Time for a bonfire of the clutter? Perhaps not but Fledglings are flying high with the fireworks through November...

[BlueEyeshadow]

Huge thanks to SC (and Bitchy!) for leading the thread throughout October (and to SC for such a copy and paste-able OP)

If you are struggling 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 wine and cake 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 daily and doing the babysteps is a good way to start. 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, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome!

Glad the party went well, Toffee.

Hope you can have a good rest, Engels.

Waves to Alice at flouncing back in!

SC sorry to hear about bad night, but hope the day continued productive.

Swan, hope you enjoy your quieter evening.

Waves to fuzzpig, Bitchy and everybody else.

Flying has continued minimal here. Got so frustrated with email problems that I went out into town instead and boys' presents now pretty much done. Just got to sort something out for assorted friends, relations and in-laws...

Didn't get as far as adding bleach to bicarb, but slopped bicarb and vinegar around the bathroom fairly vigorously. Bits now sparkling, and other bits still the same.

**

Babystep is about control journals and perfectionism.

No missions at the w/e.
**

Off to watch QI...

I made pancakes this morning. Ds1's TA a couple years ago gave us a lovely recipe for pancake mix that you can make ahead and keep in a container, and then put some in a bowl on the day, add milk and eggs, and off you go. So a lovely pile of fluffy pancakes this morning (plus a few extra for the dcs to nibble on later). Yum, what a great way to start the day.

I'm going to be sorting through Christmas boxes today, and then later we're going to the Christmas lights turn on to see Father Christmas.

The only flying today will be the basic washing up, laundry, and stuff like that.

Well done on sorting the Xmas presents already, Blue! I suppose I should start buying for Xmas too, but I make a rule of never thinking about it until both boys' birthdays are out of the way in the Autumn.

Alice - am struggling to understand what the pancake recipe is, as pancake mix is only eggs, milk and flour , but am assuming your TA didn't just tell you to put flour in a container! I follow the Jamie Oliver method, ie. a mugful of flour, a mugful of milk, add one egg - and hey presto!

Hope you and your boys enjoy the Christmas lights later.

Have spent all morning lying on the sofa, browsing online. It is very nice not to have to do anything though. Am going to get dressed now and go into town to do some chores - child-free time, which means I'll get it all done much faster and might have time to browse in some clothes shops too.

It has flour, baking power, bicarb of soda, caster sugar..... and then the egg and milk added. So nice thick fluffy pancakes.

Yes, I suppose flour is easier and more straight forward. hahahaha But it's just the thing we've been doing for ages (since she gave it to us - it's the one she used with ds1 when they made pancakes in school)

urgh. baking powder... cannot type today, me

thinking back, I don't think I've ever made pancakes with just flour egg and milk. I'm obviously missing a quick mix here!

Alice/Toffee - flour, eggs and milk is for UK pancakes - crepe style. Alice's mixture would be US style I suppose.

Baking powder AND bicarb though, yikes! That would rise like a rocket but have a really strong aftertaste - no wonder you need the sugar... (Confirmed bicarb hater here)

For thin pancakes we use just plain flour, egg and milk. For Scotch pancakes (thick and fluffy) I use SR flour, some sugar and a dollop of golden syrup. I would imagine baking powder / bicarb would be even fluffier and lighter.

Just about to take DD off to a Brownie sleepover and then go into town for shopping and to see the plans for 2000 extra houses in our town :(. Had a nice morning out with DS (hockey training then shopping in town 10 miles away for Scout uniform). He won't hold hands with me in our town any more but isn't worried about seeing anyone he knows in the other town and it was lovely wandering round hand in hand with him. Did a little more Christmas shopping too.

Blue no aftertaste that I've noticed. But there's not a lot of power and bicarb in the mix, just a little in comparison to the flour, so that's probably why, although as you said you hate bicarb you may just be super sensitive to it. And yes US style. (American here, living in the UK ) Those thin pancakes aren't REAL pancakes. hahahaa

Although I don't use maple syrup anymore - too expensive and because I rarely have it, I have noticed that I find it too rich as well on the rare occasions I do have it.

Glad you had a nice morning, WhoKnows.

Alice, yes I'm ridiculously sensitive to bicarb. Spoils lots of bought cakes, biscuits, scones etc for me. :(

Anyway, quick link as it's so quiet on here today!

Babystep is adding an afternoon routine.

No missions at the weekend.

Have a good Sunday, all. :)

I love pancakes, I mean really love pancakes. When I was a child staying at my grandparents in the summer holidays, there always was 1 day DM & Nanna would go shopping in Lincoln and I would stay behind with Grandad. Nanna would have made a huge batch of batter and Grandad would cook them for lunch. DM & Nanna would be greeted on their return with how many I'd had (7 plus!) I'm amazed I was never sick.
DD is getting the same way, so I only get 1 or 2 now, which is a good thing.

DD is just about right now (fingers crossed) and has asked to go back to school tomorrow. Really pleased she feels better especially as we were out yesterday at the SNP rally at the Hydro. Unbelievable 12,000 people going to see 1 politician. The music was great, Bloco Yes, Trybe, Eddi Reader, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Stanley Odd & Dougie MacLean. Would recommend them on YouTube. The Radical Independence Campaign were having their conference next door, so there was 15,000 "lefties" all in one space, and no trouble at all. Amazing positive atmosphere.

Today, DH and I are going to see the Jesus & Mary Chain at the Barrowlands so an easy-ish afternoon. Need to get some groceries for DD's packed lunch tomorrow, and will pop into the Art Village as DH. Tells me the elephant is almost finished.

Back to Flying tomorrow.

We used to have a vat of pancakes for tea whenever we ended up with too much milk (days of morning milk deliveries) It was epic. Just pancakes for tea and we did used to eat similar quantities to you Goth. Loved too much milk days.

Been working on bloody little squares for blanketgate #2 blanket 3. 100 done of 260 ish squares. Just a case of keep plugging away but not bad for 2 days work either. Pieced all the squares made so far too. So the blanket is well on the way to being finished but do need to get one more ball of wool as have tweaked the design slightly. So i guess I need to add that to my list of things to do for tomo.

to do
get up (been crafting in bed) [luxury]
hide ds' blanket that I was showing to visitors
collect ds from over the hills and listen to all his exciting adventures (he took a day trip with his dad)
Sandwiches and make sure there is lunch box stuff
stitch popper onto a finished project
Early night

Need to get a lot of stuff done tomo too. Might have to consider a to do list for that too.
sort out ds' training stuff
sort out my training stuff
pick up ball of wool
work
empty car (?)
early night
Banking
fastening ends off
Meeting with ds' teacher
Think that is a realistic list. Perhaps. Maybe

Going caffine free this week, hitting the better eating too. This is going to be a hard week. Especially as I have a whole heap of meetings and appointments that you could predict will be difficult.

Hope you have all had a good weekend and may your week be productive. Happy flying.

Hi everyone! Quiet on here atm ... .

Lovely autumnal weather here this weekend!

Did no Flying whatsover yesterday. Accompanied dd to ballet, did some food and a bit of present/rabbit supplies/toiletries shopping. Back home to prepare 'posh' tea for dd's god-father and fiance, who announced their engagement! So all v. happy and exciting and happily squiffy! (Fortunately had an inkling so had champagne on ice.) Unfortunately, wires had been crossed and they had just come from enormous lunch so dh and I ate all the food we'd prepared [oh dear] which consisted of sandwiches and tarts and cakes. We are starting our diets properly again today.

Today has been a bit better Flying-wise and diet-wise.

Ta da:
rabbits
clear tables and kitchen from last night’s tea/entertaining
washing up by hand
dry white wash
uniform wash on
uniform wash hung up
wash dd new dress
carry ironing board etc upstairs
iron for one hour 11am to 12.15pm whilst listening to Archers
clean out cutlery drawers and re-line
carry ironing panier upstairs and put away contents
bath & hair
lunch
walk in park
mint tea in bar
rubbish/recycling
moved car
fetched parcel tape and parcels from office

To do:
just need to supervise dd bath, hair wash and cutting of toe and finger nails and then sort 5 parcels for the post tomorrow (on-line returns). Might try and do a bit more ironing if I have the energy.

Glad to hear your dd is feeling better Goth!

Hope you've caught up on sleep Bitchy. I admire your patience with all of those squares!

Aw re: your ds holding your hand Whoknows

Good you had a leisurely Saturday morning Toffee and well done to you and your dh for surviving the party!!

You are nearly there Engels!!! Still v. impressed with your extremely conscientious hand over! Good luck with the last 3 days of work!!

You sound on top of Christmas Blue (although sorry to hear about logistics issues- hope they can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction)! I'm about half way through my presents and getting a bit antsy about it all ... . Hadn't realised it was stir up Sunday today either!

Swan my cleaning lady is very good at saving the day when it comes to party cake-decorating near-disasters!

Alice dd eats quite a few pancakes (French crepe variety, often eaten with apple compote over here) but dh and I are firmly off them atm (dieting!)

Big feathery waves to everyone I've missed!

There might be a lot of swearing to accompany the description of those teeny tiny squares. Plus I have had a new blanket requirement added to the mix I am clearly glutten for punishment but it is a 2 ball 1 big square kinda project and is needed for the end of the week so it is pretty high on the hit list. And does mean i get to take a break from those fucking little squares.

It'll be worth it in the end Bitchy!!

Btw today I have also:
broken a glass
cut my hand in two places
burnt a finger
fallen off step-down decking not realising it was there
and stepped in dog poo

well if it is not appreciated i will hang them by it

SC are you really that determined to land in the A&E??

Sit down! Stay safe!

Bitchy and Alice

WhoKnows - how lovely that you had the chance to hold DS's hand again .

SC - I second Alice's comment: just sit down!

Fascinating reading about all these pancakes. I had no idea I was making 'English' pancakes, Alice, but now I think about it those pancakes I had for breakfast in America were much fatter and fluffier than ours.

Bitchy - your pancake teas sound delicious. What a nice memory.

Your memory of pancakes with your Grandad is lovely too, Goth.

Blue - I had no idea bicarb had a taste. You could have been a wine taster in another life .

I don't have any pancake memories, but they remind me of my cake mixture memory. When I was little, I always thought the cake mixture was nicer than the cake and felt annoyed that my mother restricted my intake. One day, I had the chance to make the mixture on my own, unobserved, and was able to eat the entire bowl of uncooked mixture instead of cooking it. I distinctly remember how absolutely heavenly it was until I reached about the fourth spoonful and then I gradually started feeling sicker and sicker. It was a perfect example of why sometimes you just have to learn by experience.

Have mostly managed a lazy weekend, apart from a long time shopping and doing chores in town yesterday. This afternoon, we had my MIL round for tea. DS2 made sausage rolls for us (using that trusty Usborne cookbook again). He even made the pastry himself. I'm very impressed by the recipes he's turning out. He's cooking for us every night next week. Needless to say, I'm encouraging his initiative .

Haven't done much Flying, apart from washing and run-of-the-mill stuff. I have given up ironing for now. DH hoovered DS1's bedroom and bagged up all the rubbish, so that's one job I don't have to do now. He also tidied and hoovered the sitting room.

Was looking forward to a quieter week next week, but have just made a list and was appalled when it filled a whole page. Maybe not so quiet after all.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Hmm....pancakes. Bit of a national dish here. Have just told dh we're going out for pancakes next weekend to celebrate start of ML!

ta da
folded yesterday's wash
one load of washing done and dried
emptied kitchen bin, scraps bin, plastic recycling and chnged outside bin
5 hours of marking and reports - nearly finished, just a few loose ends to tie up next week
washing up

busy day tomorrow with mw appt and hv appt for ds. So close to finishing!

Waffles though, can't beat good Scandinavian waffles not those hard things the americans call waffles. The soft fluffy melt in you mouth can be eaten with ice cream waffles...

Toffee - at eating a bowl of cake mix. I always longed to do that as a child. That and eat a whole packet of jelly without dissolving it...

SC I do hope you haven't done anything else to yourself!!

Bitchy - good luck with the squares. Battling them this evening for some reason - only need to make 8 but am a novice crocheter so takes far too many goes at each one!

Big waves to Goth, Alice, Engels and everyone else...

Babystep is swish and swipe.

We're heading into the living room this week, and the mission is to turf out anything that doesn't belong there.

Blue - you didn't miss anything! I also managed to persuade my au pair that it was ok to serve squash without water in it because I had always wanted to try it undiluted. Needless to say, it was disgusting.

I guess now would be a bad time to say I have eaten and entire bowl of cake mix (1 egg recipe) and raw jelly. Also raw pasta, virtually not diluted squash (yep this is horrid), and back in the day raw egg whisked up til fluffy with a touch of sugar - which was given to me to build me up as I was rather sickly. And was actually rather nice