Weekly Flylady Thread 6 May 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 - Bank Holiday 

S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
read a book, or knit, or sew, or craft or do a jigsaw or have a long bubbly soak, or potter in the garden/greenhouse or go for a walk...BUT WHATEVER YOU DO ENJOY IT

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
Get a bucket of hot, soapy water and wipe down window frames - open them and clean all the grime that gets on the frames, sills and in the gutters too.
HHI
S&S kitchen

Wipy Wednesday

Kitchen and Dining Room

Level 1
Open some windows (not just in the kitchen!) for some fresh air 
Check fruit bowl - add to washing up if necessary!
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!  
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!
Glug some bleach down the plugholes.
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth - don't forget the legs and places where sticky fingers can reach.
Clean chairs/stools/high chairs - and don't forget legs and rails!
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
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  
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
Deal with any plants or flowers in this area (showing off cos I have some )

Level 3

Choose a drawer, shelf or cupboard for special attention.  Empty, clean out, replace what is needed or useful and fling what is unused and/or out of date
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 


Living room, hall, stairs and porch

Level One
With warm (hot if you can bear it)soapy water on a clean cloth - rinsed frequently - wipe EVERY door handle, light switch in the house - including entrance doors.  Don't forget the letterbox
Declutter ALL the floors!!
Clear the mantle of junk
Fling any rubbish
Straighten cushions, curtains and throws
Tidy coffee/side tables
Empty bin
Empty ashtrays
Attend to plants and flowers

Level Two

Vacuum/sweep all the floors.. stairs too!
Vacuum/sweep under furniture you can safely move!
Vacuum sofas
Clean mirrors

Level Three

Clean the window and door frames 
Dust and polish furniture and ornaments
Clean doormats

Extras

Dust all the electricals.. carefully.. don't want any frazzled flybpeeps
Binbag dance around the house
HHI
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom


Friday…catching up

open windows
strip and remake beds, get bedding on the line to dry in the baking sun
Vacuum round upstairs.  Crevice tool to get round the edges 
binbag dance
clear all floordrobes
wipe and degrot any door and window frames that haven’t been touched for a while
water plants indoors and out
clean doormats
wash brushes and combs and put outside to dry in this blistering heat
check up on pale redheads…they will be suffering

pigpen

TY for Fred.. I am lurking because I am too busy to post.. and if I stop to post I will no longer be busy!

Just charging my watch

Today I have done 8 loads of washing.. 5 are dry and folded.

Put away 6 piles of clothes from my room.

listed 10 things on V!nted.. 1 has sold so far 2 have MANY watchers. I now have 2 items I need to package and arrange collection.

2x DW

Recycling out, maggot bin emptied

girls room shuffled and vacuumed and a chair from MIL put in there ... and scrubbed half of it and washed the cushion cover.. I till do the other half later so Pixie can sit on it tomorrow.
Hetty emptied

Asd@ delivery delivered.. all the subs returned and the remainder squeeeeeeeeeeezed in my freezer.. If you could have a degree in freezer filling I would have one!!
Thomas fed 2000 times!
Everyone fed and watered and 1 in bed.. other 2 going in a minute.

OH still loving his new jb.. he has asked if he can do another shift!!!

Nanna still hanging in there.. I have a weird feeling she is waiting for me to go see her.. she thinks every woman is me.. Everyone is loving it! NOT!!!! I am not the toxic one, I am the one who calls them out and refuses to bend to their abuse. My ex-sister rang DD1 and was complaining she thought she was me and telling 'me' all her business.. good job I wasn't there!! Nanna keeps crying for her husband who died in 1965

Anyway.. I am busy.

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for thread. 

Another sunny day here, so I walked to church and back via the field route which was pretty with a lot of wild flowers. Sadly Mr N, who'd been planning to take the motorbike out while I was at church, got all his gear on, new battery on the bike and it wouldn't start. He's done various charging/swapping stuff and it seems ok now although suspect that both old and new batteries might be affected by a problem in the starter motor. He's an ex mechanic so will be able to sort it, but missed a morning's ride. 

- one load washing out, dried and brought in
- seems the DW fairy was at work while I was out.
- loads of gardening done. As Mr N commented, if we both spent 3-4hrs working in it each day , we might get it under control.    Commiserations for all attacked by slugs. 
- made a shepherd's pie and a pineapple crisp for dinner, with enough left of each for tomorrow.
- bit of checking/reorganising calendar as we seem to be entering a busy couple of months. We need to continue this tomorrow.
I'm planning a major fly tomorrow, not only does it need it, but the church group are coming round on Tuesday eve and as I have rashly signed up to have swimming coaching 6.30-7.30pm there will only be half an hour to change, drive home (15mins) and get presentable before everyone arrives. So, major fly in "public" rooms and kitchen tomorrow; cake-baking on Tuesday after morning gym swim.   I also want to do some report writing. 

ionafan

Thank you for the new thread, Valli x 
I shall have to take a different day for my BH as K is coming tomorrow to help me clean all through...

Delighted to hear that Mr Pigpen loves his new job

Well done on regaining your mojo, HB x 

Today I had to empty my tinned food shelves and check every tin, as one had blown (luckily it fizzed gently and dribbled, rather than exploding).  I have now consigned 3 which were dated pre-lockdown to the bin, to be on the safe side, and have 4 tins of fruit to be used up asap as they are just a little way past their BB dates.  I've left them out on the side to remind me to incorporate them into my meal planning this month.  I wrote the BB date large and bold on the top of each tin that I put back into the cupboard, as well as on the label, and put the earliest dated tins in front of the ones that should be OK for longer.  Taking no chances!

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

roundtuit

Good morning my lovelies xx 

I'm up, made my bed, opened the bathroom window and my bedroom window, got weighed, and I've supped my first brew. 

That's another pound decluttered. 😊

I was laid awake planning, pre-planning?, my flying strategy and ended up with the usual bluebottle trapped in a jar zapping round my brain and bouncing ideas into each other 🤯 It starts off ok. I can do this. I can do that. Then the 'this needs doing', 'that needs doing', 'that's a mess', 'what about .. ', 'and then there's.. ' kicks in. And the demented bluebottle gets overwhelmed. Again. And gives up. Again. 

So I come down, say Good Morning to Bert (the spider in the corner of the living room) then ' oh. You have a friend. Get a room. Or is it FIGHT? ' And it occurs to me that this is perhaps not 'normal' behaviour 🤔 And I smile to myself. Because what is 'normal' anyway? And I've learned to embrace my 'otherness'. 

Ooo. If I find the bluebottle in my brain perhaps Bert will eat it?

Like I said. 'Otherness' 😉

Anyhoo. I'm going to make another brew. Eat toast. Have a go at Wordle and Connections. And think about 15 minute timed flying. But not wearing shoes. Shiny sink? Yes. Shoes indoors? Nope. Shiny sink and dirty pots in the cupboard under the sink - Never. Not on my watch. Why would you do that....that's too much all fur coat and no knickers for my liking.

Maybe that second brew will calm the buzzing? I've taken my meds. Anyone seen my Zen this morning?

Rxx

Fayolle

Someone make Round a second cuppa, quick 🤣xx
Thank you for the thread, sounds like today’s list fits perfectly with my newly formed list. Allotment was half heartedly on it, thank goodness for the rain deciding to start as I was about to leave. Of course, it has stopped now… Thank you for the slug advice. I’ve tried everything over the years, this is probably my worst year yet. I don’t help myself by not getting to allotment every day to patrol the little blighters. Mr Narc0 is perfectly correct - if I spent a couple of hours a day in the garden / allotment, I would have it under control. Work definitely gets in the way - now there’s a thought to hold on to.
Wm run, towels now hanging indoors. DH wants help with his tax return - yawn, yawn, he is perfectly capable, we will no doubt fall out over his need to re-read a zillion times and mine to go - just press the BLEEPing button! An alien sized beetroot is in the mw, I will make a chocolate beetroot cake this afternoon. One portion of veg and all that. I also have a strange desire to pack away my winter jumpers.
Then there is the dressmaking, the knitting, the OL course…I think I might have Twin of Bluebottle in my brain 😉

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list.  You do make me laugh Round.  There is no such thing as normal.  We are all just unique.

Ok, so today I have done most dailies (except putting out rubbish and recycling as I haven't stepped outside yet ), cut DHs hair, prepped Poppets food and hoovered through.

My back is a bit achy today due to sports (rounders) actually going ahead yesterday.

Just having breakfast then I'll wash up and walk Poppet.

We are visiting family this afternoon.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Thank you ladies xx Buzz. Buzz. 

I misread your post Jazee and thought your back was itchy due to sports going ahead yesterday. 😳  Heat rash maybe? Then I re-read and ahhh achy. That makes more sense. 

I'm dressed, fed the birds, and I've put out the recycling. Failed at Wordle- too many options 😪. Completed Connections - easy for Rounds today. Brew 2 supped. Toast and marmalade eaten. My Sunday treat....a day late. Although it feels like a Sunday.

P& S will be calling for coffee when S has had a look round Mr T and Mr Al. I don't understand. They're supermarkets. You go in. Get what you want. Pay for it and come out again. Why would you want to 'look round'? Especially when you've been to the same supermarkets twice already this week. I 'looked round' Boyes because I'd never been in there before. But I was basically looking round to find the stuff I wanted. In Mr Al I'm in, bananas, apples, yogurts, cheese, round the corner, rice cakes, crackers, wafers, plum toms, crisps, round the corner..you get the drift.

Ooo. They're just leaving Mr Al. Better put kettle on.

Rxx

Valli

oh !!!!!!

eating breakfast, drinking coffee, coughed, shut my mouth and i ended up with a nose and t shirt full of coffee…

bottom dw rack emptied, stuff on top tipped to drain & dry.  washing on line.  DD has gone walking in cheese town (stilton no less).  i’m going for a walk but not sure where yet

Goodintentions

Good afternoon 😊 
I was up late as I had a late night & then didn't sleep very well (achy/restless legs)
Yesterday I spent over 3 hours at the allotment (hence the achy legs 😂). We then went out in the evening (actually socialising!) to a charity comedy night. When I got back I finished the baby blanket (yay!).
Today we have done WM x2 (2nd load in the TD - raining - again!), done a meal plan (chucked a few bits out of the freezer/cupboard that are past it), emptied the DW, washed up the pots & moved most of the furniture from the DR into the LR! DH is now doing the last bits of painting as we had the paint delivery last week 👍
Oh, and I have cleaned the TD filter 🙂
Still to do:
Food shop (this will involve putting on 'real' clothes! 😂)
Putting everything back in the DR.....I would like to sort/reorganise as I go, but I suspect we will run out of time
Decide on (start?) next knitting project 😁

I also wanted to sort out the bedding plants & pot on some seedlings but I think that is off the agenda! 

Fayolle the slugs are a nightmare this year because of the mild, wet winter 😕 I have a huge problem with snails in my garden but it is much better at the allotment. I suspect there are more preditors there and the balance is better 🤔 I think the trick is to cut down slug habitat ie keep it tidy, keep on top of the weeds, etc. I have yet to master that one! 😂
Round you do make me smile. I love your 'otherness' 😊
Narc0 Mr N is definitely right - little and often works. I have mastered the "little" but not the "often" 😂 That is not so good.....

pigpen

roundtuit said:

Ooo. If I find the bluebottle in my brain perhaps Bert will eat it?

Like I said. 'Otherness' 😉

Rxx

We have 'buzzy brains' here too... either crippled with indecision and overwhelm or on 9000MPH and end up making more mess than we started with.

I fed the girls, I fed Thomas.. he is gradually moving on to cat food. He is also gaining weight which is fabulous he was clearly suffering greatly with neglect. His teeth are improving and his poop is now solid.. he drinks huge amounts.. and what goes in must come out... the litter tray is constantly swimming. He is attemting to wash certain part of himself now.. we have bought pet wipes because he was so greasy and smelly and they are helping.. he is a lovely boy but useless at being a cat.

Mortified C2.. she asked me is I would like a sausage.. I said 'I would no more like a sausage than you would!' .. that broke her.. The conversation only went further into the gutter from there..

Erm.. I need to bring in laundry and hang more out.. I will do that now.. before it rains.

and make a cuppa.. and load the DW.. and reload the WM.. and I did not get my room tidied one bit. I need someone to come and sit and talk to me while I do it..