Weekly Flylady Thread 29 July 2025

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

Monday Kitchen
Marvellous Monday - 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!  Is it time the tea/coffee/sugar caddies were washed out?
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you have any
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 the oven
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   Check drains aren't blocked if you have a self-defrosting one
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

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.  You could also wipe frames & sills inside and out!

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom 
If you have children with new uniform items start labelling now!  Don't forget shoes/pumps/coats - you can glue name tapes in footwear with copydex glue
cards for August?  If you uy them make a list…and maybe buy for the rest of the year, too, as they’ll start puttin xmas stock out next month
Think about getting winter ready and edit Toots list accordingly - boiler checks/chimney sweeping etc

Twinkly Tuesday -  The Lounge, Hallway, stairs and landing

Level 1
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms.  Why not treat your pot plants to a shower - outdoors!
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
Wipe sticky coasters

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Vacuum floors - and use an edging tool to get into all the nooks and crannies - and stairs!
Clean doormats
Dust/wipe electricals - use a just-damp cloth.  Don't forget the remote controllers!

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 close it.
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should 
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
HHI

Jazee

Thanks for the list Valli.  Morning everyone.

We have family over today and a trip out this afternoon so not a lot of flying will be done but I will mop the floor where DGS will be crawling.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

I'm up, made my bed, caught up with the thread,  and I'm supping my first brew. Got weighed - that's another pound on, but something clicked over the weekend and I'm back on track with the calorie counting. 

Pops wouldn't listen (nothing new there) and got up to line dance in Saturday. Two weeks post op 🤦‍♀️ And fell! My (nearly 80 year old) aunt caught him so he didn't go down, but he's pulled his operation site. My aunt is fine thank goodness. Fingers crossed that Pops hasn't messed up his recovery as he was doing so well. 

I was thinking of throwing a party to celebrate my 65th birthday- seeing as my long held desire to celebrate my 60th that way was kyboshed by covid restrictions. But having obtained quotes from a couple of venues I've changed my mind. How much? 😱. Instead my practical brain thinks that money would be better spent on buying a new mattress 🐸,  a bed for the guest room 🐸, paying a gardener to do the heavy stuff 🐸. I'd like to have all my ducks in a row ready for retirement. Or at least some of my ducks in a row. Eighteen more paydays until I can claim my state pension. Not that I'm counting 😉.

I've updated my to do this week list. Brew 2 next. Join me?

Have a good week.
Rxx

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning, Thank you for the new list. I need to try and keep myself busy as I'm starting to stress about Friday as I get my exam results. 

My list for today
Go over to the stables and deal with the vet
Do paid stuff
Open some windows to let air in
Laundry x 2 loads 1st load in WM
Take the dog for a long walk
Sort through the piles of clothes that are at the bottom of the bed
Remind DH to get the measurements and pricing for DW - Reminded again, so hopefully he will get it done today, but not going to push him too much as he's still not feeling 100%.
Ask DH to defrost the freezer
S&S in the kitchen
HHI
Declutter 50 emails from my personal inbox
Take DD over to the stables so she can do what needs to be done with her horse

I think that is everything that I need to tackle today. I hope everyone has a lovely Monday/week. 

ionafan

Morning all. 

I hope Pops hasn't done anything to scupper his recovery, round x

 It's been a very up-and-down weekend here.  I didn't do a lot of flying but (expecting a run of outgoings this week) made some financial decisions, upped my walking target, dealt with one churchy frog, and helped a friend through a crisis.

I also decluttered a very old bottle of fish sauce, unopened (BB 2019  ), and ditto gravy browning (BB 2022), so there is a little more space on my seasonings shelf.  There is also more space in the larder as I had to throw away 2x half bags of flour and 1x full one because they were full of mites.  However, the GF flour on the same shelf was fine - maybe they're attracted by the gluten?

New week, new start.  Today's must-do's:
- Order meds
- Close 2 Regular Saver bank accounts early and transfer the money to fill up my ISA which is paying considerably more interest, though at first sight it looks like less.  It hadn't struck me until I was re-reading one of MSE Martin's articles that in reality Regular Savers only pay about half the amount of interest they say because half of the savings are only in there for 6 months or less.  Easy maths --> lightbulb moment.  And I can still dripfeed my ISA each month for as long as the Chancellor allows.
- Make a phonecall about my crisis-suffering friend
- Send a birthday card and gift to my eldest goddaughter
- Prepare several other cards for the coming month - thanks to Valli for the reminder x
- Visit a local flower festival on its final day
- Make sure DH goes off to his radiology appointment in good time
- Hoover and dust all through
- Deal with some more of the ever-present admin list
- Water the pots
-ETA: WMx2

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

washing on line
online shopping done - replacement blind slats for the vertical blind in the LR ordered because (a) they are the wrong colour and (b) they are faded and sun-bleached in parts and let the room down.
Also ordered new Birkenstocks as my old ones are crumbling.

Fayolle

Thank you for the lists.
Today’s achievements:
wm x 3, last load is out on the line, the rest is dry
mist coat completed in downstairs toilet
dw run - must empty it
Mr M shop ordered
cake in process of cooking. Lemon and poppy seed is the flavour for this week
fish for dinner is out of the freezer.
I think that’s about it.  Not a lot from the actual list….

ionafan

Progress report:

- Order meds
- Close 2 Regular Saver bank accounts early and transfer the money to fill up my ISA which is paying considerably more interest, though at first sight it looks like less.  It hadn't struck me until I was re-reading one of MSE Martin's articles that in reality Regular Savers only pay about half the amount of interest they say because half of the savings are only in there for 6 months or less.  Easy maths --> lightbulb moment.  And I can still dripfeed my ISA each month for as long as the Chancellor allows.
- Make a phonecall about my crisis-suffering friend
- Send a birthday card and gift to my eldest goddaughter
- Prepare several other cards for the coming month - thanks to Valli for the reminder x
- Visit a local flower festival on its final day
- Make sure DH goes off to his radiology appointment in good time
- Hoover and dust all through
- Deal with some more of the ever-present admin list - some bits done
- Water the pots
- WMx2

DH hoovered through downstairs, and I'll finish upstairs and do all the dusting tomorrow.  I had to clean the kitchen windows again after swatting 12 flies which wanted to share our breakfast, yuck!

The flower festival was put on by members of the local Floral Art Club, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary, so obviously they wanted to make a good show.  They had put in a lot of effort and time, and individually the ideas and the arrangements were beautiful, but IMHO there were too many flowers for the space (it's not a big church) and they began to get in the way of seeing clearly.  It all got  a bit much, so I came home without stopping for tea and cake, and recovered on the sofa with my mug of good old Yorkshire!  

MinnieMousesMummy

Progress has been slower than I hoped for today, but I was delayed at the stables this morning. Although the day has not gone to plan, it has been an enjoyable day spent with DH and getting various things off my weekly to do list. I even managed to relax in the garden for about an hour whilst DH done a reapir on his car. 

Go over to the stables and deal with the vet
Do paid stuff
Open some windows to let air in
Laundry x 2 loads 1 load done
Take the dog for a long walk
Sort through the piles of clothes that are at the bottom of the bed
Remind DH to get the measurements and pricing for DW
Ask DH to defrost the freezer
S&S in the kitchen
HHI
Declutter 50 emails from my personal inbox
Take DD over to the stables so she can do what needs to be done with her horse

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Very artistic floral displays Iona perhaps a little too much as you say but clearly a lot of effort went into it.

Hope Pops is OK. 

Quite a nice day at the paid stuff, on my own today mostly, but not stupidly busy.

Kitchen cleaned, darn it I have put WM on but not put the tablecloth in.  Also changed our duvet cover because what looks like paw prints have mysteriously appeared on it.  Hopefully will get that hung out tomorrow morning. 

Honey_Bear

*Healing vibes* for Pops after his fall.

Wonderful show of flowers.  As far as I'm concerned there can never be too many so I think it's fab.

Paperwork mountain tackled, ideas coming together at last with that mountain but there's a long way to go, cheesey eggy thing made to use up some scraps of cheese and some of the French bread that was perfect for it, and a tin of ratatouille sampled - excellent quality.  Will buy more next time we're in France.  

Knee x-rayed.  The radiologist thinks it's the joint.  *curses*

Kitchen sink given a proper scrub.  That's about it for Flying.  As Scarlett O'Hara says, 'Tomorrow is another day.'  (And, frankly, my dears. I don't give a ****.)  Will now go and sit on the Naughty Step.