Is it October already the fledglings utter? We'll Fly with our broom sticks and start to declutter...

[Slimchance]

If you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, support and and along the way.

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

At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again!

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be 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.]

More info here on getting started and Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings. Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound!

Humungous thanks to Whoknows for leading us through the tricky start to the academic year ....

All welcome!!

I can't remember the last time we had Jerusalem (f)artichockes in the box. I like them but wouldn't go out of my way to buy them. The best thing at the moment is that we get spankingly fresh corn on the cob every other week. It's so much sweeter than the supermarket stuff, or even from the market in town.

Must do some work and stop talking about veg!

My lenses are monthlies, they're the sort you can sleep in, I generally don't but it's nice to have the option. Cleaning only takes a few seconds, unlike in the old days of 3 differebt solutions plus fizzy tablets etc.

Hi everyone.

Can't believe it is nearly dark at 7.30pm here ... bit depressing I have to say.

Going to leave you lovely fledglings to it this evening and post the links now as have visitor dropping around ...

available for all on naughty corner bar (if it's now open for business that is Bitchy)

See you all tomorrow!

**
Well done for getting through your first week of October Flying everyone! Even if like me you didn't actually accomplish much .

Tomorrow's baby-step, no 5 for Sat 5th Oct, is repeat steps done so far.

No zones or missions tomorrow because it is the weekend! Yay!

Saturday is family fun day.

The habit for October is clearing paper clutter.

And because it is the end of the wk, some reminders for you.

Have a lovely weekend!

Note to newcomers: how are you getting on? Any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Also, I hope that our incessant fascinating chat isn't putting you off!

Oh god yes the naughty corner bar is most definitely open for business!!!!!!

There might be some I am currently being amused by the vodka.

Today
been to FT (DH walked out - grim
saw friend for long coffee
cleaning lady has been! Yay!
picked up ds2 except he wasn't there so I picked up ds1 instead.
Ds2 reappeared much later, he had lost himself in the ICT suite and came home by himself - he is getting very good at being independent
supper pasta with veggie sauce and bacon

Evening all!

My knee is slowly getting better, I can at least put weight on it now. Which means that I have managed a bit of a Ta Da list today.

Ta da
Washed dishes
Washed and dried 2 loads of washing
Wiped around the kitchen
Wiped around bathroom and toilet (singular - as the downstairs toilet seat is broken and out of action)
Did a 50 mile round trip to attend a course for work
Took DS2 to speech therapy
Took DD to an after school playscheme
Took DS1 to a hockey match
Cooked dinner

One plus side of having been stuck on the sofa with my knee is I have started online Christmas shopping and also started knitting decorations for the DC's Christmas jumpers (they are doing a charity Christmas jumper day in school).

Off to catch up with the rest of the thread now. Hope you are all well.

Got to keep that glass topped up PA Cake is good need to make some more tomo.

Day one of this great idea and I'm completly shattered and in the wrong house at the wrong time and have a horrible feeling I'm going to wake up the incumbent of the one I'm going to, and they don't actually want me to be there, even if they need someone to be. This doesn't bode very well.
On a more positive note I have managed to briefly throw a hoover round, cut back some of the garden, cook dinner, wash up and listen to friend in amongst it all so maybe it is just a matter of being more organised.

Have scan read and hope to catch up better tommorow, forgive me for being rude and me, me, me, but I need to run.

Evening,

Thanks for all the responses re veg box. It's Riverford, and arrives on Monday, so I will repo back next week.

Spent most of today at Ikea with DH - we have decided to replace some of our very old and shabby furniture, but we don't have much space, so looking for small stuff. Replaced an armchair and our kitchen table and chairs, plus the usual big blue bag of odds and ends.

So, this evening Dh has assembled everything and taken the old stuff to the tip. In the meantime I have been tidying, tidying, I am feeling very motivated at the moment. Tomorrow the cats arrive so I have made the spare room into a quiet cat room for the first few days.

Poor DH, Goth. Hope it's sorted asap.

WhoKnows - how exciting that your new cats are arriving tomorrow . You will soon wonder how you lived without them.

Swan - sorry your DH couldn't take the FT. I am very sceptical of it because no one I know who has had it has had a good word to say about it.

Too tired to post anymore, but have had a quick read through. DH and I went out to dinner with friends tonight. Very nice evening, but am knackered and full of wine now, so off to bed shortly.

well the bookcases got sorted but then as I realised I had all the birthday presents to find somewhere for I am in the midst of organising the unit the toys live in! hopefully its nearly sorted as the house is more of a tip as i am trying to sort out grown out of bits at the same time.

DD has had an inset day today so we went swimming and took the twin girls from next door with us. Quick trip afterwards to Big Macs then back to swimming club! DH wanted to go out for tea so after visiting a local hostelry it was time to put DD to bed and hang up the washing that sat in the machine all day

we have had a veg box but kept finding there wasnt enough of the basics to keep us going for the week and there was always other bits we needed that werent included anyway!

bedtime is going from bad to worse so best try to get some sleep. night all x

Nearly had a mini-breakdown yesterday at the fact that no one else here does anything around the house. There are 3 adults and yet I am solely responsible for all cleaning, tidying, medicines, tube feeding, washing, meal planning...

I think DM realised and took the bin bags ( that we're sat waiting by the door ready to go) out.

Anyway so in the afternoon I had a meeting with a CLIC sargent volunteer. She's coming round for a couple of hours each week to be at my disposal. She's going to clean! (We never did get that cleaner after all) but now I feel horrendously guilty that this lovely lady is coming to my filthy, messy house and will see just how disgusting it is, and isn't even getting paid.

Also very slightly irritated that I asked for this in January and was basically told not to hold my breath because it would take months and then stuff starts moving the day after Joe's social worker gets involved some 9 months later...

Yay for cats!

Boo to abscess.

Big hugs for Just

This morning I have already

got up at 6.30 in order to get ds1 to school and a rugby match [Feet in Croydon, against Trinity school...is that your area?)
been to Tesco to buy lots of backlog groceries, loo roll, cat food etc (it suddenly seems a lot cheaper..odd that, must be the new Sainsbury's Local up the road that has made them drop their prices...usually we don't shop there much except for "instant stuff")
served breakfast to two children

DH is really grumpy this morning with a bad cold. I told him to go back to bed, and he said he couldn't because he had to take boys to a football match this afternoon. But that's the afternoon at 3pm. Martyrish behaviour as usual making him exceedingly bad tempered. I feel really quite irritated with him at present despite his general helpfulness. The latest thing we thrashed out was "the bread bin". He always complains there is no bread. I'm not interested in bread, and see no need for it anyway..there are plenty of other carbs in the house. So in FT speak we decided he would be charge of bread. And of course quite quickly there is no bread I've given up and bought some this morning when I pointed this out to him he was not best pleased.

More Nagging!!! Women just love to nag don't they

Trazzles I think people who want to help usually enjoy getting stuck into a bit of cleaning and organising - it is one of those jobs that really makes a difference to people in need and she can see the difference she will have made. I'm sure she won't judge.

Whoknows Although it is of course more expensive to buy vegetables from a box scheme, if you take into account that often you end using less meat as a result of the convenience of them just "arriving" and cooking more delicious vegetable orientated meals, it can end up saving money. Certainly a packet of pre-prepared veg from Tesco is a lot more expensive than the organic veg in a box, kg for kg. It is only with things like potatoes and tomatoes and lettuce that it feels a bit more pricey.

Trazzles she won't judge, you've had enough on your plate to deal with. As Swan says, she'll be pleased to do something that makes a difference.

Swan my DH gets the bread but is the other way, we have far too much!

So much for DH having a 10 minute operation at 9o'clock, just had a text saying he's still waiting to see the consultant. Ha! Now he knows how I felt when I was in & out of hospital with DD, or when I broke my elbow. It's easy saying be patient when you're not stuck in hospital.
We're allowed to visit at 1, so I'm taking him another book and toothpaste - duh packed him a toothbrush (face/palm)

Due to severe case of cba-itis and ds who is not well and so practising his limpet impression, have not done a great deal and am not planning on doing any more.

Ta da
Supermarket shop
Yesterday's washing away
Today's wash in td

Swan I flipped a month ago at dh for never putting the empty toilet roll in the bin (leaving out for the fairies). He is a great cook and does most of our meals but I do everything else that needs doing on a daily/weekly basis (bins, washing up and washing, hoovering, bathrooms, beds). Surely walking 2 foot to the bathroom bin isn't too much to ask?!

Gradually seeing the return of the old dh...he sold a skylight that had been in our garage for 6 years (you never know when a skylight is going to come in handy, eh?) For €150 on ebay and has put a few other things in as well.

Can I join you again? Not sure where September went think I posted once that I was restarting, but it didn't happen!

Starting babysteps again as was going well in August until I went on holiday. So, shined sink and now going to get dressed to shoes...I know it's 3.30pm which just goes to show how things have been round here lately!!!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend

Afternoon everyone. Hope you are all enjoying your Saturdays ... .

[Gives up trying to think of something witty to write that will link veg boxes with contact lenses and improved vision... .]

Have finally got a bit of motivation back. Did a supermarket/rabbit supply/party present shop this morning, made very quick and easy and enjoyable by dh gallantly chauffering us about so I didn't have to faff about parking. Bliss!

Even managed to come to an amicable compromise with dd about buying her friend Top Model merchandise for her birthday. (I hope I am not the only relentlessly "uncool" mother in the group who loathes this stuff and everything it stands for but suspect I may be ... unfortunately the older Italian and Spanish girls in dd's class absolutely love it and dd is desperate to fit in.)

Then spent a pleasant hour watching Channel 4 racing interspersed with hwk supervision.

And as dh went back to judicious meat-eating for the first time yesterday without ill effects, I've made us all a beef casserole with root veg. It's smelling good so far but am slightly worried as I gave up cooking any sort of meat stew here aeons ago. (The meat is so lean - butchered around the muscle rather than incorporating the fat as in the UK - that it tends toward the tough and stringy when slow-cooked, even with beer and other traditional additions.) Oh well, we'll soon see if it has the texture of shoe leather ... .

And have now officially waved goodbye to a carefree decade of dressing dd exactly as I wanted (as she just wasn't that bothered). This morning I was told in no uncertain terms the items she wanted washing for the party tomorrow... where did my little girl go? [sniff]

However was slightly cheered by the fact that she then spent quite a bit of time explaining to me that every hair on her head has a name such as Arthur, David, Lucy, Alan, Simon etc and she started to "introduce" them all. I was still sitting on the bathroom floor a good 35 mins later when dh kindly created a diversion .

Blimey, that was all a bit long-winded, sorry. How are you all getting on?

Goth I hope your dh's op wasn't delayed further - abscesses are nasty things she says knowledgeably having only encountered them in horses. Seriously though, hope he's OK.

Great to have you back Saturn Relaxed Flying is definitely de rigeur at the w/e

Engels really, really great that your dh is starting to feel a bit more himself even though this doesn't extend to empty loo roll disposal! Same problem here I'm afraid - in fact - no one else seems to distribute them in the first place. And I've posted on here before about dh putting his used socks on top of the laundry basket and his suits outside the wardrobe because, obviously, opening a lid and a cupboard door is incredibly time consuming... Hope your ds feels better soon!

Ouch at 6am Saturday rising Swan and attendant bread hassles. Same as Goth - we have a surfeit here. Perhaps your dh might appreciate a bread machine for Christmas? (Although after the PM mentioned them earlier this week - subsequently heard a load of radio pundits say they produced too much steam or something ... .)

Trazzles that is fab that you have some help with cleaning! Yay! You have far more important things to worry about. Do NOT feel guilty! This lovely lady obviously volunteered for a reason. She wants to help! And I can't think of anyone more deserving of her services than you and your family!

Good to hear that your knee is improving Jemima go steady on it!

Courage Dizzy there's always a period duing dynamic declutters when everything looks worse than before but you'll get there! Hope you can catch up on sleep tonight.

Good on you re: all the reorganising Whoknows!! And please lob some of that motivation in our direction if you have any spare Have fun collecting your cats today!!! ]

Glad you had some fun last night Toffee and after-effects short-lived!

Just top marks for Flying in difficult circumstances and hope the new system gets easier as time goes on.

[Opens door of naughty corner and peers in to gloom. Makes out faint shapes vaguely ressembling Bitchy and PA ... deposits extra-strong espressos on bar ... waves ... and departs on tiptoe... .]

Encouraging wing flaps to anyone I've missed! Back with links in a mo.

oops - Toffee - hope after-effects short-lived!

Tomorrow's baby-step, no 6 for Sun 6th Oct, is a useful one about hot-spots.

No zones or missions tomorrow because it is the weekend!

The daily focus for Sunday is doing something to renew your spirit ie something which makes YOU feel good!

The habit for October is clearing paper clutter.

Have a peaceful Sunday everyone!

**

Right, just got time to do a bit more laundry and a few more chores before Strictly ... .

Have a good evening everyone!

SC your story re DDs hair made me laugh...hope the beef casserole turned out ok

Well got dressed to shoes and went shopping, but didn't buy anything as haven't really much money despite being beginning of the month ...is getting a grip on the budget one of the babysteps? If not, it should be I'm sure!

Apart from a berry cider I thought I'd try with the sweet and sour chicken that's been bubbling away in the slow cooker all day, which I'm now going to eat...not sure if I'll be back later so if not hope everyone has a lovely evening...