FLYing through March: Fledglings Assemble

[SilveryMoon]

Welcome to the March Fledgling FLYers thread

... where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of and chatting along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that we can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in weekly designated zones of the house; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave us with more time to do other, more interesting things instead!

At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling we get when we are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once.

To avoid being inundated with details, we advise not signing up to the Big Tent

We are in the process of following Flylady's steps and routines using a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):

• start or repeat baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

[And if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.]

Flylady site here

Don't worry if you are behind; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

All the links for the babysteps and missions will be posted here every day and we'll all be here to cheer each other on.

to SC and Blue for leading us through January and February and for the brilliant OP I've just cut and pasted .

Let's get the old dust balls rolling for March!

Evening
Not much of a FLYing day here.
TaDa
Up and made beds
Swished and swiped
Put out aand cleared away breakfast
Showered and dressed
Fed cats
Rubbish out
Ds?s to childminder
Work
Collected ds1 from club
Cooked ds?s dinner (pizza)
Cleaned kitchen
Laid out clothes
Sorted dry washing
Non iron away
Laundry on
Homework

No mission here or much else, horrid day at work again. Really pissed off so have ordered curry for me and dp which has just arrived, so gonna stuff my face, drink some wine and will be back a bit later with links etc

Unfortunately the bruising is accompanying broken skin so don't think it is an option? goth

Done more stuff. will consider updating ta da list when I have found the medicinal pack of peas, made a hotwater bottle and suggested to ds he might like to hightail it to bed.

EVening all

Still haven't had time to catch up with thread properly but hope you are all OK

Glad your dd feeling better Snowgirl and that you are on the mend Ellesabe. There's a lot of illness about atm.

Hope your dd is ok MrsBugsyWugsy

Hope bruising has eased a bit DEM

Pushme I'm with you on the weight loss so you're not alone!! (Think Mercury is heading off to Weight Watchers too!) Had gone up to a shameful 85kg recently. Went down to 82kg after noro - now back up to 83kg so starting again properly now. Need to lose 20kg approx. Went to cardiologist recently and she said that I should do it over four years yo-yo-ing apparently being terrible for one's heart. Think that is a bit extreme though and aiming at 0.5 kg a week. Dh is doing 5:2 but he's finding it tough and now has a terrible cold. I'm going down the 3 healthy meals + two tiny healthy snacks route plus more exercise (and no eating after 8pm). Plus trying to get to bed earlier.

Definitely not a "best towel" sort of house (but do have vague categories of mankiness ie worst category = for drying off rabbits, next category up = hair dyeing) right through to vaguely respectable.

A tentative toe-dip back in to proper Flying (although have lost all track of zones and missions).

Ta da:
gorgeous lavender bath (attempt to coax myself out of severe CBA-ness) courtesy of my god-daughter's lovely Christmas smellies it worked [smile!]
morning routine inc dw, wm, rabbits, (earlier start than normal owing to snow)
quick stomp through snow to chemist
hot white wash
cool white wash
coloured wash
2 x 15 mins of tidying up
45 mins sewing (making dolls mattress/pillow/sheets/pillowcases/patchwork quilt for dd)
made lunch for dh (who is ill with bad cold)
prepped veggie bake
prepped healthy fish supper
school run + tortuous hwk supervision + supper + shower/bed routine
empty dishwasher + shine sink
hang up last load of washing and put more on for morrow
prep laundry room for fortnightly ironing lady

To do:
rabbits
lay out clothes for tomorrow
Masterchef (yay!)

Doesn't look too bad now I've written it down although riddled by CBA-ness today. Also hampered by appalling weather conditions - mahoosive traffic probs here in Brussels and am informed tonight by dd that we are going to have more snow and a really bad "lizard" overnight!! (She's educated in French/Dutch so she sometimes makes mistakes with new English vocab! ) Garden covered in at least six inches and our road was beautifully serene and quiet today!!

Huge wing flaps to Silvery Whoknows Goth Issima Louise Jdub Mercury Ellie Engels Blue Lilleth Just Enelya and SpecialCircumstances (nice to have another SC on the thread!!) Honu Toffee Castle (anyone seen Lauren??) PeasandCucumber DrivingMissS Feetheart Nicknacks Nettie and everyone I've missed!!

Heigh ho - had better go and attend to the furry buns ....

pmpy wasn?t planning on doing much planning today due to work and a long journey! - Hope your day?s been ok and the travelling was ok. I need to dye my hair. I?m a mid-brown but am thinking a warm/red-brown. Soon.
I tried the 5:2 diet, I love the idea, but don?t even have the will power to eat little2 days a week. I?ve taken to skipping lunch and have lost 2 stone in 5 months. Feeling good and looking a little better.
mercury posted an impressive to do list. Hoping she got it all done.
sc woke up to snow
ellesabe is not well. Big, visible glands Hope you?re feeling a little better and dh was helpful at home.
My dp is a hoarder. He likes to keep everything ?just in case? drives me bonkers. I just throw it all away and once it?s gone, tough. He thinks I just enjoy throwing his stuff away. My response, ?I don?t keep crap, so don?t have to throw it out. If you don?t want me to throw your things away, make sure they?re not CRAP?
snow Glad your dd is better today.
Whoknows @your mum and the family/guest towels.

Waves to everyone I've missed

DEM you can get arnica in tablet form. I used it post c-section and think it helped or was that the morphine?

I like your style silvery!

His favourite place to put 'unwanted' things is his parents' loft. I just know it's all going to come back to haunt me one day

Probably the morphine. pharmacist would take one look at me and say Nope not having rattles when walks due to all the other meds Good old ice packs it is.

LINKS FOR WEDNESDAY 13th MARCH
babystep 13 introduction to missions. Pick a mission and do it!
mission Bathroom: Clean the mirror. Laundry room: Clean the filter etc on machine.
daily focus is anti-procrastination day, so do the things you have been putting off. Also wipe down the inside of fridge before food shopping tomorrow.
flight plan for the rountine we are following and where we are

happy FLYing

elles yes, got to get that sorted! We watched an episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners the other week, and there was an old guy on there that was a basic hoarder. He had loads of crap. Boxes and boxes of tissues that he had bought because they were on offer or something and he didn?t want to throw them away. Dp was cracking up, thinking it hilarious until I pointewd out this guy sounded exactly like him!!!!
Hope you?re ok DEM

Congratulations on your weight loss Silvery that's really good going!

Thanks sc I know skipping lunch isn't the most sensible, but I'm not missing it, so figure i don't really need it iyswim.
Need to buy some new trousers

Silverydon't think missing lunch is too bad if you have a good breakfast and eat at a reasonable time in the evening - whatever works for you! at having to buy new clothes

... I have a load of 'thin' clothes waiting ....

oh and btw when I mentioned you-yo-ing further down thread. I don't. My weight is only going in one direction currently

Determined to do better as I have reached the limit now and want to be able to ride a bit more actively.

Well I have successfully achieved very little flying

Routines, everybody fed and bath mat washed so that's me done for today.

Long long day of much driving. No races this time I'm afraid sc, but I might look into it as a client hospitality option for next year . I am a bit scared of the really bad lizard. We've had an imaginary evil care bear at our house tonight and I think a lizard would drive us over the edge!

Well done on the weight loss silvery mine is determinedly static and a pound back on today. I don't find the fast days too bad, but I am clearly eating much too much on the other days

Ouch DEM I usually go for ice, elevation and the pain numbing properties of gin myself, but maybe not recommended if you're training tomorrow!

at the guest towels you're not allowed to use whoknows. My mum has a bathroom floor you're not allowed to walk on and a complicated arrangement of floor towels and bath mats artfully placed to allow people to access the various bathroom components without having tostep on the floor . My Dsis's poor fiance is in terrible trouble for hanging up the various mats after a shower and not returining them to their rightful spot.

Glad to hear your DD is feeling better snow and hope you're feeling better in the morning ellesabe. Hello and goodnight to ellie, louise, goth, issima and everyone I've missed

sc my weight does yo yo but the past couple of years I've been stuck on 15/16 stone so pleased it's going the right way! Although I think right now stress has a lot to do with it.
Well done on your successful day pmpy

what are my lint filter and vent hose? something to do with the washing machine?

had quite a productive day yesterday in the end, I did everything on the list and dug out the bread machine and made bread!

dp has some boarding tendencies so do i the worst things are broken electrical equipment that he might fix one day, and boxes of old cables. we have a loft full of this kind of crap. at least I don't have to look at it up there.

mrsb that's the same sort of crap that my dp keeps. Loads of cables just in case. Threw away 7 scart leads and 3 free view boxes a few months ago

I am feeling awful again this morning and dh has gone away for three days.

Maybe I'll take the opportunity to stay at home and throw away as much stuff as possible

Can I join you? My house is gradually swallowing me up at least thats how it feels . I love the feeling of being organised but I'm struggling to achieve anything like it. I have tried flylady before but it's a wee bit overwhelming. I like your idea of loosely following her ideas but where shall I start?

mrsB Lint filter and vent hose are on the tumbler dryer. Ours normally vents to the outside world but is currently warming and steaming up down stairs. Lint filter is in door and at edge and we clear everytime it is used hth.

shhhhh chaos made me do it!!!!!!! I am not here

Hello everyone.
I have been lurking but not posting much so far this month.

Last week was a bit mad with school stuff - Mother's Day crafts every day, parent's evening x 2, World Book Day, etc so everything else took a back seat and it shows
This week is now 'blitz the house and catch up with work' week so that I am, hopefully, back on track. managed a decent home bleurgh on Monday and today I have no children until 5pm so am planning a decent day's work - as soon as I get off here

So today:

• All up and out - done
• Shop - have half-price chicken for the freezer and cranberry and orange hot cross buns as incentive to work :)
• Washing done and hung up - done
• S&S/cat litter/washing up
• WORK
• Make buns in nice new oven
• More WORK

Need to get started but have to find out where cat-poo pong is coming from first

Have a good day everyone

Sorry you are feeling rotten Ellesababe - take it steady - and hope everyone else who is ailing, or their dc, feel better soon.

Arf at Pushme's evil care bear!! We seem to have escaped the "lizard" last night ...no more snow ... but the six inches delivered yesterday isn't going anywhere - it's freezing!!

MrsBugsy yes lint filter and vent hose definitely belong to tumble dryer. Depends what type you have. I have an indoor one so have to clear all lint off filter regularly (which is a sort of round plate that fits in door) and I don't have a vent hose to outside, so have to empty extracted water after each use that collects in a tank above the main dryer. My sister has an outdoor version, with a vent hose that looks a bit like an elephant's trunk, which she sticks out of the window of her garage.

Welcome XBenedict Love the nickname!! The best place to start is with the baby steps. Have a look here and, in particular, here Just jump in where we are at ... see step for today posted by Silvery. Confusingly for you, today's baby-step is about starting missions which are listed here but I would suggest you ignore that and just focus on the more basic baby-steps for now (such as shining sink, getting dressed to shoes (if you want) and laying out clothes for tomorrow the night before, and once they become second nature (consistency being the key) ... then you can start decluttering for 15 mins per day in each zone. For explanations of zones see here. Once you are decluttered, you can then start on missions and detailed cleaning. It's up to you to adapt the system to suit yourself though. We advise not joining the Big Tent for fear of being inundated by e-mails. Good luck. Any more questions, don't hesitate ...and don't worry if it is confusing at first... the system will become clearer to you after a while and the steps/routines repeat again each month anyway.

Having made a tentative return to Flying yesterday, I am determined to continue the good work in the kitchen and laundry today and start on decluttering the boudoir with the power of 15 mins technique. It's desperate in there atm. Every single drawer, wardrobe, storage area needs clearing out for a start. Going to start in one corner and work my way around. Not going to go mad, but going to make a start.

Ta da:
morning routine inc rabbits, dw, wm
pay fortnightly ironing lady, garland her with flowers and kiss her feet
supermarket run
rabbit supply run

To do:
school run (half day here)
ballet run
hwk supervision
cooking (something healthy)
tidying up ground floor
as many 15 mins as possible decluttering boudoir
sewing
try to fix problem with e-mail account
supper
evening routine (including chasing dd around the house with large net and herding her in to bath)

Hope you all have a good day!

Silvery - have you ever tried Henna on your hair? I use the Lush ones on my dark brown hair, gives it a lovely red/brown glow (lots of threads about it on S&B).

Not much Flying here, still working on my OU assignment.

DEM - ice packs here too, my arm strain is still playing up, think it's tennis elbow, so I'm sitting here with an ice pack strapped to it and a lavender microwave pillow to alernate with.