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]

wild funny you say that about daylight, I have to be at work at 7am and it's currently still dark after I'm at work. Just when it starts to get light on my way to work, the time changes 🙄 although working the longer days means I only have to work 4 days a week and still get my 40 hours in.

Red that's too bad that it doesn't feel like a date anymore. I hope you wake up feeling better in the morning

I finally got around to taking down the couple bits for New Year and put up some Valentine's Day decorations. I do still have my Christmas wreath on my front door though 🤫 but plan to change that out this weekend.

This week has felt like a really long, draining week, it feels like it should be the weekend already, but there's one more day of work still. I am currently sitting in the bath, in candlelight. I was so cold I just couldn't warm up. DC rotated the DW, I do still need to get my clothes out for tomorrow though before going to bed tonight. For those of you who are newbies, I'm in the US, 7 hours behind you lot, so don't be alarmed - it's just gone 9pm here!

hazel hope you got warm and are in bed now!
Sing pesto pastas always an achievement ❤️
Redsounds like a busy day.hope your tummy feels better today
Merry a shiny sink does make the kitchen seem better doesn't it.i couldn't get a wash up bowl under my sink as it houses scoutcats food,and a lot cleaning stuff.oromic really as place can sometimes look like a hovel🤣🤣🤣
Hills sorry words have needed to be said.again.

Insomnia came a knocking at 3am,complete a nice wormhole song I don't even know the name of,I just have 2lines of it on repeat.i suspect it's from one of dd2 edits she was listening to/watch earlier and whilst I was on my phone my ears/brain clearly felt it worth taking note of.gah!

Tada
Cats fed
Wash on
Wash up
Wipe surfaces
Get out pack justrol croissant dough and assemble,adding Vegemite and lacto free cheese to half of them
Cook croissants
Sweep lower floors
Check DD getting up after her alarm went off to take meds
Check masks that are hanging up are dry
Chop carrots for lunch for D's
Wake lil zoo and encourage to eat raisin and cinnamon bread- she was in pain and needing a poo from lunch yesterday.still not been despite eating,incl fig rolls,and drinking over 2litres(a gigantic amount for her)she's due in school at 11 so hoping she can go before then as no way will leave house again til she has...
Cook crumpets for DD and I
Check D's is up
Sort his pack up
Wash up
Wash in drier
Chivvy DD strip her bed
Pop in wash

Back on the epic lists Zoo.

WildP - I did have a moment in the bedroom section where I thought hmm come the apocalypse Ikea wouldn't be too bad a place to find oneself. I lost all fondness after negotiating an impossible to steer flatbed trolley round an airport like rat run of aisles to get to the tills, then going round in circles trying to find the way out and then doing laps of the carpark to find the car

Done plus I put some clothes away and noticed there are very few left in the kitchen now I've been chipping away at them slowly but persistently.

Next po3 essentials for before work will be:
-sort next lol
-hang out washing
-start a stew for slow cooker so I end up eating something healthy after work instead of being tempted to reach for crap.

Along with all the get read, sort work bag, deal with animals etc but that is autopilot stuff really.

I have not popped my IKEA cherry yet . Never been. I don't drive and I live in part of the UK where there is not an IKEA. It's further south in civilisation the central belt

There is not a shred of IKEA in the house. I've never had the meatballs or used one of their trollies. Do you think I should put it on my bucket list?

By date night I also mean self care or taking time to yourself Red so do make time where you are not running around after adult kids, church or husband. Do something you enjoy just for you.

Did not get up immediately this morning but was relatively fast out of bed.
*had breakfast and cleaned kitchen
*saw child out to school
*organising school card balance to be transferred

• did load of laundry *tidied office desk and reported covid tests

to do
*have shower
*prioritise work for the day and do it
*take a walk to appreciate Spring and get some exercise in. Must not worry or catastrophise - must only take in the good.
*Planning

bean wise words,but it's hard to be pure positivity when it's so dark and cold we have snowdrops locally,start forsythia and shoots if spring bulbs which I'm trying to focus on.plus birds song is getting a bit more of a choir rather than the odd blackbird which is encouraging❤️

On the IKEA front,take an expert dd1 lived in Coventry when at uni and was in there all.the.time.shes a walking font of knowledge on all things,specialist area is storage and if you enter a store with her she can find what you are looking for easily.takes out the stress of the maze situation as I tended to find I'd forgotten something and ended up going around twice trying to find it!!

Red I do need to get back to taking vitamins. Oddly though sometimes I feel lower when I’m taking them regularly, but that may be a coincidence! Annoyingly I can’t take vitamin C in the mornings - it renders ADHD meds useless so if I take it I have to have it in the afternoon. I’m likely back to being low in iron and especially vitamin D, I am forever skirting around the borderline for both.

DH is off for blood tests now as it happens, they’re doing more in depth ones as his energy levels are insanely low, falling asleep in the day etc. DD1 has gone off to school a bit late but Cagletini is not at nursery, so we’ve been learning stuff at home. I’ve checked work emails and nothing needs doing so I’m bored but too tired to do anything useful!

Ah bollocks, just lost a post

I haven’t been to IKEA for years. I’m planning on getting one of their basic high hairs this time round instead of a fancy one so will have to go in a few months. I’m excited! Love kallax fly, although ours is all the Homebase/aldi versions.

Had a busy day yesterday. Was out most of the day with my DSis then DD2 had dancing. DD1 slept in her pram for a good chunk of the day which was convenient.

YesTaDas:
🌸 completed morning routine
🌸 eventually hoovered and mopped hall, living room and kitchen floors
🌸 dusted living room and hall
🌸 shined sink (in the all-dishes-done-and-sink wiped-down sense, not flylady’s polishing sense - def no bowl under the sink here!), wiped benches and hob
🌸 reading and maths done with DD1
🌸 went to bed with downstairs tidy. Definitely makes a massive difference to the flooding day

Tadas today:
🌺 beds made
🌺 laundry sorted and load 1 of 2 in
🌺 ordered some random house hold bits - charger cable, picture hooks etc possibly some more storage I’m not obsessed honest
🌺 convinced cranky baby to eventually cave to sleep. She’s snuggled into me so Netflix it is. I don’t mind because MY FLOORS ARE PROPERLY CLEAN

*following day. I do not want flooding.

Yay for clean floors!
I love Kallax too. We have various units in various rooms! I need to organise them better though.

I am feeling utterly useless still.

po3.1
❗️Get dressed (only bothering because we may have a repair man at any point today)
❗️Move laundry into dryer and put a LOL on
❗️Read at least a chapter

Urg.

I have the lurgy and slept terribly last night.

TaDa
exercise class
shower etc
went to find out whether lurgy is actually plague
made lunch
ate too many wine gums

I had a tiny tiny temperature this morning so felt justified in the test. Looking at ZOE I see that I have 4 of the 5 suggested symptoms of omicron (possibly even 5, depending on whether this counts as fatigue "how can they tell"). Feeling OK inside though.

ToDo
make bed
ironing (karate outfits and few tops)
put away karate outfits, tops, sheets and underwear
hoovering
read the octopus book
prep pizza toppings
wash up

I tidied and swept the porch on Tuesday, and cleaned the floor. Still got a mental block on my pile of work to deal with in the dining room...

Morning all!

Sorry about the insomnia and the earworm Zoo - someone told me years ago that humming the Pink Panther theme will rout any earworm and so far they've been right!

Wild list, do not list, as suits you. I find if I don't list I a) forget what I've done and b) feel my day's been a bit wasted even if bum hasn't touched chair for hours for some reason! And this is a lovely friendly corner with no judgement, it's why I stay.

Hazel hope you got warm, being bone-chilled cold is awful. It's surprisingly warm for February here and we are about to have A Daffodil bloom a full two weeks ahead of my late MIL's birthday on the 17th, which is very early indeed.

YesTaDa (might be repeating myself here, can't scroll back) (but also previously)
❤️ Breakfast with DS2 and discussion of house jobs that need doing daily. Most amusing. Who is this boy? 😂
🧡 Morning routine
💛 Online pilates class. Only ended up in a heap once!
💚 Put curtain blackout linings on the washing line. Damn things are disintegrating.
💙 Work. Can't get access to some parish records for Kent that I know exist. Going round in circles. Mutter.
💜 Collect DD from school. She's having another friendship disaster, with a former friend ignoring and ostracising again. Being a teenage girl is hard enough with neuro-divergence as well and I am so sad for her (and I want to throttle the other girl)
❤️ Spoke to DM who is in a bit of a state about rising energy prices (and the govt generally)
💛 Discussed FIL's car with DH - not only has FIL lost the V5, he's failed to tax the bloody thing. This is going to take some serious unraveling.
🧡 Online Resilience Support Training for DD. I was fully prepared for this to be the usual shite about "just keep going" that is SO damaging, particularly to ND teens suffering bullying, but actually it was brilliant. The first thing the trainer said was "sixth formers are not just a set of walking exam results" and then she talked about actual resilience meaning knowing when to stop pushing; how to build self-worth by working out what your values are and what excites you; that it's ok to retreat and regroup for a period; that you are born "enough" and nothing can change that. Alright, yes, lots of Growth Mindset Bollocks too, but I was very impressed.
💚 An hour's sewing for lovely friend.

I thought I posted this at 0830. Apparently not!

I am listening to a podcast at the moment. And they have been speaking about how sometimes when life gets crazy we push aside the things that perhaps that will help us the most. In this particulary case the individuals are talking about stress and meditation to aid focus. But for me it really is the bujo and a plan. when life gets busy or stressful these get abandoned and actually to help me stay on top of everything I need to rely on my plan and bujo more to help take away the analysis paralysis about what i should be doing and when, and staying on top of things.

So i am going to point this as a thinking point, when life gets out of control what are the things that you stop doing that actually you need more in these times to help the flow and survival of the system? Is there something to help you avoid falling into that trap?

That is so true hills it’s too easy to neglect what we really need to do for ourselves. Definitely something to think about.

I'm home - so glad I put stew in slow cooker as it smells lovely and I'm starving.

Did my po3s this morning and did everything I needed to do at work so am looking forward to a relaxing evening eating healthy food and having a few not so healthy alcoholic drinks under my heated blanket.

Don't know how anyone else is tackling the fuel price crisis but I'm spending it in bed with my heated blanket lol.

extra duvets and a hot water bottle Swallowed which tbh is my norm every year because we don't run the heating high and used to have massive gaps in our window frames that let the snow in if it blew from the right direction. New windows means it is much toastier and I am not under 2 duvets and multiple blankies this year. But much more cost rising and I will just go back to that. PLus a hat to sleep in. These days I understand why back in history they had canopy beds with curtains around them. Small space to keep them warm.

ta da
nothing. nade, zilch, not a thing
still in pjs
still in bed
It's been a day.

to do
write shopping list
cook tea.
go back to bed.

So I got as far as the rant on January thread. It's perfectly understandable to rant about that and it actually makes good sense. I've come to the same conclusion as you that the answer is to simplify life and be clear what my priorities are. I've been working on this for a few years now, with some success. I've noticed a lot of people on the household threads are dealing with health problems either their own or their family's. It's easy to forget these things take up extra time over someone who is fully healthy. So trying to do everything that society says (impossible anyway) when you're dealing with these additional problems of health issues just makes it even more impossible. Sometimes it's not an issue with organization it's an issue with expecting too much of ourselves. Thanks for that reminder Hills

Red Bristol is my local 😂 I know what you mean.

Hazel I used to go to work in the dark sit behind tinted windows all day then go home in the dark. A tiny little bit of my soul died daily. Now there's just a huge black vacuum of empty space. I'm trying to fill it back up.

Fly I'm dealing with fuel bills by upgrading the home re draughts so less heat escapes and leaving heating off all day until about 4pm and then only having it on 19*C. I heat the bedroom an hour before bed to take the chill off, I have a hot water bottle in there during that time, it's a 13.5 tog duvet with a blanket on too and I sleep in fleece pyjamas. In the living room it's a vest as standard, an extra cardigan on top of my jumper, fluffy socks, slippers, blankets on the sofas and chairs. The bathroom gets heated half hour before I'm going to have a bath and half hour after to dry the towels. All other radiators are off. The kitchen gets warm from cooking anyway and it doesn't matter if the hallway is cold because nobody hangs around out there.

Wassail the resilience training sounds great. I'm glad they're teaching that in schools.

I've been unwell today. Just about managed to look after myself properly and went out to the shop so got some daylight. Going back to bed in a couple of hours. An early night will do me good.

WildP it is huge isn’t it. DD was in Bristol for about 5 years and then they lived 16 miles south. I loved Clifton( first studio flat 2 years) then Bishopston, Horfield near the pool, Horfield near the shops then Gloucester Rd. I love Gloucester Rd with all the independent shops. I don’t usually like cities but Bristol is lovely. We liked it down near the canals too. Some lovely areas around it too.
You are right about health issues most of us have something that impedes us.
Wassailing glad they are putting things in place resilience was one of the ‘in’ words before I left. I did a big display in the hall the three ‘r’s!

Fly that’s one way to keep warm. We have a multifuel ( mostly wood) stove which warms the sitting room and some of the dining room next door and seven radiators. It heats the water too.The Everhot is a new (3 years ) edition which is electric and heats the kitchen as well as cooking. It is also good for drying washing on it and next to it. You don’t turn it off.

We got a Smart meter yesterday so should be able to monitor our use more. We have never lived in a hot house so unless the weather is very cold we don’t light the wood burner until early afternoon. In winter when it is very cold it is left on around the clock just ticking over not blazing. DH mainly picks up windfall branches and it is surprising how they gather up. Dried out for about a year they are useful as kindling or first wood on the kindling. It eeks it out.

I wear a vest and layers, Uggs in the house with thick socks. Warm drinks and soups, toasties for lunch, casseroles and baked potatoes for evenings, fish, pasta etc. As the Everhot is on all the time it is great for slow cook recipes.
There is a blanket on the back of the sofa if I get cold which I do when I am tired. We replaced the Edwardian/ Victorian windows which were draughty about 5 years ago and have bespoke double glazing now. We needed to beat the decisions being made about this village ...possibly a Conservation Village in case they wouldn’t let us replace them. They really were beyond repairing(joiner) and we wouldn’t have been allowed to have double glazed. It is on hold because of Covid.
I need to buy a door curtain for the front door. I know what I want but it is expensive compared to one form Dunelm. It would help to finish off the hall though and I am a bit sick of making do. I wouldn’t change it.

I have been decluttering.
Did some BRC in the dining room.
Vacuumed.
S&S
DW
Changed the placemats.
Put all the Christmas Holly and Ivy crockery away, wrapping it individually in bubble wrap. Till next Christmas🎄

Plan to do the rest of the dining room tomorrow.

Had trout, salmon baked potato and peas.
Mug of tea and a piece of Christmas Cake DS3 sent a large piece back for me. He has really enjoyed it and sharing it so sent me a piece to say how good it was and thank you. Bless him. I did enjoy it.

I feel like I am making in roads with the decluttering. Not huge amounts but any reduction is a win in my book. I hope they extend Stacy’s Show BBC.

I'm afraid I'll just post the links tonight and catch up tomorrow with personals. Bit of a bad day at work and I've had a good cry but have exhausted myself in the process. Onwards and upwards...

flight plan

Family fun day on Saturday and baby step number five - dayfive

Positive vibes says the Flylady...

red they've commissioned a second series of sort your life out❤️
Merry hope lurgy/plague recedes quickly without too much discomfort
Wild hope you feel better too
Fly well done for setting up slow cooker and having food that's good for you when the day I done and you are tired and CBA
Hills some days are like that and it's ok to accept
Wassail I'm impressed with schools presentation.amd hope the records are located before you go mad
Up yay for clean floors and sinks

4am for me Zoo - I had pre 3am one morning this week it does suck doesn't it? Makes for a long day.

Hope those who had a bad day yesterday (a few by the sounds of it) will feel brighter today.

I'm getting up and putting on a load of laundry in a minute and taking the dog out and brewing coffee. I filled and ran the dw last night but think I'll leave that for ds to empty - he actually did that once this week without being prompted and then told me much later on oh I emptied the dw btw and

Hoping I can find some oompf today and at least give the kitchen and bathroom a bit of a clean and attack the contents of at least one of these drawers.

fly it does suck.iwill need a power nap latrry.i find 20 minutes is just enough to keep me alive,but not so much I can't sleep later!

Tada
Cats fed
Wash on
Wash up
Wipe surfaces
Empty and tidy fridge
Tidy freezer
Tidy baking cupboard
Check dates and rejig rice,pasta,couscous etc(noting what's nearly gone and needs replacing when shop)
Go thru tins etc,noting what needs a top up(pulses,tuna etc)
Will grab me some brekkie soon then make a start on my room
Zoolets are woken at 8 on weekends as they're chronic sleep problems and lay ins mean later nights and less sleep overall which means even more tantrums and frayed tempers so it's not worth it ...
They need sort bedrooms and as dad's ment be coming tom the weekend chores would be worth getting out the way(D's does hall,lil zoo sweeps stairs)I may or may not push for that today depending or levels of tired in couple of hours and how cleaning bedrooms goes😁

yestada
🪄updated earnings/expenses to UC
🪄reading
🪄checked work email
🪄did lots of research about bunny care!
🪄LOL
🪄gave Cagletini a bath
🪄edited tesco order with a few more bits

Bean I'm sorry work was rough 🫂. Thanks for posting links anyway and I hope today is better and you can put it down for the weekend.

👋 to those with insomnia - hope you can nap today. For a change, WassailHound didn't get me up at 4am for a wee and a woof.

I have been playing with the Flylady Plus app again, having recommended it to DS2. It's working quite well but it's made it very clear I'm not actually doing the zone cleaning, I'm just keeping going with the daily routines and hoping for the best. Today I shall try to do the porch / entryway stuff (in the absence of a dining room).

We keep warm by a) all working from home with computer equipment! And b) compartmentalising the house. As a family who like to hide from each other we've never done the open-plan thing and when it gets chilly shut doors to keep heat in spaces. Also plenty of jumpers, socks, hot tea and a No Complaining About The Cold Til You Have Multiple Layers And Slippers On rule. I've lived cold (unheated student house in Birmingham in the early 90s) and I'm never doing it again.

The rest of the personals have fallen out of my head again 🤦 so I shall content myself with 🍒👋 for the weekend.

YesTaDa
❤️ Online coffee morning for DS3's school - some lovely feedback about him. Proud Mum.
🧡 Actual work. My missing records turned up! Phew. No need to go mad after all (unless I want to)
💛 Walked into town with DS3. Total bust, had to drive to Big Tesco anyway 🤦 but we got a walk together
💚 Made moussaka from left over lamb roast, and more jam puffs
💙 Sewing for lovely friend

It was a reasonable day! Today, DH is going to visit FIL to find the paperwork to sell the car and bring all the other papers (30 years' worth!) back here so we can sort through it. FIL has no idea where any important stuff is but can easily put his hand on gas bills from 1996, which is not very helpful. DH is also fitting a new telephone with large buttons and a new keyboard as right now FIL can't make contact with anyone not on speed dial because he types things wrong.

I am aiming to paint the ceiling in the Room of Requirement so that it can become DH's new office space. Then, I can redo the downstairs room he's currently using for me! This is very exciting.

🍒👋 to everyone, best get on. More first!