Weekly Flylady Thread 1st April 2024

Natty68

Welcome to the weekly Flylady thread. If you need help organising your week when it comes to housework, or just the motivation to do the dreaded housework tasks you have to do, come and join us, hopefully make it a little easier. You never know, you might start to enjoy it!

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!

Thank you Valli for last week's thread..

Please do remember we have to abide by MSE rules; each post should, ideally, include some mention of flying.

THESE LISTS ARE ONLY SUGGESTIONS AND NOT A MUST DO LIST, ALWAYS WELCOME TO POST AND FOLLOW YOUR OWN.

Also adding a declutter mission each day. Another one where it's up to you if you want to do it or if you need to. This follows requests from members who are looking to declutter. Binbag dances, hotspot clearing, cupboard sorts, drawer sorts etc will all be on this list. Any problems with this or any suggestions do please let me know.

A few of the basics before we start the week

Hotspots are any areas which if one thing gets put there, loads of other things follow!

Daily routines/todailies are anything you need to do today and every day stuff like laundry, 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/binbag dance - stick on some loud music, grab a binbag or carrier bag and whizz 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!

5GC five minutes gardening.. make it lovely for your family and enjoy it!

Other abbreviations you may find useful

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 ~ Editted to add
gibble ~ miscellaneous crap that appears forever homeless
Dot-to-dot ~ this is a AnW'sMum's way of tidying - 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!
RoD ~ Room of Doom, the one room that feels like it is a permanent pit and cannot be used to its potential!

The Spoon Theory
https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Click here to read Toots wonderful welcome guide

Ok here goes this week

Easter Monday – Bank Holiday
Dailies
Spend time with family
Do something for yourself
Enjoy all those lovely Easter eggs
Take a walk with family

Twinkling Tuesday – Master Bedroom Level One
Open window and let in fresh air for 15 minutes
Strip bed
Put dirty bedding in laundry basket
Vacuum floor
Level Two
Turn mattress if possible, if not hoover
Make bed with fresh clean bedding
Fluff up pillows
Clear all debris that doesn’t belong on the floor and rehome.
Level Three
Dust surfaces
Wipe any mirrors or glass clean
Clean a window
Clear all surface clutter and dispose to their various homes if they have any, if not throw away
Extras

• Clean curtain poles
• Clean light switches
• Wipe down lights and lamp shades
• Dust light bulbs
• HHI
• Put on a wash load.Sit down and meal plan for the week

Whimsical Wednesday – Bathroom/Study and Landing Level One
Open window and let in fresh air for 15 minutes
Declutter the floors
Wash shower curtain
Hoover floors
Level Two
Scrub the toilet clean
Wipe down bathroom surfaces
Clean bathroom taps and sink taps
Wipe down the window sill
Level Three Wash the bath mat
Change over the hand towels
Change flannel
Empty out bathroom cupboard and throw away any empty bottles
Extras

• Wash handtowels/bath towels and flannels
• Dust lightbulb and lampshade
• Defrag pc/laptop
• Replenish toilet rolls
• Spend some time on yourself, or doing something with the children

Thursdays are Trilling!! - Living room and stairs!!
Level One...
Declutter the floor Vacuum/mop floors & stairs!
Level Two... Wash the windows and the front door.. inside and out!
Vacuum under the furniture you can safely move!
Level Three...
Clean the sofas
Declutter the inside of a cupboard or drawer!
Wipe all the paintwork!
Dust mantle and polish all the trinkets upon it.. and get all the junk off it!
Extras

• Wipe and water the plants
• Clean out the pets, get rid of that smelly bedding and replace with lovely smelling bits
• Wash any smelly soft furnishings
• Get a pile of filing done!!

Friday - those frightening Friday kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see..
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Level Two...
Binbag dance
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade!!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! Aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!
Level Three...
Strip beds and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Extras

• Wash a set of curtains, nets or throw
• Make all those necessary phonecalls! 
• HHI Make a half hour time out for yourself!! 
• Tidy up the garden! Trim hedges and grass etc... 
• Bake a cake 
• Spend an hour or so with the family having some lovely special family time.. just talking or watching a film with popcorn etc..

Cloth_of_Gold

Thanks for the new thread Natty.

Happy Easter everyone.

@pigpen you have been busy.

We had two friends over for lunch so I've spent the day cooking, serving food, eating food, drinking wine, talking and washing up.  I'm now tired and have a headache. I've done most of the washing up  - mainly the glasses left. I will try to do them before I go to bed if I can summon the energy as I hate getting up to washing up.

Asparklierblonde

Evening all

Sorry I’ve been awol. Lambing time up here and I’m lending a hand where I can. I also might, just might, have a date next weekend 😳😳😳😳😳

I haven’t flown at all. Catch up soon love to all xx

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks for the new thread! 😁 

Busy day tomorrow as I have a set list for the first of the month: 

1) Clean filter on dw
2) Clean dw with soda crystals and vinegar on a hot wash
3) Clean wm filter
4) Clean wm drawer 
5) Clean wm with soda crystals and vinegar on a hot wash
6) Clean filters in td
7) Hoover out td
8) Descale kettle
9) Clean grout in hallway
10) Clean out fridge
11) Clean vacuum cleaner filters

As its a Monday I also need to strip the beds and wash the bedding plus wash the towels...

I have other stuff to get done too - we've been busy in the garden over the past few days so I've done almost nothing in the house 🤦‍♀️ I'll give it a basic once over while I'm waiting for other things to finish 😉

pigpen

Thank you for Fred Natty.

ASB.. swit-swoo at the date.. make sure you've washed appropriately after the lambing!! lol..

I am shattered but the backroom is looking much much better.

Merry 1st April .. how fast is this year flying?? I can barely keep up and I promise you I am NOT enjoying myself!

We think OH's friend might be able to help on Tuesday.. we are going to visit his mum too so it will be nice to see them all. His Mrs has had surgery recently for BC so she might not be there but I thought I might take her some flowers or something just to show we are thinking of her. or I might completely forget because I am a doofus!

I've done a bit of knitting and am off to my nest.. given I got about 5.5 hours last night I'm a bit tired.. I really need to make more effort to go to bed earlier!

Easter eggs in the fridge and ovaltine in the urn!

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

Lovely weekend here so far, helped DH with his work on Saturday and yesterday I met up with DS2 and we did a brilliant 7.5 mile walk.  Mum and Dad came for a family tea last night but DS1 and GF cancelled at the last minute.  I made a conscious decision not to let it bother me, they are all caught up with moving into their first home together so I am not going to make a drama out of it. 

No idea what the plan is for today, DS2 stayed over so will need taking to the station at some point and it's pouring down.

Lovely news ASB you deserve all the happiness in the world.

Yep 1/4 of the way through 2024 Pigpen and its been a rocky start, but we are still plodding on! 

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list.  I will do everything on it today.  We're going on an Easter egg hunt later!

Heads up that the York fly meet is next Sunday 7th April at 1pm.  I think I've messaged everyone who showed an interest but just message me if I've missed you.

Have a great day everyone.

kazwookie

Thanks for the thread.

Ohh ABS you go girl, what lovely news, if you need a 'safe phone number' pm me and you can have mine, just as \I did for another FL some time ago.

It is wet and horrid here, only just woken up.

So I will strip bed and re make

Do gneral stuff and tidy about.

kazwookie

Walking done, sun is sort of trying to come out.

Washing in a heap for tomorrow

Sorted kitchen

Bin out for collection tomorrow, NND currently shoving their rubbish in it as they have run out of space (with persmission)

elly68

I'm here hopefully a good week Happy Easter 

leftatthetrafficlights

Quick update before I start on the vacuuming: 

1) Clean filter on dw
2) Clean dw with soda crystals and vinegar on a hot wash
3) Clean wm filter
4) Clean wm drawer 
5) Clean wm with soda crystals and vinegar on a hot wash
6) Clean filters in td
7) Hoover out td
8) Descale kettle
9) Clean grout in hallway
10) Clean out fridge
11) Clean vacuum cleaner filters

I've also cleaned the bathroom.

Next jobs are:

1) clean the bedroom including vacuuming 
2) vacuum the landing and stairs
3) wipe down the surfaces in the yoga room
4) vacuum the yoga room
5) wipe down surfaces in front room
6) vacuum front room
7) wipe down surfaces in kitchen and utility room
8) vacuum kitchen and utility room
9) wash floors in kitchen and utility room

Dh is currently filling lots of pots with compost so we can get some seeds sown before I clean the kitchen - I'll do the wm drawer and fridge while I'm sorting the kitchen 😁