Weekly Flylady Thread 10th February 2025

Valli

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.

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 (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 hhand 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 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...

Manic Monday

Kitchen/dining room

Level 1

Put away pots; clear sink
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and flexes - those cables get grim!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too
Wipe sill, sockets, door handles and switches
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish sponge and replace with a new one and/or soak dishcloth in bleach or put the old dishcloth to be washed and get out a fresh one.

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Clean microwave - steam it out!  Lemon in water cleans and deordorises
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan
Dust dining area/room
Clear WM, TD and DW filters

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean windows and sills

Extras

I see that I told you to register your appliances a couple of years ago - so, if you haven't already done so do it now- in the event of a product recall you won't miss out.  Even if they are just 'new' to you!
https://www.registermyappliance.org.uk/
and, while you're at it make sure you have the instruction booklet to hand.
HHI
S&S bathroom
Half term looms - make sure PE kit comes home to be washed and checked for fit.  Check your local council website for activities - bird box building is on offer hereabouts.

Ruby Tuesday

Living room, hall, stairs and landing

Level 1
Open lots of windows and let that fresh air in while beds are airing
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms
Wash out vases
Empty bins/ashtrays
Clear gibble
Plump and straighten cushions
Wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices.  Lift seat cushions if you can and vacuum underneath
Wipe/dust coffee tables and leave tidy
Sort newspapers/magazines

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Clean doormats
waggle a long thin duster or brush behind/between radiator panel and remove all that fluff and dust.  

once the dust has settled vacuum it all up.


Level 3
Dust all round - don't forget sills, skirting boards, tops of curtain rails and/or battens and top and frame of door.
Wipe door handles, banisters, light switches and sockets - and the bits of the door where people hold to open/close it.
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should - vacuum fabric shades; wash glass shades 
Wipe lightbulbs (if cold)
Dust pictures/paintings on walls - and dust behind them too!
Stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?

Extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom

Wednesday Week


Bathrooms, cloak rooms and en suites

Level 1
Open window
Remove towels and facecloths and fling in WM
Scrub Loo inside and out, slop  bleach or descaler down afterwards

Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
De-fuzz plugholes
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins
Wipe plugs - especially underneath!

Level 3
sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate
clean windows
polish mirrors
dust and polish where necessary


Extras

HHI
S&S kitchen

FRIDAY FLOURISH - Kids room/spare room/guest room 
Level 1
Open window
strip bed
clear detritus from floor
occupant of room to assist if available
Empty bin

level 2
anything that needs to be homed -put away occupants of room to help
vacuum floor
If spare/guest room check all lighting fully functional

level 3
clean window
wipe sockets and switches
dust all around

extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen
HHI
read through a recipe book or Google a rarely-used ingredient and find something new to cook this weekend

ionafan

Thank you Valli - I'm in as usual this week.  The piles of papers in my study have diminished slightly, but only slightly, so I shall have to carry on sorting, recording and filing whenever I can, but the house also needs some attention.

Tomorrow I've got to get up in time to be at the primary school on the other side of town by 8.40, having breakfasted or not!!  It's another achievement assembly for either my goddaughter W or her sister M.  That means I need to get to bed early tonight, so I'm off now.

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Thank you for the thread. I'm in.

For no apparent reason I woke up with total overwhelm (I guess I'd been dreaming 🤷‍♀️) but I'm up, made my bed, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, got weighed*, completed Wordle in four,  completed Strands with no hints, completed Connections with no lives lost,  and I'm supping a brew.

* I lost half a pound! I was expecting a gain so pleasantly surprised and glad I braved the scales. 

Plan To Do Today List 

Brew 2 & breakfast 
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
Laundry shuffle 
Swish 1 x Pops' washing 
WUDUPA 
QH Admin 

Pay rent 
Drop off books at cs 
Visit Mr Al 

Shower 
Wash hair 
Moisturise legs and arms 

6pm Richard Osman's HoG
8pm Only Connect 

Anything else will be a bonus. 

Grey and miserable outside. Again. 

Have a good week everyone. 

Rxx

Charlie_21

Good morning, a later start than I wanted this morning, bit still earlier than usual.

Made the bed, got showered, weighed in with progress pictures 😱 and am now making my porridge & tea. Will sit and do nothing for 10 mons before logging into work.

I'll see what I can get done in the kitchen today. Dining room is just a table in the corn of the living room 😄 so will be a S&S.

Hope everyone has a good day

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, Valli thank you for the new thread. I'm in this week. 

My list for today
Attend uni lectures
Check banking/payments and update the spreadsheet
Do some revision for tomorrow
Start work on the next assignment (it's going to be a busy couple of months with assignments and resit exams so I need to get on top of things)
Take the dog for a long walk
Do paid stuff
Empty the kitchen bin
Clean the kitchen window sills
HHI
Do uni prep for tomorrow
Take DD to/from scouts

I think that is everything that I need to do today. Hope everyone has a productive Monday. 

eltee2

Morning all

Weather is meh, all grey and neither raining nor dry, it's just meh - a bit like me 😑

Today's plan, subject to CBA
✔️Open windows
✔️Air & remake bed
WM x2
TD x2
DW
S&S bathroom
HH to complete middle SoS

Kitchen & DR/LR
Declutter & clean undersink cupboard (meh)
Wipe over kickboards/door/drawer fronts
Clear, tidy & wipe worktops, hob, extractor
Clean drainer & sink
Jollops down the plughole
Empty & clean bin
Sweep & mop floor
Tablecloth to WM
Wipe tablemats & coasters
Wipe dining chairs
Clean tablecloth on
Vacuum

🥱

wendywitch

Morning, not sure I'll get anything done today. Stayed at DD2 last night as DD1 father in law is taking us to and from my hospital appointment (2nd MRI) today as I'm currently not allowed to drive.

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for the thread.

WW hope all goes well at the hospital.

Back in Oct or Nov, I said I thought I had planters F in my right foot, well it is still hurting, last week after waiting 8 weeks I finally got to see someone at the dr's who could refer me to the xray at local hospital, said person told me it could be serveral weeks before I was seen, well the hospital rang at about 10am this morning, could I make 4pm today for the xray, you bet I can!!

Cats fed

Fire done

Kitchen done

Wet windy and horrid here today.

Small admin type stuff done

ionafan

I made it to school in time, and DH even got up early to make breakfast (I would happily have grabbed a banana and eaten the rest when I got back.

I was amazed to find that I had lost 4.5lb last week.  I would guess it was just beginner's luck, or just more willpower than usual.

Back home to face the RoD.  I'm out at the Old Wives' meeting this evening, so I'll need to make up some zzz this afternoon - especially if this grey weather persists: it's more conducive to hibernating than flying.  But I have already  FUPA clean washing, PUPA in the LR, S&S'd the kitchen, given Rosie a fuss, and made my bed.

Have a good week, everyone, especially MMM - come on, girl, you can do it!

xxx

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

Plan To Do Today List 

Brew 2 & breakfast ✅
Get dressed ✅
Feed the birds ✅
Put out the recycling ✅
Laundry shuffle ✅
Swish 1 x Pops' washing ✅
WUDUPA 
QH Admin 

Pay rent ✅
Drop off books at cs ✅
Visit Mr Al ✅

Shower 
Wash hair 
Moisturise legs and arms ✅

6pm Richard Osman's HoG
8pm Only Connect 

That's all the books I've read dropped off at cs or in the Little Library. About 40 books no longer in my LR. And my plan is to put books in the Little Library as I read them from now on, so that I don't end up with a huge pile again.

Pops' washing is having an extra spin and will be draped on the airer to dry.

Then it'll be lunch time methinks. 

Well done iona and thank you for not flinging your list pounds in my direction  

Rxx

redofromstart

Thank you for the thread Valli
Nice work on the weight loss Round and Ionafan I think am 2 off after last weeks cheese and biscuit 6.5 gain
Hope everything goes ok at the hospital wendywitch and Kazw
Charlie, your 'sit and do nothing for ten minutes' made me smile.  I think everyone should take more time to just breathe for a bit. 

It is drizzling here so I can't fill the green waste bins as planned.  Kitchen and Dining Room (which is veering towards 'Of Doom' status) it is then.  I will just finish my tea and have myself a half hour challenge at midday if anyone wants to join me?