Flylady's fledglings spring clean your nests! March '16

[Greymalkin]

First of all, a big thank you to Fuzzpig for leading us through the February thread, (you can hung up your duster for a bit now!)

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 support and chat along the way.

The FlyLady link is here Don't be put off by the twee language of the site – we all agree that the underlying system is very effective.

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 swamped with her marketing and testimonial nonsense. 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):

• start or repeat baby steps
• repeat baby steps + do 15 minutes a day decluttering in the current zone
• 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.

There are three key points to keep in mind throughout:

• No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine and many of us on this thread struggle with this one.
• You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
• 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.

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 ‘ta-da’ lists but don't let that worry you. Do what you can, anything is better than 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.

Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey, we really aren’t. Some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome.

BOLLOCKS! I FORGOT THE LINKS!! Back in a mo...

Flightplan for Saturday 12th March

This is our last day in Zone 2: The Kitchen

No missions as it is the weekend.

The next baby step is delete the FatFairy's emails She also mentions more general digital decluttering here too. I have actually been unsubscribing from loads of emails that no longer interest me, and it has made a big difference to my inbox.

Habit of the month is getting dressed to your shoes. A tad controversial on here, some do, some don’t… (I certainly don't)

Saturday is family fun day

Waves to Toffee and proffers strong - that does sound stressful!

Well done on the editing project, Fuzz

Up early so DS2 could go to a Beavers fun day, so am currently at swimming with Ds1 and have done the house bleugh already!

Ta da!
Made lunch for DS2
S&s x loads
Light dusting
Hoovered through (except boys' rooms where couldn't find the floor!)
Cleaned kitchen
Cleaned bathrooms
Laundry x 1
Got DS1 to do his homework

to do
Laundry x 2
Drying x 3
Gardening
Shopping
Library
Pick up DS2

Treble arf at Greymalkin's mid-morning BOLLOCK declaration Have a cup of and a piece of !!

Everyone seems to have done really well in the kitchen zone. Even I am getting a handle on my inordinately huge spice collection!

Nine million things going on here at the moment but just popped in v briefly to say hellooooooooooooooooooooo to Toffee!! [Frantic waves] So good to 'see' you! You've been hugely missed! Have been wondering how things were going and so sorry to hear it's all rather stressful atm. That boss of yours does sound like an absolute tyrant which is horrible. And v stressful about ds1 school, just when he was settling in. Hope your dh feels better for his day out and that some job alternatives come up for you soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Good news about ds2 though!)

Whoknows hugely impressed that you can manage an allotment and have such beautiful nails!!!

My favourite quotes currently are "youth is wasted on the young" and when dd spends too much time staring at her face in the mirror (she is going through a phase atm) "beauty fades, dumb lasts forever!" which sounds horribly harsh I know (I do say it in a humorous way I promise!!) but some of her friends are far too interested in make up and hair for 12 yr olds imho and it is rubbing off on her atm! (Friends are Italian and lovely but slightly different culturally in this regard.) As a counterbalance, I am transporting gin to the countryside to get muddy and covered in horse manure in a moment! [wicked old ma emoticon]

Well done on the kitchen cupboard clearing Needastrongone! Can't remember if I have already said "welcome" to you and Ratcatbag (think I have but no time to scroll) but apologies if not - great to have newcomers!

And a very warm welcome to MidLifeHope and to the Woodenspoonofmischief (love the nns both!)

Einstein how stressful re: all those frustrating phone hanging frustrations but re utility room clearance! (Dh and I have been down in the basement this morning trying to tame various beasts.) Hope you have a good w/e too x

Fuzz great news about your dh's new job - sounds like a great solution while he looks around - and congrats on kicking manuscript in to touch!

Hope your dd hasn't gone down with the lurgy Fizrim

Rushing mahoosively today so many apologies if I've missed anyone out but huge waves to Blue Ellie Nicknacks Shannara Knitting¨Honu Feetheart PA and everyone I have inadvertently missed out!

Everyone very chipper here today. Beautiful, beautiful spring weather atm! Things happening (house-related) that cheer my soul (can't be too specific yet!) but fingers crossed.

Don't want to introduce politics in to this thread but poss of Brexit only cloud on the horizon currently. Wouldn't effect dh work-wise as he runs his own business and doesn't work for any of the Institutions but so many of our close friends do, and our entire life will change if they have to leave . Haven't got that many friends that I can afford to lose more ifyswim (as so many others have already moved on).

On the Flying front : dh and I have just spent a couple of hrs sorting basement and I have just put [drum roll] the first load of washing out on the terrace to dry! Yay!

Now going out for a lovely dog walk in the countryside and to stables with dd and friend (who are booked in for a jumping lesson) for whom I am cooking a slow cooked Boston baked bean recipe/casserole thing and dh and I are having a more sophisticated fish pie concoction (experimenting with them currently). May poss make soup too as have lots of lovely veg I want to use.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! Cheery waves to one and all!

[sorry that wasn't very brief after all]

Hello everyone,

< big wing flaps to Toffee > We've missed you on the thread! Sounds like you have loads going on at the moment, do hope all outcomes are positive.

Welcome to MidLife and WoodenSpoon do join in, this is a lovely thread.

SC I was thinking the same re all the lovely kitchens on this thread - seems we've all got stuck into it.

Well my excuse for not doing the links on time is that my fab MIL took DS overnight last night until lunch time today. And I slept. A lot. T'was much needed and lovely.

Can't be bothered with Ta Da lists for yesterday or today, too much to type!!

Good to see you caught up on sleep, Grey. I know how good that feels.

Have spent most of my day in the kitchen, which fits in neatly with this week's missions.

ta da

Washing on
Unloaded d/washer
Reloaded with yesterday's washing up
Washed up and put away the rest of the dirty crockery by hand
Tidied and wiped all kitchen surfaces
Tackled various hotspots
Emptied, cleaned and replenished two cat-litter trays
Made pasta sauce for the boys' lunch
Fed everyone, including cats
Unloaded d/w and put on another load
Emptied washing machine and dried washing (radiators and tumbledryer)
Emptied and cleaned out fridge (mouldy veg at the bottom )
Threw away out-of-date food
Emptied kitchen bin
Hoovered downstairs
Mopped floors

I think that's it. Downstairs is looking much better now and both boys are busy either reading or online, so I'm grabbing some MN time before starting dinner. May have bought myself some wine too...

Ta da!
Made lunch for DS2
S&S x loads
Light dusting
Hoovered through (except boys' rooms where couldn't find the floor!)
Cleaned kitchen
Cleaned bathrooms
Laundry x 3
Drying x 3
Got DS1 to do his homework
Gardening - weeding, pruning, planting
Shopping
Library
Pick up DS2 (well DH did that one)

to do
Drying x 1
Finish crochet project
Read paper!

Also got an email about an exciting work project which is also good.

SC - you're transporting gin to the countryside?! Sounds like a plan!! (Also seriously alarmed by the prospect of Brexit, and similarly wouldn't affect my work directly, but...)

Toffee cheers!

at Grey

Hi to new people too. :)

Doesn't the spring cheer a person up slimming? I know exactly what you mean.

That's a productive day blue and toffee.

Who Mine are that colour when I am warm, and go a deep glittery purple when cold, it's amazing! Yours look lovely.

I feel like I have done an amazing amount of ferrying DD around today, and very little else Minimal effort house-wise indeed.

The kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off because I am in the middle of a mass stock the freezer with batches of meals for grab and go ease. Today is the minced based foods. Tomo is the pastry pies and stew. Will need to do another pastry pie day when the kidney I have ordered from the butcher for steak and kidney pie has arrived.

Ta da
Town 1: banking and market type errands
Town 2: Some food shopping needed for batch cooking
Get ds to evict laundry from his room
Get ds to evict washing up from his room
Deal with ds who is pissed off with the toy he was playing with was not wanting to do what he wanted to do.
Cottage pie
Lasagne
Mince topping for pasta
Spag bol topping
Mash potato portions
Speak to ex re ds

To do
Town 3 for school shoes (Asda cos they are not going to last if they are expense or cheap so cheap works)
Stick a load of laundry on
Put all cooled down meals into freezer
find recipe book for tomo
Work on a craft project to relax.

I will be glad when tomo is over. I love the ease of having everything cooked but tbh Batch cooking from scratch (we emptied the back stash to defrost the freeze) is hard work.

The plan for sunday?
Laundry
folding
ironing
batch cooking
deal with school letters/admin
tidy and clean ds' room (want to take bets on how many hours it takes this time? hint - he bought new books and has had a birthday since the last time)
I would love to say that I am going to sort my room out a bit BUT it is not going to happen!
Assuming all of the above gets done I am going into hiding with a craft project

Ds is nagging to get the school shoes job done so will stick my head back in later.

Flightplan for Sunday 13th March

We have moved into Zone 3: The Bathroom and one other room

There are no missions as it is the weekend.

Our next baby step is to to pick a mission, any mission, and do it (Click on the Flightplan link above)

Habit of the month is getting dressed to your shoes. A tad controversial on here, some do, some don’t… (I certainly don't)

Sunday focus is renewing your spirit Do something lovely just for yourself.

Crikey - everyone is very busy - well done all!

Think it is indeed the spring weather Need!

Oops, didn't really transport gin to the countryside [how's that for a Freudian slip?]. Actually transported girls to riding lesson which went well. Beautiful day. Beautiful horses and even more gorgeous donkeys [ah]. And furry one had a fantastic time running about, burrowing in undergrowth, and sniffing around rabbit holes while we were waiting.

But dd and friend hated the slow-cooked supper I had prepped for them with hidden veg (to have with sausages) too much smoked praprika apparently so I took them to Quick Burger instead . Oh well. They loved it and dh snaffled my healthy disaster dish but he'll eat anything thankfully Fish pie will now be eaten tomorrow.

Good luck with the batch cooking Einstein!

Toffee what is it about men and mouldy veg at bottom of fridge [shudders in sympathy]? I found horrors lurking in the veg drawer when I returned to it recently having been off cooking duties with a bad back ... anaerobic swamp sludge would best describe it [yurgh]

So great that you had a well deserved rest Grey! Yay for lovely mils!

And lovely to have had time in the garden Blue (won't say what I think of Boris right now ... .)

Oh yes and managed to get dd to do a bit of hwk after her friend left and design an Easter card. And I witnessed about six versions of a dance routine that she has choreographed (her current obsession) while dh watched the footie.

All uniform, gym kit, ballet kit washed for next week. Towels washed, dried and folded. All laundered and ironed clothes put away. Kitchen tidy and clean with shiny sink. Ground floor decluttered and clean. Upstairs a total disarrrrrster ... save for bathroom ... but that's for next week... .

G'night all!

New project sounds exciting too Einstein!

I think DH thinks the fridge will look after itself, SC . He really hasn't got to grips with it yet. Hope your back is better now - horrible to have a bad back.

Yuk!

I have crocheted a bag, of which I am inordinately proud, but feel DH is insufficiently admiring, so posting a picture instead!

Blimey Blue looks brilliant!

Shopping trip done
potatoes one
cold food in freezer labelled
ds is bouncing about as he was allowed to spend some of his birthday money to buy a nerf gun
I am feeling pleased as I found 2 pairs of skinny fit trousers (just need to get ds to try them on to check the size), and we both have the shoes we needed.

CBA to find the recipe book tonight. Might not bother with craft project as am knackered. Just waiting for potatoes and ds to go to bed. Also cba to put a load into the washer. It can wait til tomo, which is probably better for it than leaving it in the machine overnight.

I love that bag!

DD has the lurgy good and proper now, all hail the power of Calpol!

Well done for holding the non-ironing line with me who, I appreciate the support.

Welcome midlife and the other newbies this month, good to have you with us.

Colour-changing nail varnish sounds fab needa.

Toffee work sounds, um, challenging to say the least. Good luck with the job hunt!

No flying of note here today, nothing to see, move along ... tomorrow is another day!

Hey all, I've not caught up yet but just popping in now the internet is back up and running [phew]

Toffee it's good to 'see' you. I've been pondering PMing you as wondered where you'd got to, but also thought you might be having a break from MN or something so didn't want to intrude (I do overthink these things! Takes me half an hour to compose a text message sometimes! ). Anyway. Sorry the job is going so crazy and aaargh about the secondary school. I hope both issues are resolved soon!

Home ed is going pretty well I think, thank you :) enjoying it a lot and the DCs are too. Lots more topic work and I'm loving how enthusiastic they are. I think it might bankrupt me though as they want to do every class and club going! :o

Blue that bag is lovely!

I achieved a reasonable amount considering I'm quite worn out - lots of laundry and have mostly packed, did nearly 3hrs of the last few editing things, need to phone her tomorrow as there's an extra illustration and I'm not sure where it goes! DH ironed tonight so it doesn't need doing next weekend. Oh and I finally sorted all our tablets, there were loads of half used blister packs etc but it's all neat and organised now.

Have a great Sunday everyone :)

Morning my lovelies!

Colour changing nail varnish ? Had never heard of that! Whatever will they think of next? ?

Wow Blue that bag is fab!

You have inspired me to start bringing down my sewing materials to the sitting room which had been banished to the home office at Christmas, now that it is lighter and I can actually see what I am doing!

Also, I started doing a bit of painting last week with one of dd's old set of watercolours but can't seem to find the bag which contains my proper art supplies, which tells you how disordered my house is but will go on a proper hunt this morning.

So sorry your dd succumbed Fizrim and hope she feels better soon.

Well done re all the editing and packing Fuzz

Good luck with the continued military operation batch baking Einstein

Thanks Toffee back is SO much better thanks. I am at the blissful stage now of not even thinking about it during the day very much ifsywim! Being careful to bend zee knees though. And have bought several of these so I can pick up dh's socks from the floor where he drops them!

Really need to sort out home office and boudoir now. They are both hideous pits which are getting me down. Sunshine seems to highlight the dust and clutter. Kept up with intention of decluttering home office a bag of papers at a time for precisely 4 days consecutively Pitiful!

Poor dh is knackered (has been working too hard as usual) and now has his third cold since Christmas. He is out late tomorrow night (business dinner) then travelling again mid-week, then travelling again following week. It never ends. So my main task of the day is to take dd out somewhere with the furry one so he can rest (well that is my excuse anyway). Shame he is ill though (we seem to be taking it in turns currently), I was hoping we could go out all together today. Just as soon as I am recovered and fully of energy he needs to rest and then vice versa. Heigh ho.

Must do something in home office though. Determined to do it because it is getting me down.

Then Crufts on the telly! Bliss!

Have a restful Sunday everyone!

Forgot to wave to Grey thanks for links!

Military operation? yep feels a bit like that around here today. dropping people off, point made about shower and now it needs serious rescuing and bleaching to within an inch past it's life

Bedding washing as it has been on my list all week and life got in the way.
hoovering the lounge floor - except I still don't have a lounge floor to hoover as it looks like an explosion

First things first.

Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Find a vat of the extra extra strong stuff on the naughty corner bar!

Afternoon all, how are your spirits feeling?

How very skilled you are Blue - lovely bag. Did it take you long?

SC and Toffee, oh yes, the self cleaning fridge... < gives hollow laugh >

Not sure about everyone else, but in my corner of the country the sun has been out, its bright, dry and a little chilly, but nice enough to be outside. So DS and I have been out in the garden for a few hours.

TaDa
Lazy morning not doing too much
Gardening jobs!
*Swept all the winter debris off the patio
*Scraped all the moss out of the grooves between the paving slabs
*Pulled up all the dead plants from the two hanging baskets and two trough planters
*Attached a bird nesting box to the wall
Made lunch
Sorted the laundry mountain into more manageable hillocks, one in the machine now
Watered houseplants
Dealt with cat litter trays
Went through the overflowing pen-pot, testing each pen and chucking out the ones I didn't like the 'feel' of
Emptied the display cabinet in the kitchen, cleaned and polished the glass shelves and door fronts
Rearranged contents of cabinet, chucking clutter
Found electric screwdriver and put on charge for DIY tomorrow

Probably going to chill now either reading or trying out some podcasts.

Hope you are all having lovely Sundays

ta da
person dropped off
help ds move furniture in his room
soak shower in coke
put cleaning fluid into toilets and leave to soak
wash bedding
1st load of sofa throws
some folding of laundry
check bag bought yesterday and realise it needs to be returned
scrub shower and rise down ready for bleaching
take dead plants out from bathroom and send to compost heap in the sky
sort out calendar and update it
Collect person
make the to do list for others
wash duvet
wash pillows
remove shower door from shower
Apply a very thick layer of bi carb and bleach paste to shower grout, sealant, door frame, tiles, drain cover and door.
Make stew
Make shopping list to get bits missing so can't do pastry pie stuff today
cook the advance prep for the pie making tomo
1st load of clothes washing

to do
clean shower down
door back onto shower
clean toilets which have been soaking
clean bathroom (sink/bath/floor/mirror)
water and feed plants
2nd load of clothes in washing machine
ironing
folding
clothes away
remake bed
2nd load of sofa blankets washed
3rd load of sofa blankets washed
dishwasher emptied
dishwasher reloaded

Urgh that to do list is waaaaaaaaaaaay to long. :(

You've all been more productive than me!

We've done most of the packing, a bit of home ed, helped DSD with loads of coursework. And sent the book text off WOOOOOT! Just doing the captions on the pictures now (got the extra one figured out) although that doesn't need to be done until later, as they'll do the text and then send me a link to upload the pictures, but I found it was quicker than I thought so am trying to do it all tonight.

Grey you've reminded me to sort the pens out - not sure I'll have time to do it completely, but I do need to pack a pencil case for the DCs to take with us anyway so I'll make a start. Pen drawer is overflowing!

Tonight we are also decluttering our to do list by finishing a series of anime we've been watching. :o

Coffee is an excellent idea! I will take you up on that, thanks < puts kettle on >

DD's cold has got quite bad today, lots of calpol and staying in. Weather is nice, will hang washing out again now DH has cut the grass.

Just been reading a fab blog about deciding what your 'all' is so you can 'do it all'. Setting your priorities and goals, that kind of thing. I have been trying to do this and have signed up for a couple of online courses, but there is something about this that has really inspired me to focus on what I'm aiming for. Will be fab to go back to the courses with this in mind (even if that's what the course was telling me to do all along!).