Social distancing around the Maypole: Fledglings fly into Flylady thread May 2020.

[Lisette1940]

Welcome to the May Flylady thread Fledglings! We are finally coming to the end of Spring and, erm, what a Spring it has been. Keep safe everyone and a special shoutout to Fledglings who are in the frontline of the response to Covid 19.
Lane has been superlative with the keep calm corner and has had a truly magnificent engagement with fledglings all through April – well done Lane!!! I have totally abandoned my routines (and my clean eating) and have been flying perilously close to the ground but am ready for take off again. But we operate a no fledgling left behind policy and indeed Flylady herself stresses that you are never behind in the system – no need to deep clean the house first, just jump right in.
All are welcome here from longtimers to newbie and those lurking – we all follow this zone-based Flylady cleaning system:
There are five zones and at the beginning and the end of the month we usually straddle Zone 1 and zone 5.
(amend rooms to suit your house – I do the living and dining room together as it’s all one room in my house)
MAY
Zone 1 Hall, entrance/dining room (Fri 1 – Sat 2)
Zone 2 Kitchen (Sun 3- Sat 9)
Zone 3 Bathroom and another room (Sun 10- Sat 16)
Zone 4 Master bedroom/closet (Sun 17 – Sat 23)
Zone 5 Living room (Sun 24 – Sun 31)

Pop onto the Flylady website to have a closer look here but be aware that lots of emails arrive if you sign up.

Flylady has an introductory scheme called Babysteps which is a light 31 day introduction to the system – dressing to shoes, shining your sink etc here.

There is a morning routine and an evening routine to keep things ticking over and a weekly home cleaning hour to change bed sheets, mop, hoover, take out rubbish etc. Flylady doesn’t want us cleaning all day so she is very keen on using a timer. Clean then stop!
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) here
Tuesday: Plan and play (Menu planning, family event planning)
Wednesday: Anti-procrastination day
Thursday: Errand day
Friday: Clear out bags, fill car with petrol, date night
Saturday: Family fun
Sunday: Lift your spirit

Launch pad for guidance every day! launch pad

Habit of the month of May is moving – whether that’s your daily get out of the house during lockdown or in house movement. – moving is not my strongest point apart from pottering around the house…
We also have a naughty corner as a restful break out space and a Keep Calm Corner (KCC). I suspect I’ll be better at the naughty corner rather than the latter but I’ll do my best! Not sure I can muster the memes but I’ll do my best to keep spirits up.
So welcome to the new thread (I hope I haven’t left anyone out): Lane, SC, zoo, Bower, KTCluck, Willow/Megiddo, foxes, That, averytiredMom, fluffliest, ED, Strawberry, Chic, Hazel, Happiness, Cineraria, We3, stressy, and give.

And breathe!

dancing welcome
Meg marmalade and toast are not the end of the world.be kind to yourself we are living in very hard circs and you gave way too much going on with your family to be stressing over the pleasure food is at this time

I'm sorry for lack of personals.i am so tired....
I got zoolets to wake me after a 30 mins nap this morning,again after lunch.its keep me upright and ploughing thru huge laundry pile...
Dd2 bed got the furball thus time and as she has 3fluffy blankets on it too it was a two load job...

Broke back of it for now

An all fed no one dead kind of day
Dd2 has been anxious and distraught all day

Tomorrow is another day

zoo, I'm sorry today has been such a slog for you; any chance of another nap now? You are doing so well at holding your family together, and EFND is still a very definite win. We are all with you: NFLB.

Hazel DS2 is 17 and really just a (selfish) hungry male teen in the traditional mould. He also has ADHD, so once he's bored / done with something he drops it like a hot stone. He's a lot like DH, who has matured into a thoughtful adult after 22 years of training so I'm sure there's hope. I left the kitchen mess and got him up at midday to clean it. He was furious, but it got done!

This afternoon's ta das:
♥️ Another LOL
🧡 Kitchen sink shined with bicarb as a gentle abrasive and deodoriser to within an inch of its life
💛 Family member's family history research completes seven generations back to c. 1730
💚 Family tree drawn on excel
💙 Chicken and trimmings roasted
💜 Chocolate cake made - Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake. Very peculiar texture.
🖤 Dinner served.

That's enough for today. Now in the bath with my glass of wine. Tomorrow is a new day!

No ta da’s today, the baby is being very needy so haven’t been able to get anything done. They’re all in bed now so DH and I are watching some true crime.

MrsHardy DC in bed counts as a ta da in my book!

Glad DS2 was persuaded to sort the kitchen meg.

Zoo I think a few everyone fed no one dead days are guaranteed at the minute. No harm done and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for you and DD2.

Hazel the lemon and blueberry bread sounds lovely. Is it easy to make? It wouldn’t be unreasonable not to share.

Ooh your garden looks lovely Lisette, a lovely space to sit and relax.

Fluff I hope you’re feeling a bit better now

How’s project pink hair going Lane?

We3 That ta da list and managing to get dressed is deserving of a

My final ta Das:
✅ Sunday dinner demolished and kitchen / dishes done
✅ managed to get an hour with my book on my own
✅ birthday gifts wrapped with ‘help’ from DD. Made some birthday cards with her.
✅ pile of ironing done and hung up
✅ uniform packed for work
✅ DD’s winter clothes sorted into ‘get rid / donate / sell’ piles or bigger bits packed away for for next winter.
✅ persuaded DD to help me tidy her room before bed
✅ prepared overnight oats, a salad and packed healthy snacks for work tomorrow.

I was about to do the last of the day’s dishes and shine my sink but DH insisted I leave them for him tomorrow. Did not argue! Early night for me I think. Night fledglings!

fluffiest it's north facing but that area dies get evening sun, just a bit. But the pergola needs painting and sweeping; there are molehills and bald patches on the grass. I never go into the garden and I really should 😭

ta da
🦖exercise bike
🦕decluttering of some BRCs
🦖helped DD1 defuzz legs, then got her to shower and wash hair as she wanted it dip dyed (DH did the hair dying phew!)
🦕epic battle with the laptop and printer... both are lucky they didn’t end up chucked out the window
🦖helped DD1 with maths
🦕paid for book for new book club thing my friend is running
🦖iPad learning stuff with DS - in the past we could leave him to it but since he has all new apps this term we will need to sit with him a bit. To the extent that we tried them once last week and then didn’t again until today 😳
🦕decluttering despite being knackered/achy. Didn’t do as much second time round and have now shoved some stuff in a bag as I reached the point where I Cannot Make Any More Decisions Today. Still, in total that’s four bags for life that I’ve gone through
🦖made dinner with DS’ help (Pro Tip: when helping someone use the can opener, make sure your finger is out of the way before they squeeze the two arms together...)
🦕put away most of the stuff left on the bed. Gave up at the end and shoved it in a bag.

Sleepy now! Night all

Evening all, my DCs (teens) are doing the opposite of toddlers, do their own thing screens most of the day, then when I think I'll go to bed, catch up with you all, write my diary, read my book, they follow me to my room and talk for ages. Which is lovely but makes me late to the thread!

Welcome to Dancing and MrsHardy. Always nice to have new Fledglings join us.

Favourite Sunday dinner. We're not big fans of the roast dinner here, we only have it a couple of times a year plus the occasional carvery. Nothing will ever live up to my grandmother's roast. A huge Yorkshire pudding divided up and served with onion gravy as a starter. Then roast beef with the crispiest roasties ever (she used to deep fry them), carrots, some sort of greens, horseradish and a bowl of sliced onions and cucumber in malt vinegar. Favourite pudding - profiteroles.

Tada!
Made crumpets fro breakfast from my sourdough starter.
Work for about 5 hours
Visit to Homebase on the way home, so exciting!

Roasted a chicken but served with crusty bread, salad and coleslaw. Rhubarb crumble for pudding, from the allotment.
Not much Flying - emptied the kitchen bin, that was about it. I now have a cat nuzzling me for attention, I give up! Night all.

Night all. Love the sound of onion gravy ED 😍

zoo that sounds like a hard day today. Hopefully you get to catch up on some sleep tonight and feel better for it tomorrow.

meg I'm glad to hear you were able to get your DS to clean up after himself. It would be nice for you if he did clean up as he was coming, but I know that can be hard to do at times. Maybe with little sleep last night he'll be able to have more normal times of sleep (I hope that makes sense- so he's not nocturnal lol), then that might mean no nightly cooking sprees!

KT it was delicious and super easy to make. It will be one I make again for sure, still not sure I'll share though lol.

I got 2 LOL done, as well as my toes and finger nails done with gel. I skyped with my mum while I was doing my toes.

Not too sure what to have for dinner tonight- I'm leaning towards just having the blueberry crumble lol.

lane that's an impressive list with lots of decluttering today. I hope your finger is OK.

ED I think we will all appreciate the little things we took for granted before this lockdown happened, like going to Homebase. Well, those of us who are actually staying home like we should.

Rant alert feel free to ignore if you'd like!

Every time I go on fb it seems one of my friends or family, stateside, aren't following lockdown restrictions. There are people at work complaining about the rules, saying it's dumb, nothing more than the flu and we're overreacting. It makes me so mad. Yes, it's not bad at all where I live, the numbers are really low. But it wouldn't be that way if we weren't in lockdown and they just don't get it!

I have had my neighbour and a family friend/ family ask if they can take my DC out for lunch within the last 2 weeks. The answer is NO! SIL asked on FB if she could "kidnap"the DC so they can be in lockdown with them.. a month into it- NO! Grrrrr.

So sorry, rant over. I just have to be able to get that off my chest and can't seem to get away with it at home.

Hazel we walked through our local park yesterday and there were lots of people. A group of 5-6 teenage boys who i suspect don't bloody live together. Two couples with dogs having a chat (no 2m apart) 2 old men sat on a bench (no 2m)

Hello I’m another lurker (we’re all coming out of the woodwork now). Could I please join? I have recently moved into my new flat (just before lockdown) after the breakup of my relationship. I’ve FINALY got it done to my taste and am doing what I can to keep it that way. I have 2 little whirlwinds as well so keeping things tidy is a blummin’ task!.

Welcome Santa 👋

Ive been up since 3.30 with DS4. Actually got out of bed at 4am 😴 have put a LOL in and done some ironing. Coloured with him for a bit. He then emptied a load of washing powder all over the floor. Tried sweeping it but it wasn't working so had to get the hoover out which woke DS3 up. Today is going to be fun. Sat having a coffee now and DS3 is badgering me for breakfast. DS4
Has already had 2 bowls of blueberries, a banana, a slice of toast and 2 biscuits.

we3 ☕

Dc5 was up at 530 here followed by dc4 about 6am dc1 has just appeared. I am eating crisps for breakfast.

Morning! Just quickly putting my to dos on here before I forget and then I'll catch up properly 😊

To do
Morning routine
15 minutes decluttering kitchen
Exercise routine
Hoovering
Pick up Asda order and hope it is all there or at least mostly all there!
And I'm working all day today / home schooling etc etc...Monday is tricky!

And good news is dh did the stove top yesterday so today's mission is done, yay!

Welcome Santa's!

Sorry for the early starts everyone

Welcome Santa, how old are the whirlwinds? ☕ and 🥞 for early risers, I don't seem to have a Healthy Breakfast emoji! We3, DS4 sounds like a traditional bottomless pit. I have one of those!

Hazel, I'm sorry your wider circle are being obtuse about lockdown. Some people just won't can't accept how serious this is.

We are having trouble with Pa (FIL) again. I think his memory is going. He is convinced DH is 5 years older than he actually is, and rang on Friday to ask "if we were going anywhere nice at the weekend". DH explained again that no, we can only make essential trips out. "But what about the children? Won't they want to window shop?". (??? You what???) Then he asked why DH wasn't watching football, and what we were doing for the Bank Hol today. DH explained again that today is not a BH, it's been moved to Friday, and Pa had a bizarre rant about the Labour Govt ruining our bank holidays by moving them to Fridays. So, Pa is having his BH today. He has also been appallingly rude to his neighbours who offered gardening help ("I manage my garden so I don't get weeds, thank you, unlike you people ") and went out to the chemist to shout at them for not having the E45 cream he uses instead of soap. Then ordered it from Amazon anyway, and made racist comments about the delivery driver (luckily, only to us). He is being Very Trying at present. (Rant over. Apologies).

I am supposed to be going for my Healthful Walk in a minute, but I'd much rather sit here and drink coffee!

Plans for today:
🔥 Partial Home Bleugh - hoovering and dusting. Possibly kitchen floor washing too.
🔥 DW, S&S, LoL etc
🔥 Plan May in my bullet journal (not that there's anything going on!)
🔥 Get to the post office with 3 parcels
🔥 What's for tea? Haven't a clue.
🔥 Start getting the new back on DD's bedspread
🔥 New financial model, as we've been doing it on the hoof since DS1 came home from Uni at the end of March and providing 126 meals a week plus snacks and drinks is getting expensive complicated.

That'll have to be it.

🍒🙋 to chic, bower, That, Lane, Stressy, Lisette, foxes, KT, santa, MrsHardy, shannara, happiness, zoo, dancing, cineraria, fluffiest, SC and everyone else.

Morning all! Welcome Santa and your whirlwinds.

Baby step 4 is the beginning of the control journal here

We are in zone two - the kitchen. Daily focus is the home bleurgh (blessing) hour which can be split up over the week if you wish here

I'm rushing off to get started at work. Three images but no question today in the Keep calm corner . A timely reminder to check your smoke alarms

First LOL on the line. Second load in. Everyone fed (pancakes with bacon and syrup) and dressed. I'm bathed and dressed. Dishes are done and the DC are now doing PE with Joe (and Rosie) while I get the first of today's schoolwork ready.

On the app gin bottle icons are appearing where I tried to insert stars. No idea why but just wanted to reassure you that on Monday morning gin is not foremost in my mind.

Tada!
Swept kitchen floor
LOL on line
Wiped cooker top - still need to clean racks (gas hob)
Fed sourdough
Cleaned counter under and around fruit bowl, seems to attract crumbs

meg i won't say no to pancakes over a healthful offering
Santa welcone*

I had FOUR HOUR SOLID SLEEP followed by a slight doze and when I gave up at 5am I actually felt like I had had some sleep so I threw myself at home bleurgh anticipating exhaustion and maybe a nap to hit later

Tada
Wash on
Fed cats
Harpic loo

Kitchen
Clean windows
Clean sills and return items that live there
Wipe all tiling
Clean surface one
Wipe toaster
Clean hob
Clean front cooker,incl all dials
Wash up
Clean surface two
Wipe kettle
Sweep floor
Bag up rubbish for dd2 to put out later

Living room
Wipe TV unit
Put away stray dvds
Wipe back sofas
Clean windows
Spray curtains with fabreeze
Wipe around fireplace
Clear and clean manylepiece
Relocate cactus that's not fairing well over fire to kitchen sill
Dust available surfaces

Lil zoo got up so we had breakfast,then D's join us and ate

DS room
Windows wiped
Sills cleaned
Watered spiky cacti

Morning all. Tired, groggy, moody this morning. I have done my exercise bike time though, and will try and exercise more later - determined not to stop altogether.

I normally am the first to get going in the morning with home ed stuff (DH does more of the general housework like washing up etc so it’s not all on me!) as I wake up earlier but we’ve done nothing yet and I’m still lazing while DH sorts everyone out. Fuck it.

Warm welcome to santa :) I love how many lurkers are joining in! The more the merrier. This thread is a haven of normality and comfort at such a bizarre time :)

Home school is not going well today already had a row with dc1 and now dc3 who is usually the better of the big 3 is refusing to work

that is a loooooong list zoo...