August Birthdays and the Fledglings are a nattering

[DarkEvilMoon]

Ok so here is the August thread.

Another chat thread.

Going to be completely half arsed with this.

launch pad from here is all the linky poos which few of us look at anyway
But we are following Fly lady principles. sort of 15 mins decluttering, babysteps and all that.

Oh we are a long running thread, we may seem clicky but we have been around the wrong side of half a decade. We do welcome newbies, and some of the flock joined us only recently.

If you have any questions on the fly lady system do ask and we will try to answer them. Hopefully back to normal service and regular linkies in September after the hols.

So nerh...

Piss off

CantSee - sympathies on the sleep/melatonin condundrum .

ellie - well done for getting out of your PJs .

Have sorted the kitchen, done washing and washing up, had a bath and hairwash, swished and swiped in the bathroom and made the bed. Have also started a new 'to do' book in the kitchen, which makes me feel very efficient.

Oh, and am making pasta sauce for DS2, so he will have had a large dose of vegetables today.

DS1 has agreed to do some holiday homework with me later. That'll be fun .

Thanks Who. Toffee I stocked up on polish today! cheap stuff that won't bother me so much when DD uses too much!!

Today was a family day. We went out geocaching, a lovely walk by the river with no moaning! The joys of gps units!

Ta Das

Washing
Fixed fence
Planted new hedge
Ordered new table

To Dos

Sort DS's birthday presents
Clear kitchen

Sounds like a lovely family day, three. Good idea to stock up on the polish too.

We went to a BBQ this afternoon. Really wasn't in the mood for socialising at all, but couldn't turn down the invite. Found it quite hard at first, but a glass of Prosecco or two helped.

You know something? I don't think I've ever bought a can of polish in my life. My mum never used it so I never picked up the habit.

Anyway, I decided to keep going with Flylady ways today and was dressed by 9, I am normally in pjs till about 12 on a Sunday. Made a big batch of runner bean chutney, washed DCs bedding (they stripped beds and helped re-make them) and wandered into town for bread. Met an old friend who I hadn't seen for a few years and whose phone no. I had lost, it was good to catch up.

Then we went out for a walk from a nearby village, about 4 miles with a nice pub meal at the end. The DCs are much more amenable to walks nowadays, although both tired towards the end (both had worn unsuitable shoes which I didn't notice till we had driven to the starting point). It was really good to have a few hours together without all the distractions of home. Not a single geocache on our route despite it being very busy with walkers.

mum always used to use a liquid polish for the wood and a cream polish for the leather sofa, now long gone but they are not smells you forget ditto with brasso but that was never so nice imo

I use Brasso for knob polishing!

Who - sounds like a good day yesterday. We have really enjoyed the long walks we've done this summer and it's been great to have DS1 join us. As neither of my children is sporty, walking is a good way to get them to exercise. DS2, in particular, really enjoys the views along the way too.

Woken up far too early by noisy vehicles outside. Grr.

I have a silver polishing cloth, but that's just for jewellery, my knobs just get a wipe with a damp microfibre cloth or similar, same as all the other surfaces. Our front door furniture is chrome and doesn't go dull. I was thinking of aerosols of Pledge or similar. I think that I view it in the same way as fabric conditioner, i.e. something that makes a very slight difference and that some people (not me) like the smell of.

Yeah, agree with you about Pledge and suchlike. I use it occasionally, but am not sure it does anything more than the use of a duster would do.

Always make sure I spray a bit around before certain visitors arrive though!

Hi all. Back from Blighty and reporting for duty. Downstairs looks likes our suitcases have thrown up, I'm 2 kilos heavier than when I left and it looks like summer is well and truly gone.

ta da
1 case unpacked
food shopping
1 wash done
2nd wash on

to do
finish washing up
finish unpacking
continue tackling mount washmore

BBL to catch up on all your news.

Back from holiday late yesterday, been out at the beach most of today, and the house is utter chaos! Boys are away with GPs for a few days from tomorrow, so will need to make a list of what to do while they're not here...

We had a great time in Germany, but lost our camera on the last day, with all the photos. :( Also, it was great to stop over in France and have some decent with our dinner! The one drawback to Germany is not wanting to shell out the €€€ for drinkable wine...

Welcome back, Blue. Are you on Facebook? Any chance of you putting out a plea online, in case someone finds your camera? I remember reading about a couple who were reunited with their holiday photos that way.

Welcome back, Engels, too.

Good luck to both of you with your post-holiday unpacking, washing, etc. etc.

Hello, would you mind if I joined you?

My youngest starts school in September and I'll only be working 4 days a week giving me time to catch up on all those jobs (well.....in theory) - I'm a bit of a slacker tbh. I feel a new stage of our family life beginning and would like to stay organised from the start with it. A girl can dream!

Hi Nicknacks, good to see you. A lot of slackness going on here at the moment but I have had a spurt of decluttering in the last few days following a very prolonged end of term/end of primary school/going away camping/any excuse for slacking spell.

Hi whoknows we're going camping in a week or so, did you have good weather? I think it's going to rain for us. Oh well. I'd love to be all organised for camping and leave the house looking all fab and shiny for our return.

We had very mixed weather indeed Nick - day 1 was beautiful, day 2 was torrential rain dawn to dusk, day 3 was beautiful again and day 4 was steady rain for packing up. Took us a week to get everything dry and packed away.

Not caught up yet. But went back to work today. Made it through the shift but spent much of it struggling to say upright. Dizzy as hell. Don't expect I'll be leaving the house tomorrow! Might manage some laundry or something.

Oh that's the worst part, drying it all out That was us last year, I hope we are spared this year.

Hi fuzzpig

Sorry pressed post too soon, sorry you're feeling unwell - I hope you feel better soon. Make sure you rest.

Cheers Nick :)

Fingers crossed for your weather Nick.

Sorry work turned out to be so exhausting Fuzz, well done for making it through. Hope you feel a bit better tomorrow.

Well, not a very productive day today. I did get dressed to shoes fairly early (by about 9, that is early for me if I'm not going out). Faffed about till about 11.45, washing, a bit of tidying, sorting school uniform and working out what we still needed to buy. Then it was off shopping with the DCs. School shoes first, half an hour drive away, the shop was busy, but exemplary service, they spent 45 mins trying DS out with about 15 different pairs and were not going to let us go with anything other than a perfect fit. DS was a bit exasperated by it but held it together well. Then off to another town another half an hour drive away to go to Sports Direct and M&S, with a bit of lunch on the way. Had a lovely time with the DCs and came back laden with socks, shin pads, jogging bottoms etc, secondary PE kit is massively more complicated than primary it seems. Just need to label it all now

Then
Dinner
De-flea cats
Prepare packed lunches for next couple of days
Tidying
Reading
emails
Bed

Actually, that is quite productive. Just didn't get done quite a few things I meant to (home blessing for example).

Hi everyone, welcome to NickNacks and great to see you again Engles

Glad holidays have gone well, it's raining where I am and doesn't feel like summer at all! However, I had a wonderful day out in London yesterday, with fab weather to match, with my MIL and SIL - we went on a tour of Buckingham Palace state rooms and the private gardens. I would highly recommend it, even for children.

Some small ta das:

Up and dressed by 7am
Fed cats, DS and myself,
Took car-less MIL to work
Loaded dishwasher
Ploughed through Mount Washmore, divided up wash loads
One wash load on

To do:
Fold and put away dry laundry
Hang up wet laundry
Put on more washing
Change bedsheets x2
Food shop

The clutter is creeping back in all around the house, so I need to tackle that and take stuff to charity shop.

DS has gone nearly a week without using a dummy at all and I'm so pleased for him. He is 2.8 and he is so much more talkative without the dummy so we felt it was time to let it go. I was expecting tears and tantrums, and we've had a few but no where near as bad as I expected. Not knocking anyone who uses one, but I feel so much happier now he is stopping. I'm tempted to cut them up and then chuck them out, then ere is no temptation to go back!

And look what I bought in the gift shop >>>

Love the crown, Grey. A visit to Buckingham P. was one of the things I wanted to do with DS2, but we never got round to it. Will keep it on my 'to do' list as it sounds as if you really enjoyed it.

Welcome back, NickNacks.

Does anyone have any links to a 'getting ready for back to school' type list? My DC have been out of the system for so long that I'm worried I'm going to overlook something. Couldn't find anything succinct on Flylady. I have ordered lots of socks and pants (always seem to be running low on those ), plus new trousers for DS2 and Stitko labels for both, so I don't have to do ironing or sewing.

I also need to plan our morning schedule and start getting the boys up earlier the week before.

Today we're planning to go swimming and, hopefully, DS1 will come too. (He hasn't been swimming for years, so it will be another achievement for him if he does it). DS2 wants to make cupcakes later. And I need to arrange some playdates.