Weekly Flylady Thread 22nd November 2021

23.5K Posts


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
Marvellous Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level 1
Open some windows for some fresh air
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!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you can.
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!
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
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
Good slug of bleach down plugholes and in overflows
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 hob
Clean microwave
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan; update shopping list as appropriate
Wash and wipe fridge shelves and baskets.
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
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.
Go round the whole house wiping door handles, light switches and banisters - we WILL be germ-free! Remember external handles and letterbox flaps.
EXTRAS
HHI
S&S bathroom
Paperwork/admin up to date - month end looms
Meal plan for the week - and plan to cook a double sized meal and freeze one for a CBA/busy day - fish pie, cottage pie or a nice wintry, warming casserole or stew...something complete! Do you need to update your freezer inventory?
Check your meds - will you need any over Christmas and the New Year? If so get your prescription request in!
Check your lightbulb and/or battery stock is ok - no one wants a dark house or redundant remote!
Get smoke alarms tested. Get advice from Fire and Rescue - they will even come out to check
OOOh where did Tuesday go?
Twinkly Tuesday Actually Wednesday Bathrooms, cloak rooms and en suites
Level 1
Open window
Remove towels and facecloths and fling in WM
Scrub Loo inside and out, slop bleach or descaler down afterwards
Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
De-fuzz plugholes
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins
Wipe plugs - especially underneath!
Level 3
sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate
clean windows
polish mirrors
dust and polish where necessary
Extras
check stocks - soap, loo rolls etc - fling anything that's been lingering a while (and make some space for Christmas smellies)
HHI
S&S kitchen
Thursday Thrills
The Lounge, Hallway, stairs and landing
level 1
deal with flowers and pot plants
empty bins/ashtrays
clear gibble
plump cushions
wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices
level 2
clean windows
vacuum floors - and use an edging tool to get into all the nooks and crannies
level 3
dust all round - don't forget sills and skirtings
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
stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean? tidy? perfect?
extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
Plan in some me time - if it means a shortened list that is fine - you cannot pour from an empty cup
Friday Finale
the boudoir
level 1
strip your bed
fling the window open
clear floordrobe/chairdrobe
empty bin
level 2
remake bed
dust and tidy bedside tables
vacuum/sweep/mop floor
level 3
dust all around
clean window
extras s&s bathroom
s&s kitchen
Don't put it DOWN; put it AWAY
"I would like more sisters, that the taking out of one, might not leave such stillness" Emily Dickinson
Janice 1964-2016
Thank you Honey Bear


Thank you Honey Bear
9
Latest MSE News and Guides
Has your old furniture become desirable again?
Share your photos in this thread
Join the MSE Forum discussion
Replies
Well done to PigPen for getting the diagnosis for Dot.
Hugs for those struggling and getting 'stuff' piled on top of an already stressful life.
I've just been busy this week with work but have managed 1 gym swim, I lake swim and one Body Pump plus a bit of drum practice, a flu jab (and have felt intermittently like I'm getting a cold ever since) and a load of admin. Yesterday Mr N and I blitzed all the downstairs rooms as we were going out to dinner with friends (at a restaurant) and thought they might come back for coffee.....they did, which was lovely as we hadn't seen them since before 1st lockdown....and now all the downstairs plus the guest bathroom are all clean.
Today after church we sorted all the plants in the porch (open) which need to come into the conservatory for winter, then tidied the conservatory which is now bursting with plants. Re-potted and leaf-wiped a few which needed it.
Christmas cards have been added to (Mr N making some from old ones and me buying a few from CS), list has been updated and printed.
this week:
need to check and choose charities from the Big Give which starts at the end of the month
need to write some cards
keep on top of report writing and admin
Coffee with a friend tomorrow, Covid booster on Sat, BIL arriving Sat eve and we're going to London on Sun for the Wildlife Photographer exhibition - all these will interfere with the above and doubtless with my flying efficiency.
Natty.. hugs for you and Dave and I hope his mums passing is as peaceful as can be.
This week I have the tree to put up.. which is a mammoth task in itself. I need to start wrapping and buy the last few big things I need... anything is else is 'extras' and not really necessary (is any of it?!) I need to dig out my christmas cards, the girls got some charity ones while out shopping on Saturday.
I need to make a dent in my mothers christmas shopping, I may need to bobble round to hers tomorrow to see what we are doing.
This morning, while I was waiting for DH to get out the shower, I finally hoovered round downstairs. It took me less than 5 minutes.
We went out for lunch and then had a lazy restful afternoon. It was getting very cold by the time I took Rosie out for her walk at 3.30, so I'm afraid she only had a short one, but she has made up for it with a mad hour (rather than half-hour) this evening, chasing her toys while we were trying to watch Strictly.
I'm now trying to get ahead of myself for tomorrow by writing all the birthday cards, filling in all the forms, and packing up all the photos that have to be taken to the PO tomorrow. I might get a few papers filed and emails sent off too before bedtime.
Hope everyone has the best possible week xx
Back to work tomorrow ☹️ It was nice while it lasted.
Love and hugs to all for the coming week xx
I'm going to try and do it this week as I need to keep myself occupied as it's my mum's anniversary of her passing on Wednesday plus it's now a waiting game for Dave's mum.
He's home now shattered but glad he went. Thankfully his brother was waiting for him when he got to the family home. They went together to see their mum and spent a nice long time with her. Sadly she didn't know they were there as she was heavily sedated and on heavy pain relief. But the two brothers nattered away to her talking about when they were young etc.. Weird saying that as she wasn't exactly nattering back being asleep..
They've both said their final goodbyes to her now so it's just a case of waiting for the phone call.
Dave did say it was really sad seeing her as there was nothing of her, all you could literally see was skin and bone. It wasn't his mum at all. He couldn't even see her breathing she was that frail.
I'm trying desperately to stay strong for him so I can support him but unfortunately with it being so near to the time mum passed it is bringing back memories for me.
But I did put up the tree and it's twinkling away in the corner of the room - I mismeasured the height to ceiling where it was going. I thought it was 7ft but it's too big by 5 inches...ooops!!! But I think I've managed to sort it out 😀 Just no tree topper this year...lol. Will put the deccies on later this week but at least it's twinkling away in the corner 👍
:(Struggling financially
Morning ladies
I’ve been awake for hours... what are the chances I’ll want a nap later!
Natty - I am sending you and Dave all the love and strength. Xxxx
I have quite the to-do list to plough through today - wood chopping at this time of year is a daily job and it’s just so cold here now that we need it on. I am also going to do a lot of batch cooking - 1kg of mince has defrosted overnight so the slow cooker will be put into service very shortly.
I’ll no doubt pop back later xx
hope you all have good days.
Hugs Natty
Thank you Honey Bear
Thanks for the list as always. Will pop back later with progress.
Have a great day everyone.
Love and coping vibes to Natty xx
Thanks for the lists, its a late start at the paid stuff for me today so i decided to get on and clean the kitchen so have cleaned the oven and dishwasher, wiped down the tiles and cupboard fronts, sorted clean washing to go away, few bits of ironing to do and some washing to hang out if the sun comes out as promised.
Meeting at work that I am not looking forward to later but trying not to think about it! Will do an exercise class in a bit and then get the duster out. A proper coffee first.
Have a good Monday all x