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!

Just flapping by to say Welcome to Peas and provide a hug for Ellie, so sorry to hear that you have had such an awful week.

Blue for February?s thread, and more to Silvery for March.

Ellie Sorry unpleasant things are going on. All best wishes for the crisis to pass leaving the least damage it can.

Hello to dew and mrsb, and peas

Toffee glad you have heating back, and thank you for heads up.

Honu do report back if FL lite works. I think you need one of those oblong fabric dry static ?mops?, but a friend with 20 plus shedding cats and laminate floors, has one of those automatic Roomba vacuums and it works really well. Now that my favourite cat that used to stop it by trying to hitch a lift, has sadly gone

Waves to everyone else and hopes to manage more personals later.

Bugger there goes my plan to sneak up on SC and quietly whisper ?March is the new January!?
So Goth and SC (with dispensation until post funeral , and hope it goes as well as it can) March is the new January, right?! (Authoritative enough? )

It certainly will have to be here. I've had ?time called? on our situation, along with a survival offer. So push pull is making decisions for me.

So March for me is a tall, but must suceed, order. ?Sludgefest? must be emptied, all damaged items into insurance cage, in two piles according to which incident they were damaged in, the rest entirely cleared into another cage, (and out again two weeks after completion, so that's half of April decided too!) all damaged skirting?s and hardboard removed, and stripped back to floorboards, plaster cut back etc just before the end of the month, if I want an insurance repair ?deal? that I?m about to take as best option out of a bad bunch.

It?s an agreement that would spare us all court, (time consuming and currently looking like a bad option) stop me running out of money and being evicted trying to get to court, (currently likely) that I may not win at, (two of the main offenders have filed for bankruptcy) and while it?s not really ?fair? and we have to do all the prep work, and will leave us very out of pocket, it will give us back a basically dried out, repaired home and our tenancy undamaged, to start again in, quite quickly, and possibly a pay out on some of the damaged property. (from the one company behaving professionally)
So deep breaths, and sign.

Still to do

Confirm agreement.
Small shopping
Prep psychology
Go down and start re-sorting insurance cage.
Pick up ds
Psychology and maths
Ironing
Catch up home ed file
dinner
Listen to friend
sleep

Thank you Just!!! Beautifully done if I might say so

So pleased to hear that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for you and your housing situation - albeit not fair or ideal (which is so wrong after everything you have been through) - but I hope it will bring you some much deserved peace of mind at least.

A very warm welcome to Peasandcucumber

Honu we only have hard floors throughout - old floor boards - and I find them wonderfully easy to clean - quick hoover and light mop and you are away but that could be because all the detritus falls in to the rather large gaps in between each plank. Would never go back to carpet now. Particularly easy with spills etc. Have you set your hoover to right setting? (Sorry if stating bloody obvious.) Anyway, apart from floors, hope you are enjoying the end of the building trials and enjoying your newly transformed space.

Toffee yay for warm houses!

Great to see all the familiar names back!

Afternoon everyone

tada

• Make beds
• Turn Washing machine on
• dry laundry
• put laundry away
• wash up after breakfast
• Frugal grocery shopping (Im trying to not spend the pennies too much)
• Appointment in town

to do

• wash up 2X
• Shine Sink
• coursework for 1 hour
• 15 min DDs bedroom

ellie Sorry to hear things are tough at the moment. Hope things get sorted soon.

Welcome mrsb and dew and peas

Yey to the warm house Toffee and to the win

Im not following Trazzle but sorry to hear its not going well ATM. I will go and check it out (assuming she has a thread on MN about it) and pass on my wishes.

So its Jan again is it SC and just yey.

Sounds like a busy time just though it sounds promising in the end.

BBL

Ok, I have just read the lesson on how to shine my sink and I'm wondering do people really use window cleaner (windolene?) or car wax on their kitchen sink?!? Mine is a fairly standard stainless steel sink and I think my DH, family, friends etc would think I had gone bonkers if I tried to car wax it!!

I did try Windolene on my taps once after Flylady recommended it, but haven't bothered since. To be honest, they didn't look any more shiny than they do after a wipe down with a e-cloth.

That was to Peas, by the way.

Just dashing off to take DS2 to a party. He is very excited! Will get back and catch up later.

Peas - I have tried various things on my stainless steel sink with the following results:

Vinegar and newspaper - cheap and good but messy and needs a lot of elbow grease
BarKeepers friend - effective but takes a lot of rinsing off to avoid white Magic powdery smears
Magic Eraser Foam block - brilliant and no chemicals. Quite expensive though as it doesn't last long.
Flash Bleach Spray - great for teastains and plugholes but no use on limescale
Ecover Limescale remover - the other way round
Kitchen Power Spray - a really good all rounder but not always easy to find in the shops.

Whatever I use on the sink the taps get the same.

I shined my sink! first I had to do the washing up and put it all away though.

tomorrow I have to wear shoes with laces, which means trainers cause they're the only ones I own with laces. not sure what the point of that is.

peas I did use windolene but not sure if it made any difference.

mrsbugsy - the point of shoes with laces is that you can't take them off easily. The point of the shoes is that you feel as if you are dressed to work, so are less likely to lounge around. Flylady's explanation is here. Most of us don't bother with the 'dressed to shoes' business.

Evening all.
Let?s see what everyone?s been up to today???
ellie popped in to say hello - look after yourself. Will be thinking of you and hope to see you back soon
issimma likes to look at everyones lists - I can be quite lazy about posting mine, I have them all written in my cj.
Honu is after tips for cleaning hard floors. I have no tips myself, but have hard floors and 2 cats. I still only hoover once a week, occasionally sweep through the week but not often
Peas Welcome to the thread. Yes, I use window cleaner on my sink (and oven, bathroom tiles, bathtub etc) because it is easy, a quick wipe and is smear free. I just swish the sink out before washing up,
Toffees boiler is working and she has a warm house - great news!
Just I?m overwhelmed just reading your post about ?sludgefest?
MrsB The point of lace up shoes is so you can?t just kick them off. The shes is all about attitude and how you?re more likely to have a get up and go if you have shoes on rather than slippers. I find it to be true, but I don?t wear shoes in the house.

I?m really glad this week is over. Has been horrid.
I?m not talking to ?d?p. Let?s call him fuckwit. He?s being a knob about me wanting to go for a drink with a friend. A male friend. Ok, I kind of understand, because me and my friend have in the past engaged in sexual activity, but that was long before fuckwit, and this guy was my best friend for 3 years.
I?m really annoyed because it?s like he doesn?t trust me. He says it?s not normal to keep in touch with an ex, but this guy is not an ex. Me and fuckwit are not seeing where each other are coming from and I?m really fucking cross.

Anyway, tomorrows links to follow

FOR SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
babystep 2 - Get dressed to lace up shoes. Most of us don't bother with this one, but I do agree with the reasoning.

No missions over the weekend, this is the time to enjoy ourselves!

daily focus for Saturday - family fun day

flight plan should update in the morning and gives a rundown on the days tasks.

So, oldies, normal routines and have fun
Newbies, shine your sink, get dressed to shoes.

Hello, can I join please?

My house is a state due to the arrival of dd2 three months ago and I feel it's time to get things in order!

peas I have wondered about dh's reaction to this whole flylady thing too. I haven't told him about it as he would think I've had a bump to the head or something. I shined my sink the other night for the first time while he was out and his first words on returning home were "what the heck has happened in here?"

honu I have laminate floors downstairs and vacuuming is fine. Or if I haven't got time to Hoover I just crawl around with a damp cloth and blitz the areas that get the grubbiest.

Phew, today has been intense! Lots of mild child-related hassle combined with work piling up - nothing to what plenty of other people are going through but it's left me shattered and in need of .

Ellie - hope things improve soon.
Peas - I mainly use white vinegar and water in a spray bottle for the sink and hob. Smells like a chippy but shines up beautifully with an e-cloth.
Honu the laminate floor in the kitchen/dining room needs sweeping every day - small children dropping crumbs everywhere - but in the sitting room it gets hoovered at the same time as the rugs.
Toffee - glad to hear you have heat again
Just - glad there's a solution, however non-ideal.

Big waves to everyone else, especially newbies. :)

Welcome to all the newbies!

Big waves to everyone else!

I've had a very productive day- spent 5 hours (in sections) sorting out all the paperwork in the house after a manic morning looking for insurance docs to tax the car which resulted in me having to call up and have them emailed to me. I now have a very large storage box of such to be shredded which frankly is going to take me months to get through. The rest is all neatly filed :)

Quick post this evening, did the usual routines.

I also emailed the Regeneration Agency about my self employment as I haven't heard anything since emailing them 2 weeks ago. Turns out some emails haven't been coming through , mine included, anyway the guy rang me straight away, said my business plan was excellent and hopefully will be approved NEXT TUESDAY! Which means I get the new business funding and can sign off

Then Dd went to play with the children from the flat downstairs, ended up staying for dinner & watching a film. Finally comes home at 9! So she feels really grown up. See what she's like in the morning, we're supposed to be going to the cinema.

So a productive day, and relaxing evening- Result!

Hi everyone can I join please?

Funnily enough discovered this thread a couple weeks ago and on the exact same day our letting agent called to say our landlady wants to give us notice to leave. Cue me forgetting the sink shining and panic cleaning oven for a couple of hours. Then I saw something on fly lady where she said 'FLYing - Finally Loving Yourself'. Cheeserific but it rang true - have been happy enough keeping my family, who I love most in the world, in a less than clean home but as soon as I hear landlady ia returning I want the place spotless. ....

Anyways have started by shining my sink today and will carry on with fly lady system until we move and then will have the luxury of starting afresh :)

Good luck for March everyone!

Thanks to all those who have posted tips on how they shine their sink. ELLESABE I think if your DH appreciated / noticed the change you must have done a great job

I am feeling quite chuffed with myself as although I didn't really plan to start this until tomorrow I have managed to clear all washing up, sort some laundry and begin shining my sink (I have filled my sink with boiling water & bleach before bed) in the hope that this will make the job easier tomorrow!!

May have had too much this evening but am feeling optomistic about getting stuck in tomorrow

thanks for the explanations re. shoes. I am going out tomorrow so will be wearing shoes anyway

silvery no real advice but I also find jealousy really annoying, I agree it shows lack of trust.

I'm annoyed with dp for more trivial reasons, i went to bed earlier and he promised to do the washing up, now he's just crawled into bed after falling asleep on the sofa and says he will do it in the morning. so I have a lovely shiny sink full of dishes...

Good morning.
I?m still really pissed off and haven?t spoken to fuckwit. I?ve left my eternity ring on his bedside table. I really think I?m done.
I was very close to leaving before xmas, had made appointments with the housing officer etc to find out how I?d have to go about it and find somewhere else to live.
I just can?t believe I am in a relationship where I spend more time miserable than happy.

Anyhoo, Today?s List:
Up and make beds done
Feed Cats done
Get breakfast done
Clear breakfast
Shower and dress
Swish and swipe
Empty rubbish
Get out the house for the day
Menu plan and write shopping list
Food shop
Polish/dust
Glass shelves/mirrors etc
Clean litter trays
Change bed sheets
Hoover
Mop
Ironing
Wipe out fridge
Clear purse and bag
Quick hoover car
Laundry
Cook dinner
Sort dry clothes
Non iron away
Play and tidy
Clean kitchen
Check diary
Shine sink
Bed

Probably won?t get it all done. For the newbies: This is not how a weekend is supposed to go, but I haven?t the energy for daily focus stuff during the week so try to get it all done over the course of the weekend. I couldn?t get back from work on a Monday and change beds and hoover. No way.
In terms of family fun, not sure what we?ll do today. I need to go into town but would like to not have to come back until much later.

Welcome elles and daisy

Happy Saturday, have a good day.

Have already gone over my allotted mn time today but hey - it's Saturday (or some such excuse!)

Thanks for advice on floors but am amazed only Blue finds she has to do them every day. And I'm not noted for my housewifely skills . Must be the dog .

To add to the sink shining - being a simple soul I have a product (sold by Mr Tesco, the only supermarket in town) called 'Shiny Sinks' which does exactly what it says on the plastic bottle.

Silvery men just don't seem able to accept that women can have perfectly platonic relationships (on her side at least) with other men. I have an ex-colleague (male) with whom I used to go out after work, walking the dog and then to the pub for a meal. This was before I even got together with DH. For years after I carried on walking with him a few times a year (even before he fell DH never wanted to go walking), sometimes he brought the latest girlfriend. DH hated it! In vain did I explain I didn't fany my ex-colleague, he wasn't my type, etc... I finally stopped after DH fell and this would throw him into an 'I am worthless' type of depression which took days to subside, so it wasn't worth the effort. Hope you manage to get this sorted - good luck!

Okay, good start today, long may it last...

tada
Laundry folded and put away, one load in drier another in machine
DC (x2) breakfasted, washed, dressed
Kitchen surfaces, table, highchair wiped down
Breakfast dishes washed up

to do
Get self washed and dressed!
Persuade baby to nap
Take DC to library
Lunch and wash up
Fold and put away washing from drier
Hang or dry washing from machine
Sort out new credit card
Play with DC park this afternoon if weather ok
Sort new credit card

Would love to see your lists for further inspiration. ..

Oops sorting credit card twice, subconsciously stressed?

I'm chewing my fingers off this morning waiting for middle school allocation to arrive in post...