Fledglings summer holiday and fly their way through August into tidy organisation.

[HillsBesideTheSea]

Welcome to the August Thread for the Fledglings. This is a long running thread, some of us have been here from the start, we have had many posters come and go. We love when new people join us. We just request that you respect the thread community and understand that familiarity can make it seem clicky sometimes. There are inside jokes, there are phrases and terms we use specifically that others would not use in the same way. If we confuse you, ask. Someone will always explain - although these days the glichiness of the new platform means you may have to wait til someone wanders by as we are not quite as active as we used to be and the summer holiday always sees a quieter thread because people are quite rightly enjoying their selves instead of chores. --We encourage enjoying yourself, housework is not your life!

Now the formalities are done, lets me explain: we loosely follow the Flylady system. We DO NOT advocate signing up for the emails, experience tells us flylady is a little email happy and you will have more than you know what to do with.

If you are new to the system start with the baby steps. These are designed to get you into a routine so you know longer think about doing the chores they are just habit. Set time, set day - do the thing. We do recognise that this is not a good system for quick decluttering and many of us in the past have combined this system with other systems for getting the heavy duty sorting out and cleaning out done. We don't judge.

And lastly my favourite part of the threads - the naughty corner. This month the naughty corner is decked out with a pool, deck chairs sunshade and what ever cool drink and calorie free treat you need to survive the chaos. It is the perfect place to park if you need a chat and 5 mins from the kids, to restore your spirit on a Sunday or if you have been super active and need a break. You will notice we are a chatty bunch and don't stick to topic.

We start a new round of baby steps on the 1st August. If you join us mid way through the month you can jump in where we are, or start from the beginning as you chose. The babysteps repeat each month, and Flylady says that you are NEVER behind.

Good wednesday morning to you.

I am tired because the teen decided to cook in the middle of the night, and the smell wafted around the house. Took way too long for my brain to figure out this was what i was smelling and not that the house was burning down. we have had words about windows/doors/fan usage.

So Wednesday is Anti- procrastination day
Launch pad here
Missions here
Babysteps here - swish and swipe

I went to the park and also started a sewing project today. A jacket which swamps me, I'm altering it so it fits better. I'm making smaller outside pockets, reducing the width across the shoulder and making the body A-line instead of boxy. Zero flying today! But at least I've been useful.

I hope you get a better night's sleep Hills

Morning all, pouring with rain here. I'll be taking DD to school for her GCSE results shortly. I joined these threads just as she started school, yikes, where has that time gone. She is planning to go to college for A levels, we live in an area where most do.

College registration day here. I am dreading it. They put it in a loud echoy hall. Not great for anyone with sound sensitivity or headaches. I am hoping that ds will be up for registering after tea when the initial got my grades sort the thing is over with.

Apparently my mental health took a nose dive and yesterday was a rough day. Nothing hideous but no wish to even move to get coffee. Disappeared into the hills but it wasn't helping as it was chucking it down and I am a fair weather walker. Caught up with a friend you basically agreed with my assessment. Respite is needed. Or a holiday. But essentially a break from dealing with the people and responsibility. But it is not really an option for at least a couple of weeks so I am going to have to find a way to get what has to be done, done. So that i can take that break. I spent a few hours yesterday holiday hunting which was a clue. Couldn't even function to get coffee, could spend hours pricing options for a break.

I need to get a crap ton of study done today. and there is a task that i am dreading that i am going to delegate as it is not actually a good use of my brain space and will give the person the control that they delight. It will be modded before it goes up but if they do the base line work, it will make it quicker and easier and one less thing on my to do list.

links:

Thursday is errand day
Launch pad
missions
babystep

Sounds like a good plan.

North East can be lovely in September. Lots of hills, wide open spaces, stunning coast line north of Newcastle. Holy Island.
Scilly Isles would probably be warmer and easy to get to once in south coast. Channel Isles- Jersey.Island hopping. Easy to get about on bus and small enough to do in a few days. Might be too many people for you though. 26 here for part of yesterday - north west.
North West Scotland? Moray often has good weather in September and the coast is beautiful with the moors nearby to head for solitude.
unless you are thinking further a field.

Hope any teens received what they wanted yesterday.

Anyone heard from Zoo lately? I wish she would come back.
Lovely to see ShannaraTiger back.

Not much flying here yesterday as I was viewing accommodation with a young refugee and then putting contact details down for other Estate Agents and helping fill forms in for the house we saw. Much nicer than expected but 6 people after it. Took a chunk out of the day. Decluttered a BRC. Pleased with how the boudoir is looking. Just need time to remove and take shoes to Vintage shop. In market today then early evening drink and pizza offer in next street so hoping for sunny weather to sit with ex colleague.
Very pleased with frame bought. Now housing Vintage 5 postcards of our village including one of our house.

Made lovely Apple ( from friend’s tree) and Bramble (from across the road) Crumble last night. Love some freebies. BFs plums nearly ripe. We swap blackcurrants to our friends.

Finally have face to face appointment with GP next week. Getting past receptionist is a nightmare even though I explained that he told me to ring back for face to face appointment if I needed it. No appointments for next two weeks. Had a telephone one ( begrudgingly agreed) for him to say no appointments now for tomorrow but has given me one that suits next week. Will be taking a list. He has been warned as three things need discussed.NHS is on its last legs especially since Covid. They haven’t really gone back to work like everyone else.

Insomniac hours nearly over 3:30 -5am so will try for some more sleep.
Hope to get this posted as logged me off halfway through last post🤬

Afternoon everyone

I was wondering if Zoo would be along soon.

Ta Da
All of us went into town to get DH's birthday card for tomorrow and some T-Shirts. Of course I should have got them all way earlier, have ordered the Tshirts online so will be here Sunday.
Made DH's birthday cake with Dd, DS is going to make the icing and try to ice the cake later!

To Do (before back to school next week)
Change DS's bedroom around
Sort DS a chest of drawers
Hoover Dd's room, remove all the hair from the hoover roll!
Try and persuade Dd to get rid of the lego, she has definitely inherited my hatred of throwing out anything.

RedSquirrel I always try and avoid receptionists, definitely online here. Hope they sort out your sleep.
Hills break from people sounds perfect. DS admits he hates going out in public. Really hard when looking on FB at friends and family out having fun and making great memories, but none of us wanting to, worried if they're going to look back and wish we'd done more?!

shannara happy birthday to your DH! 🥳
Red I'm glad you finally have a face to face appt. I know you've been after one for far too long! Hopefully everything gets sorted.
hills how did the delegating go?

DHs birthday BBQ is today, so lots to do.
I have managed to pull all the weeds and put some solar lights up - picture attached (another strand to do today once I get more command hooks).

To do:
🥳 bake cake
🥳 frost cake
🥳 grocery shopping for food tonight
🥳 buy balloons
🥳 decorate inside & outside before DH gets home from work
🥳 put solar lights up in pool area
🥳 make caprese salad
🥳 prep fruit for fruit platter
🥳 sweep patio (might have DS do this)
🥳 wipe down picnic table and benches
🥳 get another table out to put food on
🥳 make pitchers of drinks (one with alcohol, one without)
🥳 pour myself a large alcoholic drink and call it good!

DS did the home bleugh yesterday so that's one thing I don't need to worry about!
First I need to make myself a 2nd cup of coffee, then start on my list.

Well i delegated but no results have been seen.
except for the floor sealing which has been masterfully done and we are all currently suffering from the constant droning of extraction fan which bless its poor little heart is trying to air out the solvent fumes, and the solvent fumes.

Sorry for being awol this weekend, got taken down by a nasty migraine. The after fug is still being battled through tbh.

Today is Sunday - renew your spirit day.
launch pad
babystep look after yourself one

ta da
fry up breakfast - cooked and eaten
dw unloaded, loaded and running
glass dishes soaking in boiling water and washing up liquid ready for next round of dw. - rather baked on and dw won't shift it if not soaked.
internet stuffs checked

Next up:
washing machine
studies
avoid accidental naps

hills 🤞 the delegated job gets done soon. Sorry to hear about your migraine.

The BBQ was a success! Everything was prepped and decorated in good time. MIL helped me get some fruit cut up and set out on serving plates. I drank way too much, had broken sleep because of it, including a headache (self induced).
I got some cleanup done last night, DW went on while everyone was still here. More cleanup will need to be done today, along with home bleugh since people were walking in the house with shoes on 🙄

Ta Das:
☕️ windows and doors opened to air out house
☕️ 1 lol of towels in washer (from boys being in the pool) - I thought I was going to find them on the floor in DSs room, but no! They were in the laundry room!
☕️ 2nd cup of coffee being consumed

To do:
🧁 clean up kitchen
🧁 bake cupcakes for an order
🧁 shower, get dressed etc
🧁 pick up DS from a friend's house, maybe 🤷‍♀️
🧁 figure out cake box (I don't think I have one)
🧁 deliver cupcakes
🧁 vacuum, mop etc entire house
🧁 bleach bathrooms

<sigh> I'm tired. This caffeine needs to kick in soon!

Ta Das:
🧁 rotated DW
🧁 wiped countertops
🧁 cupcakes baked, although I left out the vanilla 🤦‍♀️ I'll have to make up for that in the frosting
🧁 2nd LOL in the washer, towels in the dryer
🧁 Showered, body scrub used, shaved, washed hair
🧁 self tanner applied

Still so much to do!

More ta das:
🧁 1 more lol washed & dried
🧁 cake boxes purchased
🧁 frosting made, cupcakes frosted
🧁 cupcakes picked up so I didn't have to deliver them
🧁 all LOLs put away
🧁 DS was dropped off, so I didn't have to pick him up
🧁 handwash dishes washed
🧁 vacuumed main floor, decided not to do the stairs and downstairs today
🧁 both bathrooms S&S
🧁 mirrors cleaned in both bathrooms
🧁 lots of general tidying up, putting things away where they belong

I think I'm about done! There are bins throughout the house that need to be emptied, but I'm enjoying sitting down for a few minutes!

Lost post.
logged on logged off several times gave up.

Sitting room dusted and vacuumed
Tidied up
2x loads of washing.
Kitchen worktops Cleaned.

Home bleugh started but not finished because the day was so lovely I went out into the garden and in the summer house with both doors opened. Read for a while and decluttered magazines removing patterns and recipes. I have some new ideas for December to make and sell on stall. Decorations mainly.

Cooked - Roast pork. New potatoes, cauliflower,beans, broccoli and carrots.
Bramble and apple crumble, Plum and sponge pudding. Custard.

unloaded dishwasher
loaded dishwasher
hand washed Pyrex and a few dishes

Quiet on here!

Good morning

Hope everyone has survived the bank holiday and not too panicked about going back to school. It is crazy town around here although tbh when isn't it

HUGE to do list for today, terrible insomnia last night because of course but i made use of it and was doing some gentle tidying and sorting at 3am this morning. A nap WILL be needed later, but right now need to hit the ground running.

Throwing the links and running away I am afraid. Need more hours in my day, more sleep in my night and more me to get it all done.

Tuesday is planning day
launch pad
missions
babystep

Also is there a volunteer for September? I am afraid I can't take the responsibility on. It was surprisingly hard this month considering I couldn't do more then half of what i should have been doing, and next month is catch up month so I may well be awol

I could pick up September if needed, I have been reading but not posting much and posting regularly does help me stick to my routines better.

Home bleugh

Stripped bed
washed sheets
load of washing.

Cleaned work top 2
wiped cannisters
Put away towels( DH seems incapable of putting towels from line to bathroom or airing cupboard).

Been to GP.
DH suggested we went to North Lakes so went to Pooley Bridge. Very busy but eventually got parked and queued for lunch. We were given a table right overlooking the river and although it went cloudy and cold for about 20 mins the rest of the time it was lovely blue skies and noisy ducks. Lots of kids paddling and some paddle boards. Very unusual for the river to be low enough for kids to go in and hardly any current just enough for ducks to bob along. Lovely and relaxing. First time I have been down all summer. DH has been down nearly every week walking. I think he felt a bit guilty ( rare) when he went on Monday saying how lovely it was and I said I hadn’t been down all summer.
Trouble was I didn’t feel like doing anything when I came home. Had a nap. Sorting through some paperwork/ magazines. Nearly caught up to present.
Chilling watching Dalziel and Pascoe.

Ta Das:
🫐 took DS to school
🫐 washed our sheets
🫐 washed towels
🫐 remade bed
🫐 hung towels back up
🫐 watered front grass and flowers
🫐 redid gel on my toes
🫐 chatted to mum
🫐 took a nap

We have berries from the BBQ that need to be eaten, so I'm going to turn those into a cobbler, to make them last longer. I also need to cook DH his eggs for the week and get dinner cooked mostly before DH gets home from work tonight.
I will be helping DH work on his pickup tonight, but he wants to get started on it as soon as we can after dinner. I was thinking about cooking the eggs before I go pick up DS from school, but I don't want to be rushing around out of here!

Yesterday was a bit of a shit show.
Only 2 ta das were on the original list of to dos. The rest was clear up the emergency situation ta das. Nothing major, just very very VERY messy <sigh>

Another massive to do list today - mostly on the study front, can't escape to the hills because waiting for a parcel. Also ready for a nap already and it is not even 8am so its going to be a long day.

So apparently i didn't hit post and completely forgot the links. So first post. Will be back with the links in 2 mins

Last day of August

Wednesday is Anti procrastination day
launch pad
missions
babysteps

New thread for tomorrow everyone. A huge thanks to Hills for running the August thread

www.mumsnet.com/talk/housekeeping/4623767-following-flylady-into-september-fledglings-starting-a-new-term

I haven’t been around much in August, but I have been reading along and really appreciate you leading the thread when you have so much on Hills, thanks.

Thanks for volunteering for September ED. I’m sooo ready to get back into a routine next week when school goes back, so will have to post more regularly to keep me on the straight and narrow. I want to get back on top of everything before my imminent return to work. (I got the promotion, yay!)

Your barbecue sounds lovely Hazel. I’m impressed you managed to bake cupcakes the morning after drinking too much.

Sounds like a lovely day Red.

I get you Shanara. We go through phases of being out and about a lot and then weeks where we can’t be bothered to do anything. Which would be fine, but we live in a very busy touristy spot and while we are lazing on the sofa all I see are active happy families strolling past my window. The guilt is strong! Rarely strong enough to make me move my arse though

Right, I’ll dump my limited ta das from today as a token effort before August is done:

✅ wiped down dining table, chairs and high chair as they were all looking a bit grubby
✅ took DD to the library and for a hair cut
✅ remembered to make a hair appointment for myself while I was there
✅ pulled both sofas out and cleaned underneath after discovering a manky juice carton, massive dust bunnies and something sticky and suspect when trying to retrieve a rolling baby toy
✅ took two returns to the post office
✅ tried DD1’s school shoes on her and parcelled up the no good pair to go back
✅ convinced DD1 to put some of her shit away - downstairs is free of dumped toys/craft stuff for the first time in 5.5 weeks, and she had a decent go at her bedroom too <ignores top bunk of doom>
✅ made plans with a friend
✅ my sink is shiny (as is my halo) 😇

I am going to finish August with some tadas for today.

Up and fed cats
Work leaving rest of family in bed (frequent occurrence in summer, DH usually gets up as I leave and the teens are, well, teens).
Home having picked DD up from the college she will be starting at next week (enrolment afternoon)
Took washing off line (DS had washed and pegged it out)
Bought DD a railcard (Martin Lewis code expires tonight)
Hockey club admin with DS
Watered garden plant pots
Took a few things into the shed (having a blitz on the garden at the moment and had left out wheelbarrow, stepladder)
Put garden waste bin back round side of house
<random> wiped the inside of the front door, having noticed it was filthy when I answered it to someone yesterday.
Went to pilates class
Ate dinner cooked by DD
Set up new thread
Picked DS up from hockey

About to have a shower and an early night, see you all in September.

hills thank you so much for running August thread, especially with everything going on for you!
ED thank you for volunteering for Sept thread. You have also reminded me that I need to clean my doors, thank you!
Up thankfully out doesn't take too much effort to whip up some cupcakes, my piping skills were horrendous though, which I felt bad about.
Well done for convincing DD to put some of her shit away, good idea to ignore the top bunk 🤣
Congratulations on your promotion! 🥳