusting, or windows
sit down with a cuppa
bung a casserole in the oven or sc

good enough is good enough, so that will do

Jazee

Thanks Valli.  I'm in as much as possible.

Narc0lepsy

thanks for the thread.
Started today down at the village playing field helping plant hedging plants - or rather, Mr N crawled into gaps in the hedge, dug a hole, then I passed him in a whip (oo-er.......for the urban at heart, a whip is a baby tree), a cane (more oo-er) and a nasty plastic sleeve to wrap them in. Repeated this for half an hour then I went home to change and go to church. Mr N did it for another hour then joined us for our Lent lunch, which was nice and sociable.

Finally the wind was in the right direction to have a bonfire, so we burned the rotten garden seat and a huge 1kea bag full of confidential waste; the old test sheets from 2015/16 and a load of old pension statements. So finally it is decluttered.

Finished my CPD recording and did the necessary uploading of evidence and payment for my next 3yrs of assessment certification, assuming they pass me.   Seems a bit harsh to have to pay £210 for the next 3yrs when I'm retiring in summer, although I may take on the odd private assessment.   Anyway that is a big frog I've been putting off since about November.

Rang my Mum and DB to make sure we were all in possession of the right information regarding visit dates for mothering Sunday and Easter........we are now!

Must do some drumming now; I'd meant to do loads of practice over half term so I'd master the tricky one (Evanescence "Bring me to Life") but of course I'm still finding it difficult as I haven't practised enough.

Then I just may do a tiny bit more of a report.

Have a good week everyone. 

ionafan

Thanks Valli.  We are now at my DS 2's so wont be flying much for the next 3 days.  However, i did leave our house clean and tidy before we came away.  i even mopped the kitchen floor - i was hoping that Fayolle had done it for me yesterday while she had her mop out (she did. say she had mopped two floors) but no such luck!W

If the weather is fine tomorrow we might take Rosie to a beach

Cloth_of_Gold

A busy, but productive, day Narc.

I prepared our supper and washed up. A wanted to try and do the 6-times-per-day eye drops himself before supper but you have to squeeze the little bottle really hard and his grip is very weak now so he couldn't do it. He's getting a bit grumpy about having them so often.

Set out A's breakfast things and did the night time eye routine and that's it. Sleep well everyone.

pigpen

Ty for Fred Valli

School stuff ready.. I am off to my nest.. with a cuppa..

Dentist in morning.. NOT my favourite place to visit so you can guarantee I won't be sleeping very well. I have grandbeasts in the afternoon and Pixie at dance class after school.. OH can pick her up.

Jazee

Morning all.

DGD2 is still in bed so I'm having a cuppa in peace.  I'm dressed, bed is made, dog is fed. Will wash a few dishes from last night soon.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Good morning my lovelies xx

Not so frosty this morning,  but clear skies so I've stripped my bed and WM is swishing as I sup my first brew.

Monday morning weigh in revealed that I've lost a pound this week. So that's a stone off in total. Cheesy grin 😁 

Round 1
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
WUDUPA 
Clear the airer- FUPA 
Give bedding an extra spin 
Peg out 
Wash bath mats 

Have a good day 
Rxx

Valli

morning all

its been a night…i’ve had a dicky tummy (side effects).  

DW x 1 so that needs emptying.  paid stuff for me.  Hope everyone has a good day x

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for all the lists. xx

Weather forcast, said windy, and about 8 degrees, so after I have done a load of washing early when I got up to feed the cats, I am now ready to hang it out on the whirly, and it is chucking it down, grey, black skies to indicate yet more of the same to come.............going to give it until 2pm before I use the TD, then the airer.

Fire yet to be done.

Bed is stripped and remade

Part hoovering is done

Not too sure what else today will bring, might groom the cats as they are also in.

Zed42

Thanks Valli for the thread and morning all

I'm in again this week, kitchen is probably a good place to start after DH's DIY in there this weekend, as I don't have a dining room, I may "look" at the utility room, and then again, I may look at it, shudder and close the door ... especially if DH has left DIY tools all over the place!