It's August - can the Fledglings keep FLYing with children underfoot?!

[BlueEyeshadow]

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to August's edition of the Fledgling Flyers,
Meine Damen, Mesdames, Ladies! (although any Herren, Messieurs and Gentlemen would be very welcome too, I'm sure, and apologies for the show tunes now lodged in everyone's heads ...)

If you're trying to keep out of CHAOS over the summer holidays, with the dear children creating havoc all around, then pull up a chair, roll up your sleeves and join in the fun.

Fly Lady's website is here, but we don't recommend signing up for the emails unless you want an ironically cluttered inbox. I'll post the links to the information for every day this month and try to keep up with all the chat.

There are babysteps to get you started on forming a routine, and missions to do once each room is decluttered and, as the Fat Fairy says, it's amazing what you can do in fifteen minutes. We'll be starting August in the entrance, front porch and dining room, and sifting the sense from the cutesy language. :)

I notice from the archive that it's the thread's second birthday so I'm sure there'll be cake as well as plenty of , and - virtual, so no calories - along the way. Finally, a big thank you to CHB and Swan for leading us heroically through a hectic July!

Evening all!

Just a quickie before I go grab my Torchwood fix

Ta Da!
Up/Shower/Dress - done for all the family
Breakfast & Washup - done
Dishwasher stacked (barring the 1 teaspoon that magically appears afterwards! angry) and on - done
Washing done
Supermarket "big" shop and laid away- done
DS naps x2 - done
Job work - done
Empty dishwasher - done
Tackle dining room - (as evidenced by my earlier overexcited post) done
Make dinner (homestyle spaghetti sauce) - done
Play with DS - done
Go for walk - cancelled due to bad weather

Also fitted in:
Trip to the skip to drop off rubbish created by dining room decluttering
Tidy DS toys in the living room into crates
Make dessert (strawberries and ice-cream )
Lay away all washing (for some reason it dried really quickly!)
Persuaded DH to lay away his washing

So now I have a tidy & clean dining room, a tidy and dusted living room and a clean and wiped kitchen.

Now Torchwood is on, so I'm going to leg it to the TV and watch trivial and mindless sci-fi/fantasy stuff.

waves to all - will read everyone's posts tomorrow!

National Railway Museum - done
York Minster - done
Leisurely tourist stroll in lovely sunshine - done
Trip down memory lane driving past my grandparents old houses ( both parents from York so I drove home through the area they lived in to give dc's some family history) - done
Lovely family dinner at mum's - done
collapse in heap on sofa - done
Flying - not done

Am on phone so no personals am afraid but pa hope dd is ok . There is life after a levels no matter what she chooses to do now.

sc i teach the story of Margaret Clitheroe .

Going to sleep now!

Toffee how amazing about spider families!!! That would explain the size of them!! Well done on your mammoth day

Noeyedear glad the riots didn't reach you!

Take care PA (if it's any consolation, I have been shelling out for "old lady" glasses for ages ...)

Swan I love Wolf Hall - one of the best books I have ever read - although I agree it is gruesome in parts. Have just been inspired to buy three more Mantel's, one of which is her autobiography.

Huge congrats on your dining room Fuzzled!!!

Nettie enjoy your evening with Robert

Bit of an exhausting day what with flash floods. Fortunately cellar not too bad and will dry off by itself ie not deep enough to have to mop. Dh has been faddling around in the roof and has unblocked one crucial bit of guttering which is good but hasn't found source of leak ... although he did find a bit of triangular lead flashing lying around which probably has something to do with it

Sorry no more personals. Bit disappointed because ticker feels a bit jumpy this evening. Time for bath and bed. G'night all!

x-posts Ellie! Your day sounds fab.

Alas, poor Margaret ...

Hey, StillCounting are you now crackers

Ellie I find History most upsetting, sorry to say it but I do. And nothing can change it, that's the worst part Well, at least they'd all be dead now anyway - the Tudors I mean

Meanwhile not much has happened here.
I've put the heating on.
Defrosted the freezer part of my paltry fridge freezer
Thrown away various uninviting little packages therein

Decluttered handbag
basically given up...but have at least found someone to look after the cat

Toffee ds1 sounds very chipper about school, that is good

Yes PA

1. I am following DIDs example

1. I'm not getting enough decluttering done to justify previous nickname

1. and of course there is the large question mark hanging over my sanity ...

SC Fludd is good. [would you like me to send it to you? [decluttering emoticon Can't say I have been tempted by the others. Loved Wolf Hall though, it is the only book that sticks in my mind since Twilight series and A Thing of Darkness.

Must return to the kitchen.

Thank you so much Swan but I've just bought it (along with A Place of Greater Safety and Giving Up The Ghost) Can't wait!!!!

Do you have Beyond Black? - V. happy to send if not!! Have to say I found it disappointing though. It's about a medium and a medium's assistant. Interesting and funny at first but I found it a bit too seedy/repetitive thereafter.

Have had the bath, now I really must go to bed!

G'night all.

My word it?s been busy on here today! I?ll see what I can do?

Sunrise / Dragons was name-changing to keep us on our toes. Glad the ankle is improving but don?t overdo it!

feet went for an early run ? of a sleeping household! ?

ellie was off to York without stopping ? glad you had a lovely day.

PA was waiting for A Level results. Sorry DD didn?t do so well. ((hugs)) and coming your way.

CanI asked about the Big Tent and was warned off!

Silvery had a CBA day but still seems to have got a lot done!

Fuzzled can sit at her dining room table and see the floor! Way to go! Thanks for the info about wet wall boards too. I hate our tiles and will look into them, although may have to wait a while given that we?re in the middle of the new kitchen?

swan had a busy day. Glad drama went well and hope that a calm afternoon was achieved! My brother had the book of Mr Popper?s Penguins which I remember as rather charming ? the film trailers looked like a travesty.

Toffee was getting the boys? extremities sorted. Glad it all went well.

SC is still hoping to go on holiday at some point and was tackling the Pantry of Doom. Sorry to hear about flooding ? hope it can be sorted and ticker settles down.

Nettie was busy too. Liking the laying-out-clothes-avoidance!

noeyedear is doing babysteps but seeking further motivation. Nice to see you again.

I managed to get done everything I wanted, although rather less of paid work than I?d planned! Had a lovely haircut and feel nice and light again, and even made another batch of mincemeat. (SC - there?s another winter pudding for you and much easier than I?d always assumed?)

Tomorrow I have to persuade DS1 to have his hair cut. He went to bed declaring that he didn?t want to. Then the boys are at home all day so rather less FLYing will get done. Should still try to declutter my handbag and will hopefully get rid of some more freegle stuff. Need to work out things to do to stay sane if it?s too wet to play in the garden too. Will have to be art. Aaggh!

Anyway, link time.

Babystep: Read more propaganda a testimonial.
Mission (when it updates): Bathroom skirting boards and inventory office supplies.

Anyone for a nightcap in the Naughty Corner Bar? Otherwise, see you tomorrow!

SC and Swan - I loved 'Fludd' too, though I'm ashamed to say that it was so long ago that I read it that I can't remember a thing about it except how much I enjoyed it.

Fuzzled - you were unstoppable today! Congrats on all your decluttering. Enjoy the tidy rooms.

Ellie - what a lovely day that sounds. Glad you had such a nice time.

Still - hope your ticker calms down tonight. I'm sure the stress of a flooded cellar hasn't helped.

Noeyedear - did you see Fuzzled's link to the babysteps a little further back? Very useful as a reminder.

Everyone is in bed here except me. Am drinking hot chocolate and relishing a little bit of time to myself.

Tomorrow morning I am going to try and sort out the kitchen, which has suddenly deteriorated into a mess . I feel particularly downhearted whenever I open our fridge, as we lost a shelf a while back which means everything has to be crammed in haphazardly on only two shelves.

If I can be a blur of activity in the house in the morning (definitely a telly/computer morning for the boys), then we can go out and meet friends in the afternoon, as planned.

Off to browse MN before bed. Night all.

Blue - X-posted. Enjoy your nice, light haircut and best of luck with DS's cut tomorrow (always a bit of an ordeal for my boys). I would join you in the Naughty Corner, but am about to go for a wander round the threads, then hop into bed. Maybe you should give Dancing a nudge? Night night!

I would recommend you a thread or two which have provided a laugh but i fear that it would mean you won't get an early night toffee.

Blue, will happily share a drink with you.

need to go back to sleep sooner rather then later as have been up since about 7pm, although just pottering about on the compute/internet and ankle resting.

One day I will start the babysteps and actually follow them. but it aint gonna be this month

I was falling asleep at the keyboard soon after my post, Dancing, so just as well you didn't recommend any other threads. How annoying when sleep interferes with MN-ing. (Hope you managed to get a decent sleep last night, btw).

Am certainly not feeling like a 'blur of activity' this morning (see previous post), but DH has just phoned me to say that the people we were going to meet up with tomorrow might be coming to our house. EEK! Now I'm panicking because, during the last week or two, the house has deteriorated into a summer holiday mess.

At least that gives me a much-needed kick up the backside.

So, will start with breakfasts, then get dressed, then do a crisis clean.

Morning all! The house is a fecking pigsty so my list is quite simple:- make house not a fecking pigsty .

Have got this morning to do it in. This afternoon we are going to see a friend for a picnic. I haven't seen her for about a year but she's the kind of friend who it doesn't matter if we don't see each other for a while, we just pick up where we left off and I know she would always be there for me if i needed her .

Better get started!

Morning.
No FLYing here today. Am a bit hung-over after necking 2 bottles of wine at my friendshouse last night.
Dp went into work late so I have just got up, all I'm going to do today is
-Shower and dress
-Swish and swipe
-Help boys get dressed
-go into town and spend some money (is payday!!!)
-Cook dinner
-Eat chocolate
Have a good day everyone x

SC I've found a book that I do want to read - Freedom by Franzen. Dh bought it ages it ago for me. So am determined to get my teeth into something "proper".

Beautiful morning.
Have to be at hospital at 11.30 with all three children for ds's cast.

So what can I get done before? and after, I suspect

todo
find key and put on a key ring done
coffee done
nice snuggly morning so far done
wash on done
kitchen cleanish done
get all dressed
bath ds1
wash our sheets before we go
rubbish in front garden??
pack large unframed pictures for holiday cottage
photos of alley
give up on ironing and put it all away in drawers unironed
hang out washing
dry laundry away
talk to mum re: arrival in Ireland done
book taxi from train station in Ireland
money for cat sitter
letter to cat sitter
hoover bedroom again
tidy dd's room, change sheets

Blue art with the children brings me out in cold sweat. Yesterday dd's best and easiest friend started colouring(the friend is both v.sporty and v.artistic) Dd sat next to her and pretended to colour. Then she started larking around. Then she complained she couldn't draw. Then she scribbled on what she had drawn. Luckily they moved quickly on to playing some elaborate game with horses and dolls, sliding down stairs etc and played very happily for the rest of the day. The boys are even worse at focusing on art activities. Actually ds2 will draw something very rapidly like a map or a pretend laptop keyboard or city, sometimes I think he is the only person who derives genuine pleasure from drawing. In the drama class they had drawn all sorts of wonderful 2 D space equipment to use as props!

Toffee hopefully friends will not inspect fridge!

Toffee I think it's a bit depressing isn't it the way we all are afraid of what our friends think of our "summer holiday messy" houses..perhaps there should be a universal truce declared where everyone admits that houses just are messy in summer hols (and Xmas and Easter and termtime of course!)

Operation haircut a success. Phew!

It's sunny so art may be avoided. Double phew!! Off to blow bubbles in the garden. :)

Hello all.
Well, that is DH away to work again Off to Egypt for 6 weeks this time. House is a complete disaster! Have had lots of entertaining to do this week, and then get DH ready for the off, so got nothing 'housey' done! Not really sure where to start, but am off to make a dent in it somewhere!

Morning all.

Back at the grindstone job, but have finished the main bit, so it's a for me while DS sleeps, and then on with the little bits of work that don't matter so much; that way if he wakes up, I can deal with him, rather than swearing profusely under my breath and getting grumpy at him

So, after my exploits yesterday, I really CBA - but am planning a little light flying so that I don't hit the weekend and end up with shedloads on Monday morning as I usually do.

So, my Ta To Do list is as follows:
Up/Shower/Dress - done
S&S - done. First time trying this and it only added on about 2 mins to my morning routine. Bought flash wipes at supermarket and it's dead easy; half for sink, half for toilet seat and done. Planning on getting a suckered squeegy (sp?) for wiping down the shower.
Breakfast for DS & I - done
Walk with DS - done
DW stacked and on - done
Washing (3 loads plus our bed) - first one on - hoping to get it hung out
Job - in progress
Trip to supermarket for cider (as the bloomin' law meant I couldn't buy it at 9am yesterday ) - planned for after lunch

That's really it for the day.

I'm with swan on the art front. DM was brilliant at it, so I kindof didn't bother (as a defence mechanism - which is a whole other thread!) - but I can colour inbetween lines, so I think when DS is old enough, it'll be colouring books for him

Silvery a good night automatically comes with a dispensation to have the next day off in my household. At least, that's what I tell DH

DancingIceDragons how's the ankle doing?

Blue this website is quite good at explaining how it all works, but obviously B&Q etc do them too. It's only our shower enclosures that have this, the rest of the main bathroom is tiled, and our ensuite is just painted. We have something similar to Natural Pearl from this page (click on view colours) and it looks quite marbley. No way would anyone think it is marble, but much easier than tile to clean - only issue we have is with the sealant at the bottom between panels and the shower tray , but I think that's coz the previous owners of the house did it themselves and it's not quite right. No issues in the main bathroom shower though.

Also, I'd like to apologise now for my lack of personals - or the very few that I do do IYSWIM. I do read every post, but am finding it difficult to know how/when to respond, and occasionally am overawed about the amount of stuff you ladies (no gents here I don't think?) get done although I know it will get easier for me when DS gets older. So waves to everyone else - hope you don't mind too much.

Right, on with the work! Happy days everyone!

Blue - if you do need something 'arty' to do we made peppermint creams yesterday - like play-dough but edible :) Reasonably contained on the mess front but does result in sugar-high for all concerned!

Sorry you had to wave goodbye to your DH again,MissJ. It must be very hard.

Blue - well done on Operation Haircut.

Swan - I don't think I'd mind regular friends, but this is a former colleague of DH's who I don't know very well and he is bringing his wife and kids, who I've never met - so, even though they are probably the least judgemental people you could meet, I will feel better if we are at our best. I don't mind so much when it's other mums I know well, who, if they have young children, are probably in much the same state as us.

But, yes, I do hope they don't open the fridge .

Hope your appointment at the hospital goes OK.

Silvery - I think there might be a few comfy cushions next to CHB in the Naughty Corner. Have some and and some Paracetamol .

Ellie - your day looks almost identical to mine. I am also attempting to 'make house not a fecking pigsty'.

Have used the 15-minute rule to keep myself motivated. Also managed to listen to the whole of 'Woman's Hour' whilst I worked . So far, I have:

Emptied two loads of clean dishes from d/w
Washed up stuff that won't go in d/w
Shined the sink
Wiped and tidied counters
Put bottles, plastic stuff and papers into the recycling bins outside
Emptied kitchen bin
Cleaned the cooker top
Swept and mopped the kitchen floor

The kitchen is looking presentable again. All I have to do next is tackle the hotspot, which is out of control. I think I might need to resort to putting it all into a box in our bedroom.

Then I need to start tackling the dining room, which is full of washing.

During my cleaning frenzy, I have done something to my knee, which is quite painful now. What on earth have I done to it? The other knee is awaiting an operation for a torn ligament, so now i've got two buggered-up knees . Good excuse not to play football with the DC later, at least.

15-minute teabreak now, then will limp into action again.

Fuzzled - sorry, I missed you whilst posting. Those Wetwall tiles look interesting. We keep getting black mouldy stains on our bathroom tiles and it's a PITA to have to deal with them.

Don't worry about not posting personal messages. It is certainly not compulsory and, if you are trying to fit Flying round looking after a small child, you won't be getting any free time to chat.

Teabreak nearly up. Must gear myself up for hanging washing up and putting away [dull emoticon].

Coffee break here too toffee . Downstairs is restored to not a fecking pigsty. Just upstairs to go. In the back of my mind however is the fact that it is DS's birthday on Monday and we are having a bbq. Hopefully the weather will play ball and everyone will be outside but still want it to be pristine which means i will be on a hotspot mission this weekend.

Better get on!