Pumpkin spice and ghost abound, fledglings flying through the crazy

[HillsBesideTheSea]

Right for this seasonal thread of the Fledgings, I invite you to pull up a comfy chair around the fire pit and pour yourself a mug of something that you fancy.

We loosely follow the flylady system and her babysteps. But we have our own spin, our own abbreviations and have been around for far longer than some of us would like to admit. If you are new to these parts welcome in, we'll get you up to speed in no time. But we have rules, yes rules!

Rule 1: No fledgling left behind.
life happens. If you fall off the thread, jump back when you are ready.

Rule 2: If you wouldn't say it to someone else, don't say it to yourself
Be kind to yourself, the world is still crazy, and life happens. Just do what you can, when you can.

Right that's the rules now for the fun part. Acronyms and autocorrects!
Amongst others (and there are others but we'll have to explain as we go along)
It's all gone a bit ponty pridd - tits up, pete tong, wrong etc etc we get to thank auto correct for this
WOW wash out Wednesday - humps days often don't go to plan and get washed out
LOL round these parts it is load of laundry

Urm... Yeah about that fire pit and comfy chair... Dibs on the big floofy one with fluffy blankies... Last one in brings the marshmallows!

Room rescue felt like a losing battle

po3.2
❗️Wash brushes/rollers (change top first!)
❗️Try and move some stuff around in the living room and get more carpet up
❗️Eat something

po3.3
❗️Change top again, brush hair and teach maths
❗️Attempt some room rescue in boodwa, mainly so more stuff can be stashed in there
❗️Move as much stuff out of living room as possible

Good afternoon.

How are you all enjoying family fun day?

Zoo good luck with the cleaning out and reorg of the girls room
UP steady goes it with the nesting
Dancing good luck defeating the slugs. bastarding criters that they are
Sing even if you don't complete a room rescue - progress IS progress no matter how small!

ta da
wash duvet
go for long walk
figure out where plants are going
find the winter bedding out and decide dusty enough to warrent being washed before being put on stick pillows on to wash
Decide on theme for Nov bullet journal pages
Look at to do list and sigh heavily.
sign up for a lecture on wednesday morning (to go with the other 3 I already signed up for for next week)
consider what other plants i want to bring into my bedroom jungle.

Anyone got any good suggestions as to trailing plants? I have devils ivy (3 varieties), spider plants. English ivy i have killed many times so need to avoid that. Also not a well lit area so needs to tollerate low lighting.

I am hopeless with plants hills and I have stopped buying them because they all die. My mum, on the other hand, has a lush plantation at her home. She has trailing jade I think it's called in her dark hall. It is lovely.

We are having great fun with Tradescantia, hills, which is living happily in the bathroom (and the study, and the windowsill at the end of the music room etc).

Glad to hear you are ok, Hazel, even if with too much to do. I am very impressed with your low carbing (just a step too far for me this time).

Dancing if the hallway is a problem, stick a sheet over all the stuff and call it Hallowe'en decorations!

Scream Hills is right. Progress is progress.

I have achieved very little except embroidering faces on more fabric pumpkins and looking up some Welsh burial records. Oh, and DS3 and I went for a walk - I am now routinely managing a mile at a time, which is a definite improvement.

DH is now enjoying family fun day buy cooking tea to a 24 year-long remix of Rapper's Delight, so I am hiding in the living room!

24 year-long remix
don't blame you for hiding.

I will look up that plant but i fear it might require more light than i can give it in my room. Might work for a bathroom plant.

I want string of pearls and string of hearts I think they’re called.

I currently need to rescue two of our indoor plants though (Edna and Balonz) before I get anything new! Esmeralda the Bromelia is doing well though.

I’m exhausted just going up and down stairs moving crap around. The living room is more spacious though and it’ll be easier to do the second coat

Evening. I'm afraid I've skipped about 8 pages. Suspected covid (negative pcr), last week of term and a death in the family - it's been a bit full on.

Today I've done a lol and unloaded the dw and haven't killed anyone. Now half term so I really need kick to get things done please.

Oh no, nope. if you are poorly, have had a death to contend with and survived to half term there is a nice comfy cushion and whatever the hell you want as comfort food. You are one person. Physical and mental health are as if not more important then tidy. Tidy will happen, many times but there is only one you and you gotta look after it, tis more important than a shiny sink. Do what you can, do what is important but be kind to yourself.

Honey- i am so sorry to hear you hv been ill and have had a death in the family- you hv alot going on. The house can wait and Hills is right- look after yourself as its all alot to contend with.

Red- how is your back feeling now? I hope you are ok?

Up- it must be so exciting to order all the things needed for nesting.

Thay- hope you are ok
Hope- how are you doing?

Willow- thats brilliant you are walking a mile at time. Does your foot feel healed now? Your sewing sounds great!
I quiet like your idea of sheets draping my hallway....

Scream- you are making great progress with your living room. I am realising something...if I sent most of my stuff upstairs...maybe I could keep downstairs clear? I love string pearls as a plant- it looks so interesting.

Hills- a plant wall sounds amazing. You bedroom will look amazing. I watched a episode of gardeners world i think and I saw a lady turn her sitting room onto a healing room of plants- i loved it and was in awe how beautiful it looked. It must have been even better to be there.

Tadas
Lol dark clothes
Lol pink clothes
Lol winter hats.
Put away some clothes
Lunch the tidy away
Helped kids with homework
Tried to declutter hallway - it looks alot better.
Get kids to bed at a decent hour- and tell them a made up story I must have told them over a year ago - had to try and remember it - it made them laugh. Kids are asleep- thank goodness.

Putting lots of hot chicken soups and buttered toasts in the naughty corner for anyone that feels unwell. Oh and hot toddies of wiskey or brandy - i watched all creatures great and small and Mrs Hall gave Sigfried medicine - wiskey, ginger, honey, lemon and garlic i think. I might go research hot toddy remedies from the 1930s.

Waves to anyone i have forgot.

Thank you lovely ladies.

Oh Honey I am sorry. The others are right, tidy can wait - mental and physical health come first, and the opportunity to hide for a week and grieve as you need to.

Everything you say makes sense but half term is also, or feels like it's, my one shot at getting on top of things at home.

I not only go back to work after but I have my performance management and application for pay threshold and I'm enrolled to do a national professional qualification in leading behaviour and culture in schools which is fully paid for by the government. My first week back sees my first seminar and study stuff. Anyway I know you're all correct. I seem to be taking my work/career pretty seriously lately and wanting to achieve stuff there and that's good I just have to be sure to manage home and being mum and mental and physical health too.

Will presumably have a funeral coming up once autopsy and whatever hoops there are during these times are jumped through but can't predict that. I've been neglecting weight loss and still drinking too much but I think parenting and and daughtering is going 'ok' and work good. Laundry and dw ok and kitchen sides are clear if not exactly clean and cupboards generally stocked ok but eg. I never did finish the living room properly and one corner is still a dumping ground that needs sorting and I'm embarrassed to say I still haven't put ds's bedframe together so he's still sleeping on a mattress on the floor currently and I'm not sure when I last had a cover on my duvet

I can only seem to balance a couple of things at once. No idea how the serious grown ups pull it all together.

Oh and stairs are a mass of animal hair and I can't recall when I last pushed a hoover or mop around.

If I earned more I would buy in help but I'm so part time currently that I'm conscious that when child maintenance and the child element of UC stops I wouldn't actually be able to keep a roof over our heads but I guess I have to hope that the energy and investment I'm putting into my career currently will pay off at some point.

Sorry - big vent after long absence. Thank you for putting up with me and my sporadic efforts at fledging.

honey in agree with *what hills said"you are one person.mess will wait til you are more able lovely
As for hairy stairs..I have 3cats,3long haired zoolets at home plus me and every attempt sort stairs results in so much hair I've successfully broken multiple Hoover's.i have resorted to a silicon brush who h is both satisfying and asthma inducing...I could easily knit a wig from fluff if I had correct weaving equipment on a weekly basis

*still not much cleaning going on
But knitting done tho

Dancing glad you enjoyed IKEA and it gave you a mental rest.so important 💖

No idea how the serious grown ups pull it all together. no one does, we make it up as we go along and do the dang best we can.

Huge amounts to do, and dont want to do any of them. So lets start with a po3
coffee
breakfast and meds
load washing machine

Sorry things are so difficult honey 💐

Just been doing a bit of final touches/cleaning in the living room. Hoping not to need to do any more woodwork paint but the top of the walls will need a bit of work. Hoping we can do that in time for doing the floor this evening as it’s Cagletini’s birthday tomorrow!

Unfortunately I have zoom maths at 12 (rearranged from yesterday’s no show… I really need to get assertive and make a cancellation policy), DD1 has dance exams and DH has a real life squid games (without the gore, presumably) charity event thing. So I’m really not sure if we will manage. Also the Caglets were hoping to go to asda for Halloween things and some birthday food for tomorrow (no idea what we are doing about a cake)

Power of three is a good plan.

❗️Make sure DD1 has a shower and packs her bag for her exam
❗️Decide plan for the afternoon with DH (currently dozing as he was up late painting again)
❗️Eat something, change top half and teach maths

Scream- i like the power of 3. I might need to try this.

Wellies- the ballet shoes hot toddy sounds amazing - sometimes being knocked out is the best thing - what is in it if you dont mind me asking?
I will try look up the book- i love its title!

Zoo- i dont have a pet to leave hair....its my hair that sheds..and use the amazing silicon brush....and am seriously going to buy a hairnet...a la my grandma style...to try and contain it 😳👵

honey sorry things are so tough right now. Take care of yourself

zoo are you enjoying the knitting?

Ta-da (I don't have to do at the moment to reduce stress)

Got up, brushed teeth, washed face, combed hair and got dressed. Yay me.

Helped DS with homework after he had a mini crisis for it
Helped my dad with his computer after he had mini crisis
Washed up
Cooked DS a hot lunch
Found stuff for minimalism game
Got distracted and deep cleaned and restored order under sink cupboard
Planned easy dinner for tonight.

Better go eat something healthy for lunch.

yup I am
Will post pic once it's done

Tada
Shop done
Tidy fridge out
Tidy freezer
Clean cupboard out
Put away all ambient shop/cleaning stuff
Scrub and disinfect dining table
Sweep lower floors
Lunch
Clean bath and sink
Wipe window sill/clear off crap
Clean radiator
Empty bathroom bin
Empty all internal bins
Sort recycling

Now so exhausted am crying,not helped by wait dd2 put bins in big bin"too anxious so wait a bit"despite explaining if I don't get shower soon be too tired and of I don't watch her some don't go out...by then I was stiff joints hurt so bad and too tired for shower I promised myself

Feeling pathetic and sorry for myself

Thanks all.

I managed to reload and switch on the dw and have loaded the washing machine but need to add a couple of bits shortly and turn it on and then remember to unload it hopefully. I cooked us a decentish lunch and remembered to send a few messages checking on on people.

That's it though. Couldn't sleep last night and ended up walking the dog at like 1am. Got 4 hours sleep total. Tired and unmotivated but pleased I've managed at least the dw and making lunch. Need to do a tesco shop but the website and app have been down all day

Well I've done an Asda order - website makes little sense to me and not entirely sure what I've ordered in my foggy state but I have a delivery coming tomorrow and there's definitely food for the animals and the boy and alcohol for me so should be ok.

Sorry for the total 'me' posts. Zoo I'm sorry you didn't get your shower. I've had pretty much a weekend in bed due to exhausting and sad week so we can be stinky in the naughty corner together.