Weekly Flylady Thread 31st March 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 staighten 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...

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!!

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 staighten 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...

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!!
• Tidy up the garden! Trim hedges and grass etc...

roundtuit

Hallooooo xx 

For some reason changing the clocks has affected my ability to know what day it is 🤔 but apparently it's Monday.

I'm up, made my bed,  turned over the calendars, taken my meds, got weighed*,  completed Strands with no hints,  completed Wordle in five, completed Connections with no lives lost, and supped a brew.

*I've STS this week. 3.5 lbs down over this first quarter of 2025. Resting on my laurels somewhat. Hopefully there'll be less desire to hibernate and eat now the lighter nights are here.

DS took his box of trophies and bag of 'stuff' yesterday ... and their Easter eggs in case I don't see him again before Easter. Get me being organised 😇

To Do Today List 

Brew 2 
Get dressed 
Put fresh towels in bathroom 
Wash towels & tea towels 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
P & S are calling for coffee 
WUDUPA 

Monday = downstairs 
Clear shelf on unit in LR 
Put trophies in a box for DS 
Bring down Terry Pratchett books 
Put books on shelf 

DS noticed that there's less dust 🙂. 

Rxx

Jazee

Morning.  Thanks for the list.

Coats washed yesterday are now on line, first of two wash loads today just finished in machine.  Baby bottles are sterilised and cot etc set up ready for invasion later.  Potatoes cooked ready to make potato salad to go with lunch.  Poppets food prepped.

Tried to sort some frustrating admin, have now put off until tomorrow.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

To Do Today List 

Brew 2 ✅ 
Get dressed ✅
Put fresh towels in bathroom ✅
Wash towels & tea towels ✅
Feed the birds ✅
Put out the recycling ✅
P & S are calling for coffee 
WUDUPA 

Monday = downstairs 
Clear shelf on unit in LR 
Put trophies in a box for DS 
Bring down Terry Pratchett books 
Put books on shelf 

Add to list:

Pay C. Tax 
Visit Mr Al 

Rxx

Jazee

Dailies done, all washing on line, Poppet walked, potato salad made up, cut grass back and front.  Sent email about annoying bit of admin.  Family are on their way.

Fayolle

Afternoon all,
Thank you for the lists. Just taking a break from decorating - first coat on the new plaster done yesterday. One top coat done in the hallway. White on white, such fun.
One load through the wm. I had totally forgotten about the second until I read Jazee’s post…off to find second load and get it running so that it can hang outside in the sun.

Honey_Bear

Strands with a little help from t'internet, all four lines on Connections and Wordle in four.  One of my better days, which is good because while trying to make some balsamic vinegar glaze I've set off the smoke alarm and burned my favourite wok-shaped frying pan.  Good thing I've got a spare in the attic.  All the windows and doors I can open are as wide as I can get them, given we've got two cats that delight in trying to scramble out of the windows.  I need to get this smell out of the house before Belovéd gets back because there will be comments.  Lots of comments.

Nails clipped, dog walked, last night's duck stripped.   

Valli

Been swimming.  Sis popped by as she was dealing with a bank a/c (well b.soc) and we have discovered a new ISA opened in Dec last year by Mum when she should NOT have been dealing with anything of the sort... and stepdad will have taken her to town and it wasn't picked up by them... anyway sis is dealing with all that - I'd be kicking up a stink if it were me...

So sis has taken a small heap of stuff put aside for her and the dinner service I boxed up yesterday, along with a bag of stuff dropped off at the sally army en route to the baths.  Bout it really

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

To Do Today List 

P & S are calling for coffee ✅
WUDUPA 

Monday = downstairs 
Clear shelf on unit in LR ✅
Put trophies in a box for DS ✅
Bring down Terry Pratchett books ✅
Put books on shelf ✅

Pay C. Tax
Visit Mr Al. ✅

The Terry Pratchett Discworld books, which I collected from piggers' house some years ago, are now on the shelf. In order. And I've written down the titles of the books that I'm missing. And, would you look at that, they're all available on Am***n.....ooops.....I seem to have ordered them. All thirteen of them. 😊 Whistling nonchalantly. I'm soooo excited to receive the books, and add them to the shelf, in order. Then I'm going to read the lot. In order. All 41 of them. Can't wait. I think I'm drunk on dopamine or whatever it is you get a hit of when you spend money......

Towels and tea towels were pegged out this morning and should be dry now. So I'll fetch them in.

Rxx

ionafan

Thank you Natty for the new thread.  I have done most of Levels 1 and 2 today.

The Trunk of Treasure now contains only several boxes of 35mm slides and three shoeboxes filled with packets of photos along with their negatives.   My achievement for today was to put the 16 packages in one shoe box into date order.  In the good old days we often used to get two sets of prints for the price of one, so I suspect that there are copies of the most important photos in the old non-archive-quality albums which I haven't yet touched.  I know that the albums were filled in date order, so it shouldn't be too difficult to check.  In one packet I discovered several photos of outings and musical productions with different year groups of my former pupils, then aged 8-9; I wonder how many of them now have 8-9yo children of their own?

I've also FUPA clean washing, hoovered through upstairs, set up my accounts spreadsheet ready for the start of the new month, prepared meals, loaded the DW, signed up (reluctantly) to the NHS diabetes prevention programme, enjoyed DS1's company for an hour, played with Rosie, watched University Challenge, and got quotes for my car insurance.  It looks as if I can save about £40 on what was already a very reasonable renewal price from my current insurer (gone up by less than £20 from last year, but I find their website very difficult to navigate) and the new insurer is one of the big companies with a good reputation.  I shall leave making a decision on that until tomorrow, when I will hopefully be more awake than I am now.

Off to bed shortly.  Last night I fell asleep during my Spanish lesson... 
Sweet dreams to all xxx

Honey_Bear

Strands with a couple of hints, all four lines on Connections, Wordle in four.  Chuffed with myself.

Can't find the spare wok-style frying pan in the attic, so that'll have to go on the shopping list. 

With a couple of stragglers needing some extra TLC I've moved everything and everyone over to the new email address.  I still can't work out what's happened with Blue Yonder but at least I no longer need to worry about it.

Must dust.  I moved a chair yesterday and realised I could write my name in the dust on it.  So I did, obviously, but that's bad, isn't it.