Flying into May - Fledglings welcome all as we conquer the clutter

[EversoDisorganised]

Time for the May Fledgling Flylady thread - regulars, returners and newbies are all very welcome, post as little or as often as you like, or just lurk, whatever suits you, but please feel free to ask if there is anything you don’t understand. Also feel free to chat.

Flylady is a system for running a household, it covers housework, self-care and general organisation. It runs on a monthly cycle with the house divided into weekly zones, hence a new thread at the start of each month. Links will be posted here daily, but do go and have a good browse of the website.

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/

If you’re new to the system, or are wanting a refresher course, the baby steps may be a good idea. Some are more useful than others.

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Each day the website posts a mission (a detailed bit of cleaning or decluttering) for the current zone, but decluttering takes priority.

Then there’s the daily focus - each day of the week has a theme, although switch them round to suit yourself.

Each day I’ll provide the link to the flight plan, which is where you can see what is meant to be done that day (as a guide, nothing is obligatory).

A couple of principles we talk about on here are:

Future Friend - the idea of doing something today that benefits you later, such as choosing your clothes or making your lunch the night before.
Power of Three (po3) - if you’re overwhelmed, just pick three easy tasks - no matter how small - and forget about the rest until they’re done. Then reassess and decide another three.

Finally a few acronyms:
DW - dishwasher, not to be confused with dear wife
LOL - load of laundry, we aren’t finding washing hilarious
WM - washing machine
TD - tumble dryer
BRC - box of random crap

Waves back at other people. Goodluck with the squirrel, interview and illness. And the fantasy live. It's fun to dream isn't it?

Yesterday: Tada
Hung laundry
Lol
Cleared table
Rested
Put up wallpaper
Cleaned bathroom

Todo
Clear table
Load dishwasher
Clear up after wallpapering
Make sure robotvacuum isn't going to eat/hug something

I think I fell in live with the wallpaper. Which kind of makes sense, I picked it because I really liked it. But it also matches so nicely with the rest.

Salix I've never tried to put wallpaper up, the way you put it on your ta da list makes it sounds so easy, but it doesn't look easy to do! What design/ colour did you do?

There's lots I want to do today. I've already put the washer on a clean cycle with vinegar in it and taken DS to school. It's almost 8am here and I'm only just drinking my 1st cup of coffee!

To Dos:
📌 wipe out the washer, clean the trap etc also
📌 wash sheets & towels
📌 clean oven
📌 clean Keurig (coffee maker)
📌 wipe cupboard door fronts in kitchen
📌 vacuum
📌 mop

We'll see what I can get done today 🤷‍♀️

Ta Das so far:
☕️ wiped washer, cleaned filter. It was so gross! 🤮 it's never been that bad before! I'm glad I did it
☕️ sheets in washer
☕️ sprayed oven cleaner in oven
☕️ put vinegar and water into Keurig
☕️ currently airing out the house, it feels good to have fresh air come in!
☕️ drinking my 2nd cup of coffee whilst sitting with my feet up on the couch

I may actually go out and pull some weeds while the sun is shining, maybe 🤔

Tada!

I have cleaned out the cutlery drawer.

Not much else as I had work, then a zoom meeting, and have been doing online banking etc but glad to have done at least one kitchen mission. The kitchen is very cluttered ATM because quite a few things have moved in here from the dining room.

@HungryHazelEyes sounds like you have had better weather than us. We had the most torrential downpour with hail and thunder this afternoon.

@SalixAlba well done on the wallpapering - I’m in my 50s and have never attempted it, our house is entirely emulsioned and so is that of my parents. I’m not sure I’d be very good at it.

More ta das:

🐦 sheets dried and back on the bed
🐦 towels washed and currently drying
🐦 2 other LOLs done
🐦 ironed DSs outfit for his concert tomorrow
🐦 wiped the fronts of cabinets down in the kitchen
🐦 vacuumed
🐦 mopped
🐦 finished cleaning the oven and stovetop
🐦 finished cleaning the Keurig
🐦 cleared off the breakfast bar, wiped it off
🐦 cleaned the microwave
🐦 helped DS start on rolls to go with dinner tonight (for him and DH) - I talked him through what to put in the bowl

ED we are close to the desert here so it's dry here compared to the UK! We do have all 4 seasons though. We are about 2-3 weeks behind on weather and flowers etc, we've had the rain the last few days that we should have had last month!

I never did make it outside to do any weeding, there's still daylight outside but chances of me actually going out there is pretty slim now!

Oops late again with the link. http://flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Today's mission is to clear out your fridge - I definitely need to do our salad drawer. It is also anti-procrastination day so do something you have been putting off.

TADAs cleaned my front room, pulled the cushions off the sofa to hoover underneath, it was filthy 😳
Dusted, hoovered, washed throws.
Cleared out drawer under TV stand, put the collection of old phone and tablet boxes in the recycling.
Washed filter from my Dyson.
Ordered new filters.
Stopped for brunch then couldn't get started again.

Today's todo
Hoover stairs, clean bathroom, and anything else is a bonus.
It's beautifully sunny here at the moment, but heavy rain forecast for later, before I became a "spoony" I'd have done outdoor jobs this morning and indoors stuff when it rained but these days I can only do either/or.

I'm thinking about buying a carpet cleaner if anyone's got any brand recommendations?
Don't know whether to get the upright type or the spot cleaner.
I've got storage for it, but can't be lugging heavy stuff up the stairs.
Hope everyone has a good and productive day x

@EversoDisorganised just saw your latest post, very timely as I've been putting off cleaning my bathroom for ages!

I think you need to be clear what you are going to use it for.
A spot cleaner is an arse for big areas
A cleaner is harder to move about.

I have an old fashioned vac (hoover and washer - giant round heavy thing) it is an arse to move about but does the job well. Modern ones are more like the stick hoovers so less bulky. I would like to say i can recommend the vac but when mine eventually dies i will be looking at the more modern ones as i have been so happy with the tank.

I am in the house very little atm. Need to do the dw and the wm. other then that it will go to hell in a hand basket whilst i focus on what needs focusing and not being in the house. Lots of traveling for meetings week.

We have had two carpet cleaners - a spot one which was good for small stains, upholstery etc and an upright Vax. I can't remember what we did with the spot one but it was no good for larger areas as Hills said, also, it took up the same amount for floor space in storage but was just shorter (like cylinder vs upright vac). The upright Vax has been great and has a long hose for spot cleaning but the motor has just burnt out after just under three years. It has a sticker on it saying 6 year warranty, so that is my anti-procrastination task, to ring Vax.

Had a headache today and yesterday so only basics plus a few other bits here.

2 days ta-da's:

🦃 Walked besides the river
🦃 Took a bag of outgrown clothes to the clothing bank
🦃 Swept out car
🦃 Took it to the garage to have something unblocked that wasn't doing it's thing
🦃 Decluttering

I like the message seeds Cherrydog 🌱

Morning all,
Posting and running this morning (not literally, but got to leave in 10 mins).

Thursday’s Flight Plan is here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

It is Errand day, my errand is to go out and stock up on biscuits, teabags etc as we have builders starting on Sat. I still haven’t phoned Vax about the broken carpet cleaner so I need to anti-procrastinate and do that today (I was at work all day yesterday but at home today).

The mission today is to clear out the drawer with plastic bags, foil etc. Our is actually OK as we redid the kitchen about 18 months ago and rarely use any of that stuff now so the drawer has stayed tidy since we moved back in. Still need to do my salad drawer though. Back later.

Tada

• efrosted meat
• Brought stuff to attic
• Brought books to little free library
• Brought lunch
• Lol
• Folded laundry
• Surprised myself by wanting to dust, declutter and rearrange windowsill so it matches wallpaper. Never knew wallpaper could be motivating.

It's is a colourful floral pattern, btw, with lots of purple. It's not that hard to put up, you're basically just glueing a piece of paper to the wall and there's not much that can really go wrong. It's just that the paper is 3m long and needs to be in exactly the right spot, which is annoying and fiddly. Luckily it was only a small feature wall, not the whole room, so it wasn't that much work.

Todo (tomorrow):

• Mealplan
• Lol
• Water plants, harden/repot tomatoes
• Declutter guestroom
• Decide on nice clothes more then 10 minutes before having to leave

• Figure out how to use dots in a less annoying way

@SalixAlba I’m not a fan of all the new autoformatting features MN have introduced, getting my posts looking how I want them to seems harder than ever.

Anyway yesterday’s list was all completed:

washing ✅
Phone Vax ✅ - machine was out of warranty though
Phone water softeener company ✅- in warranty so engineer booked
Tidying and decluttering ✅over several hours, another Ikea bag full for the charity shop, and lots on recycling/normal waste

Today’s plan is to take DD to college (train strike so 20 mile round trip by car)
Meet a friend for coffee
Final stages of the great room clearance
Dust cobwebs / skirting boards /windowsills in cleared rooms
Pick DD up again
Take cats to the V E T for their jabs
Go out with my friends this evening to a local theatre performance.

Friday Flightplan

http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Mission today is to sort out under the sink, restock, chuck out empty packaging etc. Have a good day everyone.

@EversoDisorganised and @HillsBesideTheSea thanks for input on carpet cleaners, might wander round Curry's to test weights and maneuverability of various machines.
@DitzyDaffodils I'm looking forward to seeing what pops up!
Took me 2 days to complete my small list of TADAs, I've been getting a lot of migraines lately, my meds work well in regards to pain but I'm still feeling pretty wiped out.
But I've hoovered the whole house, put my LOLs away, cleaned bathroom, except for shower.
One of the dogs had been sick on their bed, so I washed it, put a fresh one down, half an hour later I found two loads of sick on the clean one 🙃
I need to buy some of that hair catcher stuff, because every time I wash their beds the machine clogs up.
Why WM manufacturers can't come up with an easier drainage system and a button trap that needs Herculean effort to remove is beyond me!
Today's todo is a toss up between having a declutter of my clothes, or trying to organise the mess in my dining room.
We have a no outdoors shoes on the carpets rule, downstairs is stone floor except for my front room.
Currently have to sit on the stairs to have a cup of tea if we're in and out, as can't actually get to the dining room chairs ☺️
Also need to shop for some blackout blinds for my window, fed up of waking up at silly o'clock when it starts getting light.

Forgot to say that if I stay focused this weekend I'll be on the Fly Lady routines next week.
I think this is the way forward for me, and I'm staying focused and motivated thanks to all of you and this thread!

I can't get back into the swing of posting or flying at the moment. Next week I'm aiming to knock myself into shape.

I had a good start to the week on Monday and house looked great. Tuesday there was flash floods and we were bucketing out soiled water so the rest of the week was a right off.

See you next week

I don't think flylady has routines for a nightmare like that, Partypompons. I hope the damage isn't too much.

Washers aren't very pet friendly no. That drainage system is incomprehensible. For ours it's not the hair, it's the bedding. But those little sleepy noses in the morning are worth it.

Tada🏁
Put tower of piza of teatowels right before needing to refold them all (thanks mission)
Rescued robot
Mealplan (oke, mostly)
Little stress before leaving thanks to picking out clothes before
Rearranged and dusted open cubby's in cupboard. Feels much calmer now.

Todo
➡️Kitchen/dishwasher
➡️Clear tables
➡️Tomato-job: put greenhouse-thing outside, see if plants like staying there, repot if pots available
➡️Garden: weed, plant carrots
➡️Lol (or two)
➡️Sleep/rest when needed
➡️Eurovision

Extra's
⬆️Bring something to attic
⬆️Clean robot's filter
⬆️Study
⬆️Mealprep

Why have I only just found out about this? Feeling both cross and hopeful.

Shit i fell off again 😕

Yikes I am getting worse and worse at posting! Can’t believe we are almost halfway through May already. Thank you for keeping the thread running for another month ED ❤️

Currently have a sore throat/ear and as a result have been lazing all morning playing on the iPad and listening to Kpop because why not. But I do have lots of stuff to do.

po3.1
❗️Put a wash on
❗️Look at work calendar and family diary to try and make sense of next week, and start writing it up on the board (which I haven’t been using lately)
❗️Send a couple of emails I’ve been procrastinating about

hello @ThatFraggle can i call you fraggle for short? Shout if you need any help or explainations.

That - it happens how are you all doing?

Perry life gets busy sometimes.

This morning was a bit of a rush as i overslept. Work stuff done and it is a not recommend blitz as i have been ignoring chores this week, and it has now caught up. Additionally there is a whole level of fun of returning stuff to homes after this months building/rennovations/whatever the fuck you want to call the chaos.

Is your building chaos finished now Hills?

Hi Fraggle it's a great thread, hope it helps you

Ear aches are the worst Perry, my sympathies

Don't worry THAT, there's still half of May left to get something useful done

Salix my latest washing machine doesn't even suck out pet hair, it just stays in the drum. Granted, it's all nice and clean and shiny any fresh smelling when it attaches itself to my undies 😠 everything else, but that's besides the point! I end up hand washing pet related things now after hoovering them

What a disaster Pompoms 😱

What did you see at the theatre ED?

I think many of us have a room of doom Cherrydog. Be nice once you can use the dining room again

I can't remember what I was upto Thursday, basic routines and sitting in the naughty corner I think

Friday's ta-da's:

🐞 Morning routine
🐞 Bag of clothes to clothes bank x2
🐞 Walk through the woods
🐞 Popped to the local shop for salad. I've given up buying it in advance because it always goes off before it's used
🐞 Took in delivery, unpacked and put away
🐞 Decluttering
🐞 Met a friend for coffee
🐞 Did some weeding and planting in the garden
🐞 Cleared out handbag
🐞 Evening routine