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Housekeeping

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Darkness drawing in, Fledgling flying through November

598 replies

HillsBesideTheSea · 31/10/2021 12:13

So another month another thread.

first things first: Naughty corner is over there ----> stocked with comfy chairs, blankies, cupboard of comfort food of your desire, something strong if you require and a nice warming fire.

Right next up the formalities.
We loosely follow the fly lady system. It does work if you follow it, but many of us have found that it works better if you combine it with an additional decluttering system to speed up that process. Flylady is more of a maintence system and build routines to prevent system

This is a loooooong running thread. We seem clicky but welcome new blood to the brood, and you will soon catch up. We don't leave fledglings behind. But also we would like to remind you that perfectionism and comparison can be thieves of joy.

This year has been hard, this winter looks like it will also be hard. So remember to be kind to yourselves. We are all juggling a lot. The house, work, kids, animals, partners, bills, being the family brain. This thread is here to support. So if it looks like sometimes we chat more than we fly, then that is ok. Life is more than living in a show home, and real life is chaotic, messy and loud and that is just what it is.

So welcome to November's thread

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Thread gallery
16
Stilllivinginazoo · 22/11/2021 08:39

*yes I was up at silly o'clock

StillUp · 22/11/2021 09:49

Impressive list Zoo!

Not long to go Bramble Smile. DH got all baby things from the loft yesterday and I was pleased to find it’s all fine (I had visions of mould and having to re-buy everything). Moses basket covers are currently in the WM and I feel a bit more prepared.

LOVE the tree Hazel, it’s amazing!

Hope the meeting goes ok Sing

You do have a way with words Hills Grin. Hope tech issues are sorted.

It was lovely not having to get up early and rush round for work this morning. I had a leisurely breakfast and walk to school with DD and I’m now trying to alternate little bursts of flying with some relaxation. So far I’ve tidied the living room which was scattered with both felt pens and sylvanian families. The DW is on, I did a two minute rescue of the hall, beds made and s&s in the downstairs toilet. Now running myself a bath for a pamper. DM is coming round shortly to help me sort baby clothes and take some bags away to wash.

SingToTheSky · 22/11/2021 10:15

Lesson done, went well and no tech issues! 😱 DH has been helping DS with his chemistry homework I think. Must have breakfast as I didn’t have time. I may have nabbed some of DD1’s leftover sleepover chocolate though 😳🙈 I now have 15 min before a brief chat with colleagues to prep for the event at 11.15.

po3.2
❗️Check planner and arrange lunch date with friends
❗️Quick teams meet (must brush hair first!) and set alarm for 11.10
❗️Do some maths and/or SPAG with DS

Redsquirrel5 · 22/11/2021 11:00

Morning all,

Up great that you have started Maternity leave and that baby things are all ok. I would get a cleaner for a blitz being a person that always has high blood pressure and had pre eclampsia and toxaemia in all pregnancies.

Hazel fantastic tree I love Hedwig on top of the tree.

Zoo sorry to hear about Nelly. Misty was like that like small strokes.

Sing sounds like you got a good start to the day.

Anyone seen Dancing lately? Hope she is just busy.

Had a busy day yesterday church, tea/ coffee, choir and just back to change as some of us were invited to a birthday party for some new people at church. It was lovely. Food was delicious.

Just deciding what to do today.

🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋to everyone.
Need to do home bleugh!

HillsBesideTheSea · 22/11/2021 12:55

I don't want to.
There is so much left to do.
I just went outside and realised i had forgotten that we also need to clear the patio for the building work.
My list keeps growing
My energy is flagging
I have already drunk way too much coffee to be considered healthy
And i have no idea where the fuck i am putting 2 matresses and associated bedding tomo.
I also realised that buying plants before building work was perhaps a bad plan.

I need a responsible grown up, house elves, chocolate and a holiday.
Instead I have to hoik my big girl panties up whilst trying not to snap the elastic, finish todays stuff, make sure tomorrow's stuff is managable without having to be up or running the hoover at 4am, and then figure out how the flying fuck am i putting the house back together again in time for Christmas when the 1st Advent sunday is this Sunday coming AND i promised decorations could go up on the 1st Dec this year.

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SingToTheSky · 22/11/2021 13:20

We’ve promised 1st Dec here too. Or I guess maybe the weekend after. Will see what the Caglets prefer.

Meeting was a bit scary but went well. Still need to do some work with DS (he’s done stuff with DH already).

Bit overwhelmed - not with work, that’s going really well 🥰🤩 but dear lord the HOUSE. The CLUTTER.

HillsBesideTheSea · 22/11/2021 14:02

Swap ya for a building site Sing? Grin

Glad the meeting went well.

Hazel hope the dog is ok after its treatment

Bumble that seems awfully close, not surprised you are ready to be done

not procrastinating, coffee break.
Totally procrastinating

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SingToTheSky · 22/11/2021 15:13

po3.3
❗️Check details for tomorrow like timings and trains etc
❗️LOL
❗️Prep for Wednesday maths

Maths with DS was like pulling teeth today, not that he didn’t want to do it, he was just so distracted

HalfHope · 22/11/2021 19:37

I have been away from thread due to one thing or another - apologies.

Attention has now turned to getting the house ready for decorations next month. House is like a tip.

waves to everyone including the lovely hills and slinks off to naughty corner.

HalfHope · 22/11/2021 19:38

Lots of lovely thread babies on the way Smile Makes it really feel like Advent soon.

IWillWearThatGlitteryWoolly · 22/11/2021 21:09

Oof, I fell off the thread, sorry. i have Achieved Things this weekend, I promise! In no particular order:
❤️ Cleared, cleaned and restocked my dressing table drawer
🧡 Umpteen loads of washing done, dried, folded, handed out and put away
💛 Managed not to flatten DH when he went to the farm shop to collect the meat order and came home with lots of little plant pots and a 2' Christmas tree as well 🤦🤷🏼‍♀️
💚 Put Christmas bedding on beds
💙 Made a Christmas pillowcase for DS3
💜 Made roast pork etc.cos DS2 and GF came for Sunday dinner. The poor boy has a shocking cold and came to use our Olbas oil to steam his head.
❤️ Realised at 7.25 this morning while calmly drinking tea and thinking it would be nice to have a quiet planning morning that DD was volunteering today and I had to be out at 8.25.
🧡 Did volunteering / bunshop / homework help
💛 Tried to do writing while DH WhatsApp'd me every 10 minutes
💚 Collected DD / brought her home to change / took her to school / went to physio appt / came home again
💙 Spent 90 minutes chasing up an idea in the parish records of 17the century Northamptonshire... I'm sure I'm right, and the village is less than 500 people but oh my giddy aunt, the handwriting!
💜 Walked WillowHound
❤️ Had a new client fall out of the sky into my lap
🧡 Batch cooked chicken in white sauce and turned a quarter of it into chicken and pesto pasta

I'm done for today.

Just starting to think about lists for tomorrow.

Hills my DH is finding increasingly secret places to hide plants he's bought that he thinks I won't spot. Perhaps you should talk to him about how to clear the patio ?

Hazel that's an amazing tree, I hope you and MIL are proud of it.

Zoo sorry about the poorly pussycat.

Up relax and nest while you can. Def get someone else in to clean if you think babe might come early.

Bramble hope babe appears on time!
Vanilla, how is your back?
🍒👋 to old friends and new - ED, HalfHope, That, Mc, Red, Sing, Dancing, foxes, merryhouse, Mediocrates, Honey, MrsTidy and huge apologies to anyone whose name I've missed off.

I need to go and unpick and rehem DS3's trousers - the little so-and-so has grown since the beginning of September!

Darkness drawing in, Fledgling flying through November
Darkness drawing in, Fledgling flying through November
HalfHope · 22/11/2021 21:12

I have bought new Christmas bedclothes willow. Mammoth housecleaning frenzy starts now for Christmas decorations Sat December 4.

ExcessiveIyDisorganised · 22/11/2021 21:45

I love the tree "Hazel", so would my DD.

I have had a very busy few days but quite productive, I have started using my bullet journal again after a few months of slacking and also putting out clothes and making packed lunch the night before, which is helping me feel more efficient.

Over the weekend I did mountains of laundry, today has been lots of hotspots and small admin jobs. CBA to list them all now, but the main thing has been to help DS with his UCAS application, which is nearly ready to go in now.

HazelNuttyElf · 23/11/2021 02:42

Thank you for the tree love, we are very proud of it and love how it turned out.
Like many of you my house is becoming more of a collecting dumping ground. I have piles of paperwork everywhere, and just things that aren't put away or they don't have a home yet. I get home from work and I'm too tired to take care of it.
I'm off tomorrow so will work on some of that tomorrow. We're hosting Thanksgiving on Thursday, so really need to get the house in order by then.

HazelNuttyElf · 23/11/2021 04:52

woolly I love the bedding and pillow case, so festive 🎅
hills the dog will be fine, although not sure why her anal glands are leaking since they were only expressed 2 weeks ago. Dachshunds have a hard time "scooting" so has to be done by someone, and that's one thing I refuse to do. It doesn't hurt her, she doesn't like it though and I'll need to give her a bath afterwards.
I hate it when I think I'm on track for getting things ready for something (like you're building work) to discover a huge job that I missed. I hope it's not going to be too much for you to get done in time.

hope this weekend (after Thanksgiving) I'll be putting our Christmas decorations up, so I'll have cleaning to do as well.

After the decorations are up, I'll have to start working on treat orders and posting them on Facebook (just friends, I have been burned by people not showing up before when I posted on the buy/ sell sites). I'm also running out of time to get my mum her presents sorted and sent to her in time for Christmas - I'm going to mail it next Tuesday, which means I best be making some caramels and chocolate truffles for her 😟

ED it really does help to get things ready the night before. I also have my lunch ready to grab and my clothes out and ready in the bathroom before I go to bed. It makes life so much easier.

HalfHope · 23/11/2021 06:06

Well done on the UCAS form for college ED - such a big job with loads of research for you and ds.

Hazelnutty - have a great Thanksgiving - are you baking pumpkin pie?

HalfHope · 23/11/2021 07:33

I am avoiding the catastrophe that is my house by surfing Mumsnet.

IWillWearThatGlitteryWoolly · 23/11/2021 09:29

Excellent approach there, Hope!

This morning, as well as
🍁 Morning routine (20 mins)
🍂 Client writing
🍁 New client phone call
🍂 Sorting out dinner
🍁 Walking to town to buy apples etc
🍂 Rotating endless washing
🍁 Cleaning bathrooms

I am also going the leg work around finding a new flotation valve for the en suite lavatory.

The Home Bleugh is going to have to wait!

StillUp · 23/11/2021 09:33

I am avoiding the catastrophe that is my house by surfing Mumsnet. Sounds ideal to me Hope, in fact I am doing the same.

Love the festive bedding Willow. I can absolutely relate to the persistent messaging from DH. He’s fine when I’m at work, but when I’m off he seems to type any little random thought that pops into his brain. Sometimes entertaining, but when you’re busy or binge watching The Maid it’s a little trying.

I’ll definitely be relaxing Red I promise. I’ve had BP issues with both pregnancies and while, touch wood, I have avoided pre-eclampsia so far I have to test urine regularly. The baby is measuring small so having extra monitoring for that too, and I’d like to try and get to at least 37 weeks without any other concerns rearing their head! I’ve worked out on school days I have 6 hours to myself. I’m aiming for around 30mins each of gentle housework, organising/decluttering, sorting things for baby, and sorting things for Christmas, leaving 4 hours of relaxing Smile. If the house still feels grubby in a couple of weeks then cleaner it is.

Good luck with the to do lists Hills. Is this lot of building work likely to take long?

Sing I’m with you with the clutter. I thought we weren’t too bad but having pulled everything out for the decorating and still having a fair amount to put back we still have a way to go!

Piles of paperwork here too Hazel, and DD’s school artwork which she proudly brings home to show us every day. Have a lovely thanksgiving in case I forget on Thursday.

Waves to ED, Zoo, That, Mc, Merry, MrsTidy, Foxes, Bramble, Dancing, Yup and anyone I’ve forgotten.

Ta da:
School run
Showered and fed
Beds aired and made, blinds and windows open
Yesterday’s LOL hung up and another in
DW rotated.

HalfHope · 23/11/2021 10:49

I've actually forgotten that the Home Bleurgh exists!

GoingGoingGoth · 23/11/2021 11:05

Sneaks back in.

Been hitting the weekly bleugh this morning. Now off to see what week it is.

HillsBesideTheSea · 23/11/2021 13:04

Hopefully not the speed they are working. But no heating (turned it off) and no windows with doors open; with the added bonus of the fact that i had the forethought to make sure that I did the laundry in such an order as to have trousers dry.

Wee bit chilly it is. So i have occupied myself with doing things like cleaning the oven, and swearing copiously about the person who mid chaos has decided we need to do more building work. To say I have feelings is the polite version!

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HalfHope · 23/11/2021 13:54

Cleaning the oven Hills 😱

HillsBesideTheSea · 23/11/2021 16:31

What can i say hope? I helps to keep you warm? Hmm

Work men have gone, house stinks of solvent. I am cleaning what i can and prepping for tomo. Having got up at 4am I am tired and grumpy and heading towards hangry. Tea is not til 7pm either....

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Redsquirrel5 · 23/11/2021 17:00

Well there is nothing like inviting a friend over to get you moving.

Ta bloody Da

Made Russian Vegetable soup.
Tidied kitchen.
Wiped work tops.
Wiped table.
Wash floor.
Vacuum downstairs.
Wash kitchen floor
Dust sitting room.
Dust dining room.
Put some stuff away.
Vacuum hall.
Clean bathroom,
Keep fire going
Make lunch.
Make bed
Put washing away.
Take magazines to Summerhouse.

Had a lovely time with my friend who I went to college with thirty years ago. We did two years full time and had a lot of fun. It was great to spend time with her.

I have been awake early so ready for a nap now.
Tea tonight soup, sea bass and prawns new potatoes and peas, jelly and raspberries.

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