Fledglings bolt into Spring! Fresh air, fresh flowers, fresh sheets – No fledgling left behind…

[BeanAnTae]

Thread starts on 1 February, but you are welcome to land and say hello until then
Thank you to Hills who has given us a tour-de-force thread for the deepest, darkest days of January when we were all flagging. We all know you are really busy and appreciate the time you took to go in depth with the baby steps.
Welcome to Flylady if you are a newbie or a regular fledgling– it is a zone based cleaning system, spread out over 4-6 weeks (depending on how the month falls.) The zones cover different areas of the home so we concentrate on a particular zone in a given week. But there is also a weekly hour of cleaning (can be split into 10 min segments) to make sure the bins are emptied, main areas hoovered, sheets changed – you get the drift…
And each day of the week has a focus – Thursday is errand day for example.

So , today is Tuesday 1 February – the first day of Spring if you are joining us in the North Hemisphere or Happy Autumn to those in the South. This thread brings you right up to Pancake Tuesday which is 1 March 2022.
Flylady site
This week we are in 2 Zones:
Zone 5: The Living Room
Zone 1: The Entrance, Front Porch and Dining Room
February Habit: Decluttering for 15 Minutes a Day

Monday – Weekly Home Blessing
Tuesday – Plan and Play
Wednesday – Anti-Procrastination Day
Thursday – Errand Day
Friday – Clean-out your Purse and Car Day
Saturday – Family Fun Day
Sunday – Renew your Spirit Day

It is plan and play day on Tuesdays – I usually plan menus and things to do on Tuesdays but the system is customisable to what works for you and your life.
Feel free to jump onto the thread and post your To Do list of household and family stuff achieved and, if you like, post your Ta Da list when you’ve got stuff done. We all encourage each other along and we all have different lives, pressures etc and we are not at all precious about the system – it can be used as you see fit. For example I don’t clean my dining room in zone 1 as it’s part of my living area so I do it in zone 5.
There is a general mantra of ‘No fledgling left behind’ which basically means you can’t fall behind in the system – you just start up again. So there’s no need for a massive Spring Clean – you just jump in.
Some jargon has evolved over the years, for example – cherry waves was an autocorrect of cheery waves, the pointy stick ---> is sometimes requested if you are having particular problems with procrastination and the naughty corner which is where we collapse to take a break.
As well as ‘To Do’, I’m going to try ‘To Be’ because I’m a Human Being not just a Human Doing. So my aim is to be more present (on the thread and in my head!) and more positive. I live far north in the UK so it is pretty dark here at the moment and I am SO looking forward to more daylight. And a shiny sink!

[Exit stage left pursued by a child]

Sorry about the multiple posts, I really don't trust mn today.
I have a few to Dos I'd like to get done today & tomorrow.
🌷 finish cleaning the bathrooms, they need a good scrub
🌷 finish vacuuming the carpets
🌷 put floor mats back since washing them yesterday
🌷 pull out frozen pork roast so it can thaw, ready for tomorrow
🌷 complete a workout
🌷 LOLs, including blankets from couch
🌷 clean mirrors & windows (at least on the inside)

I know there's more I want to get done, including filing, but I'm not wanting to!

It was the over dramatic one. I have been given advice on how to end the suffering of a fish in this situation going forwards. I love my local fish shop as they will always talk through and given you good advice on what is going on with the tank/fish. There is another one that is actually a smidge closer who feel you should figure it out with the internet yourself. But sometimes you need someone to confirm if you have figured it out ok. This were are pretty certain was an old age issue as it is nearly 5yrs old for a fish with a typical lifespan of 3-5yrs

picked up 3 new fish that are currently acclimatising. Not restocking tank properly yet just in case our suspicions are incorrect and we have a water issue and not an old age issue. a 60Ltr tank with 2 tiny tetra's is awfully empty looking so this is going to be nice to have a few more fish in the tank.

I will be honest i am struggling today. my get up and go is just not there and i feel really rough in a non descript no temp, nothing really wrong but have the bleurghs kinda way. I am wondering if this is lingering stress migraine effects, it is still bubbling under the surface and threatening.

Teen comes home tomo so the drama with that whole thing starts up again. NOT looking forwards to it.

Hi,
Yeah, if home bleugh isn’t mentioned we don’t have to do it!

I think if the link is in the opening post it is fine by me.

Hazel I had that problem in the early hours - tv and Internet on/off/on/off/on/off.

That give yourself a break.

Sing gorgeous bunny.

Hills and chance of paying either DS or a n other to help for a couple of hours to get it done while the people are away? Sorry about the fish but 5 years is good going.

Oh weird sky here.

Last night was horrendous. AwKe at 3pm and the noise wind howling, rain lashing, scary trees. DH slept through the lot. Floods at next village and one of our roads impassable.
DH has been out twice to help friend as her car is in the garage. I felt awful so sorted a few things and then lay on my bed.

Just nipping out to shut hens inas it has suddenly gone dark can see enough if I go NOW!

Only just getting home despite living a 5 minute walk from school (we teachers all finish by 3 and do f all according to much of mn apparently). Today felt long. Every time someone came in my room and interrupted a lesson to see if they could, 'just take so and so for a minute', or, to 'just give a reminder to so and so' or 'just see if you have spare x textbooks', I would completely forget what I was saying and where we were up to and have to try and get back on track again.

It takes a few days to get back into the mental juggling act. Teacher voice, auto-correct behaviour in corridors and see and hear everything modes click straight back in though. Sick of the sound of my own voice and telling people what to do already.

Impromptu meeting with a deputy head on way out talking about my career and opportunities to 'develop me' and 'use' me more. Promising noises being made but we'll see what actually materialises.

And predictably all energy is immediately back into work leaving nothing but an empty shell ready to crawl into bed by the time I get home. If I do go back to full time or nearly full time I will have to find a way to get this house sorted to a level where I'm comfortable to let a cleaner in and potentially a dog walker.

The only essentials tonight are to double check and amend my grocery order for tomorrow and make sure boy and animals have basic needs met I think. Tomorrow's out of house chores are to collect prescription and get ds's old passport sent off. In house there's tons I should do, for work I need to plan 3 lessons for Wednesday and work on producing some new crazy box ticking exercise type plan for everyone of my classes. Home wise I need to gut the whole house, disinfect it and put it back together again but not think of that and get overwhelmed and instead take some more baby steps and have faith that it will all come together eventually.

Adulting!! How much would you have to pay to sell this job to someone?

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-22/ baby step for today - how to build your own control journal.

Dare I say it - it is meant to be the home bleurgh/ cleaning hour today (you're welcome!!)

www.flylady.net/c/lp.php launch pad - late for today!

Tomorrow's links later

sing I am sorry balancing things is difficult at the moment. It can be hard when both partners are not at the height of their superpowers for one reason or another. We had that in October 2019 when my job was moving around my workplace and dh was under a lot of work stress too. It just felt like everything was falling apart. It's a bit like crawling along a snowy road in a car - just take it slow and you'll still get to your destination. Maybe we need a slow life movement as well as a slow food movement!

I will be honest i am struggling today. my get up and go is just not there and i feel really rough in a non descript no temp, nothing really wrong but have the bleurghs kinda way. I am wondering if this is lingering stress migraine effects, it is still bubbling under the surface and threatening

Postdrome Hills Mine sometimes last a good couple of days: 'Common postdrome symptoms include fatigue, nausea, sensitivity to light, dizziness, body aches, and difficulty concentrating. One postdrome sufferer described the day after a migraine headache as feeling like “a mental fog, one so heavy that even routine tasks take on an otherworldly quality.”'

Take it easy

Swallowedafly I hope your deputy head follows through for you. It's good for morale to be invested in.

re a cleaner - just declutter as you can but definitely do get a cleaner and a dogwalker if you need to. It's so hard to keep on top of things.

ooh Red hope it's a quieter night tonight. No wind here but there was snow and then ice!

Hills - could very well be due to a migraine. Dh gets them and is definitely off on the few days afterwards - wobbly legs the lot.
My condolences on your fish. I minded my sister's fish when she went on holidays once and her favourite (Slinky) got swim bladder and expired. She was not pleased.

Hazel - thanks for the understanding - I had been disciplined about getting links up but was working all weekend to get a project off the ground for work. Then I discovered a contract which we had not adhered to, last night and I went into a tailspin. It's currently being sorted. Needless to say the house is teetering! Dh has been helping a lot but ds has been left to his own devices (PS4) while we do other things.

Leave filing for antiprocrastination day!

Wild glad you had some time for self care - never feel bad about that. I did my nails for the first time in a while a week ago. I used a pinky clear varnish which makes the nails look shiny but you can't see the chips!
Also you can't fail at being an adult because all adults are fallible and human and we just do our best. So just do what you can.

Hills thanks for the support too (and everyone else)

I love the memes sing - dh is forever saying 'If I can just get through the next two weeks workwise, everything will be fine and I can relax'. Readers, I've been married to him for twenty years and the two weeks' of work craziness never disappears. It appears to be situation normal!

Frankie - what animals do you have?

Wassail - it sounds like that holiday was brilliant fun if you were a child in the family but a nightmare for the adults. Crikey, the place must have been awful. Sort of Fawlty Towers mixed with Allo Allo.

Just doing some ta das while I take a short break:
🌞 grocery store for laundry soap & softener (along with bathroom cleaner)
🌞 deep cleaned both bathrooms, including floors
🌞 cleaned mirrors and shone sinks in both bathrooms
🌞 3rd lol in washer
🌞 floor mats put back
🌞 sorted a Hotspot of paperwork, still need to do filing though

I just realised I didn't clean the floor in one of the bathrooms 🤦‍♀️ I guess I better get that done, since I've had a bit of a break

Thanks Bean I never looked at it that way before. I'm with you on the Slow Life movement. My nails are clear with gold stars

Hazel don't worry about the multiple posts, the internet is a weird thing and it doesn't matter at all.

Congratulations on the new fishy 🐟🐠🐡 members of your household Hills Sending you peaceful vibes for the migraine effects to go away soon.

Fingers crossed 🤞 for the career development Fly Sorry work is taking all your energy. I used to work I a school and teachers do way more than people think. Hope you can find a better work/life balance.

Hope you got the hens in ok Red

Today is going well for me.

⚡Organised the media area to make things more accessible and tidy some things back to the other areas they belong in.
⚡ Washing done
⚡Dry laundry away
⚡ Recycling out

Wild sounds lovely. I used Dior nail glow. I have terrible cuticles. It's an ongoing battle to make them.presentable 😁

Busy day here:
✅ up and both DC dressed and fed by 8:30am - decided to stick to our usual morning routine even though it’s half term
✅ watched some organising/decluttering vids on YouTube while feeding DD2 (you’ve got me on this road Hills!)
✅ morning routine done
✅ decluttered play food, toy kitchen accessories etc and decanted from nice big basket to a smaller plastic tub
✅ put newly emptied nice basket into hall next to its twin and added various bags dumped in the vicinity into it
✅ added wire tray that hangs from shelf into alcohol/entertaining cupboard and filled it with various paper plates, napkins, straws etc so they no longer fall on me when I open the cupboard
✅ 5 minutes decluttering in boudoir
✅ washed make up brushes
✅ sorted planners, notebooks and books to be read into another pretty basket next to my bed, and added a small tray with pens
✅ dusted boudoir
✅ cleaned dressing table mirror
✅ cleaned bedroom window
✅ put away some clean washing
✅ did some of home bleurgh - dusted living room, cleaned mirror, swept downstairs floors
✅ decluttered some paperwork
✅ did some reading with DD1
✅ set DW away after tea (DH cooked), although I’ve left a small amount of hand washing as it was bath/bedtime for DDs

Amongst that lot I’ve had lunch out with DM, took DD to the library (walked the long way for some exercise) and visited a friend. Quite a productive day!

I picked up a couple of interesting points on my YouTube session today. Dana K White (a slob comes clean) has a video on ‘the container concept’ that really made sense. On another she talked about having a designated ’donate’ space. I recently put some bits for the charity shop in a nice plastic tray in the utility room as it looked messy, with the intention of using it elsewhere once I’d donated them. But it actually makes more sense to keep it there for that purpose - donating isn’t going to be a one off thing and it means there’s a specific place to put things rather than just various piles about the place.

RIP to your dramatic little fishy Hills. Hope the new ones settle in well. Fingers crossed you feel better tomorrow and all goes well with the return of DS.

Welcome back That, we missed you 👋

You’ve done lots Hazel!

How annoying about the fence Wassail

Exciting about the career prospects Fly. I actually find the house is worse now I’m currently not working. I was full time, and because I had to be organised and we weren’t there to mess it up, everything was tidier and cleaner with less effort.

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-23/ afternoon routines time in baby steps.

Plan and play Tuesday.www.flylady.net/c/lp.php

I am meeting a new friend for coffee tomorrow.

You got tons done Still! I have a donate corner in my living room. This genius concept means that the items are such an eyesore that they leave the house very quickly!

Thanks for the welcome back folks

I only fell off the thread, no injuries were sustained

Sorry about the 🐠 hills

wassail we are on day 1 of half term

up i hope your right with that theory and when i start my new job the house will be less of a mess!

Trying to get on top of things this week. Have been deep cleaning master bedroom plus dd room and the littlest boys room. Progress is being made.

Some stuff made it to the loft today. Still selling on vinted. Cleaned under my bed today. Nearly died death by dust.

Essay due thursday. 2000 of 3000 words done.

Cherry waves to all fledglings 🍒👋

Going to be honest the worse thing was the dramatics. So i am pleased to have been given advice on how to prevent that suffering.

Good friend popped round, and took control of things so we got a fair bit tidy and today doesn't feel wasted. We ate doughnuts and chatted. She was good for the soul and it was really nice to have heal dealing with the chaos. The house is still chaotic but there is floor in some rooms, boxes that were pulled out of the junk room have gone back, stacks of boxes have gone into their permeant living place rather than being abandoned. i have a lot to do tomo - including unblocking a bath. But it is less overwhelming. Although poor ds has been told to stay with his dad another week because it is definitely a stress migraine and i am just not up to driving the distance to pick him up. He isn't happy, but hopefully will be glad for less batshittery in the house when he comes back. There will be lounge that has floor and seats that you can sit on. Which is massive progress after playing hunt the important bit of paper which happened suddenly last month. I will need to continue that game as the item i was looking for is still missing BUT it will be done in a controlled manner. rather than the scramble at high stress that happened.

Sorry to dump and run but i took a sleep aid thingy and the world is spinning in a manner that suggests sleep before 1am is likely. Night.

Not caught up with thread so just popping in with list.

YesTaDa
👽purposefully Did Nothing for most of the day - watched the last three episodes of Chloe, that was about it!
👽Cagbunny care

ta da
🎪finished Atomic Habits audiobook
🎪trimmed/de-polished nails
🎪shower, hair, moisturised
🎪printed stuff for work
🎪read forms and made notes
🎪poo pick litter tray
🎪walked to town
🎪a little studying
🎪chose some library books for Cagletini
🎪meeting (was great, but the glass pod thing we used at the library did make me feel a little like I was in Line of Duty!)
🎪DLMS when Cagletini was a right little madam all evening
🎪spent AGES giving the hutch a damn good clean, washing the whole base (it had some caked on stuff when she arrived, so hopefully now it’s properly clean we can keep on top of it) as well as replacing hay etc
🎪hoovered and swept floor afterwards including hoovering the bunny mats

Totally shattered. Sleep time!!!

Quick pop in, not caught up on messages
Ta da: cleaned the office including windows, electronics, desktop, radiator, & mud sprinkles on the walls from the dog. Vacuumed the whole downstairs. Made a roast dinner. Avoided looking out of the windows in case the new family moving in today (the house behind) think we're stalkers.

More ta das:
🦉 deep cleaned floor in the bathroom that got missed
🦉 re-cleaned parts of the one bathroom with something that smelt cleaner. The other bathroom smells okay, but this cleaner (limescale cleaner) doesn't have the best lingering smell so had to redo it
🦉 sat on the couch for a while, surrounded by clean blankets. Long enough that my watch told me to get up and move! I ignored it.
🦉 went diving into the chest freezer to get a massive pork joint out (it's actually 2, but I was stupid and didn't separate them before freezing), also grabbed German sausages (that I ended up throwing out as they only smelled like freezer burn once thawed). The pork is currently thawing out in the fridge, I still need to find a recipe for cooking it tomorrow.
🦉 Skyped my mum
🦉 vacuumed main floor, as well as stairs. Plan on vacuuming the basement tomorrow.
🦉 cooked dinner for tonight
🦉 rotated DW
🦉 currently sitting on couch with a drink

hills good idea to have DS stay with his dad longer, no sense in making your migraine worse, or driving when you can't see. It sounds like his dad is a good one and stepping up when needed, unlike some. I'm glad you had a healing time with your friend. It's amazing how much a couple hours with friends can really help.
Sing you had a very productive day, no wonder you're shattered
Lady oh but you must snoop to see who's moving in! You had a busy day today too.
Up look at you, cleaning in the correct zone! You've been extremely busy too. That's interesting about the containers, I might just have to check out that video.
Red I hope things have settled down for you, your area always seems to be getting hit with the weather. Are the hens alright?

Almost time for bed here, I need an early night to get back on track. I'm off work tomorrow, as usual for a Tuesday, but need to get my sleep back to normal (although I'm not far off) so I can wake up early on Wednesday.
🍒👋 to everyone

Morning folks

🥐🥞🧇🍳☕️🫖🧃

hills good idea for ds to stay away a bit longer im sure he will agree in the long run

Hills hope you managed to sleep and the sleep aid doesn't leave you too groggy. Im hoping you are able to take some time for yourself to de-stress during the big hunt. I remember making myself sick when hunting for weeks for an old primary school letter. DD university disability team needed us to prove she'd had an early school diagnosis to get the ball rolling. I got so upset during the hunt I was in a right state. Found it in the end in amongst some old business paperwork in the loft. Take care of yourself and try not to overdo it

Hazel I'm glad you took a break on the couch. I did a load of vacuuming yesterday and it's exhausting.

Sing no wonder you were shattered, that was a lot of work.

THAT is Vinted any good? Hope the essay is going well.

Bean hope you have a lovely time with your new friend.

Still that was an impressive done list.

Waves to everyone I've missed

The screw popped out of my glasses last night so i am using the old pair (which they never did get the prescription right) until the eye drops allow me to put contacts in.

I have to head to the opticians to cancel ds' appointment for tomo, so will get the glasses fixed in the same go. But yikes 2nd time in 3 weeks this has happened so i might have to go for a spare pair.

The great paper search is not happening. There was one but it became irrelevant (ergo the paperwork sorting piles that got abandoned all over the lounge floor)

I have some boxes of sorted paperwork waiting to be filed to work my way through in my own time.

The plan for today is to get the bathroom that has been non operational for probably 3-5years sorted so that it is operational again. This involves tidying up, unblocking a drain, clean, removing some old sealent, and apply a lot of new sealent.

Going to be a bit of a long day but it will be worth it.