August fledglings fly over here - chatting and Flying will help us persevere!

[ToffeeWhirl]

Here we go again - another month for us to tackle our clutter and get on top of our housework!

If you’re struggling with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun), you need Flylady.

Flylady is a system for managing housework. Starting with babysteps, it builds up into a routine which becomes second nature. In theory, once you are used to the system, you will have a tidy house you are not embarrassed by and plenty of time to get on with more interesting things.

Flylady banishes the panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. If you fall off the Flylady bandwagon, it’s no problem: you just jump back in where you are and carry on.

Don't sign up for the Flylady emails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on this thread on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, Flylady's steps and routines will be listed here on this thread.

Flylady uses 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 detailed deep cleaning in each zone for those who have made real progress).

More info here on getting started (but ignore step one!) and Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Try to ignore Flylady’s purple prose (hard, I know) - the underlying system is sound!

Three key points to keep in mind:

1. No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine.

1. You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.

1. It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy overnight - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

If you are new, then trying to spend 15 mins decluttering and doing the babysteps is the most you should expect of yourself. Lots of us here like posting our ‘to do’ or ‘ta da’ lists and they can look quite scary. Don’t be put off.

If all else fails, try the power of three – just pick three things that most need doing and focus on those.

And if you have visitors coming over this afternoon and need a quick fix NOW, try Flylady's crisis clean.

We all know each other pretty well on this thread and some of us have been around for a long time, but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers are very welcome!

hi everyone,

back from holiday in Sunny Spain (if occasionally Stormy and Tempestuous) All tanned, and holidayed out. Loving being back in England now though A very strenuous holiday, partly because I had underestimated what 900m Steep hill would entail. Distance from villa to beach and shops. Ah well, we are all considerably fitter now The perils of going on holiday without a car. A lovely part of world, Costa Brava, if a bit vertiginous for my liking. When asked what he liked about holiday ds2 replied "The views". What he didn't like was no UK TV, and therefore no commonwealth games. This caused a bit of a meltdown for two days but I am happy to say he adjusted and went swimming a lot instead. Occasionally he was to be found glued in front of a bar screen watching women's football (Norway versus Spain, several repeats) or water polo. Ds1 spent a lot of time on his dsi but Dd surprised us by actually playing with ds2 in the pool and reading a lot.

Welcome back Swan

Morning all
Dd had a lovely birthday although I managed to get sunburnt She is however trying my patience this morning as she is tired and whingey - early nights needed for both dc tonight.

Ta da
Downstairs hoovered and dusted.
Washing up done - dp
Breakfast made

To do
Meal plan
Food shop
Clear car of dc junk
School work
Visit Dgd
Make beds
Small pile of ironing

Fingers crossed you don't have to wait too long for your baby to arrive Lairy

Okay. My sewing machine is officially just horrible. I have been trying to get it working properly, and I suspect because it was just a cheap machine (all I could afford a number of years ago), that it's just given up the ghost.

Any recommendations on where to buy a good one for a good price? I've looked at Hobbycraft, seen a few that are about £100, with a 15% discount, which isn't too bad IMO. I don't need anything fancy, but this one annoyed me to death with the cruddy way the thread went as it always seemed a bit backwards, so looking most likely at something like a Singer or Brother I suppose. Unless someone has some personal experience with another brand that is good.

I'm about halfway through sewing the cushion cover by hand (between breaking up dcs arguing and baking pumpkin bread - goodness, the house smells good all of pumpkin and cinnamon and cloves!!). Definitely need a new machine. Hand sewing is no fun at all.

alice, this is mine, I bought it on offer for £50 a few months back. It's fabulous!
I reckon if you put £20 away each month you'll have £100 by january and the sales would be on then anyway, you'll get it cheaper. That's what I did, spent the rest on material and cotton thread etc.

That's a nice one Kia. I hadn't thought to look on JL. More online shopping to look through tonight! Thanks!!

Although to be honest, I'm not going to wait that long. The plan is the buy it this month. I have some Christmas stuff I want to sew.

Oh, was it you that suggested the italian herb and parmesan cheesy crusty bread last week? I forgot to say, took it on a picnic, it was amazing!
Please tell me how to make te pumpkin one!
Ta daah:
Serviced the child, made her human interaction worthy, took her swimming and then, oh, the joys of living in the middle of nowhere: she's off on the neighbouring farm hanging off the slowest and oldest tractor you'll ever see: apparently the chicken have been laying eggs randomly, they're hunting for eggs... Somewhere. I'll wait for her with a hose. She's just texted:could we all come round for an indian tonight, mummy? Who is we? As in:how many? The question was rethoric anyway, I'm a feeder with an open house, she was just being polite.
Went to the supermarket, got some stuff to cook a vat of curry.
Also had a moment of clarity (being childfree does that to me sometimes) and organised myself for a party in a few weeks' time. Ordered pretty napkins, paper plates, plastic cutlery, matching straws and cardboard icecream pots. The theme is british summertime, pots of tea, sandwiches, cakes galore, cream tea and old fashioned sweets, icecream and lemonade (btw, Lidl has ben and jerry's icecream for £2).
So it is all ordered.
Returned stuff to Johhny B, DD refused to wear pink with grey. It was the pink that bothered her.
About to tackle the ironing.

Ih, and I bought a new toilet brush. There

alice, it is a Jenome but with JL logo. All parts can be ordered from Jenome. It is quiet and easy to assembly, I live it I can do hems in trousers legs and sleeves.

No idea what just happened to my spelling, sorry.

No, the Italian herb and parmesan cheesy crusty bread wasn't me. But it sounds yum. Who was it?? Spill!!! And put the recipe on here again, as I obviously missed it!!

Pumpkin bread:

1 and a half cups SR flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons bicarb of soda
1 cup pumpkin puree (tinned)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Sift together the flour, salt, sugar and soda into a bowl.

In a separate bowl combine pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices.

Pouring wet mixture into dry mixture and mix just until all are combined well.

Pour into well buttered 9x5x3inch loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes until done in the middle. Don't try to take it out of pan until it's cooled just a bit.

I usually keep it in sealed gallon size bag in fridge once cooled. You can either use one large loaf pan or 2 slightly smaller sized ones. I usually use 2 pans. And they freeze really well, so sometimes I use one right away and wrap up the other either in tin foil or sealed freezer bag and pop in the freezer.

Tinned pumpkin can be found at Waitrose or Whole Foods. (It's usually Libby's label) Bonus is when you buy the tin, it will have the recipe for pumpkin pie on it - which is a lovely recipe as well. Yum!!!

oh sorry - I meant to say PLEASE regarding that bread recipe. Goodness, I didn't mean to sound so demanding!!

recipe
And thank you very much for yours, amazing!!! I shall make it next weekend and let you know!

Bah, don't worry, it made me giggle!

My 5yo is standing here begging me to sew new Christmas stockings for both boys this year. He's choosing thread out of my sewing box choosing colours he would like. I'm going to end up sewing new stockings, aren't I?

and thank you for the recipe!

I am currently lying on my bed with a fan wafting cool air over me after flatly refusing to read dd1 any bedtime stored due to her horrific behaviour, DH is putting the baby to sleep and I'm debating going downstairs in my PJs to hit the .

*disclaimer we have had a manic weekend so far including an emotional trip into neonatal to take them cake for our dd1s fourth birthday, we saw the paediatric team who saved her life and this is the first year she has been able to say thank you. Not a dry eye in the house.

So after yesterday's beach trip and today's events (a fair and afternoon with family) as well as tomorrow when I'm out 8am - 10m then I saw red when I got home and the house was carnage.

In 30 min I've
Cooked dc tea
Washed up
Hoovered (including clearing up after smashing a thankfully empty fishtank on the floor)
Put away an absolute mountain of stuff
got children into bed

This is a more marking my place post as it's Saturday night, DBIL is up and we're all alcohol-ed up and about to embark on a x-box marathon.

Still no sign of AF, and I'm panicking quite a lot a bit now. Especially as I have an interview in two weeks; for which there are only TWO candidates - and I'm one of them.

So, those vaguely inclined people, please cross your fingers twice for me!

Soot - what a lovely thing to do (taking cake to thank the paediatric team). That must mean a lot to them.

Welcome back, Swan. Glad you had a (mostly) successful and enjoyable holiday. I'd love to go back to Spain again.

Am reading and running again tonight as I've come down with a proper, achy, sneezy cold and am feeling lousy. Fell asleep soon after DH left for work this morning and woke up several hours later. Fortunately, he'd returned after an hour or so (he was just sorting out orders quickly) and discovered me sound asleep and DC (8 and 14, so not babies, I hasten to add) happily glued to computer/DS . I slept for four hours , obviously catching up on last night's poor sleep, whilst DH fed and entertained the DC. I'm very grateful to him for taking DS2 off my hands for the day, as he is a bundle of energy and chatter and I don't feel up to it today.

DS2 ran me a bath after I woke up. He placed Lego people around the rim, holding a make-up mirror and my nail file. Very sweet.

Am now dosed up with Lemsip and a glass of wine, although I didn't really fancy the latter (I must be ill ).

We're meant to be taking out DS2 to watch some fireworks later. Not sure I'll be going.

Tomorrow is Babystep Number 3: explore the Flylady website. Easy one. Just make sure you keep shining your sink daily and putting on your shoes in the morning, if you're so inclined. Flylady is all about gradually building up new habits.

Sunday is the day to renew your spirit.

There are no missions, so - for those who have finished the babysteps - just follow the daily routine, outlined here, then enjoy your day.

Oops, Carpe, just saw your post. Fingers crossed for you here.

Fingers crossed Carpe, best POAS and get an answer one way or t'other.

Alice, my sewing machine us also being a pain. I wanted to repair a rip in a bean bag and my hand stitching us truly terrible. I've had to virtually take it apart to fix the snagging threads in the bobbin case a mechanism. Grrr

I am a zombie I have read the thread mostly all i can remember is some talk about a baby, and toffee misquoting my typo. fuck fun friday... the fun makes all the difference

Fly lady would be proud car unpacked but needs a good tidy 1 load of washing about to go into dryer, child washed and about to be throttled as wont go to bed. Was supposed to be going to bed but might be popping out briefly. Not that I will make good company, but i have been promised a corner to sleep in. won't be a late night. Have an early start

Will catch up properly mid to late week nxt week. tis all a bit insane atm

for doing another month Toffee does look enough like a gold medal, because you deserve one.

Back from 10 days at parents, so nicely avoided the chaos of Glasgow during the games. DH says there's been a helicopter almost permanently overhead as it films at Hamden.

Absolutely loads to do, so this thread is a godsend (as always) but will have a slow start as it's bucketing down right now so laundry will wait for tomorrow.

Am crossing fingers for you Carpe, and will catch up on rest of thread later.

Well i might still suck at babystep no 17 But fly lady will approve.

Ta da
1st load of washing done
bags unpacked
sorted out what the weather is to be like for the next few days
filled bath tub with water and cleaning stuff for the parts of ds' kit that does not go in the washing machine
start collecting things for packing for the next few days/next trip
folding
ironing
breakfasts
emails and internet stuff.

Not bad for being up an hour. Next stop shower and to clean out my car