Weekly Flylady Thread 14th October 2024

Natty68

Thank you, Valli, for last week's 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.

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. 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.

It is your responsibility to read the forum rules, please follow them on this thread as Flylady has been here a LONG time and is a fabulous support and resource for lots of us.

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 (ooh a compound adjective) content!

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 asier.
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 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

Ok here goes this Week...

Magical Monday - Barnacled Bathroom and Sociable Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms (even if it is around the clutter)
Throw away all those empty bottles of shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, hairspray etc. I know they make the room look pretty but they are just cluttering up the place..!!
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets and sinks
Remove and bin all those slivers of soap that you have been saving, do you really need them?
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...
Clear clutter from floor
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment the pc/laptop while doing this (programs.. accessories..system tools.. defragment!.).. if you do the disc cleanup as well, clear all the cookies and temporary files too, you would be surprised at how much gunk collects in your computer system. It'll also run faster too
Delete 10 links in your favourites which you no longer use or are dead!
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Clean/wash the brushes/dust box/filters on the vacuum cleaner!!!! .. make sure they are completely dry before using it though.. I don’t want anyone electrocuted!!
Change hand towels and flannels
Extra mission:

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc
• Grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!
• Clean the radiators in these rooms
• Pull out the pc and desk and clear under and behind it.. how much money did you find? Clean windows, hang up clean nets and draught-proof curtains and any table cloths/throws or other dust and grot gathering bits of fabric!
• Wipe sticky and dirty marks off the walls and doors

Tantalising Tuesday ~ Masterful Master Bedroom & Loopy Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen.
Level Two...
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen.. do you need that winter duvet yet?
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort one area of clothes or linen storage making sure only what should be in there is, anything that's had it's day or doesn't belong there is removed
Clear a hotspot., or spend 15 minutes clearing one.
Extra tasks list:

• 27 fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Put away those summer clothes from someones cupboard and get out the winter woollies.. don’t store anything that is past its best! Make a list of things you need to buy!!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Check house for places where draughts are getting in.. doors, windows etc and see if there are ways to stop it!
• Clean out that airing cupboard!!!!!! get rid of those things you don't need.. use dead towels as cleaning cloths etc.. be ruthless!!!! you REALLY don't need that 'thing' you've saved for 10 years.. 'just in case'

Wishful Wednesday ~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
Level Two...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
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!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra task list

• Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw
• Time for the Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!
• 30 minutes ironing
• Pull out the beds, furniture and clean all behind them.. the skirtings and light fittings and everything.. get rid of all the things that are no longer required!

Tantalising Thursday ~ Kooking Kitchen and Dancing Dining Room
Level One...
Clean floors
Level Two...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Sort fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, clean out any spills or grots in there!
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
Descale kettle and iron
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 and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!
Extra Mission...

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• Clean oven if you didn't do it last week
• 30 minutes ironing.
• Get in that food cupboard. Give it all a GOOD scrub out before placing the things you need to use soon at the front. Check dates and freshness on older things, and See if you can incorporate these into next weeks meal plan! Feel free to get carried away and do more cupboards!!!

Friday ~ Luscious Living Room, Handsome Hall Stupendous Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum floors and sofas
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Water any thirsty plants, wipe their poor neglected leaves!!
Level Three...
Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister
Clean any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. wash any that need washing in preparation for cold weather!! See if there are any that don't fit, past their best or just plain uncomfy which could leave the house!
Put up linings or winter curtains to keep out those draughts.
Extra Mission...

• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.
• Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
• Clean a window or two.
• Get yourself a bag or box, go around collecting things that are not in the place they should be, then put them back where they should be, or better still give them to their owners to put away themselves
• 30 minutes ironing
• Get those uniforms, games kits, coats and things in the wash which you will need on Monday
• Clean light fittings, skirtings even the ones behind furniture. Clean fire-surrounds. Wipe sofa's down. Clear as may hotspots as you can.. see if you can get it all into one pile instead of 15!!!

~ Flylady Christmas Card Swap ~

DO NOT POST ANY PERSONAL DETAILS HERE!!!!!!!!!

If you are wanting to take part in this year's Flylady Christmas card swap please PM me your details!! .. MSE name (if you wish to disclose that), MSE user Id.. This is vital or you won't be included.. (just so I know you are really a flylady!!) and address to which you want the cards sending, or pop a quick comment on here to let me know you want to be added.. by midnight 14 November.    You know the drill!!!!   

I will be sending out the card list on 16th November 2024 as I need to get them in the post by the 9th December so that everyone gets their cards in time for Christmas.

Valli

Ooh in first!

Rabbit hutches cleaned and refilled, bulbs planted…just remembered i’ve left the extra ones out. Oops.  Sunday dinner cooked and eaten.  DW stacked.  Washing brought in and folded.  it looks so feeble written down but Ive hardly stopped.

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Thank you to Valli and Natty as always xx

I'm up, made my bed, got weighed*, completed Wordle in three,  completed Connections with no lives lost, and supped my first brew.

*I lost 2.5 lbs this week. I'm a happy (slightly less) Round 😊

Round 1
Brew 2 and breakfast 
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
Laundry shuffle 
Wash towels and tea towels 
WUDUPA 

PO
Pay rent x 2 
Bank cheque 
Check bank balance 

Mr C00p 
Bananas 

Brain dump - before my head explodes.

Natty - I'm in for the Flylady Christmas card swap please. All details are the same as last year 😊

Rxx

sexymouse

Thank you for the list Natty.

Just caught up with old Fred. 

Glad to hear your DH is improving a bit now iona. Nice to hear that the school anniversary celebrations were a success Valli.

Narc0 that must have been really tough getting asked about your Mum when you were already feeling low with the funeral. 

Glad the dinner went well HoneyBear and I laughed at the efficient hiding of the card - my Mum was renouned for doing this too.

Yorkshirelass I hope your tummy has improved.

kazwookie I'm itching to wash our cat basket too, but every time I go to do it, said cat is in it, and as he's not been feeling 100% (bit of a an upset tummy probably from stealing food from the neighbours) I don't want to make him feel worse - I'll just have to wait until he's better.

Well the friend finally came over late on Sunday after messaging me 30 minutes before she was meant to be there to say that her daughter had decided she wanted to do baking and could we postpone until next week and make it earlier in the day. I had visions of her inviting herself for lunch too if she came earlier next week (they were meant to arrive here at 3pm). I was a bit p'd off as she was the one who had invited herself over in the first place as her DD was apparently so desperate to come over and play with DS1, and I had had to rush around like a mad thing to get our food shopping done in time as Sunday is food shopping day (DH works Saturdays so I go alone whilst he watched the boys). We'd also been trying our best to tidy up a bit so the house looked a bit better. I'd even turned down an offer of going to see my Mum as we were having the friend over. It was ok once they were here, and DS1 enjoyed playing a few games on his switch with the daughter, whilst the mum and I chatted, but I'm still irritated by it. Am I over-reacting here?

The plus side of our visitors coming is that the living room isn't looking too bad now, and DH hoovered everywhere too. I also managed to do the majority of the washing on Saturday, so just the clothes we were wearing yesterday left to do now (not even enough for a full load yet). No work booked in for today means I have time to continue working on the house more. Tomorrow is a very busy day with 4 things in my diary, so I'm enjoying the peace here a bit today. Wordle completed in 3 today, and connections completed too. I don't actually have any work booked in at all this week, so fingers crossed some crops up, as I've just paid the deposit for DS1's residential trip, and I know that we've got some other expenses coming up too. Need to do a few more prolific studies I think - trying to get the earnings to a round number before withdrawing them. I'm very close to getting a YLive payout soon as well, but the last few I've done, I've not met the criteria needed.

sexymouse

Well my day just got a bit busier - a man who does the gardening for the house that backs onto our garden has just dropped off one of those massive sainsbury's shopping bags full of cooking apples as DH told him we like apples and his Mum's tree had loads. Looks like I'm going to be prepping apples now and making lots of apple sauce etc.

ionafan

Morning all.

Thank you for the new thread, Natty.  Sorry to say that I shall not be doing much off today's list, as I have been back to the GP surgery on my own account. I was lucky to get an early appointment and saw the same paramedic who sent DH off to horse piddle on Thursday - she says I have got not just sinusitis but crackles in my lungs as well.  So today I shall be wrapping myself up in my blanket and staying put.  If DH is discharged today (which is unlikely) DS1 will collect him, bring him home, and leave the two of us to enjoy our ABs party

L is back from her holiday so has taken Rosie out for her walk this morning, and she will do an extra day on Wednesday.  If necessary, Rosie can manage without walks tomorrow and Thursday, or we'll just go 100 yds along the lane and home again.

I was supposed to be going to visit my old schoolfriend in Gloucestershire today - it turns out to have been a good thing she cancelled a week ago because of her own ill health.  We will get back together sometime.

Hope everyone else has a good flying day.  I shall be cheering you on from the sidelines xxx

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

Round 1
Brew 2 and breakfast ✅
Get dressed ✅
Feed the birds ✅
Put out the recycling ✅
Laundry shuffle ✅
Wash towels and tea towels ✅
WUDUPA 

PO
Pay rent x 2 ✅
Bank cheque ✅
Check bank balance ✅

Mr C00p 
Bananas ✅

Brain dump - before my head explodes.

Towels and tea towels have had an extra spin and been draped on radiators and the airer.

Car money hasn't hit my bank yet.

I've been consistent in avoiding the brain dump...because I couldn't work out how to get the various thought strands into a straight line in order to write down a list. A friend has suggested a mind map and coloured pencils. So that's the plan for this afternoon. 

Lunch now.

Get well soon iona, and any other poorly peeps 😘

Rxx

Valli

weather forecast improved so washing pegged out before I came to work...towels so I doubt they'll dry but they'll lighten.
DW emptied.

Honey_Bear

sexymouse said:

Well the friend finally came over late on Sunday after messaging me 30 minutes before she was meant to be there to say that her daughter had decided she wanted to do baking and could we postpone until next week and make it earlier in the day. I had visions of her inviting herself for lunch too if she came earlier next week (they were meant to arrive here at 3pm). I was a bit p'd off as she was the one who had invited herself over in the first place as her DD was apparently so desperate to come over and play with DS1, and I had had to rush around like a mad thing to get our food shopping done in time as Sunday is food shopping day (DH works Saturdays so I go alone whilst he watched the boys). We'd also been trying our best to tidy up a bit so the house looked a bit better. I'd even turned down an offer of going to see my Mum as we were having the friend over. It was ok once they were here, and DS1 enjoyed playing a few games on his switch with the daughter, whilst the mum and I chatted, but I'm still irritated by it. Am I over-reacting here?

In answer to your question - No.  Your friend invited herself over, never mind her reason/excuse, you organised yourself around that time with a lot of pre-planning that affected not only your activities, but your husband's and your mother's.  It's hard to challenge people when they inconvenience us but she did and it's not okay. 

Ionafan, I'm sorry to hear you're also under the weather, and I hope you both improve very soon.  You're right - Rosie doesn't need to be trundled every day.  When Belovéd was away last week Wren got very short walks (basically we turned around pretty much as soon as she'd poo'd) and that's enough.  Apparently as long as dogs get two good walks a week that's enough for most of them, a little factoid I use when things are tight on time and energy here.  Normally she gets a mile pretty much every morning so if I slacken off for a bit I don't feel in the slightest bit guilty.

Wordle in 4, 2 lines on Connections and I'll go back to it later to see if anything else jumps out at me.

Email sent to Morribunds to say they'd over-charged me on the coffee I bought which was on special offer on Saturday.  Pretty much instant reply saying to go and see Customer Services when I'm next in store for a refund.  I'm happy with that, but it is very, very noticeable that Morribunds often charges full price at the till when there's a yellow shelf ticket with a promotional price on it.  I thought each occasion was a one-off but I can it's happening so often now that I absolutely know it's a company policy.  Bad Morribunds, but good of the store manager to reply so quickly.

Today will be the shower room and making the beds in the letting rooms ready for two arrivals tomorrow.  I'll dust and vacuum then.

sexymouse

Oh no! So sorry to hear you're now unwell too iona - I'm glad you have some people available to support you so you can rest up and get better. Hope you feel better soon. x

Thank you HoneyBear - you're right - there was a lot of planning and inconvenience on our part, plus the stress of that first impression she may have of our house that I'd been worried about. Well I guess I shan't be inviting her over quite so freely again.

round I hope the car money comes in soon for you and you enjoy the mind mapping this afternoon - is this friend someone with the intials EC by any chance? She may be a mutual contact if so.

Well plans changed again as I had a message from the seamstress that I used to repair my jeans the other day, to say that she had a cancellation, so I could come this morning instead of tomorrow. Some of the stitches on her repair had come undone when the jeans were put in the wash as her Singer sewing machine didn't have an overlocking ability. However, she'd worked out a way around it, and I went along and had a cup of tea and a very long chat with her whilst she redid the stitching. Fingers crossed this works - it already looks a lot better this time around. I also gave her some of the masses of apples I'd been gifted as she has 7 children and I thought she and her children would also appreciate them.

Whilst over that way, I picked up a couple of bits at Mr Al that I'd forgotten in the shopping yesterday, and also some more flour and demerara sugar in anticipation of making crumble with the apples.

Tonight's dinner recipe has been typed up and printed out (creamy tomato chickpeas with sourdough toast) and run through with DH who will be cooking it. DS1 finishes school at 2.30pm so no time to peal the apples etc now, so will do that when back from both school runs (DS2 finishes at 3.20pm).

Honey_Bear

Shower room cleaned, double bed made up, superking made up, one load through the WM and when I was straightening up the double room I found a stain smack in the middle of my favourite tablecloth that lives on an oak gateleg table in that room, and is there to cover up where it's been poorly treated.  So I've soaked the tablecloth in biologicals, and rubbed it both sides with Van!$h and am running it with a few other things through the WM to see if I can get the stain out, the tablecloth dry and ironed and back in there by tomorrow afternoon. 

My turn to cook supper tonight so I'm having a rest now with one of the cats and the dog.  :waves: to Ionafan who I hope is also resting.