Fledglings prepare to fly their lockdown nests and jump into July - join us for the July FlyLady thread

[KTCluck]

Welcome all fledglings, newbies and lurkers to the July 2020 flylady thread, where we try and follow flylady’s system to keep our homes in order and our lives organised. We are a friendly bunch and like a bit of a natter, amongst posting our ‘To Do’ lists for accountability and celebrating our ‘Ta Da’ lists no matter how long or short. No fledgling is left behind, just jump in and join us wherever you are at - whether you are a lazy slattern living in chaos or a fully certified domestic goddess wanting to keep up the motivation. Most of us flit between the two depending on the day. The threads tends to be a supportive corner of MN, and we readily provide listening ears for woes and rants when needed.

Flylady is a system based around morning and evening routines, with babysteps to get you started and a daily focus, such as planning and family fun day. There’s a weekly home blessing (or ‘bleurgh’ as we prefer) which is a basic clean to keep the house ticking over, with short bursts of decluttering or deeper cleaning in weekly zones once you are ready. Flylady also suggests short missions each day. Feel free to adapt the system to make it fit in with your life.

Link to the launchpad is here (I hope) and the baby steps are here. From the launchpad I like the ‘flight plan’ for a reminder of the routines, and ‘sneak peek of the week’ for a list of the week‘a missions. You can sign up for emails, but be warned, you will need to regularly declutter your inbox!

As thread leader for July I have taken possession of the thread pointy stick —> for anyone in need of a sharp prod of motivation, but I’ve also set up a chilled quiet naughty corner, complete with comfortable day beds, a gentle sea breeze, and unlimited fruit platters, ice creams and cocktails to any fledgling who is in need of rest and recuperation or is just on strike. No partners or children allowed.

I’ll also try and keep the ‘keep calm corner’ (KCC) going. Originally introduced by our lovely SC, it’s a little daily dose of respite we’ve been using to help us get through these strange times.

I’ll do my best to keep us all motivated and flying throughout July. On work days I may appear with the larks, or not crawl in until the end of the day so apologies in advance if I’m late with links.

We start tomorrow in zone 1 (hall, porch, dining room). Here’s the missions. Habit of the month is ‘swish and swipe’ which is a daily 2 minute wipe of our toilets and sinks. Tomorrow is anti-procrastination day where we tackle those tasks we’ve been putting off.

Anyway, enough waffle, July we are coming for you! shortly, I’m just checking the naughty corner is ready

Taking a break mid declutter session. Totally didn’t plan on doing it but DH and DSS are all of a natter about football and I had a random burst of energy. Big box of recycling and at least one bin bag of rubbish. Yay!

I HAVE SENT THE EMAILS {happy dance}

...including the awkward bit asking someone (who only started the task 18 months ago when the other person died) to include some Actual Money Figures in her report, go me.

I have also
done the ironing and put away
made base for rum & raisin ice cream (managed to break small whisk, annoyingly)
washed up
s&s upstairs
next load of washing and hung it on line outside (nobody's going to have a barbecue, it's far too cold)
swept dining room
polished dining table
drank parsnip sherry, now on second glass

and done all the parts of my jigsaw that have definite lines on. Now it's just the large area of gradations of yellowy pinky beige...

S2 got up early and sat reading in the garden. They both went for a walk. Suspect they have been socialising online. S1 is now helping with dinner (making gravy etc).

still ToDo
lay table
make bread
wash up

Deal with my inbox!
ask S1 about his room clearing
write my own bloody report for the annual meeting...

Well done merry excellent anti procrastination!

Right I’m off to do more laundry. After cake :)

Sterling work on the decluttering Lane!

You too for email sending Merry. Parsnip sherry sounds interesting, and I assume the rum and raisin ice cream is for the naughty corner, yes?

Bower recycling the shelves sounds sensible not tight.

Your margarita awaits you Lisette. I’ve gone for a strawberry daiquiri.

Hope the cramps subsided Princes and you’ve managed a nice day with your dad.

DPIL took DD down onto the beach this morning, so I did the ironing while watching her wear them out through the window. Floor got mopped eventually, bedding was line dried and is back on the bed smelling delightful. We had a walk this afternoon with my DSis and I’ve cleared up after sausage and mash for tea. Overnight oats are in the fridge and I’m having an early night with my planner and a hot chocolate while DH watches the football. The relaxing bath was not so relaxing thanks to DD helpfully popping in to wash me with an icy cold wet flannel .

Waves to Foxes, ED, That, Chic, AWOL, Tidy, Too, Meg, Hazel and Zoo 👋

Hope everyone is feeling well rested and ready to tackle another week!

We are entering zone 4, the boudoir (sorry SC, I know you aren’t a fan of this one). Here’s the sneak peak of the week. Ours isn’t actually too bad clutter wise, especially since DH eventually cleared lots of crap last month. This included taking a big ancient battered wicker chest to the tip that was right in front of the window and made me sad. I’ve been asking for it to go for months and the tip run is his job. It could definitely do with a deep clean though so the under bed mission will have to be done and I think I’ll wipe the paintwork down.

Tomorrow’s focus is the home bleurgh (again?!) and remember habit of of the month is swish and swipe.

I need to try to be organised and get everything done by Friday, as I have my hair appointment on Saturday morning and it looks like our anniversary gallivanting is going ahead 🥂- the restaurant has reopened, we have a hotel booked and childcare sorted. A bit apprehensive about the hotel thing but the website is reassuring re cleaning and I’m sooo looking forward to some time away.

I hope to check in in the morning (with some sort of exercise on my ta da list) but apologies if I don’t make it til after work.

A night with your planner and hot chocolate sounds bliss KT . Thanks for the links.

merry

Well done on decluttering Lane.

Totally agree Bower, must be so incredibly difficult making school plans at the moment.

to zoo and mummy

Big ta da today..... we have cleaned my car . Inside and out . It is not perfectly clean inside as we ran out of time but at the end of the day it is a car and will not stay perfect for any length of time anyway. Also the car park at work is a dust / mud bowl depending on the weather so it is impossible to keep a car clean.

ta da
😴completed fast #7 - this last one felt sooo much longer as toddler was a PITA for several hours
😴watched another webinar about curriculum stuff for next year
😴FL study
😴sorted meds for the week
😴put drying on
😴washed DD1’s tie dye too on its own (they made them at school)
😴narrowly avoided LMS with the toddler who was in a strop and I had zero patience due to aforementioned long night
😴reading (a couple of chapters of two different books)
😴started writing daily family housework check list
😴used new baskets in bathroom for toiletries (got rid of a bit too including rehoming shaving foam to tuff tray supplies)
😴quick wipe of bath edge and shelf, and inside of toothbrush holder
😴proper scrub with hot soapy water of shower screen to try and get all the water marks off
😴workout (skipped a couple of bits as lunch getting cold!)
😴shower and another scrub of shower screen (I think I need that Pink Stuff for the stubborn bits)
😴signed up for mini phonics course
😴quick wipe round front door because euwww
😴ordered new weights and yoga mat/bag
😴new LOL washed and dried
😴found new (ordered several months ago and never used) door laundry bag and hung up for DS, later got him to put on a LOL and put the rest in said bag
😴gathered rubbish from our room
😴gathered a big box of recycling, mostly from our room plus some old activity/workbooks
😴grabbed a load of old toys to get rid of
😴got DD1 to sort through a box of old dress up stuff etc and added the discards to throw away pile
😴going to take some toys up with me as I go up to bed now

So a long list but lots of the things were really small!

Thanks KTC the boudoir isn’t my favourite either but it must be getting a little better surely. Not keen on the under the bed dive though as I have large boxes of stuff to shift under there. Mind you if I did that first the rest should be easier. My painting list is getting shorter. The bathroom shelves are back up and as you don’t notice the drips I might not bother except I will know they are there. I might quickly do them in situ tomorrow.

The obelisk is done.
The large trellis is done.
The small trellis is done.
The roast dinner was well cooked and ready half an hour after DH arrived home. I thought I better give some leeway. He did two Wainwright’s nearer to home and was in a very good mood when he came home especially when the smell greeted him as he came through the gate. So tomorrow is left overs and enough for a sandwich lunch on Tuesday.
I’ve had a long chat with my friend from college.😀
Hope you have had a good day.

Wow Lane that is a huge list😮 well done.

Thanks! I’m impressed with all the painting, car cleaning etc from everyone today. Nice to read about people getting some normality back too with seeing family, booking time away etc!

Woohoo I appear to have inadvertently done some zone work I suppose :o it has been useful this month to be a bit mindful of zones now and then so I’m going to keep doing that.

Tomorrow will be more of a stash and dash, crisis clean sort of day (although TBF nothing is as bad as last week so it’s not an actual panic situation) because on Tuesday we have the adaptations being installed. Both bathrooms and possibly the handrail for the stairs, not sure if it may be the sofa too (things to raise the sofa as it’s really low) in which case living room needs sorting aaargh!

Tasmanian devils blew my mind when I first saw they were absolutely nothing like Taz from looney toons. My Nan brought me back a cuddly one once.

KT love the faces link, I always spot that sort of thing :o the hook one is my fave though - I have always seen this as an octopus who might utter “COME AT ME BRO” :o

Right, I really should try and sleep. Night fledglings!

(oh and yes KT, I'm a sucker for an 80s power ballad )

Evening all! Luvly day seeing my dad. Went 4 a walk around the park near mine where he grew up was a nice trip down memory lane. My youngest Dsis kept wanting a cuddle bless her but she will get a big one soon. My weight loss isn’t going 2 plan oops. Cramps have made me over indulge a bit in chocolate and donuts!!!

Ta Da
❤️Beds made
🧡Me and boys dressed
💛Teeth brushed
💚Faces washed
💙Eczema skin routine 4 boys
💜Astma meds 4 boys
❤️Breakfast
🧡S&S
💛LOL
💚Bedding washed
💙Vacuumed upstairs
💜Mopped downstairs
❤️Saw dad
🧡Lunch
💛Washed up
💚Put washing out 2 dry
💙Exercise (yoga)
💜Sold sofa
❤️Ironed clothes
🧡Got clothes ready 4 morning
💛Bathed boys
💚Eczema routine
💙Asthma meds
💜Put boys 2 bed
❤️Showered
🧡Reading book

Thank u ktc feeling a bit better just vry tired! Hope ur dd had a njce day at the beach

Thank u 4 the flowers too

Massive list lane well dun!!

After a weekend if coasting)walking to pacify dd2tidaysa stay at home day and sort the house out

Tada
Wash on
Feed cats
Harpic lav

Kitchen
Clean windows
Wipe sills
Scrub surfaces
Clean hob
Wipe cooker front
Clean front microwave
Wipe front wash machine
Wipe front tumble drier
Wipe cupboard fronts
Sweep floor

Living room
Tidy round blanket box
Return items to homes/to appropriate bin/recycling
Clean mantlepiece
Wipe fire surround
Tidy under dining table
Sweep main part of floor
Wash in drier
More on

Motivational Monday quote

That is perfectly true when the kids are not at school zoo!

HAPPY SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 🥳

And to you that! Although I’ve been counting it as such since about 2pm Friday :o

I need to go into town today as I have a few errands to run. Will time breaking my fast with some quiet pub time I think 🤣

Feeling fairly motivated but not planning on doing as much at home today. Need a list for the first time in a couple of days:

PO3.1
❗️Get dressed including earrings (have somewhat neglected my ears which were only redone last year so don’t want to leave them too long)
❗️Move laundry along and get DS to do his second lot
❗️Gather more recycling, add to other bag I started last night and put it all in the bin once full

Yes, happy school holidays!

Love the quote zoo

Tada cont
Feed everyone,marmite toasted muffins a,chop strawberries and green grapes.milk>
Wash up

Wash living room windows
Liberate cat toys behind sofa under window
Wipe TV unit/put away stray dvds

Bathroom
Clean windows
Clean mirror
Wipe sill
Organise my cleaning stuff on sill
Clean radiator
Clean bath skirt
Scrub filthy bath
Scrub toothpaste crusted sink
Scrub floor
Clean round catfood bowls/cats food mat

Hoover hall,stairs and landing
Tidy shoes
Wipe paintwork on stairs
Clean bannister

DS room of doom
Clean windows of cat snot
Wipe sills
Polish bookcase/chest drawers once D's clear and clean up
Gather recycling
Supervise stray clothes into basket.supervise bed making
Sweep floor
Wipe floor

Girls room of doom
Wipe surfaces I could see
Wipe floor I could see
Rant slightly at over flowing bin
Firmly state get this shit cleared up or be launching anything that is stacked higgeldy piggledy/on floor that shouldn't be and phones WILL BE CONFISCATED

Multiple bins/bags rubbish crap in black bin
Recycling out

Towels no.1 wash,dry put away
Towels number 2 in progress

Huge amount of laundry to do

May wash floors
May mark with chalk IKEA furniture ideas into suggested spaces to check sizes

Intending hot shower,some pampering and some time zoolets pm

We are now off for a walk as suns shining and lil zoo scowling,trip over bottom lip and it's driving me slightly crazy

Amazing ta das zoo!

I just accidentally discovered that you can do sub lists on the reminders app. This makes me happy

Good morning everyone! (We are back in town and although I am officially on holiday from work, dh isn't. So I'm not either. Gah.)

Whoo hoo! There are some really amazing lists on here! Bravo everyone! Really well done. You are all doing much better than me. I am finding it very hard, for a myriad of reasons, to motivate myself atm beyond the day-to-day and to stop the decline shitwards . It's a constant battle tbh. But it's dd's b'day coming up so I have decided to include downstairs window cleaning in the home bleugh list today and try and start again (again). I am about half way through it. It's going to be a long day simply because I'm so slow and, easily distracted because it is all so tedious.

I have done lots of packing and unpacking of cars, cleared the inner hall and cleaned dhorse's smart new surcingle at the crack of sparrows (does that count?), cleaned some boots and shoes and have done four loads of laundry last night and this morning and have two more in. And the bins and recycling. And cleaned downstairs cloakroom, scrubbed kitchen sink and surfaces and unit doors. And hoovered entire ground floor. Emptied dw.

As for the boudoir ....

Oh yes... I hate men sometimes. Sorry that that is my glum contribution to the thread this morning but there we are. Mine is very invested in facts and logic and well, you can't really argue against those can you? [sigh]

[Trying to schedule building work in a pandemic is quite stressful too.]

Zoo I'm so sorry about your dp. That is crap. Really crap He seems to be mired in a very blinkered mindset. The constant stress of it must be very wearing for you.

V well done re: awkward e-mails Merry

Wrt my harrowing admin task, thank you KTCluck Zoo and Toostressy for reminders and gentle pushes which are much appreciated ! [SC looks grateful but shifty]

KTCluck that's such good news that your anniversary celebration is going ahead after all! I hope you and your dh have a wonderful trip away!

I am going to have the dead badger surgically removed from my head the hairdresser on Wednesday. I am a bit conflicted about going, especially as it's not strictly a necessity. I don't want to put anyone at risk. Hopefully, if I have it cut really, really short it will last for a good few months.

Covid-19 news not good here as the incidence of new cases has risen quite dramatically in the last fortnight. But it's emerged that these are cases that have been found through testing (lots asymptomatic) not ones that have been admitted to hospital on an emergency basis so that's good in a way I suppose. But on the other hand, it shows there are more people walking about with it unknowingly than we previously assumed?

We have various "levels" of school plans here depending on the state of the pandemic come Sept. The best scenario is that dd (in last year of school) will go back four days a week wearing mask (they will close and deep clean school on Wednesdays). The other scenarios involve staggered classes through to complete closure. We are not exactly relaxed about it because her school is old and relatively small making sd far from easy. On the other hand, she desperately needs to go back for the sake of her spoken languages (its different for her classmates who speak the native langs at home) and by Sept she will have been off for six months (although doing work on line). Also, I think it's essential she tries to go back because of the social/mh aspects of being a teen who need their friends. Especially when you are an only. It's difficult though because we have two colleagues, who for various serious reasons, are very vulnerable to Covid.

Dh sat us all down at the weekend and made us think out a plan as to how we would isolate ourselves here in this house if one of us should become ill from Sept. A bit grim to think about but it's not an unreasonable scenario once dd is back at school.

Lots of other things "big" going on with friends and close family but too outing to mention here (even for me ). Lord though, the stress. Talk about extreme highs and extreme lows.

Heigh ho, upwards and downwards

I am going to try and emulate you lot and get back to being busy now! As ever, THFTT (thanks heavens for this thread)!

Wishing you all a productive start to the week Remember to take care of yourselves, as well as everyone else.

I worded that last line wrongly ... trying again ...

Remember to take care of yourselves, while you are in the midst of caring for everyone else

Ta da:-
Cleared up mess from DD1’s failed attempt to make microwave muffins . To be fair to her she helped a bit to start with then it really was easier to do it myself.
Zoom exercise class for all of us
DD1 zoom music lesson
Lunch
A few messages / emails etc

To do:-
Sort a thank you present for someone
DD2 has a zoom lesson later
Possibly out for a walk
Tea

Flying in the house achieved.... ummm....... not a lot. I am trying to sort out school uniform a bit more. In process of looking at DD1’s uniform which means her wardrobe is currently a bit of a disaster. They are having a rest after lunch so I am going to seize the moment for a cup of coffee and a quick tidy up.

Cherry waves to all.

I am in a very quiet end of the pub. I like the fact that apparently the regulars can’t be arsed to walk so far to the bar so there’s hardly anyone even in my line of sight :o

Can’t really concentrate on my kindle but going to sit here a bit longer anyway (since I’m clearly not taking up a table that someone needs!)

Hi,
I have sorted the bathroom. Everything back in bar lots of towels. I used to have a basket of hand towels for visitors tucked under the towel rail but now we have one of those towel rail radiators. I will have to rethink that.
Shelves look good but not happy about the bit where the paint separated so might rub it back and try again...next week.
Wiped everything to go back on shelves.
Stripped bed.
LoL
Spoke to DS1 haven’t seen him since February.
Just read that there is a out break of C19. DS1&2 will need to be tested as the contact has been at their work space. I hope it isn’t the guys that work with them. DS2 wasn’t allowed to tell them to stay home and they chose to go to work. One was working with DS2 at the other pub.Ds1&2 have been here. It is in local paper and some had been to a party which sounds like the guys that work there. Why can’t people behave.