Mad March Fledglings Fly in to action 2020

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A warm welcome to the monthly thread where we (loosely) follow the Flylady housekeeping system here to combat CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) with lots of virtual wine, chat and mutual support along the way. The thread leader of the month will post a link to Flying activities daily. Quite a few of us have been on here for a while, so we may seem cliquey, but we really aren't, and all newcomers, lurkers, returnees, regulars, and intermittent regulars are very welcome!

Very simply, Flylady is a zone-based cleaning system which we follow to varying degrees, depending on our individual homes, circumstances and energy levels. There are five zones and at the beginning and the end of the month we usually straddle Zone 1 and Zone 5. When you first start decluttering, cleaning, and organizing your zones, Flylady encourages you to spend 15 minutes per day decluttering in the current zone.

Each week, we work in a different zone. Each month, we repeat all the zones. After a few months of following this system consistently, you should start to see an improvement in the main areas of your house.

Pop on to the Flylady website to have a closer look about how to get started here but signing up for emails will probably lead to very many landing in your inbox. Also there has been some concern about securely downloading pdfs from the site so proceed with caution.

The Babysteps system is a light 31-day introduction to the system which familiarises you with Flylady routines (such as dressing to shoes, shining your sink etc) and with her philosophy, which emphasises self-care, her abhorrence of perfectionism and the adage that you’re never behind - just jump in where you are at - even if you only do 5 mins work, that is so much better than doing nothing at all!

There is a morning routine and an evening routine to keep things ticking over and a weekly home cleaning hour (which most of us find tight!) to change bed sheets, mop, hoover, take out rubbish etc. We've found over the years that the system isn’t brilliant for major decluttering so you might want to supplement with Kondo or another decluttering system. Flylady doesn’t want us cleaning all day so she is very keen on using a timer. Clean and declutter with focus, then stop and do something more interesting instead!

In addition each day has a purpose, see the daily focus here:
Monday: weekly home cleaning hour (can be split into ten minute sections and spread over week)
Tuesday: plan and play (menu planning, family event planning, doc appts etc)
Wednesday: anti-procrastination day
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clear out purses, bags, cars, date night
Saturday: family fun
Sunday: lift your spirits.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any qs. And remember, there is NO wrong or right way of doing this, it is about adapting the system to suit your life circumstances, which will be different from someone else's, so feel free to ignore any step or routine that doesn't suit you or your home! And don't be put off by the barftastically twee language of the Flylady site, as the underlying system is sound.

And if/when it all gets too much: come and take a seat by the fire in our candelit, specially adapted, virtual "naughty" corner where you can retreat and enjoy all manner of lovely things such as fluffy pillows warm blankets, fine teas, strong coffee, and platters of sumptuous foodstuffs offered with lashings of support from fellow fledglings.

There may be mention of Ned (and his cousins Ted and Fred) who started their lives as autocorrections, but who have morphed in to virtual helpers, and are borrowed by thread members from time-to-time when the going gets tough on Mount Washmore.

Most days we pop on to post our "to do" and "ta da" lists of what we’ve managed to do and have a bit of a natter. Please don't compare your list with someone else's as this is all about individual progress.

More info follows (but again, please note we advise only looking at the pdfs and not downloading them):

** launch pad (general guidance and info) here

** daily babysteps pdf (ignore the ones that don't suit you or your home) here

** week day missions (some fledglings find it easier to do them at weekends) here

** info about zones (explanation of how zones work) [[http://www.flylady.net/d/br/2017/09/02/please-explain-the-zones/

here]]

** weekly zones (a rough weekly guide to which area of the house we are tackling currently, again adapt to suit yourself) [[http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/zones/

here]] and here

** daily focus (helpful guide to allocate a certain day for a certain task) here

** deep cleaning lists pdf (only attempt when you have decluttered as you can't clean clutter!) here

Habit of the month: here

An explanation about the March habit of the month: Getting Dressed to Shoes here

Good luck and happy Flying one and all!

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Many thanks to Tinselette from whom I have stolen and adapted quite a bit of this introduction!

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And last, but definitely not least, a huge thank you to Expletive for running a really fast-moving February thread so splendidly

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Hi.Well DH has decided to move furniture around! So large pine table back in kitchen, bloody heavy and awkward to get through door. Hard to get through the door as wider than door when door opened goes through casement but then actual door. We Did it. Previous to that we had to move granny's table over then not far enough so again and again. Dining room looks quite big now. DH said even the cat paused to notice and she hasn't much eyesight.
Table that was bought one Christmas to add on to kitchen table is now down the bottom of the garden in the summer house along with three other smaller tables Hmmm. Good for craft table though. Tea trolley table folded down and the other one is small bamboo. they do all fit but still have plants to get in there in spring.
Then sat down for lunch. Now need to move all stuff plonked done in kitchen that I tidied last night. DH has put some stuff into the car boot.
ED It is really nice to get a new machine after putting up with old ones whines and groans.
Also using Zoflora. They don't know everything they just think they do. He has probably never thought about it before. Tell him to go research it.
Lane That was a bit of a shock. Think of all the space created though.
I also love 101 and some of the other Disney films. Love some of the other old ones like Lassie, Black Beauty teary but would get rid of tension.
Right better get to it. Haven't started boudoir due to himself having other ideas. Had hot dogs for lunch in last of rolls. I quite enjoyed them. Good German ones in jar. I was saving them but DH opened them yesterday.

Can anyone tell me how they are going to hand shopping over it isn't bagged?

PS> now we have moved tables i might just have room for yoga and have computer screen rather than ipad.

Happy Days We3
I did last night but haven't done breakfast as wasn't up in time was awake on Mumsnet. Had a cup of tea then DH started before i had drunk second cup.

A few people have said that they've started bagging it again for the time being bower.

thanks i can't find any info on TESCO and cant get through on the phone

Our asda delivery on thursday was not bagged

I've had a busy week, somewhat kept up with thread but not enough time to reply. Ddog has hurt her back, knew something wasn't right since Dec. She's slipped a disk so on bed rest and pain meds. Poor thing has wanted me to sit with her on couch and is currently laying on me (she's in so much pain she cries when she moves until meds kick in). Hard to go pee right now, let alone do any flying! I'm hoping to do some in a little bit though.

At work we switched to 2 people working every other day, sticking with the same person for the next 3 weeks. Was at home yesterday as it was the start of it. We have a soft lockdown in our state, so surreal seeing so many businesses shut.

Yesterday I got the kitchen all cleaned and tidied. I still need to clean out the fridge, but started it yesterday. I also did 3 LOL, plan on washing sheets today.

There's some bulbs I need to get in the garden soon, hoping to get that done today. DC are having cabin fever so I'm going to take them out for a walk later. Hopefully ddog will be feeling a little better by then as she seems to do better in the afternoon. She'll also not be happy if we leave her at home.

DD wasn't happy with me yesterday- she asked if a friend could come over and spend the night! She thinks I'm just being mean, even though I thought she understood how serious it is- she's 16. So she was crying in her room last night.

Aw poor dog hazel :( and DD too, it’s so hard for teens. Just glad there is tech! Wondering about a virtual sleepover - for mine that would be letting her stay up chatting (she’s only 12 so has to leave her phone down stairs at night), maybe setting up that Netflix watch together thing for a movie, sweets, popcorn. Face masks and stuff maybe? Not the same as a real one but may break the lockdown monotony

lane I hope you feel better soon. Have you been tested yet?

zoo don't feel bad about your man child, he needs to sort himself out as a grown man. Sorry it's affecting DS though, can they play online together?

SC you're doing a great job at running the thread with all those links, trying to keep everyone sane seems to be a full time job at this time.

KT glad your DH is stepping up, hopefully he'll continue to be helpful.

bower cinaria willow we3 that expletive and everyone else- hello!

We have recently signed up for Disney+ so enjoying watching that at the moment, with DS.

No chance of testing hazel - apparently even if you visit hospital with severe difficulties, but get sent home, you won’t even get a test ATM! Thankfully I have got nowhere near that stage, TBH the lack of breathing difficulty is the thing making me doubt it was CV. Everything else matched other descriptions very closely though and everyone else is still coughing so who knows! I’m just achy/weak/nauseated now.

Managed some leg raises etc lying on the floor. Will try to do those a few times a day until I’m able to try more.

Also we edited our Tesco basket - had to delete soooo many items! Loads not available too. Got a lot of sensible things and regret lack of treats :o

Cagletini is very pleased I can pick out nursery rhymes on the recorder. This could at least reduce the boredom

lane thank you for the suggestions for DD. I think she's been face timing her friends already, although Netflix might be a great solution.

I think my DC have been inside all day, every day this week. It's not been very warm. Today the sun is shining on and off at least so hopefully we plan our walk at the right time.

I think it's terrible that they won't test you. Although saying that, they are limiting how many are tested here. Makes me worry that the actual numbers are way higher than what's being reported. I've read it affects people in different ways.

Evening all,

The weather went so cold! It was lovely this morning but a really cold wind had picked up by lunchtime. I popped up to the allotment for my exercise thinking it would be quiet at lunchtime but lots of people around, had a few quick chats at a suitable distance. I have brought home some of my strawberry plants to put in pots on the patio in case allotmenting gets the banhammer.

DH did a good job hoovering and cleaning the kitchen surfaces and floor. I've made a master shopping list on the computer, I had one years ago but it fell out of use, normally it's not a problem popping in on the way home from work but obviously trying to cut down on trips out now.

DD and DH are watching Star Wars on Disney+, DS and I are cooking dinner, slow roasted lamb shoulder with flatbreads (bought as couldn't get plain flour) and dips. I've been frittering away evenings on my phone, this morning I got up at 7.30 to help DS mark up his newspapers and stayed on the sofa for an hour (in full sunshine) with my phone left upstairs and it was very relaxing, need to leave it in another room more often I think.

Hazel - good to hear from you, sorry about DDog.

Giveme - there have been a lot of discussions on local FB here about single parents and food shopping, consensus is that it's OK if you have no other option.

Bower - he's a scientist. He is so specialised that he doesn't think outside his own little scientific box sometimes . We did mutually apologise about 20 mins after the disinfectant argument.

Zoo - if I'm honest I think Zoflora smells as bad as bleach, but at least the linen one isn't too floral. I get headaches from quite a lot of strong floral/fruity fragrances, fabric conditioner etc.

Hazel They just haven’t got the resources at the moment. I have had a cough, some sore throat for a few days and wheezy some days worse last week. I get this most years anyway. The only thing is I shouldn’t be wheezy on the medication I am on. I would expect if I get it I would be far worse as I have been in hospital before. Difficult with teens as they know everything.

Sorry I'm a bit behind on the thread but hope everybody is keeping as well as can be! I will try and keep up a bit more! Decluttered dd socks and tights today and me and the kids made biscuits. Also did two face time chats with parents and my brother and sister in law and their kids, nice to chat with everyone although with the kids they run around shouting so much we can't always catch what people are saying (that's the same in real life conversation too though )

TBH I didn’t even bother phoning 111. They are swamped, and would only tell me to self isolate anyway, when I’d already decided to!

DH is running me a bath, that’ll be today’s biggest achievement if I’m vaguely clean! I don’t need to wash my hair at least.

Haha give! Also is that a cuddly Baymax I see 😍 he’s my fave

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Hello, hope you have all had a reasonably good day!

This is just a quick reminder about the clocks going forward tonight!

In the UK/Europe, the clocks go forward one hour at 1am on Sunday 29th!

Have a good evening fledglings!

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Had to go and sort dinner. New potatoes were left to boil. DH admonished me for putting the carrots on to early and ‘don’t know what to do with the fish.” Anyway it was lovely sea bass, new pots, carrots and courgette.

Tesco order
We3 you were right all bagged up, driver was a character and had a bit of a chat over the wall. We put the wheel barrow outside the gate. Only three things missing and someone doesn’t know what yeast is! No bacon, no plain flour and no 🥚 as in my treat Easter Egg DF.😟

Ed oh dear then he does know what he is talking about!
giveme I don’t think they have thought it through.

Giveme that is so funny.

Oh no shame about the Easter egg. I’d better start thinking about Easter - we always do an egg hunt with really nerdy clues (usually based on what they’ve been learning in home ed - last year had Japanese for example 😂) - hopefully it won’t be too hard to get at least a little “themed” chocolate, as DS is desperately clinging to belief in the Bunny. But I guess if not then we can tell him rabbits have to avoid contamination too 🤔

I managed a bath, feel a little better after some self care, throat is annoying me though.

I love that Baymax - we have one too! Such as sweet character.

Thanks for the reminder about the clock going forward. We could do with some daylight up here.

Only 6 days left of isolation and due milk and bread on Tuesday from neighbours - so kind of them. We are all well.

Oh, Easter. We have always, without exception gone to DFIL's house for Easter and the DCs do egg hunts with their cousin. Going to be a bit different this year.