Let April Spring Cleaning with the Fledglings commence (hopefully Dogsbum wont turn it into too much of a shower....)

[Dogsbumhair]

The fledglings is a long running thread based on the Flylady cleaning/tidying principles. Personally I’m a newbie with only a couple of months flying under my belt but some members of the group have been on the thread for a number of years, so the thread is a mixed group of more and less experienced fledglings. I have found myself to be very warmly received as a newbie so please don’t be scared to join the gang.

Flylady link link here.

The system initially seems quite confusing so my advice as a fellow newbie would be to just go with it and accept that you will probably feel a bit confused for the first couple of weeks and then it will start to come together and make more sense.

The basic principles are (very) loosely as follows:

1. No perfectionism allowed (it is your enemy and it is stopping you getting anything done)
2. Little and often is the way to go (your house didn’t get in a mess in a day, it wont get sorted in one)
3. You are never behind, just jump in where you are (We are in a different zone of the house each week and all the house zones come round once a month, so all the tasks will come round again soon)
4. The point of this system is that by doing little and often your life isn’t dominated by housework and you have more time to do the fun things that you’d much prefer to be doing

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.

Later on today I will be posting up the links and information for tomorrow’s tasks

The advice from the wise and experienced members of the group is not to subscribe to the emails, but I have to confess that as a foolish newbie I do receive them I have learnt to ruthlessly bin anything beyond the actual flying tasks though.

Hopefully I haven’t missed anything too important off this introduction, but I’m sure someone more experienced will pop up to supplement this information if I have.

Good luck and happy flying through April!……………..

Oh dear, Linzer, I hope DD1 is ok. That does sound worrying. Good that you're taking her to the doctor asap.

SC - that dog is so sweet! Is he yours now or are you dog-sitting?

Am in holiday mode, which means I am still in my dressing gown and only just about to make breakfast . Nice not to have to rush though.

(As an aside, why does the 'Add a message' line now have pink in it? Anyone else noticed this?).

Alright I am now going to tackle putting the clean clothes away (unironed)

done
wash on
ill dh is up and dressed and sitting in garden (gloomily) being harassed by ds2 who wants to talk nonstop about the lottery now

tinned salmon fish pie for lunch?
ds1 and dd are still in bed - awake I think but locked into technology

Morning all! (Hope you have stopped twitchy DEM )

Waves to Swan!

Thanks for explanation of the daschund terminology Blue! And arf at Dackel! Strange they are known as teckels here (maybe that is just the French term, will try and seek it out in Flemish)! Hope you had a good time while you were away!

Oh dear Linzer that does sound a bit worrying. Hope your dd1 is OK and that you can get a speedy appt at the docs. Let us know how it goes. Glad you had a good trip to the UK! I can't believe your dc are back at school already!

Well done wrt your productive day yesterday MrsMook hope smoke is dissipating! Must have missed "tabata" explanation before - do you mind explaining what it is pls?

Toffee Can't see any pink on the screen here but perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place.

Yes, the dog is ours! (Tbh I was reasonably content with my rabbits but I was outnumbered by dd and dh and he is very, very friendly!) We are already seeing the benefits in terms of walking more and eating less!

It is very early days but after a better-than-expected start, reality is starting to set in a bit as his true personality emerges a bit more as time goes on. He is very, very active, very attention-seeking and seems to have endless energy (we new they are a very active, stubborn breed!). I feel like I have a new baby in the house!! I don't think his previous owners stimulated him enough or (frankly) educated him very well (but I was thoroughly spoiled in my youth by having dogs impeccably trained by my late dfather). Have appt with a trainer in just under a fortnight!! By which time I will have seen the vet and verified his age (think we may have been duped here - despite the passport and papers - as he appears to be much younger than his 3.5 yrs!). Or maybe it's just that he seems young and inexperienced because they never took him out.

Finally, didn't mention this last night as I was still too shaky but had a really awful experience yesterday.

Dd and I took dog out for a walk and he was jumped on by a huge (and I mean huge!) dog (wandering around the quartier with no leash and no owner present) who if not all out aggressive, was far too strong and determined for him. The noise of snarling and barking was just awful. Teeth were showing!! I tried to separate them and picked up my dog (possibly a mistake!) and the other dog then went for me! It actually lunged forward and knocked my dog out of my arms and scratched my thighs and stomach in the process! It was really quite scary. He just wouldn't back off! I shouted at dd to run and fetch dh from the office (we were nearly home when it happened) , who thankfully came and scared him off rather heroically!

When dh got to me I was pinned (facing forwards) to the wall of a garage with my dog in my arms and the other dog at my back on his hind legs with his front paws on both of my shoulders! Still quite shaky but looking back, think I got away lightly because if he had wanted to do, he could have done much worse damage!

We know the dog and its owner and went over to make a complaint. And dh is sending a formal letter of complaint today by registered post. All the owner could say was "il n'est pas méchant" (he is harmless/not dangerous) which he isn't with people generally, but as the owner never walks him anywhere I don't think he realises what this animal is like with smaller dogs.

The proof is that when dh (having checked that dd, myself, and our dog were all ok) 'escorted' this other dog home ie dragged him by the collar, it jumped on one small dog owned by a lady with two small dc (one of whom fell over in the scramble) whom dh had to rescue and he went for another small dog owned by an old lady. Even if not deliberately out to attack (and frankly he just wouldn't back off) he is so strong and determined, he should definitely not be allowed to just wander about like this!

So felt extremely tentative when I went out for a walk this morning. And primarily upset that our poor dog had had such a horrible experience on his very first full day with us. Thankfully, dh very kindly joined me for the first 5 mins (dd too traumatised to come!) and I was OK after that, and happily our dog seems totally untramautised and happy as larry outside!! So could have been a lot worse!

Sorry - that was a bit long - needed to get it off my chest I think!

Oh yes, Flying

Ta da
Morning routine inc rabbits, dw, wm, dining room table hot spots
Fed dog
Walked dog
Have hoovered entire downstairs (think this will be a regular feature now we have a new furry member of the family)
Cleaned kitchen
Ironed one load of washing
Hung out grey wash to dry on terrace
Re-booted machine

To do:
Urgent - Internet shopping parcel returns
Summon up something healthy for supper
Do something interesting with dd
Carry on tackling laundry pile

THIS WEEK: tackle boudoir and home office (as usual) which are both totally out of control!

Enjoy the rest of the day fledglings! Glorious sunshine here - hope it is with you too!

SC - oh god, that's a terrible experience. I'm so sorry you went through that. Must have been really, really scary for your DD too. That dog certainly shouldn't be wandering round the streets alone. Is it even legal? We have a dog catcher here who collects stray dogs and takes them to the council pound. I once had to pick up a friend's dog when he ran away (someone was looking after him whilst his owners were away).

And I love the fact that your DH arrived to rescue you like a knight on a white charger!

Swan - fish pie for lunch sounds very organised. I can only manage ham sandwiches .

Have been trying to persuade DS1 to come out with DS2 and me. It's beautiful weather and it would do him so much good to get outside. He managed a trip to a cafe with me yesterday and we talked about him coming out with us today. Bearing in mind what the therapist said, I am trying to get him to at least come for a short walk with us, even if he doesn't make it to the local park. Am fretting about his Vitamin D levels, not to mention his non-existent exercise levels.

ta da

Fed cats and children
Washing machine on (whites today)
Unloaded d/w
Washed up breakfast stuff
Cleaned sink
Cleared kitchen worktop and wiped down surfaces
Emptied litter tray
Swished and swiped in bathroom and put out clean hand towel

Right, will have another go at getting DS1 to come with us.

Re: the pink thing behind the 'Add a message' line. It's a pig. I'm sure it's a pig because if I look at the Mumsnet home page and scroll down, I can see a bit of a pig behind one of the messages at the bottom.

It can't just be me, can it?

(Promise I haven't been drinking this early in the day).

No pink pigs here, Toffee. at you still being in holiday mode; I have the yoga run (30 minute drive to next town and back, x2) and (thankfully slighter shorter) scout run to do later. But I did enjoy a nice quiet morning.

SC What a frightening experience for you all - glad to hear that your dog is now untraumatised, at least. I hope something positive comes out of your letter of complaint and that the owner takes some notice. As an aside, DD2 is terrified of dogs (and I am also rather wary, having been bitten by one at the age of 3) and I get very annoyed by people telling us that their dog won't do anything and expecting DD2 to suddenly lose all her fear - even though I know they're only trying to be reassuring.

Finally managed to get through to doctor's and DD1 now has an appointment for tests next Wednesday. I was expecting/hoping that she would be seen today, but at least I'm feeling a little calmer about it all now - I was imagining all kinds of awful things last night (and googling to discover that it could be anything from diabetes to a brain tumour really didn't help! Am sure there are plenty of other less serious explanations that I've overlooked.)

Now this is embarrassing. I started a thread on site stuff about the pink pig and nobody could see it. Then I decided to take a screen shot and the bloody pig had disappeared!

I sound crazy, don't I?

Linzer - glad you have appointment booked for DD, although it's annoying she has to wait so long. I would be worried too, but it's more likely to be something minor like a urine infection.

The Mystery of the Pink Pig is here.

It all sounds very mysterious, Toffee - could the ghost of a pink pig possibly have been haunting your computer? It's obviously gone off to haunt someone else's now.

Thanks for your concern re DD1. I'm sure you're right and it will turn out to be something quite minor - and no doubt it will have resolved itself completely by the time we get to the doctor's, as is always the way. What happened about your blood test btw? Apologies if I missed the results; I only skim-read the thread while we were away.

That's hilarious Toffee! We believe you but whatever hallucinogenics you are taking, I want some too

Linzer yes, I was thinking too that there is a strong possibility it could be a urine infection. (I guess a bit of cranberry juice between now and the appt couldn't harm either.) If it's any consolation, as you know, I made the mistake of consulting Dr Google recently, because of dd's constant fatigue, and imagined all sorts of really terrible scenarios when in fact everything is fine. I'm sure this will be the same for your dd too (although hard not to worry I know)!

Thanks so much everyone re: dog attack.

DD was very frightened Toffee and she told me last night that she couldn't sleep because she thought that when I asked her to run for dh, the dog would start chasing her. (She didn't realise that the dog's entire focus was fixed on our dog ifyswim.) Given that she thought that, she was very brave to do what she did!

Strictly speaking I think it is illegal to allow your dog to wander around loose, but this dog is a kind of 'character' in the quartier as it belongs to a café and lives outside on the pavement so the owner gets away with it. Also, situation slightly complicated by the fact that dog is owned by two people, neither of whom seem to be taking full responsibility. Also, patrons of said pub tend to un-tether it.

Yes Linzer. We have a verbal agreement from the owner that the dog would stay tethered outside but on his premises and we are following this up with a formal letter. If he doesn't comply, we are going to report the whole situation to the police (with photos of my scratches).

The trouble is, all the calm and lovely walks are in that direction and I now have to go in opposite direction, in to heaving traffic. 'Tis a right bugger!

Feel a bit more chilled this afternoon! Took dog out this afternoon in the car and then for a walk and it is much less hyper now. Trying to praise the good and ignore the bad which seems to be working. Got it to lie calmly in its bed three times with the help of a clicker and three bits of kibble!

Yes Toffee I'm sorry, I forgot to ask about your blood test results too!

Sorry toffee no pig or pink line

SC it is a shame that you and dd had that experience, Linzer i agree about people not understanding that their reassurances of the dog not helping. Tbh it is generally the people not the dog that causes all the issues Properly trained dogs can be lovely, good luck with training yours SC

Sleep - a whole 8 hours

ta da
Remove clutter from bath
clean bath
soak in epsom salt bath so can move
upset the printer
finish cutting out the pattern pieces ready for cutting material later
Write a rather extension to do list and wince
Put a load of washing on
Update calendars
Find some scraps of wool to play with to stop twitchiness
put wool on shopping list
Discover that whoever said we have a nest is probably right as you can now hear buzzing in the bathroom wall
declutter email inboxes
find clothes hangers and hang clothes up
Sort through pile 1 of reciepts only another 101 flipping piles of the damn things

Lunchtime I think. Am heading out for most of the rest of the afternoon/good chunk of the evening. Catch ya later.

SC my very limited experience of dog walking (a springer and a terrier) was that a dog on a lead is a target for a dog off the lead. Someone on the Doghouse might be able to explain the dynamics of it in more detail. Gosh you are brave to have kept your head. Sounds like you are very intuitive already with dog psychology - I'm sure big dog knew he could not hurt you just wanted to get the dachshund. Tbh big dogs tend to just be quite soppy - they knock you over and scratch you by mistake but they don't tend to bite. But knocking over a child would be lethal so the owner really really needs to think about what his dog would be capable of. Still, thank goodness you now know not to let dd walk the dog in that direction by herself - say in three months time.

done
today has gone better than I first thought

cooked beetroot soup and fishpie with crispy breadcrumbs
I did some work with ds2, cleared up steadily for at least an hour (just clearing plates and detritus really) put washing away in respective bedroom heaps
and dh and I went round to a friend for a cup of tea - a bit tottery but a tiny walk did him good
then dses and husband played Monopoly for two hours

and I did more clearing up!

Roast beef for supper (a Christmas joint from the freezer)
and I've found the debit card so I can finally do some proper grocery shopping

Ds1 is really frightened of dogs (a bit less so since my sister got one who is a very bouncy Labrador/terrier mix) and it stems back to when he was chased by a dog aged about 6 and then again aged 8 in Ireland by some friendly "house" collies whilst mushroom picking. Tbh the dogs weren't chasing him to attack him but just running after him to play so if you could explain that to your dd that dogs often run because they think it is a game and then jump on you to make friends and the faster you run the more they think you are playing the chase game.

Tomorrow’s links……

Baby-step no. 9 for Wed 9th April is here

This step is about de-cluttering and includes some useful tips and ideas. If only I used them as often as I should

We are in Zone 2 The Kitchen this week: here

If you want to, you can declutter for 15 mins a day in Zone 2!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 2 is here

Thursday’s mission is here

The daily focus for Thursday is: Errand Day

The monthly habit for April is making your bed

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan: here

Happy flying…..

Glad to see that I'm not the only one Steady that ends up doing a different job to the job of the day! As long as something gets done I guess it doesn't matter

Blue very interesting hearing about the Badger Hound name, I can't imagine a Daschund being much good in the face of a badger but it sounds very interesting.

Linzer I hope that your DD is feeling better soon.

Steady that experience with the big dog sounds horrendous, absolutely terrifying. Poor DD being too scared to go out for a walk today, I hope the fear doesn't persist.

Toffee loving the pink pig drama, it was making me think of the pink elephants scene in Dumbo

Dark fascinated wondering what your bath clutter could be, I can't even imagine. I once worked in an office that was formerly a house and the bath was used to store technical drawings, so that was the image coming into my mind, my imagination appears to be running away with me this evening....

So sorry to hear about numerous people's children ending up with a fear of dogs due to bad experiences, it's making me realise just how easily it can happen and how common it is. I have a friend who's son has ended up with a terror of dogs to the point where she now thinks she needs to get him some professional help as it is starting to prevent him from doing lots of things

Not really been a flying day here, it turned into errand day when I realised I had a prescription that I'd forgotten to pick up and got an email to say that a bedspread I'd ordered was ready to collect from the shop.

So I decided to get a bit of exercise and sunshine and have a walk to get prescription and try and buy some new flipflops or sandals and a protective case for new mobile phone, pick up bedspread, etc.

DP had his jabs this evening for India and he's also been given a prescription to pick up something for Cholera, first I've heard of that one. I'm picking it up tomorrow so I can have a nosy at that.

You are not far out dogsbum it is currently the storage area of paperwork that needs sorting, it did hold boxes that had been pulled out of the loft for sorting. But the sorting was done and those few that were to go back have now gone back in the loft. Besides, who needs a bath when you have a shower?

Wow Dark I didn't expect to be that close to the truth Lucky you have a shower unit as well I guess! Bath and shower are one and the same in our house so no bath paperwork storage options for us

Done more stuff, driven miles, done meetings. sorted tomorrow's to do list and plan of action.

Right the plan is to be asleep by about midnight so i am going to get off the computer in theory

SO TIRED

Work was exhausting today (you know that kind of tired where it makes you want to cry?), had a great evening with family game night but really tired now. DD has her friend coming over tomorrow so we have until 12 to get the house vaguely tidier. DH still in a lot of pain AND he Absolutely Has To Go To Work tomorrow (supposed to be his day off) due to area manager visit.

Oh and did I mention I was tired?

Who - your comment on my pink pig thread made me laugh .

The pink pig mystery remains unsolved, but at least the pig has returned to its rightful place now. (Maybe it was a ghost, Linzer...).

Re: children fearing dogs. DS2 has remained fearful of dogs ever since a friend's dog growled and snapped at him. The owner had assured me that her dog was fine with small children, but I remained right next to DS2 all the time, just in case (luckily). DS2 was only two and he's never forgotten the incident. He curled up in a ball on the floor to protect himself. I reassure him constantly whenever we see a dog, but he's really scared.

Glad today turned out well, Swan.

SC - sounds like you are doing brilliantly with the new dog. Thanks for asking after my blood-test results. No results yet, but I'm feeling better at the moment, so maybe there aren't any results to get. (No phone call means nothing's wrong).

Dogs - that sounds like a productive day. Glad you fitted in exercise and sunshine too.

Dark - glad you managed some sleep. Not good that you can hear buzzing, though. That definitely needs sorting.

Took DS2 out to a local park for a couple of hours this afternoon, so was able to mentally tick the exercise/vitamin D box (for DC) in my head. Couldn't persuade DS1 though.

On the way home, I reminded DS2 that I'm taking him to a science workshop tomorrow (he loves science). He sulked all the way home. Yes, he loves science, but apparently he doesn't like workshops. I should have called it something else, but it's too late now . Sometimes I feel I can't get anything right.

Cooked salmon nuggets with sweet potato chips for dinner. Mentally ticked 'home-cooked food' box.

Took washing off line, dealt with washing up. Also dealt with unmentionable incident involving cat poo. Don't ask .

Dry night, so drank apple juice. Am trying to lose a few pounds before the parties next week.

Like Dark, I am also aiming for a decent bedtime.

Toffee the pink pig sounds like an issue with your screen to me. We used to have that with our old TV where if you had one still image for too long (e.g. a snooker table or a channel ident) it kind of burnt onto the screen and would be there like a shadow in the background when you watched something else.

I'm never cooking roast beef again The whole house this morning seems to be covered in beef dripping not so good in the light of day

Dh has gone back to hospital - really worried still and the medicine he is taking is having nasty side effects. Hope we will hear something conclusive and good by lunchtime. Doesn't help that his phone doesn't work in the hospital for some reason.

I really need to tackle the house. I am beginning to see why you find it so tiring Steady because if someone is neither looking after the children in sense of finding their clothes making them go to bed going on little errands with them OR cleaning up and doing a few chores along the way either because they are working very hard or incapacitated - it just feels ENDLESS...

Ds1 just told me he was doing the final draft for his continuous assessment short story today AAARGH so I have to try and help him with that (at least get him to write down a few corrections that teacher suggested)

Also have to think about broken dw (no point getting engineer because I melted the drain with drain cleaner so really need to replace but it is integrated which makes things complex..

And ALL THE MESS.

Captain that sounds very hard - tiredness make me feel anxious - luckily I am still getting a good night's sleep. Hope your dh is alright.

oh here is ds2 wanting to check who won the football match...hmm more battles with technology

Thank you I'm desperately hoping he is better soon!

Well tidying so far this morning has been slow, DD was so reluctant (despite being told I could quite easily cancel the play date) she actually asked to do maths first :o normally it's the other way round! :o