Weekly Flylady Thread 17th February 2025

Natty68

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 Valli 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

Magnificent Monday - Kitchen and dining room
Level One..
Clear and wipe worksurfaces
Scrub down the front of units and large appliances
Level Two...
Sweep and mop the floor
Wipe and replace small appliances
Clean oven and hob
Wash windows and sills
Level Three...
Wipe the table and chairs... clean cloth if necessary
Degunge the fridge!

Extras

• Thoroughly clean the cupboard full of tins!
• Run the WM's and DW's through a clean cycle
• Clean all the filters and door seals etc
• Wipe a shelf or 3 and straighten all the stuff on them.

Twinkly Tuesday ~ master bedroom and landing
Level One...
Clear the floordrobe
Clear the landing of gibble
Level Two...
Dust and deweb
Wash the windows
Vacuum the floors.. and the mattress before remaking the bed
Level Three...
Strip and wash the bedding
Wipe any grotty paintwork and furniture
Check those smoke alarms!

Extras

• Binbag dance
• HHI
• 15 minutes filing
• Fill a binbag of old winter stuff for charity shop!!
• 15 minutes in the garden dead heading or pruning, if it's not raining!!

Wednesday Wonders ~ Cruddy Study & Bathrooms
Level One...
Declutter floors!
Mop/vacuum/sweep floors
Level Two...
Scrub tiles while running a defrag
Clean the bath, basins, shower trays and loo's
Collect all the laundry from upstairs
Level Three...
Wash windows
Wash bath mats/shower curtains etc
Degrot the desk and dust and polish the monitor and pc case etc

Extras

• Empty and wash out bins
• Wipe all the sofas/chairs in these rooms
• Wipe paintwork in these rooms
• Clear and wipe a shelf or two

Thursdays are Trilling!! - Living pit, hallway, stairs!!

Level One...

Declutter the floors!

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!!
• 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..

ionafan

Thanks Natty x 

I'll be in this week, as much as I can.  Did WMx4 today (well, actually x5 because I couldn't remember whether I had added the detergent sheet to the drum before starting the first load!) and shopped for the coming week, so have got a bit of a head start.

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

I'd say here we go again but it seems my week begins on a Saturday - who knew 🤷‍♀️ 

I'm up, made my bed, got weighed*, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, completed Strands with no hints, completed Wordle in TWO!!! (I was one letter off with my first guess 🤦‍♀️), completed Connections with no lives lost, cleared dry washing from the radiators, cleared Pops'  clean laundry from LR, and supped my first brew.

*I lost 2.5 lbs this week. Woot woot. 

To Do Today List 

Brew 2 & breakfast 
Get dressed 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
Wash last bits of Pops' stuff
Laundry shuffle 
WUDUPA 

P & S are calling for coffee 
Return bag of books to P's sister 
Wipe down emptied plastic box**

Monday/ Downstairs 
Clear & dust mantelpiece 
Clear & dust hearth 
Clear & dust coffee table 


When I moved the ottoman yesterday it clunked! I thought it was empty so I investigated. Hmmm. A boxed gift set of men's smellies! Must be from Christmas 2023 as I didn't store presents in the ottoman last year. I've removed said box from the ottoman and it will be a 'look what I found. I love you' present for DS the next time he calls. Fer-Ling. (Is it still decluttering if you don't know it's cluttered?)

** At work last week a colleague asked me to order a plastic box for the Falls Group. I said 'I have just what you need at home and tis surplus to my requirements' 😊 I'm taking it to her tomorrow. Fer-ling.

Brew 2 is calling me. Kettle's on. Join me?

Rxx

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list.  I'm making a cake this morning so those jobs will be required.

 I joined you for the cuppa Round.  Wordle in three.

Still not 100% here. I have a doctors appointment unrelated later which I will still go to as it's so hard to get an appointment and I've waited weeks for this one. Will wear a mask.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

To Do Today List 

Brew 2 & breakfast ✅
Get dressed ✅
Feed the birds ✅
Put out the recycling ✅
Wash last bits of Pops' stuff ✅
Laundry shuffle ✅
WUDUPA 

P & S are calling for coffee 
Return bag of books to P's sister 
Wipe down emptied plastic box**

Monday/ Downstairs 
Clear & dust mantelpiece 
Clear & dust hearth 
Clear & dust coffee table 

Pops' last bits are having an extra spin to help them dry. Then they'll go on the airer.

I've put out fresh towels and tea towels. I'll wash the used ones when Pops' bits have finished. 

I've sploshed bleach down the hand basin's plughole and de-haired the bath's plughole.

No point in WUDUPA until P & S have been for coffee.

Rxx

MinnieMousesMummy

Good morning everyone, 

No post from me yesterday as I didn't do much, I spent the day out at a motorsport event with DH and the kids. It was a lovely needed day off from the stress of assignments and exam revision.

My list for today
Attend uni lectures
Do paid stuff
Take the dog for a long walk
Tidy away clothes that are sitting in the bedroom
S&S kitchen
Bring food in from the chest freezer in the garage (it is leftover festive food since we didn't eat much due to being ill) I brought some into the kitchen freezer but still some in the garage so should have enough food to do the rest of this month.
Do some exam revision
Do uni prep for tomorrow
Take DD to/from scouts.

I think that is everything that I need to get done today. Hope everyone has a lovely productive Monday. 

kazwookie

Wm x 1 done, now in TD

Fire done

Cats fed

Made coleslaw

Taken electric reading

Sun is trying to come out, but it is so cold out there.

Have a good day / week

eltee2

Morning all

Lovely sunny day - first bundle of washing done & hanging out to dry.   I'm in for levels 1, 2 & 3 plus usuals and the vacuuming I didn't do yesterday:

Open windows
Air & remake bed
DW x2
WM x2
S&S bathroom
Go for a walk

Wow round - you are a whirling dervish today & well done on the fling-age (including 2.5lbs)

😸

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

To Do Today List 

WUDUPA 

P & S are calling for coffee 
Return bag of books to P's sister 
Wipe down emptied plastic box**

Monday/ Downstairs 
Clear & dust mantelpiece ✅
Clear & dust hearth 
Clear & dust coffee table ✅

I took everything off the coffee table, polished it, and only put back two coasters and a candle. Which is lit. All books and puzzle books that were strewn over the table have been rehoused.

The mantelpiece held five items (clock, photo frame, candle, owl paperweight and angel ornament) which were removed and dusted. Polished the mantelpiece. Put back the clock. Swapped a photo of DS from a frame on the bureau into the photo frame on the mantelpiece. Both swapped photos look better in their new frames. Swapped the owl paperweight with a wider wooden owl ornament which balances out the photo frame at the other end of the mantelpiece. Put the candle with the other candles on the hearth. And put the angel in cs box. Voilà - a minimised mantelpiece. Not that it was overly cluttered in the first place but ....

Now looking at the hearth. Hmmm that's cluttered. There's my favourite photo of DS, owls, and lots of candles. 

Hmmmm. Time for some of DS's trophies to be put in a box (I keep saying that I will but never got round to it). The three smaller owl ornaments can then go on the bureau. The large owl can stay on the left of the hearth to balance out the large photo on the right. And the candles can be stored in a cupboard and brought out to burn one at a time on the coffee table.

I have to look. Then think. Then do. If I miss the first two stages and jump into do - overwhelm kicks in. I understand now. Thank you Dana K White. Thank you flylady friends for introducing me to DKW. 😊

Rxx

ETA Thank you eltee 😘

Fayolle

Morning all,
Thank you for the thread. It’s a week of an appointment a day, apart from today. DSis is visiting later for coffee so that’s this afternoon taken care of.
I seem to have gained one of Round’s Pounds this week ( new game show potential?). Just wondering who kindly took up the offer of the rest of her flingage.
Wm x 1 is on with the towels.
Yesterday’s marmalade has set nicely and is now labelled and put away. Oh how I laughed, HB - DH the Marmalade Maker, never in a million years 🤣.
Soup to make from veg stalks, perked up with some spicy flavours, I think.
I am sure that there is more…

Jazee

Hello.  I took the rest of Rounds chubbage plus half pound, but hey ho, the bacon roll I've just had was delicious.

 I have made Madeira cake, WUDUPA, shined kitchen sink, had a bath, made bed, put dry washing away, dusted fireplace and hoovered most of the house.  Dog walk next.