March of the Fledglings 2015

[Slingclutter]

Heartfelt thanks to Whoknows for running the February thread during such a stressful time for her (and to Toffee for helping out.)

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 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 on Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Don't be put off by the purple prose and 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 might 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 15 mins 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 brew + 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, regulars, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome!

Awww @ Meerkitten! Too cute :o I love meerkats, my DCs chose me a meet-the-meerkats experience for my birthday at the local nature centre which I must book soon. I get to feed them!

And thank you, I'm so excited to be homeschooling and I can't believe it's happened so quickly (I mean, we wanted to for years but it seemed like a pipe dream, and the sudden "actually yes let's just do it" decision was very quick).

I'm hoping that in a way it means we can have a simpler life, but I know I also need to get more organised!

Forgot to say SC thanks for remembering me :o I kind of miss my old name but change was long overdue!

I'm not actually reading any of the flying links ATM just settling in with daily(ish) lists first! I seriously need to declutter more though and should carry on getting the DCs involved.

Seriously impressed by the all the activity on here atm - well done Fledglings!! Liking the sound of all these delicious bread recipes!!

I am just taking a 15 min pause while oily nit shampoo on my head suffocates the little blighters. Dh and dd are next door doing the same. Followed by rinsing, ordinary shampoo, conditioner and nit combing for all the family. Oh joy. Blasted the blighters yesterday. Doing another family session today. (And will do another Tues eve/Wed and then again every 2 or 3 days. Do not want the humiliation of having dd sent home again. School do not make the dc feel badly thankfully - they handle it well - but I would feel totally mortifiied if it happened again! Have used so many towels I virtually have none clean now. Mounds of washing to get through too!

PegLegAntoine good luck with the home schooling - we have at least three or four teachers on the thread, at least two home-schoolers - so hopefully it will be a good source of advice! And fantastically well done wrt all the food prep!! And no need to be apologetic about not reading links; adapting the system to suit yourself is key!

Wily Meerkat Dogsbum Good luck with applying the Flylady method to all the DIY. I think you are definitely entitled to call in some help when you are up against the mini-Meerkat deadline though!! Esp if your dp has bad back!!

Agree with both of you about evils of perfectionism. I swing wildly between dithering state of what should I do/how should I do it (because of not wanting to make mistakes and do it all perfectly) and the oppositive state of having gone so far beyond perfectionist that everything has gone to pot so the task is overwhelming. As you say, achieving a balance is very difficult!

Bitchy yes it could be one of those questions designed to check out reasoning? (Will enquire - in fact that will be a polite way of saying 'is there a mistake here by any chance'!!) Rest of maths hwk was equally challenging but at least sums worked out in the end!! Well done with all the biscuit making despite feeling bleurgh. Drive safely x

Vigorous wing flaps to eveyrone else!

Correction: no we didn't blast the blighters yesterday. That was Friday. It is all merging in to one long nit combing nightmare!!

And don't ask about the dressing gowns, coats, scarves, gloves, hats that are waiting in a pile to be washed ... [SC stomps off muttering and cursing]

What a fecking nightmare SC - I live in fear of lice! My hair is really thick so when I get them, I well and truly get them IYSWIM! Thankfully haven't had them for years, I use Vosene shampoo and spray and lots of conditioner, but I suspect it's also partly down to luck!

I also meant to say re: perfectionism - I am really trying to make myself JFDI! :o My mum read a book once called "Eat That Frog" which was based on that idea.

Funnily enough though, I think homeschooling will actually challenge my obsessive need to plan, and help me become a little spontaneous even! I have got loads of ideas (keeping them all in an iPod memo) but I'm already finding that we are veering off in other directions as something unexpectedly sparks their interest. Early days obviously but I'm so excited that we can now actually JFLI (Just F*ing Learn It) rather than wish we had the time or the energy outside school.

Meet the Meerkats experience sounds great Pegleg, I don't think there is anywhere with exotic animals near us but I might have to check it out now just to be sure. I would be in seventh heaven at a meet/feed the meerkat event.

Glad to hear that you are so excited about the home schooling, how old are your kids? I look forward to hearing how it goes.

Sorry to hear about your nit situation Sling, I remember getting nits as a kid but I didn't remember that the whole family had to be treated and multiple times as well, sounds like a lot of work and then all that washing as well!

I think I'll be alright with the DIY that I need to do before mini meerkat arrives Sling but I'll bear in mind what you say about getting in help.

I've written a list of things that need doing and I've made sure that it's stripped down to the bare essentials and I'm actually enjoying the fact that I have a good reason to be slower and take lots of breaks now. It's actually quite nice to feel like I can give myself permission to have lots of nice breaks and to pace myself, which isn't my forte generally. I just sometimes get really into what I'm doing and forget that I'm pregnant and then I pay for it because I end up really tired.

Glad to hear that you also struggle with the perfectionism demons Sling, that's at least three of us now with these issues, good to know we're not alone.

I've just been off making roast chicken dinner and hence I've been off for a few hours. Now cooked, eaten and washed up so I can relax and watch tv for the rest of the evening. Currently watching Mr Selfridge, enjoyable nonsense.... switch off brain.....

I like the idea of applying JFDI to home schooling Pegleg. It also sounds very liberating just being able to decide what to learn and when rather than being tied to a school structure or having to find the time and energy outside of school hours.

I've not heard of "Eat that Frog" but I think I'll have to look it up, sounds interesting.

I feel I should warn you though, the book made no difference whatsoever to my mum's procrastinating :o

DD is 7 and DS is 5 :) they are at very different stages as DD is now thoroughly enthusiastic about writing etc whereas DS is still learning to read and write slowly (he has a speech disorder which made it incredibly difficult in a classroom) so catering to both their needs will be challenging.

I'll stop waffling now :o it's great to be able to talk about it here though!

I managed more laundry today, tomorrow I need to put dry stuff away and do a few errands like sorting my meds out. And then work, darn it.

Ok so the bread stuff. It all starts with a basic recipe which gets tweaked as needed:

Basic (white bread and pizza base):
9fl oz oat milk
450g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
7g packet of dried yeast (or what ever the standard size is)

Wholemeal bread:
Change the flour to 150g Strong white bread flour + 300g Wholemeal flour

Oat bread:
Change the flour to 150g Strong White bread flour + 150g Wholemeal flour + 150g oatmeal (fine-medium)
Also add a small beaten egg to help bind
You can add oats to the top before cooking to give it a textured crust

Seseme seed bread:
change the olive oil to seseme seed oil
Add 50g seseme seeds
Coat with beaten egge before cooking

Sunflower seed bread:
Add 50g sunflower seeds to the basic bread recipe

Belgium Buns
Add 50g raisins to the dough
Roll out flat, coat with apricot jam, roll into a sausage and cut into thick disks (about 1-1 1/2inch thick)
Coat in run out icing and add cherry when cooled

Cinamon Buns
Roll dough out
brush with beaten egg, coat with sugar and a very liberal coating of cinamon. Roll into a sausage and cut into thick disks (about 1-1 1/2 inch thick)
Coat with run out icing when cool

Pizza rolls
Roll out and cut into triangles
add a desert spoon of cooked mince mix (onions, mince, grated carrot, tomato puree, herbs)
add some grated cheese
roll up from thick end to thin end trying not to leak the stuffing mix everywhere

All of the bread does best with a double rising (ie it rises when the bread machine preps the dough, then it is left to rise again once turned into the shape needed before cooking, with the cinamon and belgium buns I rise it as the sausage shape and cut it up with a bread knife into the disks then cook.

WHole point of cooking in my mind is to know enough to know how to adapt it. The recipes i used today, one was exactly the same (in theory I messed it up in practice) and the other was an ok that is an interesting idea now lets swap x and y ingrediants and tweak in this manner to get the consitancy needed.

Wheat free bread in this house doesn't happen because I can't eat the wheat free substitutes either. I am not really that bothered as it means that I am healthier, and I know that a very occassional cheat whilst not great is not going to be the end of the world. Just when it is regular than i have a problem allergic reaction like today Focusing on the milk free stuff as it means more to ds as he is only young and it is harder for him to rationalise it all. Hope the recipes help.

Evening all

Nits well and truly blasted (I hope). We've done medicated shampoos, conditioner combing, vinegar rinses - the works - takes ages with dd's very long hair.

WilyMeerkatDogsbum dh and I don't have any lice symptoms (thankfully) but we've been instructed by school that entire family must be treated. Glad to hear you are taking breaks!!

Bitchy you temptress you!! [Drools at sight of all those delicious recipes] I will stick to my diet. [rocks silently] I will stick to my diet. I will try Bitchy bakes. I will try Bitchy bakes. I will stick to my diet

Pegleg yes, I imagine one of the joys of home edding must be the flexibility and chance to be spontaneous and use a current news story, an unusually beautifully sunny day, or an event on in town to inform that day's lessons! V. liberating!

Dh in middle of work crisis and using every computer/laptop/tablet in house (and is on phone at the same time) and yes it's Sunday evening and 11 pm here . So just going to must post links and say g'night!

Big waves to all!

Oh the joys of being your own boss. hope you manage to have a relaxing evening SC and well done on the nit blasting.

Forgot to say! Glorious spring-like day here! And quite a busy one owing to the fact that we all had loads of catching up to do post flu/funeral.

Ta da:
quick breakfast
church (walked there and back)
hung up red wash on terrace (first time I have been able to dry clothes outside this year [yay]!!)
ballet kit on wash
texted friend
moved rabbit cages around garden, cleaned out, and added cardboard box, hay, shade, food, water bowl etc.
put rabbits outside in run
stroked rabbits for rather a long time!!
wrote a card
more hwk supervision and chewing of pencil ends over maths questions
emptied dw
cleared kitchen surfaces
wrote shopping list for tomorrow whilst doing a bit of meal planning for wk ahead
made carrot, onion, garlic, bacon, potato, red lentil soup from veg that have been lanquishing in fridge and were in danger of being wasted (with a sprinkling of the ever-useful 'ras el hanout' for extra flavour)
put up trestle table on terrace and set for lunch
soup, cheese and bread lunch
tidied up lunch
10 mins emptying and cleaning bin
hung up ballet kit to dry
put another load on
quick walk in park
more hwk supervision
more medicated shampoo/nit combing on mass
carried ironing board, iron, iron jug, demineralised water upstairs
more hwk supervision
quick supper (bowl of rabbit food for me)
fed actual rabbits
hung up washing
another load on for morning
clothes out for tomorrow
watched Crufts

Thanks Bitchy You too!!

Here's tomorrow's links ...

The baby-step for Mon 9th March is learning about a variety of decluttering techniques and adding a five-minute room-rescue to your morning routine.

Info on various decluttering techniques here.

We are in Zone 2 this week: the kitchen March 8-14.

If you want to, you can declutter 15 mins a day in this zone!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 2 is here. (Although, at the time of writing, the website was confusingly still showing it for Zone 1.)

Monday's mission is [[http://www.flylady.net/c/sp.php scrubbing down your kitchen counter tops)

The daily focus for Monday is: the home blessing hour or 'the home bleugh' as we call it.

The monthly habit for March is the controversial one about getting dressed immediately and wearing lace up shoes indoors etc.

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan : www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 which should update itself daily.

Hope everyone has a good start to the week!

***

Oops, sorry, rushing

Two items in links muddled together

To repeat:

Monday's mission is scrubbing down your kitchen counter tops

The daily focus for Monday is: the home blessing hour or 'the home bleugh' as we call it.

new sofa from Ikea has finally arrived (delivery from 7am to 7pm and it came at 8.30pm sod's law indeed)

It is lovely and comfortable and much bigger than our old one [swoon] I think we are going to spend all our time in the playroom from now on...

did more decluttering today and tidied my bedroom a bit

all looks a bit of a mess atm though with cardboard scattered around and everything in hall in disarray after clearing path for delivery men

will tackle tomorrow

SC your soup sounds very tasty. I ate a lot of boiled leeks and cabbage ends today but for some reason I also ate a lot of normal food too Still I am imagining all those vegetables being very detoxifying to my system... Roast chicken turnip and noodles for lunch (I skipped the noodles) pear tart with horrid crumble topping (note to self do not use selfraising flour for crumble - too salty)

Ds2 and I have just been watching Mr Selfridge and we haven't really done much today...ds1 went to church dd went to Tescos and dh went to a book fair All I could think about was when was the sofa going to arrive! Oh actually now I think about it I did some reading and writing with ds on a religious theme and we learnt a folk song called Blow Away the Morning Dew (but that was only because dh decided ds2 was being very tiresome on Sat so we needed a plan for today)

Peg I read loads of books when I started out home edding and always felt very wistful I hadn't had the chance to do it much much earlier - it sounded so lovely all the things you could do with your age group and no need to stress about the reading and writing really (although ironically when unschooled some children seem to really enjoy putting pen to paper) (ds2 is 12 and has only been home edding for a year) Ds2 just said to me again spontaneously he is loving the social side of home edding and the freedom to go out and play in the park with other children and go on trips. Ambleside Online is a nice resource to look at as is Muddle Puddle. Really the world is your Oyster at that age.

done
dw on
surfaces wiped
I think everyone has uniform (I cannot even face looking in ds1's room)
I've told dd a million times to put the rubbish in her room in a black bin liner and if she hasn't done it I abdicate all responsibility now
roast chicken remains in fridge
put away recycling
hung up washing
took rubbish out
put some cardboard out
tidied some clutter in my bedroom - yet to hoover clean or wash anything up there

Wow, SC ! What a day! Do let us know about the maths question...

Been quite productive here, but pales in comparison.

Ta da!

2 loads of laundry done and dried (outside too! Yay!)
Cooked roast dinner
Homebase and park with DS2
Planted primroses
Weeding
Cleaned car
Washing up
Cleaned kitchen
Mopped floor

Yay, ahead of the game on tomorrow's mission!

Just found the book on Amazon Pegleg and was thinking about it for DP as he is the world's worst for procrastination, you've literally never seen anything like it, I didn't believe him when he said how bad it was until I saw it in action. However, if you say it didn't work for your mum I suspect it wont work for DP, he'll never get round to reading it probably!

Good luck with home ed, 5 and 7 sound like really nice enthusiastic ages, whilst I loved school I can imagine that I would have loved the flexibility of home ed even more. I could have gone on educational visits to see meerkats for heavens sake!

Thank you so much for recipes Bitchy will cut and paste now and then decide which recipe to try first. DP is more tricky to please than me so will have to factor his fussiness in about seeds and anything too healthy sounding. Whilst neither of us have a sweet tooth I can't get away from how much the idea of cinnamon rolls appeals, it may have to be done this week. Will report back when I try my first recipe.

Sorry Sling for confusion, I realised that you and DH didn't have the nits and it's just preventative but still sounds miserable. Logical of course to do the family I just don't remember it being the school's recommendation when I was a kid but maybe I just don't have a very strong memory of what happened.

Totally blown away by your list by the way Sling and totally envious that one item is to put out a table to have lunch on terrace. Dying of envy as I sit here in the cold north of England, I don't know where you live but I assume it's not the north of England!

Anyway off to cut and paste Bitchy's recipes now and decide what to make first!

Thank you Bitchy but really don't deserve it!! If you read about your day and Blue's and Swan's - and others - they have done exactly the same as me if not more - I've just written it out in a way that looks longer!! Honest!

Well done on being ahead of the game Blue!!

Swan desperately trying to up veg and salad intake here too but succumbed half way through the afternoon and ate a delicious samosa ... (dh is very friendly with a Turkish baker - dare not not look up calorific value!!)

G'night all!

x posts Dogsbum no worries re: nits and apologies - didn't mean to sound defensive - I don't remember the whole family being treated when I was young either come to think of it. Agree, it is a complete pita!!

We are in the lugubrious lowlands btw (Brussels) not known for it's sunny climes - I spend a lot of time at the school gate listening to the woes of Spanish and Italian mothers who are finding it incredibly dark and gloomy and depressing but spring just sprang out of the blue today!! Hope it reaches your neck of the woods soon!

G'night again

Big waves to all fledglings!

Tis the season for primroses Blue

Don't worry Sling you didn't sound defensive at all, I just laughed out loud when I realised that I'd confused you in to thinking that I thought you all had nits so thought I should apologise for confusion.

Last time I went to Belgium it rained torrentially the whole time, so I'm glad you are having a better time of it generally. Very amusing hearing about the Spanish and Italian mothers finding it so cold, I guess all these things are relative.

DP's work department often has staff over on six months placement from India and some of them have really suffered adjusting to the cold here. He said there was one poor woman who didn't even take her coat off indoors for the whole six months, bless her!

To be fair it has been sunny here this weekend and the sun did actually have some heat yesterday but I don't think sitting outside having a meal would have been an option really, certainly not something that I could have coped with anyway, but then I am notoriously nesh!

Just checking in, having read right through. Will be pinching Bitchy's recipes here too, although I am also suffering with body clutter having reached an all tine high last year. I have lost 13lbs since Sept, but got another 3st ir so to go, taking it slowlybut steadily. I made cinnamon buns to take to work on my birthday the other week and they were a huge hit, I prep'd them the day before and left them to rise in their tray overnight for baking in the morning, they were anazing.

Quite a lot of Flying done here the last few days, been having a furniture reshuffle so lots of clearing cupboards and drawers.

Morning all!!

WilyMeerkatDogsbum Well I'm afraid I have a lot of eh hem, "natural padding" to keep me insulated atm!!

BODY CLUTTER

Speaking of which, being a complete twonk, I totally forgot to post body clutter info yesterday for those who are interested.

From now on will post weights on Sunday afternoons - in a positive/motivating way of course! - for any one who wants to - on Sunday afternoons.

[Takes deep breath]

Sunday 9 March 2015 : I weigh in at a whopping 81 kg which is just under 13 stone [sob]

Flylady Bodyclutter info here

I have given up alcohol for Lent (and probably beyond), will be following this 12 week NHS guide (which seems very sensible) trying to eat a lot more veg and salad and a load less cake and biscuits and trying to exercise more - all with the help of MFP. As others know on here, I have the willpower of a hibernating slug so I don't hold out much hope but have the deadline of dd's Confirmation at end of May when I want to try and look a bit trimmer.

Good luck everyone!!

Snap Whoknows!!! Again, sorry to forgot all about it yesterday

Well done on your fabulous 13 lb weight loss - that is amazingly good going!!!! How are you doing it?

[And should have said, no -one has to post actual weight if they don't want to - can just post weight they have lost during the week if they prefer! Whatever is most helpful for each person!]

MFP ah yes, that which outed me as crazy exercise person
Be careful with mfp as their databases are user maintained and can sometimes not be accurate. Especially when taking into account the difference in reporting carb levels (english vs american).

Today I am attempting to ditch the dairy completely. But almond milk in my coffee is not cutting it - bleurgh!

Small list today:
work
training
do not kill anyone

Anything else is a bonus.