Gather ye dusters (fledglings) while ye May, for soon we shall be Flying ... !

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Welcome to the May 2017 fledgling Fly thread!

Feel free to park your mops and buckets here from the 1st of the month!

This is where we attempt to declutter our homes and follow the 30-step wisdom of Flylady (minus cutesy barftastic language and a surfeit of e-mails) with lots of chat and support and mutual motivation (and of course) along the way.

More info available here, here here and here.

As usual we will be following a three-pronged approach - and don't worry - we are all at different stages. (Some of us are still stuck at the decluttering stage after quite a few years ):

1 - repeat or start baby steps (again!)

2 - repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

3 - reinforce babysteps and/or do daily missions
And those of you who have decluttered and are really enthusiastic can throw some detailed cleaning in to the mix as well!

The idea is that we focus on short, ring-fenced, daily bursts of activity (steps and routines) that will help our homes run (more or less!) on "automatic pilot" allowing us to do far more interesting things instead!

This is a very long-running thread so we may appear cliquey but we really aren't! All newcomers, long-termers, lurkers and intermittent returnees welcome!

Helpful pointers: No perfectionism allowed! If it took a while to create the current C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) in your home, then it will probably take a while to reverse the situation (you can't clean clutter!). Small steps are the key! And you are never behind: just jump in where you are at!

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck!

I'm absolutely wiped out with work so no flying here. I'm about to go to bed in a very messy room...

Ah well. Someone get the pointy stick ready for me tomorrow.

Then thought Fuck it and took the Caglets out for dinner this I think is the only appropriate action tbh.

I saw the events of last night on here first, and then watched the news for a bit. I'm originally from the NW and have been to that arena, and had friends there last night (thankfully safe).

Was keeping an eye on the news today but then t'internet decided to crash on me so was offline all afternoon and most of this evening. I thought I was going to have to talk to people or something

Giblets on plate - years ago I worked in an office which had a rather hapless new manager start. He really stuffed something up which was discovered by the workforce on their arrival in the morning with one worker howling across the office 'I'll have hapless newbie's b@lls on my Christmas tree' an insult I have never forgotten and used many times since!

Morning all

Super excited this morning as just been offered a job interview next wed!!

Dishwasher loaded
General declutter done
Have got six shifts in a row now ugh

Good morning all.

The news get sadder and sadder the more one learns about the victims and their families and put names to faces etc So many parents who have lost children and vice versa in some instances .

Agree we need to carry on as normal or the terrorists win.

I am telling dd that (a) this is not about religion but about violence, money, land, power and arms, (b) that there is more good in the world than evil (which I happen to believe) and (c) yes, there is a possibility of an attack (particularly given where we live and where she goes to school) but it is not probable.

The only caveat is that whereas I am at ease (as an adult) making the decision to carry on as normal, I am less comfortable making that decision on behalf of dd. Particularly as her school is in one of the more "difficult" areas of our city when it comes to terrorism and last year experienced classrooms being evacuated owing to gunfire etc etc, and the metro route she takes to school daily is patrolled by armed police in the carriages. I'm afraid I will be changing our behaviour when it comes to her. I am not sure that is the right thing to do though.

Flying is slow today. Can't believe it, I have woken up with hideous sore throat and bloated stomach and feel a bit below par. So boring when I have so much to get done! Yargh!

Ta da so far though:
animals
made dd packed lunch and substantial snacks (unusually for Wed she has exam this afternoon, followed by cinema trip)
drove dd to school (traffic a nightmare - got it wrong yesterday; Trump is arriving today - unfortunately)
morning routine inc dw, wms, td, kitchen surfaces, s&s, dining room table hot spots
printed labels etc so one on-line return parcel ready for collection
on-line banking
40 mins ironing

To do:
continue boudoir
continue editing of website
continue on-line parcels and card writing
continue planning of calendar/nine-week holiday logistics

Eurgh.

Mermaids that's great about the interview; and nice to have some good news today! Good luck with six shifts ahead.

Cotswold glad to hear your friends are safe. Truly awful though nonetheless.

Purple not a pointy stick but a

Sorry you are still feeling rough Cag

Hope you are ok Afreshstart

Wing flaps to Toostressy Foxes Mermaids Einstein Honu Zoo Rosa Bluepheasant Mumontherun Grey and lots of fledglings I am sure I have missed!

Btw, does anyone know how to disable pop-up adverts on the Mumsnet site? There are so many atm, it is getting ridiculous!

Eeek just had an appt through for DD. Next stage of assessment for ASD

Ta da cont'd/..
carried up heavy hoover
dusted and cleaned bedhead in boudoir (it's a curly iron one - a real bugger to do)
stripped and changed boudoir bed clothes
hoovered in middle of floor (can't do any more because there are too many boxes hanging around)
tidied dd's room (again) and our bedroom
put a few clothes away
bunged magazines in a sturdy carrier bag to sort through and check (MUST do this and not just leave it hanging there)
put away shoes

To do:
hoover under bed
sort bedside tables/clear tops/clean/polish
sort 'clutter corner of doom' (one of three btw!)
tidy and dust dh chest of drawers/polish
tidy and dust my chest of drawers/polish
polish bedroom mirror
clear a bit more floor and hoover where possible

Cag is that not a good thing? Or not? (Please excuse my ignorance) although I imagine any sort of assessment like that has to be stressful.

Sorry for more qs but as it is boudoir week, can I please ask the following boring questions ?

1. I am thinking of changing from weekly to fortnightly bed changing (save for very hot weather or when someone is ill of course). One of my sister's does this and she is very house proud. Reasons are: (a) because bed linen still seems quite clean when removed (b) we all shower/bath daily (c) we are often away in wreck2 from Fri night to Sun, sometimes more if we are away Wed night (d) eco reasons to do with energy/water consumption etc. What does everyone do/what do you think?

1. I recently bought some new pillows (well it was about 9 months ago). But having just changed the bed, I noticed they are starting to have a slight yellowy tinge to them (even with two pillow cases on each). So my questions are (a) do you all use pillow protectors? I use protectors for mattresses but not pillows as yet. If so, are they worth it? They always look quite bulky to me. And (b) do any of you wash pillows? (c) If not, how often do you buy new ones?

1. Finally, finally, do you wash/dry clean duvets? (I normally do the latter but here it costs more than a new duvet from Ikea!!) And if not, how often do you buy new ones!

TIA for any info/advice.

Cag you will be fine
Write everything down even tho it seems really silly. This was my error the first time round and forgot tonnes of stuff when it came to the appointments and assessment statement

Thanks, it's a good thing really, I am just more nervous about DD than DS because DD is like many girls an expert masker. She gets by well

It may be good timing though as due to recent stress her symptoms have been ramped up massively. I don't know if this is the final proper assessment or what, they haven't explained. But I'm definitely bringing out my trusty list and adding to it before we go!

Cag hope it goes really well for your dd and hope you can get more info in advance. and results in good support/the support you and your dd want. (Sorry she is finding things tough going atm.) Apologies: "is that not a good thing?" sounds really rude upon re-reading, which was not my intention at all, I was rushing, meant in context of having to wait ages for appts!! Sorry, I have a fat head today!!

Hugs for cag
sc I'm a weekly changer.dead skin cells,sweat n all that.on the pillow front we do use protectors,mainly as we all sleep on front and dribble profusely in the duvets the zoolets have protectors on them too. Yes,they rustle but as ds has nosebleeds often,dd2 has bladder issues and a nasty incident of scout cat stress wee on lil zoo bed it's a lot less FAFF. Its dearer to dry clean than but new here so I feel this is the compromise.plus good for allergies?you honestly get used the noise after a couple if days
Can't fix pop up,yy doing my head in too!!

I'd be the same not trusting my child on metro in those circumstances.its all measured risk and whilst your own life is one thing your child is quite another and in that situation I entirely think you are doing the right thing.x

Cotswold am mentally filing the balls on Xmas tree,but I may need roll in glue and glitter to make look festive!!

Dd2home.combo her cough and sciutcat be but under weather and refuse to go out last night,then wake me at 330am for breakfast and at ten minute intervals thereafter til alarm went off at 5 I can honestly say feel like an old carpet that's been hoovered the wrong way!!

Tadas
Fed Scout cat
Fed kits and did their litter tray
Wash on
Cook partbake bread for lunches
Wipe kitchen floor
Zoolets breakfasts and lunches sorted
School run
Mooch in garden for a bit(before gets too hot)
looked at boudoir...
Played kittens
Cleared top chest of drawers as don't have bedside tables(no room for them)dusted all surfaces

Still not sure I feeling brave enough to go excavating under the bed!!

purple------) a gentle prod rather than sharp stick if required
mermaids congratulations

I've just eaten broad bean,asparagus and mint hummus with fishcakes for my lunch.it was cats pj's and I'd just like to thank mr tesco and will def be try recreate it myself at some point

foxes tonights tea-ds wants meatballs,so doing in pitta with salad.
hoping lil zoo be able eat that as she seems be dropping dd2 chesty cough and bad throat/sneezing.I am totally fed up.seems there has been endless sodding bad throats/chests this winter. Bugger off germs!!the suns come out

Don't be daft sc didn't sound rude at all! 😘

Hi everyone, I'm still not doing much just the basics. Been out all day, just feel the need to get out and take my mind off stuff, it's all just too horrible isn't it? We are meant to be going to an event on Friday and I don't want to go now but know that I should really.

I've done the daily routine again and about to start dinner (thanks again zoo making more notes for my meal planning list!!)

SC I change my sheets about fortnightly (I don't have a particular day so it's give or take a day or two!!) It works fine for us, not particularly smelly or anything! . I don't wash pillows or duvet or replace very often although currently they are all very new ... I have a summer and winter duvet but we just air them out in the garden before putting away. Maybe that's really bad!!

I wash the pillows and duvet regularly. Severe Severe dust allergies and even protector sheets/covers are insufficent for controlling the allergy. That said I wash them about 4 times a year total unless there has been coffee chucking accidents (eg sneezin whilst drinking a cuppa ) Bedding gets washing bi weekly which allows rotation eg 1 wk I do mine, next wk I do ds', then week after I do mine again etc.

Stress has caught up with me. Lack of sleep meant i had to go back to bed after ds went to school but woke with the muscles totally ceased in my neck. Hot bath and hopefully I will be able to get on and do some stuff. starting with taking the matress topper off my matress and putting it under the matress as that seems to be a contributing factor.
Ds is fine today although tired as he was up most of last night asking questions hence my utter exhaustion. going to try to convince him to have an early night.

Hello all, was at work today but managed to get home a bit early so had some time before childcare pick up.

Ta da:-
Small bag of rags to charity
Random pens and pencils recycled or given to childcare
Managed to get bus to work (almost always drive) so had time to read through loads of school letters etc so dealt with some paper clutter
Some laundry put away, one load still on line
Both DDs asleep, I think!

To do:-
Bring laundry in
Tea
Before bed routine
Sew on a swimming badge. I hate sewing!
5 mins declutter in boudoir

SC, the gardening evening would be fine I'm sure without small children. As it is you end up gardening while supervising the DC around garden tools, in front of their teachers so desperately hoping they don't play up! Later there is a snack where you make small talk with the teachers while really just wanting to be at home on the sofa! The girls love them though so we go to almost all of them. Also there tends to be a few regulars so it is not so bad really.

Oh the sheets question. I aim for once a week changing, especially for the DDs. Often will leave ours 2 weeks. Don't ask me when we last bought new pillows or washed them . Can't get on with pillow protectors - too rustly and uncomfortable. I have waterproof fitted sheets on both DDs' beds but not on ours.

Hi all; sorry to be late posting. Hope everyone ok.

Second half of Flying list didn't get done. It's the Ascension holiday here tomorrow (when we will be entertaining - casually) and I suddenly realised all the shops will be closed. Duh! So spent the afternoon food shopping (hastily), by which time dd was ready to be collected from cinema. Only just stopped cooking!

Thank you very much indeed for all the laundry washing/cleaning info. Much appreciated! Going to ponder this some more. Bearing in mind dh can't bear the sound of a ticking alarm clock at night, I don't think he'll tolerate rustly pillow covers somehow. The perspiration/dust mite issues are good points though. (And might take to hanging my duvets out in the garden to air too.) As it happens, totally coincidentally, someone has just posted a recommendation on another thread about pillows that wash really well, so might invest in a few of those and chuck out some of my lumpiest specimens!! Might try out fortnightly bed sheet changing and see how it goes ... .

Toostressy gosh I wish schools here had gardens!! Sounds fab for the little 'uns. But I can see how managing them under the gaze of tired teachers might not be exactly fun!! for v respectable lists there!

Sorry you are so exhausted Einstein Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

Foxes nothing wrong with doing the basics!! And agree it is necessary to step away from the news for a bit.

Zoo your lunch sounds delicious! Thanks about measured risk and all of that. I know I am probably being over-protective but its not an easy one. for list! Sorry, but had to laugh at "sad old carpet that's been hoovered the wrong way"! Great turn of phrase

Mermaids hope you survived your long day.

Cag phew, thanks!

Afreshstart hope you are feeling a bit better

Cotswold at "alternative" Christmas tree decorations!

Purple hope you have been able to recover your strength a bit today

G'night all! Links coming up ...

*

The summary for Thurs 25th is available on the Flylady website here under "Today" and via the flight plan which should update itself automatically on a daily basis.

Baby-step no 25 for Thurs 25th is here. A waffly one about perfectionism and developing routines consistently, one at a time.

We are in Zone 4 this week : The Master Bedroom, Bath, Closet (May 21-27) here.

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 4 (if you are at that stage) is here.

Thursday's mission is: [[http://www.flylady.net/c/sp.php#missions
here]]. Declutter the top of your dressing table/chest of drawers.

The daily focus for Thursday is running errands.

The monthly habit is moving in May!.

Daily reminders (which should also update automatically) are here.

Remember: no perfectionism allowed!

**

Thanks for links SC. Yes, it is lovely that the school has a garden and it is such a friendly school . We are very lucky.

Aaaagh sympathies with you only finishing cooking now. Have just finished sewing the swimming badge. Am soooo slow at sewing but at least it is done. Bed now! Big wing flaps to all.

Oh well done on getting the badge done Toostressy

for you [cocoa]

Good morning fledglings < whispers so as not to disturb Einstein >

My DS is at it again. Just like every year since he was born, he is waking up at around 4:30 every morning now that we have the lighter mornings and early dawn chorus..... Ugh.

SC re bed linen, I tend to change ours after two weeks max, unless obvious more frequent changing is required. My DH and DS both 'run hot' though and seem to have sweaty heads!
I have mattress protectors for both beds and pillow protectors too, but mine are not at all rustly, mine are quilted, so just bulk out the pillow a bit more and make it plumper.
I get our duvets dry cleaned once a year when I switch from the winter one to the summer one. I detest the throw-away nature of cheap products it just feels so wrong to chuck something and buy new as it is cheaper to do this than look after what you already have. But its all very well having principles when the pennies are tight

We have a day at home today, so I'm hoping to do
Take DS for haircut
Laundry +++
Change bed sheets
Hoover throughout
Deep clean bathroom
Kitchen hotspots
List a few bits on eBay
Maybe a bit of weeding in the garden as it looks like it will be a nice day.

I also have some car insurance papers to complete. An idiot reversed into me last week, accepted the blame at the time, and is now saying that I drove into him!! Fuckwit.