Lost the plot with clutter? Want sparkle(r)s in your sink? Come Fly with flare on the November Fledgling thread!

[Sludgecolours]

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.

This is where, from the first of the month (seriously, HOW is it November already?!), we follow – loosely – the rules of FlyLady [see website here ]. (Pls ignore the barftastic language, and we suggest NOT signing up to the emails as there are rather a lot of them. All the info you need will be posted here on a daily basis.)

Helpful info on getting started here!.

We adopt a three-pronged approach:

-start or repeat baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone or area (yes, just 15 mins focused work a day makes a difference!)

and/or

• 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.]

NB
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 not only welcome to join in but positively encouraged to do so!

Another NB
Start where you are. There is no need to worry about being perfect – perfectionism = paralysis! There is no such thing as ‘falling behind’ with FlyLady, if you miss anything, just move on and continue as normal the next day.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck!

DS is now ill. I am ill. DH is ill. We are all a bit fed up.

Ta da
Kitchen floor swept, most obvious marks (since Friday! How??) baby wiped
Main bathroom cleaned
2 loads of normal washing
1 wool wash
1 shower curtain washed
All washing dried and put away
Made lamb burgers

To do
Go to Sainsburys, double up nectar points, spend them on clothes and wine

Great flying from everyone, well done.

75p is now 89that shouldve said...

X posts callme

Bugger.hope it passes swiftly.lots cold n throat bugs doing rounds locally.know number people who family have had tonsillitis type bugs(hopes that bypasses chez zoo)

Hows littleafresh?hope hes feeling better n you ok dearie(passes)

Hope cagletini less snuffly and all others with poorly ones are quickly on mend(waves wand of wellness over thread)

Are you ok sc? Hows dh today?x

At first I thought it sounded like a lot of bread to me, but when you explain it you can see where it goes. When I'm close to running out of bread here I make scotch pancakes for breakfast or porridge. Is that an option? Doesn't cost much, and if you have some left over they keep for snacks.

We use one loaf a week, but that's because DH and I don't eat much, DD has school dinners and I scour the bargain bin of the supermarket for reduced fruit loaves, tea cakes, crumpets, croissants etc. I freeze them and toast or cook from frozen for breakfast a few times a week.

Often ds has porridge then four x toast.he is as scrawny as they come(under dietetics).he wont eat pancakes...sometimes i do a bagel toast in place sliced bread(not cheaper tho)he also has fruit and nuts/seeds with it....i try hunting for reduce breaded items to save what we can.they reduced cheapo supermarket saver bread now but rate prices are rising not sure how long i can sustain their carb habits

I was a very thin child and I often had three slices of toast after my cereal. I can understand that carb craving very well.

It's really hard, our shopping has gone up a lot. Through a particularly tough patch last year I signed up to different online supermarkets to get their introductory offers. DH won some vouchers at work and we spent them on a second freezer. I have been filling it with batch cooking and reduced items, so although I have spent more now I'm hoping to save money later.

In your case a bread maker might stack up financially? If you're going through that much bread that it won't go off then it might be worth it. One will probably come up on sale on black Friday.

Am thinking about a second freezer after xmas callme
I bake cakes/biscuits etc for pack ups sometimes as we have a dairy allergy(lil zoo) dd2 veggie and ds a dustbin that struggles gain weight it can be easier make myself than endless label reading!!thanks for listening/offering advice

Must go wash up
Zoolets fed
Surfaves wiped
Load wash just dry fold n put away second loads ready go dryer shortly
Bath n sink wiped
Cats refed
Hwork supervised(incl lil zoo cornet if only was a simple wafer cone filled with icecream )
Hall floor relocated(lost under sea bags,coats shoes etc despite huge crate for shoe n bag detritis is less 5cm away)

Tired tonight

I'm sitting here with a snuffly toddler who is just dropping off. Thank you for keeping me company!

Stressful bed time tonight although they are both in bed before 7 but not asleep. Ds crying in his cot. Dd constantly calling out. What is annoying is they are both obviously tired!! Just go to bloody sleep then!!

Rant over!

I buy Morrison's own brand bread zoo and it's 50p, I think co op are usually a bit more expensive aren't they?

Bread wise we go through roughly three loaves, eight oven bottom muffins and five packs of thins per week.

We get aldi bread think its 45p
Its cereal and fruit we go through worst

ta da
✅got up and dressed on time for Caglets to be collected (and took Cagletini out to the car to meet friends)
✅wool wash, hung stuff out on bannister
✅sort some clean laundry
✅gather dirty stuff in new laundry basket
✅clear some stuff off stairs
✅get annoyed at Amazon delivery as realised that another item I ordered turned out to be crap
✅took Cagletini for her first cinema trip :o FYI Paddington 2 is lovely!

Shitloads to do tonight and I'm so tired, really must put our clothes away, clear rest of stairs and order Tesco as a bare minimum. Also need to shove stuff off our bed and get DH to stash delivery when he gets home, but need to sort out returns tomorrow. Also absolutely must get in touch with boots to reorder DD's meds. Aaaaargh tired. I may have dozed slightly in the cinema

Ooh and need to put flowers delivered by friend in water :o

I’ve had an odd to do list over the past couple of days, mainly related to either work (dh and I are self employed and I do the financial admin and needed to get a few invoices out), the dcs (admin related to ds1 and Belgian nationality, and dd and uni open days) or my dbil (ID admin as he let his ID card run out and needs it sorted before he can get any help from the state as he is now unable to walk - long story as to why it’s me and not his siblings helping/why he got into this mess in the first place and I won’t bore you with it). However, everything is done! I’m also up to date with the washing and the house is tidy (not so difficult when there is only one of you in the house). Tada!

New things have been added to the list so now I have a few trips to the UK to organise.

On a negative note, I still haven’t finished writing my Dutch presentation that I’m supposed to know by Friday! Also ds1 has asked me to help him with his masters stats for Psychology. Stats is my least favourite maths and I am only any good up to a level so that will be a challenge! I have until Christmas ... Dd has asked me to drive over to take her to an open day in Bournemouth over the weekend so a good 13 hour round trip. Train would be possible if she didn’t have to get back to Canterbury on Sunday morning for her uni trip to Amsterdam!

Bit late now but I’m not convinced having dcs was a good idea!

Waves to everyone. Hope your dh is better sc

also ta da
post office
tesco
trip into the city to go to major shopping centre
clean shower door down
deal with ds who had an aspie interpretation of an instruction

speak to pharmacist
Get lost in a book shop for half an hour - nice although could have bought more than the 2 books that i did
sort out prepping lounge for rug washing
ponder the safe place the plastic sheet for doing rug washing
consider the issue of a new to do list
find instructions for making green soap (its a multipurpose soft soap)
deal with issue of technology bedtime and teenager (if this is not on the ta da list just assume it should be)
wash floor under tv stand
rehang pictures in lounge

There is probably other stuff that I could and possibly should be doing but I am heading towards bed.

longtime i have come to the conclusion it is probably a good idea that no one knows exactly how much hard work/emotionally tiring/physically demanding having kids is prior to having them; there would be no future generations if we did!

Well, a massively unproductive day compared to yesterday, don't know why really, actually, I do, it's because I don't get home till 5 instead of 4, by then the DCs are also home, and we are all out again by 6.30. Spent most of this evening looking for DD's phone which has been MIA since last week. After about an hour of looking under beds, hall tables etc (identified lots of areas in need of a bit of Flying ) DS eventually found it in his school bag (WTF?). Managed one load of laundry and to cook dinner and that was about it.

ta da continued
✅put wash on and rescue bras (so they don't end up in tumble dryer)
✅gather dishes
✅clear random crap from random places
✅order Tesco
✅read to DS (mum read to DD as little princess is her fave) my god this avengers book is TORTURE
✅realise neither Caglet has read/heard great glass elevator so added this to wishlist for Christmas, will get colour illustrated copy if poss as that's what they had for most of the other dahls
✅feed Cagletini pretty much non stop pretty much all evening

Also
✅put all our clothes away
✅got flowers put in vase (delegated to DD and mum)

Wow! You have been busy while I have been at work.
Didn't get in until after 7.
Made sausage and mash after missing the butcher by 7 mins. Luckily the village co-op was still open. I had accidently left my purse at home but found £2:60 in the car. The sausages had been marked down to 98 p and all I could afford hence the menu choice. I made onion gravy hhmm comfort food after a very hectic day.De-cluttered two bags paperwork which I had brought home with me.
Didn't shine my sink. Spoke to DH for half an hour then watched The A word and went straight to bed. Morning off but been asked to teach in afternoon. 2nd favourite class so I agreed. Just woken up so four straight hours good !
Hope to fly tomorrow but all my flying was at work today. Worn out by all the flapping.

Good morning Fledglings! Hope everyone is ok.

Many apologies for being awol from the thread yesterday. It's turning out to be a bit of a mad week here. Not sure today is going to be any better but I will do my best to catch up with personals! Have a good one!

***

The summary for Wednesday 15th 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. 15 for Wednesday 15th is here. Add bed-making to your morning routine! (Although personally, I do not like making the bed as soon as we have got up out of it, as Flylady suggests, I prefer to let it air for a while first.)

We are in Zone 3 this week: The Main Bathroom and One Extra Room (November 12-18) here.

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 3 (if you are at that stage) is here.

Wednesday's mission is here. Spend 5 or 10 mins scrubbing the bath or shower in a non-perfectionist manner!

Wednesday's daily focus is anti-procrastination. Do something you have been avoiding doing!

The monthly habit for November is menu planning here!

Flykid's challenge: here (hopefully continually renewing itself).

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

Holiday missions here!

Keep going everyone!

*

Thanks sludge. I can do today's. I didn't get the basket done but will try today.
Yesterday I wanted to sleep in, today I am wide awake though I have a headache. It was raining when I got home and dark so I didn't go for logs so no fire on last night and it is really icy. I could hear next doors scraping the car windscreens. It is my day off ( well supposed to be but been coerced into teaching this afternoon, I'm a HLTA). Typical wide awake this morning adrenaline on over drive. Still it might mean I get some flying done before I go. I need to go to town and get several watches fixed too. Some batteries, some straps and one sent away to London I think. My dad bought it for me and they have a branch here now and think it might be able to be mended if it goes to head office. My dad travelled a lot and probably bought it duty free somewhere but I had no idea those watches were so expensive. I was really upset when it was broken. A mare reared and dropped her hoof right on my wrist on the watch. Probably saved my wrist now I think about it. It is a Tissot. It would be wonderful if I could get it fixed. I never told dad. Might have a quick snoop at shops too. So a short list.

Clean bathroom, wash floor. Sort basket.
Clean kitchen. Hob. Put recycling out( too lazy last night) and shine sink. Pot bulbs that are sitting in a box. One load of washing- sheets.
Back to dining room. One other room would have been craft room if I had not having been going in to work.I really need to think up reasons sooner. Was caught on the spot because of the way question asked. I am really bad at saying a straight "no " to people when I don't want to do something. I need to be more assertive! I thought afterwards I should have said "No, I'm going flying!" Made me giggle on way home.
Butchers for some lamb mince before that aubergine walks out of the fridge. Mousaka will last me two nights. Never made dairy free might be a let down or make proper and risk making myself sick hhmmm.

Oh sorry that was longer than I meant. Good flying today everyone. Every bit makes a dent in the pile.

to do
Go to wales
wash rug

ta da
Ring doc re ds' meds

You have all been mega-busy on here! Great Flying everyone!

Bowerbird5 good luck with today's tasks (and extra teaching). Goodness me about mare/wrist/watch! You had a lucky escape there! Someone I know was stamped on by a weight bearing cob and it was his phone in his shirt pocket that saved him from a much more serious injury (ribs and watch did not do so well though)! Well done re: 2 bags of paper decluttering! And great ideas re: easily grabbable (if that's a word, I think not) manicure & pedicure kits! And yay to quiz success!

Very v respectable list achieved yesterday Cag esp considering you are feeding almost constantly which is a huge task in itself! Very about Paddington 2! And belatedly agree with others about you being entitled to having huge wobbles atm (although in reality you are doing brilliantly!) Go steady x

Whoknows Mondays are bad enough as it is, but your evening routine sounds rather testing! (And definitely counts as Flying!) Especially on top of mahoosive mega-zone-flitting chore list achieved! The conclusion to that lost phone incident has a very familiar sounding ending!! (DD always finds things in her bag eventually but only once she and we have turned the whole house upside down) )

Great ta da list Hills! Fascinated by the green soap! Is it for home-made-rug washing? Hope scalp has recovered too. How did the souffles turn out and were you inspired by Masterchef Professionals? )

Sympathies re: the admin Longtime. Dh and I are self-employed too so I know what the paper-work is like! Ditto wrt residency also! Veel geluk for Friday! It sounds as though your dbil (and your dh) is very lucky indeed to have you nearby, sorting things out on his behalf .

Foxes hope the little 'uns slept eventually! And well done re: book decluttering!

Zoo well done for relocating hall floor! Fab menus as ever!

CallmeCordelia So sorry to hear you are all ill! That sounds miserable...

Afreshstart Great ta da lists achieved in succession there! (And I bet you are not writing a third of what you actually do in an average day of looking after four dc down! ) How is work situation going? Sorry, I only know about Playmobil sources, not Sylvanian Family ones!! Good luck with it though!

FlyingJellyfish great to hear the system is working for you! (And housework must be hard to combine with night shifts so v well done for sticking to your targets!) So happy to hear you have found a solution for your dd's sleeping/milk ratios and that you are all getting a bit more shut-eye too!

Don't worry TaylorTinker the weeks fly by (no pun intended!). Fyi these are the November zones here!.

Whey hey AllroadsleadbacktoRadley well done on mega sort of kitchen and bathroom! That's amazingly well done! And good luck with rowing machine goal!!

Waves to Toostressy (so glad to hear mouse is back where it belongs!) and to everyone else I have missed!

Thanks for your all your kind words re: dh. He seems a bit more chipper now thanks - esp now office servers have been fixed again and he has agreed to take a longer than usual Christmas break and have a health check-up ... although I have heard that many times before... we'll see... don't want to add to pressure by nagging aobut it!

He still had to leave at crack of sparrows for Italy this morning (shaven I am glad to say) with v little idea of when he will be back. I will be spending the rest of the week attending appts he now can't make with the unfortunate consequence (or may be not -mwah, mwah, mwah) of getting to design a bathroom all by myself . We've had ten years to think about this and now - for a reason I cannot for the life of me fathom - it now needs designing in two days!! Yikes! Ruddy typical of us though .

Oops - screen flashing - had better post this before I lose it!