It's February - Fledglings are Flying (let's face it there's not much else to do).

[EventuallyDeleted]

Here we are on the February 2021 Flylady thread - this time last year we were just starting to realise that the world was going to change in a big, big way. The Fledgling threads have pulled us all together and been a great source of comfort and distraction from it all.

This is a friendly housekeeping thread based (loosely... Extremely loosely sometimes 😂) on Flylady's housekeeping system . Welcome one and all, lurkers and long-time posters alike. Join in, hang out, but above all remember you are not behind, just jump in where you are.

The beauty of Flylady is that you don't have to flatten yourself trying to get your house clean to begin the routine upkeep; the first - and only - thing she asks you to do is to shine your kitchen sink. Routines - morning, afternoon and evening - are built gradually through her Baby Steps. To those, you add a Daily Focus and a weekly area to concentrate cleaning on. By the end of a month, your whole house will have had some attention. If you miss a bit, never mind, it'll come round next month!

For this month, I'll be posting daily links to the Launch Pad on the Flylady site so you can follow the daily focus and cleaning missions. You can sign up to receive emails from Flylady, but we suggest you don't - she sends masses, which will clog up your inbox and drive you insane into the bargain.

Because this thread has been running a while, there are some acronyms we use to make life easier
S&S - swish and swipe, round the bathroom to keep it acceptable daily
LOL - load of laundry. No, we don't find washing that funny!
Ned - born of a typo, a mythical being who assists with laundry mountains
The pointy stick ----> to motivate people
PO3 - Power of 3, if you can only face a few tasks. People often find groups of 3 tasks stack up over a day!
The Naughty Corner - where we head when it's all Too Much. Usually stocked with fresh coffee, fluffy throws, delicious snacks and the opportunity to sit quietly with friends or build a blanket fort and sulk in it if you need to.

During the Pandemic, we have also been using the KCC or Keep Calm Corner, invented by long-time poster / thread leader SC. This is a regular dose of memes, questions for discussion, random trivia etc to distract us from the rest of the world. All contributions welcome!

Remember - No Fledgling Left Behind!

up might means thoughts there.id class as a win
Red fussy hens!I love hearing about them.i have fond memories scrabbling in the dirt retrieving spuds dad had just dug up a plant for
Foxes coconut biscuits would divide our house.lil zoo despises it,D's loves it!
Edlife admins a huge win.you are achieving loads just keeping your head above water and all fed,no one dead.silence that inner critic and revel in your kind voice

Few rows crochet done whilst supervising D's schooling
Tray peppers that bit wrinkly,red onion and squash roasting for my lunch as a type.smells delish!
Lil zoo has requested sardines/pilchards with peppers in rolls,so I'm going with that!
"D"p is waiting on a reference to start a new job and has asked me if dd2 can go walk with him pm

Zoo- 🤣slotted spoon or fish slice....🤣

Honestly you guys are lovely. Thank you for understanding me 💖

My kids are now learning about the lunar new year and the chinese zodiac.
So the kids have to learn a song. It has been repeating in my head...🎼🎵🎶.'Here comes the dragon, dancing down the street!'🎼🎵🎶 Hope you all know it...

Yestadas,
🐉showered and dressed both kids
🐉breakfast
🐉dw part emptied
🐉lol
🐉log kids into school video they watch 5 and then they ran away to play paw patrol- the pups were going on holiday cue filling up luggage bags and going up and down the stairs. 'Come on mummy you are going to miss the plane!'

🐉try to figure out school work.
🐉get kids to learn new song and perform- this is not easy as Ds is shy.
🐉lol in dryer
🐉race to make lunch
🐉and get dd on teams meeting on tablet
🐉hoover around to help dd
🐉next try to get ds onto teams- 40mins wasted as i was unsuccessful at it and nearly broke my 11 year old laptop trying to connect to teams by downloading the app.
Ds was upset he couldnt see teacher.

🐉deflated. Got kids ready - we went for a tiny walk. I havent been out for ages.
Kids loved runnning on tiny park nearby and I felt so happy watching them run freely.
🐉cup of tea needed as i felt out of breath.
🐉cooked a sausage stew....i thought it was great. Dh said it made him want to throw up. 😑 i thought it tasted lovely.
I thought I had done well using celery, carrots, onions with sausage to make something warm to eat. Potato mash, cheese sweet for dd. Sausage and egg bap for ds.
🐉tried to get dd to do school work while i ran in from the kitchen trying to cobble together the evening dinner.

🐉Dh had to help me wade through the kids school work. It really helped and in 2 hours, most of it was done.
🐉sat on floor cutting out the kids worksheets to stick into the school books.
🐉pictures of schoolwork taken and sent to school.
🐉kids are getting ratty with each other so its time for bed.
🐉force myself to go fill up the dishwasher with the last bits and switch it on. Its my future friend thing i do to be kind to myself.
🐉go back downs to bring the baby doll cot upstairs as skye and everest teddies cant sleep anywhere else. 🤣

Dancing somehow I missed (or forgot it was you) that you definitely had CFS/ME, I did wonder from things you’ve said :( mine was triggered shortly after going full time at work - library assistant so surprisingly physically demanding but none of the stress reaching involves. I’m doing so much better since I stopped, sadly. I do miss it. It makes me worry about working in the future, but I’ve already agreed with DH that full time work is absolutely out of the question for the foreseeable.

Hazel glad you managed to get some nice chocolate! It’s DH’s favourite. I have ordered chocolate from Amazon before as it is hard to find (green and blacks milk with salt) but stupidly did it in last year’s mini heatwave 😂 so it was very floppy when it arrived, and then went weird in the fridge. Might just order myself some now actually, I mean it’s not gonna melt in this weather is it 😂

I have a very sad Cagletini next to me as she wasn’t allowed to join DH and DD1 on a shop/pharmacy run. Just too icy out there (that’s basically why DD1 is going - to ensure her dad stays upright!). I’m staying very quiet and still (other than my thumbs for typing) as she appears to be dozing off, which would make the next hour or two a lot easier...

Teaching not reaching 🤦🏽‍♀️

Yay she’s asleep. This will probably mean a later night but TBH I can stay up with her if the last couple of nights’ insomnia have been anything to go by 😂

DS is busy with his Lego challenge (a scene in the life of Richard Feynman) so I think I might play piano for a bit.

Sing- yes it was me. I feel so bad for typing I have Cfs/me as i do not have doctors diagnosed but for the past 20years Dh and myself know its that. At my worst i cant move. Medium is when my legs and arms go to jelly and limb weekness. And i struggle to breath. My classes where amazing and knew that it happened to me so i needed to sit down. My brain worked fine and i just thought it was my sugars crashing. I had super kind students 15 years ago. God bless them.
I think i need to talk to doctor about it and as i have chest pains on left lung and shortness of breath. Plus wobbly legs so sitting down after doing bursts of work.
Sing i am really sorry you suffer with it too. Its horrible. Bet you were a superb librarian!
(I always wanted to be one as i love books and love librarys... but didnt know how to enter the proffesion!)

Hope you have a lovely time on the piano!

Thanks dancing she did so I played piano myself for a bit and did a bit with DS as well, just revising what I’d taught him the other week :) he’s not even done maths today, oops, but at least he’s done something I suppose.

The others are back now so I think I’ll go out for a walk but even DD1 managed to fall over and graze her legs so I’m a tad nervous about the ice TBH. But I really should make the effort to go before it’s getting dark.

Sadly this means getting dressed first. Sigh.

Sorry your illness hasn’t been recognised. It can be one hell of a fight, I was extremely lucky that my GP recognised it and knew where to refer me (in the alternative trust I would have been refused diagnosis because at the time they used outdated criteria that meant if you had a history of depression you couldn’t be diagnosed... I mean what the what?!) so I got seen at St Barts in that there London and saw various therapists for a bit. But TBH, it’s not a diagnosis that brings any magic tablets etc so the only thing that truly helps is knowing myself and pacing

I hope you can get the lung pain seen to 💐

Right, seriously must get dressed and get out for a bit.

Ta das
Dishwasher again
Hoovered
Deep cleaned coffee machine
Did some stretches
Sorted Tupperware boxes and lids...I have way more lids
Helped dd with maths
Took recycling out
Another LOL

The kids are meditating

Sitting on a bench for a bit, which proves it’s not quite as cold as the last couple of days. Quick music chat with a passer by who was blasting out parla piu piano from the godfather (never seen the film but I love the song), probably the most social encounter I’ll have IRL all week 😂

I am so bored. I feel like I shouldn’t be, as a crunchy snowy walk/view is still a bit of a novelty, but there it is. Still the same old park underneath! But I’m lucky to have that, I know.

BTW dancing I was merely a library assistant, a librarian is a qualification based term (like chef vs cook I believe). I may have considered that if I’d stayed longer but it wasn’t meant to be and I don’t think I would have been as fulfilled as a helping others type role will hopefully make me! I did love the job though, especially when I got to do specialised tasks in the reference library and stuff like story time in junior.

I should probably continue my walk now 😂

Going to be honest diagnosis actually hinders medical treatment because everything. is put down to it. I was diagnosed with CFS in teens. Getting anything dealt with other than the doc going well what do you expect you have CFS/fibro is challenging. Very. Very. challenging. And the fuckers don't actually provided any assistance or help for the fibro/cfs either.

I am channelling the meh today.

So true hills it’s very easy for them to fob us off. Again I’ve been lucky in that regard but I have read of some astounding ignorance others have faced 🤬 we know our own bodies and should be trusted to know if something has changed and needs investigating. I hadn’t realised you were so young when you got it. I was mid twenties, 34 now. My PoTS (postural tachycardia) clearly started around 11 though, and doctors were shit about that, then the ME specialist added the dx because it was obvious 🙄.

Had a hot bath in which I almost finished my book. The house feels really dark and subdued today, no idea why. Glad there’s only one school day left though - will definitely take Friday completely off and at least try and drag us all to the park or something (or something? What else is there 😂)

Coming onto here quickly to say Zoo I love, love, LOVE those acid foot peels! Gross, but yet so satisfying. And sort the feet out really well.

Do your feet feel all sensitive after like a snake that has shed its skin? I’ve never tried it but it sounds painful 😂

I have a problem with our kitchen. It doesn’t look like ours.

It’s too clean 😂😂😂 way to go yet, as there is still lurking clutter and we definitely need to have a good sort out of the cupboards and drawers especially now we have one fewer of each! Just now I scrubbed the radiator in there, I don’t know how it got so gross. I’ve thrown three things away too.

Just about to do the shopping edit, I need quick zero-thought-required lunches. Then I still have to sort a trofast tray (I’m running out of these so soon I’ll have no choice but to confront the kallax...) and I want to put the laundry away so it doesn’t build up again.

Lunch is my weak spot. Dare I suggest Weetabix and beans? DS has just dumped the Romans for the Tudors. I think this is a stage akin to dropping Thomas the tank engine for Paw Patrol but we'll see.

😂😂😂😂😂 hope

No.

Sing surprisingly no sensitivity at all, and it's not sore. Just sheets of dry skin coming off within a week of application 😬

My first ever online tesco grocery delivery was supposed to arrive today 8-9pm. Well, it is almost 11pm and it's still not here (no text/call re delay, and the updates on the app still showing the time slot as 8.00-8.30pm). Safe to assume it is not arriving today? M tiny is already asleep and I would hate if the delivery wakes him up with a doorbell.. So far, not impressed with this whole online delivery of groceries. Is this the norm or just an oddity due to snow?

Mc - i have had a few online deliveries in they usually turn up in the allocated time.
Hmm, wonder if the snow has hampered things? I hope they dont wake Mc tiny up if he is sleeping.

Hmmm... Tesco delivery never arrived. And no communication regarding it whatsoever. I realise life happens, vans break and snow falls, but it's not an excuse for not telling me it is not coming. I am grumpy now.

Foxes that is my trouble too sentimental. Will need to think about again but in the meantime I have looked threw them and put them aside.i have a pile of thank you cards from school not from when I left as I don’t think she has told the parents and some of the kids thought I was going back. If it wasn’t for Covid I might have set up an after school art club because I think there would be a few takers and the people than organise children’s events know me well because they or there kids or grandchildren have had me teach them. It was lovely reading the cards some wonderful messages from the kids most of them written by the children. So I put them aside too. I wish I had taken a pile and shown her.
So I DID sort threw four bags of wool and knitting. A sleeve of a cardigan I was making for DD when she was a baby. Bright red and a sort of pattern on it. I must have got too bogged down at the time. I was at college, had placements at Special School, Hospital, SS Day
Nursery and three days full time at college as well as four kids and a man child to deal with so guess I can forgive myself.
I have a path through now so hope to do an hour tomorrow. I plan a hour a day until it is better than it is now. It would help if I could put toys and things in the loft but I cant as we get mice up there and we have the bats. And bats mean batshit. I want to tell them when we get those calls about insulation.

Sing I also vote yes to you volunteering. Good that you have an offer of a reference.
Ed you have loads on. The swimming thing sounds a nightmare. We have a swimming teacher in the village now and she organises the schools as well as the after school lessons she teaches. There are quite a few pools around the city, some owned by schools and on there property. Some small private ones in the country that let others use them part of the week.

So I didn’t do the fridge as DH had already started to put the veg box away. We went to M&S on the industrial estate. Never again. Quiet when we arrived but shortly after loads piling in no social distancing. Women leaning over you to get stuff and when I said 2 metres to one woman she said “Yeah, two metres.” Then proceeded to reach over me. I was there first with another woman. I got stuff as quick as I could and out. I was about shaking and I saw one other woman about 70 looking very worried. No one else was SD I couldn’t believe it. The worst ever shopping experience. There was a girl out side sorting cleaning of trolleys and checking numbers. There was four to six most aisle and no one way system or floor markings except near the tills. I bought myself a big bunch of flowers. I vowed to because school never bothered to send anything. They were quite a good bunch for £8 and £3 for some deep pink tulips to go with them.

Hoping to have a decent sleep tonight but I have had two naps one about 4 pm and when watching New Tricks.

MC I use Tesco all the time here and never had a problem. That's so frustrating. Red - I think you can totally forgive yourself for unfinished projects at that stage of your life. I like clearing out stuff I won't do. It's cathartic. Bit like confession. Your penance is a large mug of hot tea and copious biscuits ☕🍪

foxes I always have way more lids than containers 😆

Mc- I am sorry your tesco shopping order didnt arrive. Its frustrating, especially as you were waiting so late for it. Is there a number to ring as it hasnt arrived? Next door have 5 children and I wondered how they did thier food shopping. Every Monday 8pm a online shop is delivered. Usually Tesco or Asda.
Hope you got a good nights sleep Mc.

Red- I am sorry the school didnt send you flowers when you left. Good you bought yourself some flowers. I am a card keeper especially if it is a arty, pretty designed card. I do now and then whittle them down. I would keep the cards with messages from the kids. I think you would have got lots more messages from the other children too. I bet you were brilliant at doing the art classes and when you do some after school art classes, one day, its lovely to know you will get kids attending. Fingers crossed, when its all safe, you get to do this.
I am sorry you experienced no SD at M&S. What horrible customers. I would contact customer services and put in a complaint. Detail no floor markings, one way system. They may send you something to say sorry like vouchers.

I experienced something similar in lidl 3 weeks ago. I couple were very very close to me at the tills. It was like covid was not happening. As I was paying I had to put my arm out and shout 'No, keep your distance- I havent finished!' the women just looked very confused and looked at her husband. I was so annoyed, i scooped my shopping into my bag and I rushed out the shop as fast as I could. Covid is not really a thing is it...? (Sarcastic)

How did you manage to do all those placements, 4 children , manage the house and knit things?!
I hope to try mindfulness with knitting. I was 9 when i last knit.🤦‍♀️

Foxes- i love it that the kids were meditating! Where they watching cosmic yoga? I too had a cupboard full of plastic lids that fell onto the floor. It was a great feeling when I got rid of them!

Half- 😂 So after my kids abandon paw patrol they will get into things like the Romans and Tudors? I cant imagine my life with seeing or hearing about paw patrol! 🤣

Hills- I am sorry to hear you were diagnosed with fibro/cfs at such a young age. Thank you for being honest. That was my concern of not being believed and then everything put down to cfs. Its so fustrating that no cures have been found.
I know when I start feeling myself shaking inside that I need to stop and rest. Otherwise it leads to my batteries draining and loss of power. I noticed eating porridge and having kefir helps me.
What have you found that helps you?

Ed- you sound like you have been really busy. Great that you have finished all the swimming commitee stuff. You must be so proud that it done. Its amazing you do so much. Do you eat lots of tick taks like zoo does to keep you going? 😁

Up- I hope you are ok lovely. Whats the weather like near the coast? Hope you are managing to get to work ok? Have you been doing any overnight oats?

Zoo- Are you ok? Hope scoutcat is ok? Will you be monitoring the use of the laptop battery charger again? Boys are funny.

Hazel- hope your Dh starts helping pack and organise all the stuff to get ready to move. It really is a faster process there of exchanging houses than here.

Butta- I hope you and cutie E are all ok. Hope your mum and nan are safe and well too.

🍒 morning 🖐 everyone. ☕☕☕☕☕

dancing think scoutcats ok now.three big scabs on his head and a little bald patch....he was in n out like the hokey pokey yesterday in the day then stayed in last night

FFS *hokey c.o.k.e.y
Claws,she's classy,but not that classy kitty😁

Pic of said classy kitty,well her little beans anyway❤️

Morning everyone!
The delivery saga: now marked as 'Delivered' on the app 🤔 There are some footprints in the snow leading to the garage, so hopefully the driver just left them there as was running late and sensibly didn't ring the doorbell at nearly midnight. At least I am hoping that's the case, otherwise I will have more questions on who was visiting the garage!

Zoo what a classy cute paw with tootsie beans!
Hope reassuring to hear that deliveries usually work well. I am very keen for this to be the case! Hopefully it was snow throwing spanner in the works.
Dancing DH is usually a designated shopper in our household during the pandemic (he volunteered..), but I am getting a wee bit tired of him moaning about having to buy heavy or bulky things (Nappies, breastfast cereal, milk, meat for roasting). Inability to get the cars out is a perfect excuse for online shopping!