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!

foxes I hear you on the overthinking phrases 😂 all hail google.

ta da so far
🦋loaded DW and set it to 60 not 50 to see if that makes a difference to drying
🦋hung up towels etc from dryer
🦋put some clean teddies in the tub I cleaned out yesterday
🦋put still damp teddies in the dryer again
🦋emailed tutor - she’s giving me a month extension on the overall course deadline, so 2nd April. She also made some really nice comments on my work so far, so that’s given me a boost!
🦋answered a few more questions on my assignment

po3.1
❗️See if the Caglets have showered yet as DH fixed the pressure, and remind DD1 she also needs to put her laundry away if she hasn’t already
❗️Reply to tutor to thank her for extension
❗️Lunch

ta da continued
🐞new LOL
🐞replied to tutor
🐞made lunch
🐞cut DD1’s hair 😱 she wouldn’t drop the issue, so I just did it on the agreement she couldn’t blame me if it looked terrible, but it actually seems ok, phew

You now you had a mis calculation over the timing for getting washing up done when you end up eating macaroni with a cake fork...

DH Red is finethanks though he used it for a “10 minute nap” I said “You’ve had over an hour” then he had another 15 minutes while I watch Amazing spaces he saw the last bit when the Sea King was finished. He never worked with SeA Kings but when we lived in Scotland we were near an RAF base( school next door) so we saw Sea Kings and Chinooks all the time.

I had a distant chat with an old friend from work. She is shielding, they don’t like it and she has a letter from the hospital. Not had her jab though hospital said she should have been called.

Periods. I had quite bad ones for first few days I think I was about 12 1/2 it was High School any way. Mum threw a book on my bed about “ What a girl should know!” That was it. She used to be a nurse. We never discussed it. My cousin was the same age and I had a friend two years older. So I got the gist but didn’t use tampons until I was about 16 and someone asked me if I had any. Turns out riding a horse was soooo much better with Tampons! It is better that kids can learn about it earlier. We had a box at school in the staff loo room with all sorts and sizes and knickers. I used to let certain ones know that they could ask me if they needed anything and if I had a group of girls working and there was an opportunity like Science used to let them know. They were told in Sex Ed that we had some in school and they could ask a member of staff. It was the one time they were allowed in the staff loo with one of us hovering outside in the corridor.
I did start menopause early about forty one, when female GP tested me and said peri menopausal then I had a hell of a time for about three year then suddenly it was about four times spaced out and all finished at 44. Mum thought she was going through it but it turned out she was pregnant at 44. She didn’t have any after the birth aftermath.

Right going to check on dinner it hasn’t worked out time wise ...chicken. Back later.

Hills I had to have bread for breakfast instead of cereal because ALL the spoons were in the dishwasher 😳😂

It has been An Evening.

But crispy chilli beef is helping. 😋 And DH is lovely 🥰

Ooh could I join this thread please? I moved into my new home in early jan and I made it al up nice but now it’s just an absolute mess😂 especially finding places for the kids toys and stuff! I desperately need some help

I'm listening to some techno, and the beat is exactly the same as my cursor.

Sunny and breezy today; what a difference it makes to my mood. Of course, we're now due several days of rain. Got out to tidy the garden, pulling apart a collapsed and rotting fence and trying to figure out some pruning.

Tidied and cleaned fridge-freezer yesterday, which made today's delivery so easy. Just wipe down and put away. Hard-boiled some eggs for lunchtime sandwiches. Kitchen tidy. Added to laundry pile. Hoovered downstairs. Ordered more online school uniform.

Now in bed at 8pm. Have had a really good day. LOs are on respite, and I want them to come back to a lovely clean and well-ordered home.

to all of us.

Forgot to say, my recycling trolley and food waste bin have been nicked! Phoned council waste management, and exhausted-sounding but lovely lady said they'll drop off another whenever they can.

Welcome aboard Naptune.

Glad you’ve had a good day Tidy, you sound very organised.

Glad you have chilli beef and lovely DH to help you through the evening Sing.

Hope the appointment goes well tomorrow Zoo, and the weather holds out for the long walk to and from the hospital.

I resorted to DD’s cutlery the other day Hills. Virtually all the contents of the cutlery drawer were in the DW.

I’d have definitely had to think twice about bat or back Foxes. Hope you’ve survived the bedrooms. Don’t feel guilty about the creme egg, I’ve gone down that route too today except I’ve had 2 and a yellow sticker cream cake

Didn’t manage any baking today as it took an hour to get DD out the house for our walk after all sorts of discussions regarding outfits, hair, dolls prams, shoes etc, then my DGM rang and needed me to go the post office which meant a much longer walk than planned. It was quite a nice day though and DD was in a lovely mood once we actually made it out of the door.

Ta Das:
✔️ LOL, beds etc
✔️ Gave kitchen sink and tap a scrub
✔️ got rid of some empty loo roll tubes and learnt that I absolutely do not need to buy any bathroom supplies for the foreseeable future.
✔️ tracked down one lonely clean mask for my post office trip and sent stern text to DH about hoarding both his and mine in his work van. They are no doubt festering amongst the tupperware he likes to collect in there too 🙄
✔️ appeased both DD and DGM with the walk
✔️ Put the hoover back together after washing the filters the other day, and ran it over downstairs
✔️ went through dining room sideboard drawers to tidy them a bit and see what we need in terms of batteries, bulbs, stationary, cards, craft stuff etc. Only a couple of broken biros to declutter so I’ve done ok at keeping on top of it.
✔️ ordered what was needed/added to shopping list, and also ordered some Easter craft things.
✔️ cleaned dining table and chairs while
DD prepared us a ‘party tea’ with her play food.
✔️ made spag bol
✔️ did weekly supermarket trip (DH offered but I wanted some peace and a cream cake). Also got some more masks and some reduced roses
✔️ put shopping away

Oh how annoying Tidy! Who does that?!

That is so annoying tidy 😩

Well done for epic achievements up

DD1 is absolutely chuffed with her hair, yay! Will probably dye it this week too. She looks all grown up suddenly 😭 but has started learning more Kpop dances on YouTube, which she hasn’t done for a while, which is really nice to see, like she’s getting a bit of herself back if that makes sense.

I’m procrastinating like crazy over editing the shopping. You know how they say you shouldn’t shop on an empty stomach as you’ll make loads of bad decisions and spend too much? Well, you also shouldn’t shop after a lovely satisfying takeaway when you couldn’t possibly imagine needing to eat for at least a week. 😂

Good ness Up and Mrs Tidy great lists.

Welcome Naptune love the name. We are often getting in a muddle here but all welcome. We do a lot of nattering when we should be cleaning. It does motive us when we put our list of Ta Das up and when we haven’t done much and we see a long list from someone else.
We also like to chill in the naughty corner and snaffle goodies left by others.

Zoo bloody hell why cant they do the bloods at the GP did you tell them you would be walking to the hospital. She is nearly an adult. Some of my Yr 6’s were bigger than me. Well in height. I hope it is lovely weather for you.

UP love that you went supermarket shopping for peace and a cream cake.

Waders you see it does work this Flylady stuff we are starting to get the jobs done before she tells us! It has taken a while but we are cracking...sometimes.

So I have hardly done any flying because despite taking my tablets earlier I did sleep then dozed and woke with restless bloody leg. Eventually dropped off and had a really good sleep until 10:30 and I was about to get up but DH brought a large mug of tea. Well it would have been rude to not drink it...in bed. Did a few things when I got up and made DH a hot cross bun gather the food to drop off at DS3 on the way. He was fine I didn’t comment on the beard that I didn’t know about. Then we went to the street where DH thought I wanted to go and decided he wouldn’t go the way I said but go left and along a parallel road. He then said do I turn here and I said yes but he turned left when he should have turned right. Why don’t men listen so due to time I got him to go straight to friends house. I took her a bowl of flowers they were selling off at Dobbies. So we had a distance chat and I hope she felt better when I left. Going to ring in a couple of days to see how she is. She was depressed the other day and crying which is why I went. I thought a face to face might help. I think it did.

The florist was closed and I forgot to go to the bank until we were nearly home. So I will ring them tomorrow. Didn’t feel like doing much when I got back about 2:30pm so I checked and fed the chickens two eggs from same chicken😳 and then I made a cake while DH fell asleep using the injection as the excuse. He seems fine so far. Might milk it a bit.
Supper was late but delicious. Spatchcock chicken in garlic and herb oil, I made sauté potatoes and onion but in the oven and med. veg. Trifle was ready as jelly not set so we had tea and a piece of Victoria sponge. The rest went in the trifle. With a little bit of sherry alright then a good soaking of sherry. Peaches in brandy and raspberries.

Oh and I got completely muddled and forgot Shrove Tuesday so missed out on pancakes and I thought it was Tuesday today until I was enlightened by DH then I realised I had missed Mass and pancakes. I better give up thinking for Lent.

red I don't know about lent,think I've just given up thinking fullstop!

"D"p has told lil zoo he will take her doc/hospitalI should be grateful I suppose,but currently raging
I'd asked him to pop sainsbo see if any wellies for D's as his shoes have disintegrated and they'd be easier to get/more likely to fit(dd1 said big Tesco had none).he declared might go tom when I need be that areaI asked why was going that waya "planned" trip to Poundland for razors etc!I said D's trapped indoors without footwear and it's lovely sunny day "he won't mind"....he refused go ahead of his chosen day,then told D's he wouldn't play online anymore til the game he had given him Monday was out of quarantineD's is distraught about him not playing as rest us girls aren't interested in said game they were playing

That sounds frustrating zoo

Welcome naptune, I like your user name!

I managed to tidy both kids bedrooms yesterday's, dd was worse so took much longer. Before and after pic attached! I didn't really do anything else yesterday so the washing is piling up and the rest of the house needs a good clean but I still feel a good sense of achievement!

Excuse ds in the after pic 😂

Today I'm working but the dc are going to grandparents so it will be an easier day hopefully. I do need to get a move on though because they need to be ready soon

foxes did you make him tidy it so he passed out how mean!

Sorry i went a bit awol

foxes is that an ikea desk and chair? If so which chair is it? Have just been looking online for dd (7)

Today I am child free!

Good work in the bedrooms Foxes. Sorry your child free time involves work.

Grr at lack of cooperation from ’DP’ Zoo. Hope today goes well.

I also forgot pancake day Red although to be honest I’m not that bothered about them, and DD had some at nursery.

Morning ta Das:
🍷 did Covid test for research study. Awaiting courier to pick it up.
🍷 got DD ready and off to nursery
🍷 made beds
🍷 LOL in
🍷 wiped benches that DH neglected when he cleaned the kitchen up last night
🍷 checked online banking and budget

I am now curled up with our shy cat who mostly keeps herself to herself when DD is rampaging about but is enjoying some attention while it’s safe

To do:
Phone appointment to sort better life insurance
Pay for garden waste bin for the year
Netflix
Nap
Drink tea

Welcome Naptume- jump in with whatever you are doing.
My house is definately looking 100% better since I have been on this thread. Its true what Red said. The tada list do help! 😊

Up- so lovely when shy cats think, 'thank god...the lil girl that stomps around the house isnt here...its safe to walk around and get a cuddle.' My cats did that. They loved my lil boy but my dd....they sort of knew...keep a distance. Funny things is she looovveee cats. But dont seem to like her.

Foxes- i love the before and after pics! As it makes me feel normal that the kids use and enjoyed their rooms. What a lovely room for your dd. Love the colours and wall paper. Love the desk and chair too.

That- 🤣

Zoo- its annoying when things like shoes are needed! Sorry your dp doesnt just listen.

Red- i would have forgotton pancake day too but Dh reminded me. Kids had shop bought packets of pancake of lunch and dinner. They looved it!
Wow you mum had a baby at 44? How did she physically manage it? Looking after the baby? Sorry to hear you had a difficult perimenopause. Hug.

Up- great you got out to the supermarket and got a cake.yum!

Tidy- sorry to hear your food waste bin has been stolen.

Hills- we were down to 1 adult sized fork in the whole house....where did the rest disappear to....?
I had to use a teeny tiny fork to eat my food. No, it was not fun.

Waders- forgot to say weldone to both your dsons who is getting up and out.

Yestadas
🚗 wiped 2 ceilings, bilnds and half windows. Dusted kids bedrooms.
🚗moppes bathroom floor
🚗took kids park
🚗i went on zip line great fun.
🚗2 hours later back pain, arm pain, hand pain. Creaky hips....🤣
🚗earlry bed...nope...kids chatty

Todo
🚗tidy sitting room
🚗set kids some zog work
🚗shower dress till shoes
🚗clean ceiling and blinds in main bedroom.
🚗one day sort 'sofa of dooom!'

🍒👋everyone

Just watched lorranie on tv and Ranvir interviewed, Poorna Bell- book 'stronger.'
Poorna has just said something beautiful about girls/women and feeling strong in thier bodies. I think girls need books like this, women need books that empower them. I will be trying to get hold of it when it gets published.

Paraphrasing and i have put it into my own words...sort of what Poorna Bell said...
'Being fit doesnt have to mean being thin.
You can be strong whatever size you are, and feel powerful.'

Thanks everyone! Haha, no ds didn't do a lot to help I can assure you , I'm not really sure what he was doing 😂 it was definitely me that felt like collapsing in a heap afterwards!

Yes that the desk and chair are IKEA...I will try and link the one.

It's nice to have their rooms tidy again as they are fairly newly decorated unlike the rest of the house, so they actually do look nice when tidy! I have many before pictures of the kitchen and work in progress pictures, cannot wait to share when it's done (let's at least hope that's this year 😂)

Best get back to work I suppose.

Does anyone know much about rhubarb?! I had some in my veg box a week ago but haven't had a chance to use it yet, going to make a rhubarb cobblers, it feels a bit bendy now, will that matter if I'm cooking it anyway?!

Oh and we were talking about beetroot before, I still haven't tried pickling it but I know waders gave me some good tips and a recipe for it so I will try and get round to that next time! We have decided we definitely don't like it in cake unfortunately, well, I liked the beetroot and carrot cake but didn't manage to eat it all by myself so some got wasted. I won't bother again! Tonight dh is going to use the last of the beetroot roasted with sausages so fingers crossed that's more appreciated!

I love my veg box but sometimes trying to use things up is a tiny bit stressful, mainly because I hate waste so much!

Right really really must go back to work..

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/loberget-sibben-childrens-desk-chair-white-s59337670/

This is the chair that