Weekly Flylady Thread 10 August 2026

Valli

oh my days…drip

in bed - well on it, practically naked, 2 fans wafting away…my joints will be protesting tomorrow. bin out. it is nowhere near full - I should get a discount…

Bag of craft stuff collected from vol job to sell (proceeds to vol job) - most annoyed to find a pack of curved needles identicsl to the pack I bought to complete a repair. All the stuff I have 'found' has just been stored for years - since before I was there so selling it will clear space, raise funds and give someone else pleasure. Win win

Fayolle

Morning all,

See that third puddle on the right? That’s me. Right behind Valli and Iona. I feel that flying here is suspended for the day - I have got something out of the freezer to add to a stir fry for dinner, I was tempted to squeeze into the space it left in the freezer, but only my big toe would fit. Eggs have been boiled which may or may not do for lunch. Yesterday I bucked my ideas up and cleaned the bathroom, then tackled admin for the rest of the day. Admin severely dented, not entirely cleared, but progress. Not a lot else to report. Good luck to all those with children / grandchildren/ other smaller ones who are getting exam results today.

Pollybear

And I've melted too. DD1's dog doesn't believe me when I say he can't sit out in the sun. Stripped and remade both beds today and got them washed and dried in record time along with some clothes. Helped DD2 with her garden. Took 2 hours but we started at 8am before it got too bad. Filled both our green bins ready for emptying tomorrow. Planted a few things that had been in pots for weeks.

Not much else going on, apart from early dog walking and going for a newspaper I haven't been anywhere. For days.

Hope everyone is OK x

ionafan

We live on the very edge of the West Midlands conurbation, almost surrounded by fields and woodland. L the dog walker has just rung to ask if we're all right (thankfully we are) as a fire in the fields opposite the Covert where she sometimes walks Rosie has spread rapidly and has taken out the homes of three of her clients and some other houses. Such devastation! 😫 😩 There is a huge pall of smoke visible from our house, blowing towards the town centre, and fire engines coming in from every direction. From what L says, I understand that all the residents and their pets have been safely evacuated to the golf club house, half a mile away. L has been looking after some of their dogs.

What have we done to our planet????

Jazee

oh gosh, that's awful Iona and I've just seen something about a train derailment because the tracks buckled in the heat.

I am puddle number four. Was crumb coating a cake today and had to work so quickly. Not looking forwards to doing final decorations tomorrow.

I've kept up with dailies, had a day at the coast yesterday, have taken a short break from doing anything sporty and have decided to book next week off the paid stuff.

Honey_Bear

Quite, Ionafan. We have lightwells in front of our house and today I realised that we can get four water butts down there, with winter rainwater diverted from the downpipe into them in series, and then when we need the water just use the same system they do on sailing ships with the lids flicked off and buckets dangled down on ropes so that we can water trees, tomato plants, the shrubbery and the bottom bed. We use all the spare water we can to water everything and the grassy bit is as dry as tinder, but the weeds are all still very green, although no dandelions I notice. Good to hear throwaway barbeques are now pretty much banned. We've got four birdbaths in the front garden (a cat free zone) and the birds and insects are going through at least two litres of water every day. I've never known anything like it in the UK. (I actually love the heat so this is not a whinge, although I need at least two complete changes of clothes every day. I've only got three bras so I've taken to washing them in the shower while I'm swilling myself. There's always one on the line.)

The National Firework Championships are happening here so last night we corralled all the animals in the sitting room, shut everything down and fed them copious amounts of fishy cat biscuits, chopped beef and chicken throughout the hour it takes. We'll need to get them through the same again tonight. Wren also sports her nifty thundershirt while it's all going on, thanks to lovely Dizzy Imp who recommended them years ago and sent me one of her spares. Much appreciated. I hope she's doing well. Our animals sailed through it, and each year it gets a bit more bearable for them. Progress.

Filing still not done. Other things were, like planning a lunch for 21 for the annual croquet day - the grassy bit can't be described as a lawn any more and it certainly isn't a croquet lawn but as it's the only time everyone actually plays every year that doesn't seem to matter.

Foodbank stint this morning. Because The Hoe is swamped by people who don't seem to be able to manage without their cars to watch fireworks we can't move our car for three days, so I had to walk there and back. Got up really early so I could walk in the cool only to find that the decision had been taken to do the annual stocktake today, rather than the bank holiday week, so I had to do the end of year stuff for the records I keep, which meant instead of finishing early and walking back before it became hot hot hot I ended up walking back in the mid-day sun. That's me pretty much done in for the rest of the day.

I'm making progress on eating our way through the freezer and can now shuffle things about rather than having to get each drawer out to excavate to find what I know is buried somewhere in there. Today I managed to find a whoopsied packet of ham to chop up for this evening's fireworks and over the past few days we've had a cottage pie made from a bolognaise sauce and the leftover sauce turned back into a pasta sauce to use up some leftover cooked pasta, which I've finally learned how to reheat so that it's silky smooth and not claggy. Again, progress.

Confession time. I popped into Lid1 on the way home and picked up three packets of Belovéd's favourite biscuits. I'm quite partial to them myself. There are now only two packets hidden in 'my' food cupboard. In one office I worked at biscuits were always referred to as 'Stress-busters' in the petty cash tin receipts.

Fayolle

Morning all,

Iona, are you all ok? I have just been reading the news… Every morning I can smell smoke when I get up, no idea where it is coming from but it has been like it for a couple of days, then seems to go away during the day. The human race has successfully ruined this planet.
Valli, I could kiss you for today’s list! I really, really ought to catch up with the LR (which gets the sun all morning), but today’s list is very tempting, and also very relevant for me.

The wm has just finijshed. I have a cunning plan to dye some old comfy shorts to a more serviceable colour, then DH and I are apparently starting to clear out one of the units in the DR, ready to get rid of it in anticipation of builders. I hasten to add that the builders have not yet been asked to quote or start, so I predict that we will be camping out surrounded by boxes in the DR for a good few months…

ionafan

Thank you Fayolle, yes, we're ok: there are helicopters keeping an eye on the area and occasional fire engine sirens, but nothing like as bad as yesterday. However, our emergency bags are packed just in case we need to evacuate at any time and will not be unpacked until we've had persistent rain. There are dry fields and woodland outside our back gate - not affected by the big fire half a mile away, but none the less vulnerable. L the dog walker came for Rosie this morning; she is very stressed by it all.

So far today I've PUPA in the LR, tidied and wiped down the kitchen, and answered numerous phonecalls and text messages from well-wishers. My brain is still on high alert, though I did get some sleep - apart from when some silly idiot in this area let off fire crackers at 1 am (possibly a wedding party?). You'd think they'd learn, wouldn't you? Anyway, I shall carry on and make more marmalade.

xxx

Blackcats

that sounds very scary Iona. How is it that fireworks aren't banned during the heatwave? A wedding reception was held near us last weekend with loads of fireworks near to open countryside. Seems irresponsible to me and ithink the venue should have said sorry but no.

Back from a couple of days away at the coast. A quick bathroom swoosh, dishwasher done, holiday clothes washed and dried but not yet put away or ironed if absolutely essential.

I managed to snaffle a solero to help make space in the freezer 🤣. Didn't drop any of it either so no incriminating evidence.

Honey_Bear

Very scary Ionafan.

Four loads through the WM, pegged out and the towels, which I did first are already dry and airing in the house. Lovely lodger left this morning so her room was the catalyst for some laundry.

I'm down another packet of biscuits.