Weekly Flylady Thread 10th November 2025

ionafan

Ready for the FF:
Umpteen colour-coded preserves: marmalade, chutney, plum jam (churchyard plums), and other types (various fruits from my freezer)
6 of each of the 4 Christmas cake designs
Also cakes for sales and refreshments, knitted snowmen, embroidered cards, and packets of seeds.



Sorry, no time to edit/rotate the photo!!!

Tomorrow: cookie jars, sprayed poppy heads, maybe lavender bags, and anything else I've forgotten today!

Pollybear

Afternoon all.   One washload done this morning, all except one thing dry (indoors, it's heaving down).   I've stripped and remade two beds and just did a washload with some of that to drape round the radiators for when the heating comes on this evening.  More left for tomorrow.

Dusted, polished and vacuumed right through the house.  Just made a cake to use up the end of a jar of mincemeat, a third of a bag of dried fruit and some brown sugar.   It smells good so hopefully it will be OK.  It was a little short of the fruit required but only about 20g so fingers crossed.

Hope everyone's OK x 

Fayolle

They look amazing, Iona.
Good news re the check up, Eltee
Zilch flying here today apart from wm x 1, but I have been inspired by Round and ordered a couple of Christmas presents, all as per the list. DH is currently playing with his new coffee machine which is his late birthday present and early Christmas present, so he is technically done from my (very short) list as well.
Lights have been on all day here. Rain, rain go away - and we still have a hosepipe ban here! I will be taking DD to work tonight (and a late pick up) as her little car stands no chance in all the deep water that is lying around.
More recipe sorting has been taking place, as it is that sort of day.

YORKSHIRELASS

They do look good Iona.  A local bakery is selling 8 inch Christmas Cakes for £90!

I have finished my hours at the paid stuff, done some Pilates, been into town for some shopping, visited parents and sorted Father's driving licence reapplication, spoken to DS1, put clean washing away, put a load over the airer and reheated casserole to have with jackets.

No plans for tomorrow which is rather nice, I might go to our community walk, or I might not.  I haven't even thought about Christmas shopping yet, I need to get my act together! 

Pollybear

Those cakes look really good Iona x

weenancyinAmerica

Those cakes look wonderful. Made me think about gifts to on niece-in-law. She doesn't "accept" homemade presents. Maybe I need to fancy up the presentation so she thinks things were store bought. 

Honey_Bear

All the carp that started the day stacked on the floor is still on the floor, but there are now draft minutes, two important emails sent, the rat problem reported to the council because it's on their land and is at an unacceptable level, documents signed, witnessed and ready to post along with something else that needs to go fairly soon.  Bank reconciliation done for two bank accounts and funds shuffled around to cover some up and coming costs.

All of that doesn't begin to even scratch the surface of the stuff that needs doing but it's the most urgent stuff so it's a start.

Sunday I need to take up some carpet ready for the chap to come and lay the new stuff on Monday.

I am getting a bit tired of always being asked to help by people who then don't have time to help me.  I was quite prepared to be polite about how little some people do but found myself laying it on the ine at the residents' association meeting earlier this week.  I'm tired of being nice and polite about it - I've been doing that for years and it didn't work so maybe this approach will.  I don't think I even care if they're offended by that enough to woo them any more.  Women being assertive are always referred to as aggressive, so I see no point in not being 'aggressive'.

Valli

@HoneyBear - you go, girl.  Tell it like it is.

@Ionafan…wow…just wow.

@weenancyinAmerica - they’re not ‘home made’ - they are ‘artisan’ 😉

Furniture is in.  Large heavy cabinet was put in position…then I wanted it moving right…a bit more…a bit more…. it’s too heavy for me to ever move ever again.  Fortunately it is on legs (feet really) so will never be a mouse hiding place.  It now house 4 gin glasses and 4 Baileys glasses.  Which I have washed.  Priorities. (actually this is because they have been in my bedroom, unpacked, since I ran out of storage boxes so they needed washing).  I will wash most of what will go in there as I unpack it and dust the rest.  Nest week I will be mostly cleaning…

So, apart from a few little snag jobs THE DECORATING IS FINISHED

WOOTY WOOTY WOOT WOOT

weenancyinAmerica

Thank you Valli for the word to use!

Honey_Bear

I forgot to say - I love the cakes and jars of goodies Ionafan.  They look beautiful.  As said previously, your fund-raising colleagues are lucky to have you and your skills available to them.  I hope they appreciate it.

Weency I simply don't understand anyone being given something homemade saying they don't accept homemade gifts.  I was stunned when I read that.  Quite apart from the insulting rudeness and lack of gratitude, what's wrong with smiling politely, saying thank you for the thought and just binning what you don't want?  Or giving it away if you have the energy, generosity and kindness of heart to be grateful for a gift?  Unless we have to give gifts by law, and my understanding is that it's not actually legally compulsory, what the gift is is actually irrelevant, surely; isn't a gift a token expression of goodwill?  How do you cope with someone who is so divorced from that understanding?

Wren's been walked and I posted those two letters I dealt with yesterday and discovered a concerning development.  We live in an area that looks and feels like a village in the middle of a city.  It's a bit touristy, it's the oldest part of the city and we have shops; one street functions as a sort of little high street, which indeed it was in the days of the Doomsday Book and medieval times.  One of the shops has a mini post office counter and service and outside it is a postbox that has been there for decades.  It's still there, but wrapped in black plastic, with a notice on it saying that it's no longer in use and will be replaced by an 'automated system'.  Has anyone else come across something similar in their area?  Does anyone know what an 'automated system' that functions more efficiently and effectively than a post box could be?  I'm stumped.  Given that the postman has to call into the post office to collect the sacks of parcels, recorded and registered letters can anyone think of a reason this might be happening?  (I've emailed my MP about it.)

Today will be a continuation of trying to dig myself out of my feeling of complete overwhelm.  Trying to be all things to all people  hasn't worked so far so I'm changing my strategy by just refusing to do anything that i don't actually have to do.  It's not going down well.