June 2014: half way through the Flying year, fledglings get themselves in gear!

[slackcabbage]

Heartfelt and huuuumungous thanks to Goth for being such a superlative, consistent and professional thread leader throughout May (and wow to all those fantastic round-ups every night).

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.

Flylady link here.

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 something 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!

It's up to you, but 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):

1. start or repeat baby steps

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

1. 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!

Three key points to keep in mind:
(1)No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine
(2)You are never behind just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
(3) It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

If you are new then trying to spend 15mins decluttering and the babysteps is the most. Some of us (mentioning no names!) can have scary looking lists but don't let that worry you! Do what you can, anything is better then nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders!

Oh and don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey – some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers very very welcome!

Thanks for the congrats, Mercury. Still can't believe it myself.

This morning is not going to plan

ta da
ds' duvet through washing machine
2 batches of jelly made up
sort through crochet projects and try to sort their rehoming
deal with a fragile ds
find a bit of paperwork that I needed to find
Sort a proper cooked breakfast for ds
folding
deal with parcels
collect washing up from various locations
15mins decluttering in my room.
make coffee cake - cooling
make a victoria sponge - in oven
1st load laundry on

to do

batteries for camera

oh dear, yesterday I came down with a vomiting virus, luckily it struck after I had staggered to drop ds2 at school. Woke up with a blinding headache feeling sick...very very relieved they all went to school without any fuss. Dd went on a rafting course in Hillingdon with school so she had a lovely day (thanks to her sailing course last summer she is a professional white waterer) Spent most of afternoon worrying about fact that I couldn't pick her up, finally texted her to admit this, and she was absolutely fine about it, I'll just take the bus mum.[proud]
Ds s spent most of evening watching football.

Cleaning lady tidied downstairs yesterday morning, I literally opened the door to her and said..it's a mess..I have to go back to bed now and when I staggered down at 4 it was transformed, thank god for delegation not being able to interfere

Ds1 went to buy food for us yesterday, and then had a mini collapse at thought of putting pizza in by himself I cant work out how to undo the packet mum, how do I tell when its cooked, its too hot to take out of the oven etc etc its burnt, its ruined..

staggered down again at 1 am to find two children fast asleep with the lights on, and one still listening to football commentary on the radio. Oh dear. Had a cup of tea, in case blinding headache was lack of caffeine, and went back to sleep only to be woken by someone having a pounding techno party in the distance at 5am 5 am what on earth were they thinking? Perhaps they were completely blotto by that point and moved out into the garden or turned the speakers up? So distant that you could only hear the beat but AWFUL. Rang noise abatement people at council and they said unless I knew the address they could do nothing.

Luckily children slept peacefully..

today is going fine. Downstairs being tidy is helping at lot
ds1 has been shopping for food for lunch. Pasta sauce and cold meat. Ds2 has been to football and put the rubbish out.

You are sounding very "victorian" this morning Bitchy, all that wool and jelly and cake! I have the garden but not the cake to eat in it...

Not feeling very victorian Swan the words if you slam or kick that door once more I will take your door away have been screamed today Ds has a big thing tonight and is acting very aspie. Refusing to eat has not helped him. So he has had pasta and ketchup thrown at him just now (it is all he could face) and once he is finished with that he has been given the job of listing all the dvd's in the cupboard - with splitting them into 6 categories. Should keep him out of trouble for about 5mins

The cakes otoh all melted when I iced them as they didn't cool properly in this heat and have had to have a stint in the fridge. They won't win anything for what they look like but thankfully the people eating them won't care, and they won't last long so it doesn't matter. [girn]

Done more stuff but still have lots more to do. see you tomo I suspect. night

Hello everyone! Quickly catching up from the garden.
Had a bit of a cba week as really tired every evening BUT we are on top of the washing, ds got to his self defence assessment this morning and my latest woolly hugs offerings have been posted on time.

By the end of the weekend I want to
repot the sunflowers
make banana icecream
ironing
start next wh offering
price stall items for next week
lunch at MILs

Enjoy your weekend!

It has clearly been a long day. I wanted to ask why you were reporting the sunflowers. Repotting makes so much more sense

:)

I would report the slugs who have munched the poppy I bought last week!

I am here folks!

I should actually have been out today - loads of arrangements to look after DH in place, first time out all day in 3 months, etc, etc ...... and spent 2 hours this morning waiting with broken car on country lane for RAC man to find me (did you know they don't have maps and can't find you on country lanes and can't be arsed to phone you for directions?) by which time far too late to go.

Still struggling with chaos, esp paper chaos. Can keep on top of laundry, even the vast amount DH creates, and cleaning (well, mostly, and only the bits that are tidy) but am slowly drowning in disorganised stuff. Not rubbish you understand; that gets thrown away fine - but just stuff in the wrong place. My housework is a bit like gardening - the weeds grow faster than you can pull them up. At least I enjoy being out in the garden!

Still lurking and recognise all the angst with quirky kids - at least I can leave the ones I teach when I go home at night.

Evening.

Well, didn't win the lottery, so it's back to elbow grease for me

Woke up very hungover as I managed to finish a bottle of wine last night; thankfully Irn-Bru and toast sorted me out. Also got my hair cut; and have gone a bit more dramatic with an inverted bob (so down at the front and up at the back) and I actually quite like it. DH is a bit about it, but I don't care as he's been a grouch since he got home on Friday and I've no idea why.

On the down side, virtually nothing sold at the NCT sale - so I have clutter back. Will stick it all on Gumtree when I'm back from holiday though.

Off to throw DS into bed and then collapse myself.

Dh has rung up to tell me his parents are driving him mad (in a nice way, but still) He said he had to go for a long walk in a German forest to calm down after he had been ticked off, aged 50, for the umpteenth time for not putting something back in the right place. He is now in Berlin at least, so the possessions have arrived safely (contents of entire flat moved from Rome to Berlin)

Honu curse the RAC, I'm very sorry about your horrible day.

My sons are revelling in extreme echolalia atm, a sort of maddening football chanting. I've bought ds1 some hiking socks for tomorrow's 19 mile walk; and have to put together a packed lunch out of the strange ingredients he has bought which he thinks are going to sustain him. I'm battling to get him to bed tonight at a decent hour so he can wake up in time tomorrow to be at school by 8am (and I of course have to drop him there

Dd has not been seen all day, since lunch when she appeared in a dayglo camisole and a pair of shorts. I think/hope she is in her bedroom.

feeling slightly better after taking exercise, but still tired from being ill.

Long night but ds coped better than feared. Hopefully he will sleep in tomo as it was midnight before he got to bed.

Sorry about your shitty day Honu
Good luck with ds1 tomo Swan

the stuff that i got sorted onto my bed ready for dealing with got dumped back on the floor so basically gone backwards on the cluttering stakes. Someone had the good idea of promising to take ds out after sorting his glasses. So I will be held to that and i expect we will end up on a long walk which is an arse as I have not recovered from the last really long walk the other day Ds otoh will love it and it will all be marvelous. and for me there will be pain killers needless to say flying won't happen. Is it monday yet? And can we make that tuesday instead?

Eugh. Morning all! Hope you are all OK!

[SC staggers in sporting a rumpled England strip, a slight hangover, bed hair and smudged face paints in the colours of the Belgian flag which came- -free- at Quickburger--]

Bit of a late night ... dd sang songs in Buglarian, Singhalese, French, English, Polish, and Yiddish last night (to name a few) in her choir's end of year concert, which was altogether fab. Followed by supper with lovely friends, followed by 'the match'.

Left dining table and kitchen littered with used plates and glasses (did not clearing at all last night) so off to do that in a minute (hopefully without waking anyone up as dd needs to sleep in this morning prior to full-on exam revision). Will post links first though!

We are half way through the Flying month fledglings (can you believe it?). Well done everyone!!

Baby-step no.15 for Sun 15th is: here. Add bed-making to your daily routines.

Today is our first day in Zone 3 : The Bathroom and One Extra Room (June 15 – 21) here.

Declutter in Zone 3 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

No missions today because it is the weekend!

Sunday's daily focus is: renewing your spirit ie doing something that makes you feel rejuvenated!

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, today's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself automatically.

[NB I'm afraid the glitch on the Flylady website still remains. You can only reach the correct zone through the launch pad, and not through the 'today'/'flight plan' links.]

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!!

*

Off to clean wreck of kitchen and dining room before dh emerges (he deserves a complete rest today!) and will be back later to catch up with personals!!

Great to see Honu's name in passing!! [Waves frantically]

To do:
rabbits
get uniform in wm
clear up kitchen and dining room from last night (and re-stack dw)
clean entire bathroom either today or tomorrow (an s&s cut it)
mass
quick trip out to top up veg and fruit
walk
exam revision supervision
weed left border
transplant seedlings
trip to garden centre?

get dh to check French in two complicated (nuanced) emails
superficial tidy of wreck of boudoir
healthy supper
early bed

Morning all, am staging at DM's this weekend, but will be driving home this evening. Not too much flying planned - must reboot laundry and tackle ironing/folding basket though. Also school summer report writing.... must get started tonight .

SC your DD's recital sounded impressive!
Toffee well done on the OU assignment!!!
Bitchy I don't know how you have anything left to declutter - you are the champion at productive lists .
Droitwich* what a bold snail. Do you think it's too late to plant a few sunflowers now?

On phone, so waves to everyone else!

Swan and Carpe I hope you are both feeling better.

And commiserations on poor England v. Italy last night.

The sunflowers are already shooting up safely in the greenhouse - they just need moving on in a safe way that protects them from the slugs. Am thinking some of my big pots are the way to go but will need copper tape round them first.

Morning again!

Uniform doing
Rabbits done
Kitchen clean
Dining room clean

Note: to polish dd school shoes
Help dd with good luck cards for 6ieme primaire

Now to catch up with everyone:

droitwich I envy you your greenhouse, I currently have a plastic one that you erect like a tent, and take down at the end of the season. We get lots of slugs here (can't put pellets down because of rabbits) but best results I've had is growing plants (courgettes, squashes for example) surrounded by really coarse grit which has been slightly built up in to a mound (and then have tiny 'bowl' in earth within that mound to catch water ifyswim).

Castle great to catch you as you drive through! Safe travelling tonight! It is a bit late, but you could have a go planting sunflowers; they grow so quickly that you might get away with it (esp if summer as long and sunny as they are saying it is going to be). Recital was great thanks - the adult choir sang the Irish Blessing set to music (among other things) accompanied by harpist.

Bitchy hope long walk enjoyable and not too onerous in the end!

Sorry to hear you've been feeling below par Swan (not nice being ill in this humid weather) and great that the kinder stepped up. Take it steady today! HOpe school trip drop off not too onerous this morning.

Carpe what a shame/pain about NCT sale. Nowt more demoralising than when previously decluttered ephemera returns to the fold! Hope bouncy new hair cut makes up for it!

Honu Heelloooo!! So sorry to hear about your frustrating day yesterday - what a huge disappointment that must have been - talking about sod's law! Hope you can ignore the 'internal weeding' today and take some time out just for yourself.

Hope you survived outing to book event yesterday Toffee and hangover abated!

Right, had better get back to it! Big feathery waves to everyone else!

oops - talk about sod's law

Busy day so far.

Up at 7am or before to wake ds up, very late night last night trying to persuade ds2 to turn off the big Match.
Ds1 shouted continuously at me until I actually dropped him off for his 19 mile hike (must have been nerves) I think next time I will let him get himself ready because really trying to give him the right kit just made him crosser and crosser

Babysitter then looked after ds2 whilst I did the last stint of catechist duties, Going Forth Mass, followed by Going Forth Party, followed by mopping of floor at school. Fab teenage babysitter took ds2 to mass, then out to breakfast, then to play football. Now I can let him slump in front of the football again without guilt, hurrah..

Dd is still in her tropical beach outfit and just told me her favourite food in the whole world was Dolmio tomato sauce so much for years of homemade pasta sauce.

Ds2 has done a Blake poem resume, and his science homework. Still have to tackle RE and Maths and Geography.

SC good advice about the courgettes, I need some grit, atm I haven't dared plant mine out, they are on a table in medium pots. The cucumbers have been completely eaten by slugs. very sad.
Castle you could try pot marigolds mine did well after late start and went on all winter.

Back again

SC treasure hunt got cancelled due to rain, so running it this Wednesday instead.

Done
Beds stripped & changed
Quilts in vacuum bags
Dd to karate grading -she's now a yellow belt
Bedding washed & hung out
Got her to tidy her bedroom.
2nd load laundry out
3rd load laundry in (tea towels) so made it a bleach/hot wash to clean machine.
Vacuumed bedrooms & hall.
Litter tray

To do
Recycling out
Ironing

It started as a great day, DD got DH a tshirt saying "I'm not saying I'm. Batman, I'm just saying no one has ever seen me and Batman in a room together" S he'd made him a bookmark & a monster hug, done well at Karate, was happy and everything was lovely. THEN she stropped out because she couldn't find her USB stick (it was where I said it would be) It took about an hour for her to calm down, but on the plus side, she tidied her room looking for it.

Just making the most of the calm now.

BBL

Escaped a walk as it was raining. Although ds talked me into letting him get a small packet of loom bands from the works He is happily pottering with that. I have my new academic diary and it has spaces for budget and starts from July so I am happy. yes it was an ouch price but if it don't work this year will go back to the cheap ones which don't work

In half an hour i need to move to put pizza base into the oven. But for now I am just going to chill out quietly and let the world go by take a nap

Fingers crossed you get a more chilled out ds1 back swan
Good luck with the revision stuff SC