Weekly Flylady Thread 24th November 2025

Valli

Lovely bright day again so washing on the line despite the bitter cold - it's dry cold so it might 'lighten' the washload.

In at the vol job but not for long.

Honey_Bear

Fayolle said:

Our village post office is closing “temporarily” from the weekend, so I have to get all cards etc sorted by then. The nearest one will be a 5 mile round trip by car (and very little parking in that village) as the 3 buses a day aren’t going to be much help. With the rural maximum fare applying even for that distance, that’s £6 to get there and back. Otherwise it’s a 30 mile round trip to small town. Not sure how some people are going to manage but there will be no choice and it will become the norm no doubt. Luckily DD sold 5 items last night on V!nt£d so those will be hot footed to our PO today.

We have a local Morribunds about 200m away that has a limited post office service when the trained staff are on, which more often than not, they're not.  However, they encourage us to ring before we pop down to see if it's open and they're helpful about when they are and are not.  The postman drops in there and picks up the sacks once or twice a day.  Outside that shop is a post box that has been there for decades and was there long before the post office counter opened in the shop, which was lovely Southside Food and Wine, a family business that sold to the Co-0p about 15 years ago.  So the postman empties that, too.  At least, he did until a couple of weeks ago when I went down there to post something, and found it shrouded in black plastic with a notice on it saying that it's now Out Of Use and will be replaced by an automated system 'coming soon'.  

The postman has to stop there to deal with the post office sacks, so closing the post box isn't a cost-cutting thing, it's just Royal Mail being belligerent for the sake of it.  Out of hours we can't post anything any more so it's a loss of service locally.  I don't how how much more 'automated' a system there can be than a post box.  I've written to my MP because no-one knew this was going to happen - not the postmen, not the shop staff, and there was no announcement.  I'm sick to death of paying more and more for less and less service.  

Did a WM load yesterday and dangled it, but had to get it all in a tad drier but not much when it got dark.  It finished drying off in the kitchen overnight and is now all away.  Gotta grab those chances when we can in the winter because we don't have a tumble drier and I don't want one because they're so expensive to run.

I've got to make a couple of costumes for Belovéd's play and I'm procrastinating because I'm not 100% confident the look he wants is as easy as he thinks it is.  Over the weekend he said, 'If you show me how to use the sewing machine I can run them up myself.'  Right.  Why are women's skills always undervalued?

ionafan

I keep posting on Mrs Salad Dodger's thread instead of on here.  Must be getting old, or something.

This morning I 
- PA all the things that were left out on the draining board last night whilst making my first cuppa
- went back to bed with my cuppa and watched the vapour trails coming and going - at one stage there were two enormous kisses in the sky where some routes had crossed 
- got Wordle in 3 and Strands with no lives lost
- emptied the DW and started the porridge oats soaking whilst boiling the kettle for my second cuppa
- ate breakfast, S&S'd the kitchen, showered and dressed
- PUPA in LR and DR, hoovered and dusted all through downstairs
- made my bed, PUPA in my bedroom and the study bedroom, hoovered and dusted most of upstairs
- started off another batch of marmalade in the SC as  L the dog walker wants to buy some for her grown up kids' stockings, but I've only got one jar left over from the 2 batches I made for the Festive Fayre 
- started composing a rhyming poem to a strict metre (it's destined to be sung to an existing tune) - I'm only at the stage of noting down every idea that comes into my head, but it's a constant stream that keeps interrupting everything else, including this comment!
- made myself some coffee (DH had gone back to sleep - he was worn out yesterday by delivering a bag of bubblewrap to the hospice's warehouse postal sales centre and two large sheets of thin plywood to the model railway club, all of which had been filling the back seat of his car for a month or more)
- powered by coffee, got all 4 lines of Connections with no lives lost at my second attempt (the first was on my tablet and was a complete washout, the second on my desktop) 
- made a hair appointment for next week
- baked 2 coffee cakes, one batch of Swedish spiced biscuits, and 40 small scones for Saturday and Sunday get-togethers
- began to file some printouts of 18th and 19th century Wills which may or may not belong to a branch of my family (they all had an unusual surname but common first names that appear in almost every family) but of course got sent down a rabbit hole!
- switched on the pretty lights in the front garden because it's only 4 weeks tomorrow to Christmas Day.

I still have to 
- have lunch!!!
- take Flylady cards to the post office
- plant indoor hyacinth bulbs
- get fish out of the freezer for tonight's tea
- write some birthday emails/e-cards

Rosie enjoyed her walk with L in the frosty sunshine so I haven't had to go out otherwise, and I have hopes of my energy levels staying up long enough to complete my list.

Stay warm and dry if you can xxx

Blackcats

We have been to the seaside for lunch today which was lovely.  It was bright and sunny and not too cold.
Consequently, there's been much less available time at home but I folded and put away yesterday's washing and today's is now on the heated airer.
i dusted the chest of drawers and bedside cabinets in our bedroom.  It's a quick and easy win as there is very little clutter on them.  

I sorted out the pretty heart lights in the lounge window.  A couple had got a bit tangled so were hanging at a different length to the others.  I sorted out the plug and attached it to the timer so the lights will come on at about 4 when it's getting dark and go off at 11pm.  Really pleased that I've done this as they look so pretty.
this evening I'm going to do some more sewing up of the jumper I knitted.  I really don't like this task and I'm not very good at it but a jumper in 4 pieces is not going to keep me warm or decent 🙃

Honey_Bear

I so wanted to have a toile of the costume I'm making but the cat is now sitting on my chair in front of the sewing machine so that's me finished.

I've just won a dehumidifier on the Bay of E for a price that makes me happy.  Having it delivered to the front door and saving me the fag of tracking one down and then schlepping it home is well worth what I paid for it.  

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Welcome to all newbies. 

We lost our Post Office then pub about 6 or 7 years ago, have to drive everywhere now.

Tired tonight, busy day at the paid stuff.  We are fed and the kitchen is tidy.  There is clean washing to put away and I should run the hoover around.  Maybe later. 

Valli

bins out.  builderbeen but will return to investigate further.

leg painful

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all. It's a dark and damp start to the day here. 

This is going to be a difficult day as my doctor's appointment didn't go too well yesterday. I've got a cyst on my liver and kidney and need to undergo more investigation, although at the moment, dr isn't concerned about it being the C word. 

My list for today
Do the required uni work
Contact my year tutor at uni, which I don't think is going to be an easy conversation, I think I'll need to defer my course . Happy to say that the conversation went a lot better than I thought it would. 
Do freelance work that is in the diary for today
Check banking and update DDs
Remember to take meds
Clean laptop
Cobweb removal downstairs
Wipe down the front of the kitchen cupboards
Fill DW and switch it on
Clean the clutter from the top of the drawers in the master bedroom
Sort out the kitchen cupboard for storing festive food and update the festive shopping list with items already got. 
Add 10 items to V account
Take DD to the stables so she can feed and check on her pony
Take DD to guides, and DH is going to collect her DH has said he'll manage to drop DD off at guides therefore, I'm going to enjoy a relaxing evening on the sofa with the duvet. 
Have some me time as I need to come to terms with what's happening

I think that is everything that I need to tackle today. I hope everyone has a lovely Thursday

Valli

Happy Birthday Ionafan.  Hope you have a lovely day.

Wordle in 2, strands with no hints.  1 line in connections, still pondering that one.  Pips level 1

DW x 1, WM x 2 and TD x 2

Should be a quiet day, hoping to get admin done. 

ETA Dinner in SC - I VERY SENSIBLY got the SC out of the cupboard last night (as I can't bend over for half an hour in the morning) and I used my vertical half hour to prep and fill the SC.

Jazee

Hello.  Wordle in four.  Spent yesterday in bed with migraine.  Back to work today so flyinhas been limited.  Dailies, dog walk and some admin done so far today.