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

@Searchingforsunnydays That's absolutely awful for you. I don't understand how they cab get it so wrong but I hear of it often.

This week I've done the home bleurgh over two days, food shop, baby groups, picnics, lols galore, lots of gardening and enhoyingbthr sunshine.

I've decided to do something new every week to keep life interesting. Just small things but little breaks from the routine to keep me sane.

sunny work is going okay, they're just long days so I don't have much energy when I get home.
That's really awful about the tax credits, it baffles me how they can get it so wrong!
pompoms what is the new thing you're trying this week?

We had crazy storm here today, huge hail, strong winds, flooding in places! It's a mess outside now, pieces of trees everywhere (mostly leaves and small branches) so that'll take some time to clean up when it gets a little nicer outside. My plants are all okay, which is good and no damage to any of the vehicles. The wind is still blowing and the storm is still close by (thunder & lightning) but it seems to be moving away from us now.

No ta das from me today, unsurprisingly since I worked.
🍒👋 to everyone

@Searchingforsunnydays that is awful about the tax credits, we used to claim them when the DCs were young and it was a nightmare keeping up with it, my income kept varying as both my maternity leaves straddled two tax years fairly equally (Jan-Oct both times) and DH’s was all over the place through self-employment.

@HungryHazelEyes hope the clearup doesn’t take too long.

Brrr it feels chilly here again this morning, sun isn’t out. I sat in the garden till 9.30 last night and it was lovely.

Off to work today, building work is proving a bit frustrating this week, largely because the comms have been through DH not me and DH Does Not Do Detail. So I have a lot of unanswered questions, nothing major, but I like to keep tabs on what is happening when and a few minor details, hoping to catch the builder this morning.

Flightpplan for Thursday here, predictably yesterday’s mission was to clear nightstands, today’s is to clear dressers. It is also Errand Day.

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

@Searchingforsunnydays that's a whopper of a mistake by them.
@HungryHazelEyes hope you manage to get cleared up OK.
My TaDa!!
My bedroom is finished, the huge pile of paperwork is filed or shredded, bedside tables tidied, a few more things in the charity pile.
I said to DP that I could do his room next (we don't share because he snores 😁) and he just growled "leave it".
He's got piles of random stuff shoved under his bed, covered in dust bunnies, and now that I have cleared under mine (💪💪) I have loads of clear plastic boxes he could use.
I might do it anyway, easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission and all that 😁
I had my back MRI yesterday, hopefully I'll get some answers.
My bloods came back OK, so it's probably the after effects of whatever I had when I got the rash that's making me feel so terrible.
Next hurdle is getting everything out of the house, I'm going to set aside some time everyday to start listing on ebay, and taking stuff to the charity shops.
With the nice weather I can also pull everything out of my tack room, have a good sort through and get all my horse stuff out of the dining room.

@partypompoms your week sounds lovely , doing something new each week will keep things interesting! Exciting times !

@HungryHazelEyes wow the storm sounds like it was a big one! Glad it wasn't too destructive to your garden and it's a clean up rather than redo or fix things ! Glad work is going ok - not long until your break !!

@EversoDisorganised I hope you managed to catch your builder before work - despite your mn name - I think you are very organised to keep on top of it all ! The milder evenings are lovely aren't they, nothing like sitting in your garden to clear your mind ❤️

@CherryogDog well done for getting your room completed ! Good luck for your dp room ! I wish I had my own room for when my dp snores 😂 glad your bloods came back ok , hopefully the mri won't take too long to come back .

I've come to terms with the tax credit thing , still a little frustrated but im not stressing about it . I can't do anything to change the situation!

Tada
✅ up and ready for work and school
✅ school runs
✅ filled in timesheet for work (been meaning to do this for 2 weeks 🤦‍♀️)
✅ dd2 swimming lesson
✅ tea cooked (I say cooked , it was only tomato soup and bread 😂)
✅ dd2 showered

To do :
😴clothes ready for tomorrow
😴call bowling alley for booking tomorrow
😴general tidy
😴kitchen clear up
😴shower including hair wash and dried
😴dd2 birthday stuff ready when she goes to bed

I am absolutely shattered today so I really need to push myself to get back up and do a power hour to get as much done as possible! I don't usually drink coffee this late but I may make a cup of tea to carry round with me and power through !!

Sunny take the tax credits, put them in a different bank account just for them, next year if they ask for them back you've got them there to give, if they don't you can spend it. I'll do you a book list tomorrow

Cherry I've been here just over a year, I can assure you my lists weren't big to start with! Plenty have been here much longer than me. Give yourself a chance, you'll get there. Fingers crossed for your MRI results

I like your plan to try new things Pompoms

Glad you escaped the storm unscathed Hazel annoying it's left you with a clean up mission though

It'd drive me insane not knowing what was happening with the building works ED

Hayfever has arrived

Ta-da's:

🤧 Morning routine
🤧 Met a friend
🤧 Sorted out a stack of stuff that collapsed, decluttered some of it and cleaned underneath before I put it all back
🤧 Walked
🤧 Filing paperwork
🤧 Evening routine

We suddenly have visitors this weekend, who are very handy and come to fix things. Very necessary things, like the existance of a half dead hedge, and a wobbly bedroom cupboard.
But I have Cant-Have-Anyone-Over Syndrome, and now feel like I have to clean the whole house from top to bottom and weed the garden. Some of this is necessary, but probably not all of it. On the positive side: this is quite motivating.

Todo (not in one day)
Decent amount of laundry
Kitchen upkeep
Drawer in cupboard
Empty stairs
Sweep stairs
Rest
Put away groceries
Empty hallway
Sweep hallway
Mop hallway
Clean toilet
Clear table
Clear other table
Put plantstuff away
Wash window
Vacuum living room
Mop living room
Clean glass door
Rest again
Plant tomatoes
Weed next to door
Check fridge
Put trash in recycling bins
Recycle glass
Hang up gift
Don't forget to rest
Order groceries
Make mealplan

Already done
The chair of doom
Sweep landing
Empty landing
Sweep landing
Declutter petstuff
Lol
Dishwasher
Water pots
Keep up kitchen
Clean stove
Clean bathroom

Wish me luck. Or talk some sense into me, not sure yet.

Yikes @SalixAlba those are big lists! Take it steadily and don’t forget a few deep breaths.

I had a quiet day at work followed by a very busy evening. Today is going to be the other way round, got 5 different places to go to for various things, leaving in half an hour and going from one to another to another so I need to get organised. This is where routines help, I got my clothes out last night, washed my hair, and made sure everything I need to take is handy.

So, today is the last day in the master bedroom, the flightplan is here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

The mission is to get a feather duster and tackle all the high surfaces in the room, door jambs etc. See you all later.

👋 👋 at everyone.
@DitzyDaffodils I took a moment of reflection at my lists, but then realised that I do more than I list, as I have a daily routine with the animals, watering the plants, that sort of thing.
Today's ToDos
I'm waiting in for a parcel today so doing some LOLs.
Cleaning downstairs bathroom (currently also my feed room 😁), changing dog bed, washing the floors.
I've got some tomatoes that need using up so will make a sauce for tonight's dinner.
The fridge needs a clean. If the parcel arrives in time I'll drive into town to get some fridge boxes as the veg and salad just seem to end up in a huge jumble.
@EversoDisorganised just want to thank you for the thread, and everyone who posts as I'm finding it really helpful.

Cherry my morning routine has 18 separate tiny tasks on it. Everything from doing my makeup to taking out the recycling. Definitely helps the day run smoothly. Half the battle is recognising what we do do so we're not left with that feeling of not knowing where the time has gone. Once I started actively choosing how to spend my time, instead of reacting to the chaos around me, it all started to come together. You sound overrun with horse supplies at the moment, are they currently homeless and living in your back yard until you sort something?

Busy day ED, wishing you lots of fun

Salix your life will get easier. Those lists are long but a lot of it looks like the FlyLady weekly home blessings or small things that could be incorporated into a daily routine. One day you'll get to a point where you don't have CHAOS any more

Book list for Sunny:

🍭Have You Got Anything Stronger?
🍭The People On Platform 5
🍭The Stable Boy Of Auschwitz
🍭The Daughter Of Auschwitz
🍭The Sunrise Sisterhood
🍭In A Thousand Different Ways
🍭Atlas

The last one is the latest in a series I'm reading

Half of list done, without getting exhausted. So not doing too bad.
Thanks for the encouragement Eversodisorganised and especially Ditzydaffodils. Think I really needed to hear that to not be discouraged today.

@DitzyDaffodils the horses are living in a field owned by a friend, I'd love to have the space for them at home! I do have a very old coach house/stable in the garden, but no land.

Didn't get much done yesterday (other than normal dailies), 2 LOLs, cleaned the fridge, rearranged it a bit, made a ragu sauce for dinner.
Cleaned down the kitchen, washed and put away everything I'd used, cleared away the random bits that had ended up there. Emptied dishwasher.
It must be the first time ever that everything in the kitchen has been put away, usually there's some in the dishwasher, some sitting on the side queuing for the DW. So realised there's too many cups and mugs to fit in the cupboard, so that's a whittle on my ToDo list.
The habit of just doing something is slowly getting ingrained in me. My bathroom sink is a bit slow draining at times, and I'd leave it getting scummy until I had a big clean up. Now everytime I wash and clean my teeth I give it a good rinse, wipe it with my used flannel, rub the splashes off the mirror and it doesn't get revolting any more.
So my upstairs sink gets shined every day at least!
The BT engineer is coming next Wednesday and for the first time in ages I've not got any worries about someone coming in the house.
My drawer dividers arrived so I'll probably sort that today.
I have a new and completely ridiculous worry now, I've always kept up with my laundry, just not the putting away. Now I have my tidy bedroom and fairly organised clothes, I don't want to do my laundry because I don't want to leave piles of clean clothes in my room, but I still have a mental block of putting it away 😆
👋 👋 to everyone, hope you all have a great weekend.

@SalixAlba that's a whopper of a list, so you've done brilliantly getting half of that done!
My car is absolutely filthy, muddy boots, stinky dogs (especially when one has rolled in fox poo), horsey gear, things that don't have a home. Friends say "oh must get my car cleaned, it's filthy", and when I look there's a couple of leaves and a sweet wrapper, and a small smear of mud.
I'm imagining all of you having really 99% clean and tidy houses and I'm the only slattern here 🤣🤣

I live in a building site. You are good. Although at the moment we are not currently playing floor is lava but that is planned for next month. We also currently have only the furniture that belongs in the lounge in the lounge but again that is going to change next month. We still don't have access to one bathroom because it is being used as a storage place for stuff displaced due to building work... So yeah it is not tidy here. it is survival mode.

There's a reason that list is so long CherryogDog. And it's not because the house looked neat and tidy beforehand 😉

Though some tasks are pretty quick because it's just upkeep. Unfortunately the key word here is 'some'.

Funnily enough: last week I removed some mugs because they didn't fit in the cupboard. Does make unpacking the dishwasher a bit less annoying.

@DitzyDaffodils that's a good idea with the tax credits thanks, I will put that into place ! And thanks for the book lists I can add them to my goodreads - I'm always looking for book recommendations 😁 we've all been suffering with hay fever - my ds especially! Myself and dd1 have been taking local honey most days which really helps calm any symptoms. Hope you aren't feeling too poorly with it .

@SalixAlba that is a massive list - I hope you are enjoying having your visitors over this weekend 🥂

@EversoDisorganised thanks for the lists this month - I hope today is a bit more restful for you ?

@CherryogDog please don't compare your lists to others, we all live very individual lives , it really doesn't matter if the only thing you did in the day was get out of bed and that's all that's on your list - there's absolutely no judgement only support in this group 🤗 well done for the kitchen and bathroom achievements! Those new routines are working ! Regarding houses and cars , my car only gets a clean if I persuade my kids to do it - we live in our car with all the after school activities so it is full of mud, them 3G balls, toys , wrappers 😂 and as for my home, well it is nowhere near being a tidy home at the moment, it's a constant battle against the chaos ! So you are not alone heehee

@HillsBesideTheSea how is the building work coming along ?

Wowzer my whole home is an absolute tip, I didn't get chance to do much with time taken up for birthday prepping and then I've been out of the house from 830am-9pm most days this week - dd2 has had an amazing birthday weekend though so it's all been worth it !

We went to watch the little mermaid yesterday - I absolutely loved it !! Dd2 asked to watch it again as we walked out of the cinema so I'm guessing she loved it too ❤️❤️

Ta da
Survived another crazy birthday !

To do
Figure out where to tackle the mayhem and have time slots to do it so I'm still spending my time with my kids while we're off . We currently have a living room full of barbies and kindi kids and absolutely nowhere to store them because I didn't do the pre birthday declutter 😩 MIL has invited us for dinner today so at least that's one thing off my list !! Coffee first then I'll hopefully be bombarding you all with my amazing tada lists (or hiding in the naughty corner ignoring the chaos with a g&t!)

Tada :
✅ 15 min kitchen tidy
✅ 30 min kitchen clean
✅ defeated the krypton factor of toy unboxing !
✅ washed and dressed ready for going to MIL
✅ beds made

DP has put on a LOL, deweeded the front garden and cut the grass .

Successful morning so far , off to have lunch at MILs then will hopefully get another power hour in this afternoon, maybe a catch up on laundry and living room .

I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

I'm not too bad with the hayfever thanks Sunny it's mainly itchy runny eyes

Ta-da's:

🌀 Home blessings
🌀 Read a chapter of novel

That's it. Routines went to pot today. Never mind it's a new week tomorrow. Off to bed now

@DitzyDaffodils we all have days like that - sometimes mine turn into weeks ! Glad your hayfever isn't too bad .

I'm up before everyone and going to have a go at folding the dry washing and have a 15 minute tidy of the playroom room of doom ! It's the worst room in the house so wish me luck !! I'm hoping to do just short stints in there throughout the week .

Happy bank holiday Monday everyone!!

Happy Bank Holiday everyone!
I've hardly done anything in the house this weekend.
I'm a bit sleep deprived and lacking in energy, so anything other than my usual daily routine is not looking likely today 🙃

Morning! Today we are moving into Zone 5 for the last couple of days of May, the living room. Mine currently resembles a skip, with furniture in the middle of the room, bags and boxes stacked all round it but never mind.

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

The mission for today is to clear the hotspots in your living room. Monday is Home Blessing Day.

Apologies for being AWOL over the weekend again, it has been very busy, but enjoyable. Friday all went like clockwork - I had to go to an event at DS’s old school (I am joining the board of governors), then met friends for coffee, then different friends for lunch, did a massive declutter at the allotment, home for online yoga class and collapse. The council put a skip at the allotment this weekend for non-green waste, I have a little enclosure made of pallets at the plot and have been dumping old compost bags, broken tools, old netting etc in there for years so it was a good chance for a clearout and I wanted to do it on Friday in case the skip all filled up before I had a chance.

Saturday was the day for fetching DS and all his stuff home from uni for the summer (as if we needed more stuff in the house at the moment!). Yesterday I did allotmenting, main food shop, taxiing DS around the county and the evening pub quiz.

The decorators are in today despite it being a bank holiday, so we are all trying to keep out of the way, I am in my garden shed (the wifi reaches here) and will be going to the allotment. DH has gone to archery and is working this afternoon. Teens are asleep upstairs. Cats have not been seen this morning.

@Searchingforsunnydays my car always used to be like that, full of the DCs stuff, they used to do a lot of after school activities. Even now they are older they are bad at dumping all sorts in there. But, you might remember me saying a couple of months ago that I had it valetted. Ever since, I have been strict, anyone that gets out of my car takes EVERYTHING with them, including me (it also used to be full of receipts, parking tickets etc). It has worked! The car is spotless as I can vacuum it every week in 5 mins instead of having to excavate it once every couple of months.

I have been AWOL for a few days. Busy with work and the long weekend here. We usually have a BBQ for Memorial Day weekend, either the Saturday or Sunday, but the weather showed storms so didn't plan anything. Naturally the weather was awesome yesterday, but ILs came over for dinner & we got to eat outside.

Saturday I had the house to myself most of the day. I mostly took my time getting food ready for dinner. I did harvest my lemon rhubarb (about 5 stalks) and made a keto friendly crumble with strawberries as well, since there wasn't a huge amount of rhubarb. It was delicious 😋
I also baked a cake for those who can eat that.

Sunday I had the house to myself again bliss and spent a lot of time outside planting my plants. I got a lot in the ground! I only have a few small flowers to plant now and I'm done. I vacuumed the main floor and swept outside as well.

Today we are going out for a drive. There are some camping spots the guys saw yesterday when out fishing and they want us girls to see them.

I still have 2 more days off after today. I'm loving it!
Sorry for lack of personals, it sounds like everybody has been busy.

Garden’s looking lovely there @HungryHazelEyes .

Well, it has been a funny old day, the decorators arrived at 8, they are a friendly bunch who have done work here before, but we really needed to keep out of the way (they are decorating the hall, stairs and middle room where the stairs are). So I spent the morning in the garden - working in the shed, both on my tablet and actual gardening, I had a lot of seedlings to repot. Then went to aquafit at lunchtime, when I got back DD had gone to work with DH for some peace and quiet and DS had gone out with a friend but decorating continued so I went off to the allotment for a couple of hours, got my sunflowers planted out and some weeding done.

Tada!
Two loads of washing line dried (I still had access to the WM)
Not much else really, but we are keeping on top of kitchen, bathroom and laundry, the rest of the house (living room and bedrooms) is a disaster zone.

Thought I’d post links tonight as both plasterer and decorators are due back in the morning plus I’ve got to get to work.

Last day in Zone 5, last day of the month. I think Flylady is taking the mick out of me as the mission is to get rid of anything which does not belong in your living room (that’ll be a desk, two bookcases, several boxes, several bags and assorted other crap then).

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

Would anyone else like to run the thread next month? I don’t mind carrying on, if everyone is OK with the occasional missed day especially at weekends, but if anyone else fancies it you are welcome.

Morning everyone! I meant to update last night but I have to admit I had a couple of g&t's and danced around the living room with my AirPods in decluttering the birthday stuff 😂 I'm sure my family thought I was slightly crazy but I had a good time lol!!

Yesterdays tada :

🎉 caught up on folding the dry washing
🎉 30 minutes on the room of doom playroom ! This is such a massive job 😩
🎉 took dd2 for her contact lenses trial - she only turned 7 on Friday and she absolutely smashed it ! She can now wear them 3 times a week for her gymnastics training - I am so surprised and super proud of her !
🎉 sorted a lot of the birthday presents and took all the birthday cards down
🎉 packed away the heated airer
🎉 cleared dining table
🎉 hoovered through downstairs

@CherryogDog I hope you've managed some sleep 😴

@EversoDisorganised hope work goes well today and the decorators make good progress . Is there much more to do ? Enjoy having DS home from uni - dd1 keeps talking about uni , it really makes me emotional (not that I show her) we've got 2 years yet I don't know what I'll be like if she does decide to go ! Regarding the car , I do remember , maybe I should take it for a full valet then it'll be easier to keep on top of . I just don't get the time during the term so my car is always bottom of the list ! Sounds like you made loads of progress at the allotment - great that they provided a skip !

@HungryHazelEyes your garden looks lovely ! Glad you're enjoying a few days off . The crumble you made sounds delicious, one of my favourite puddings is apple crumble 😋 rubarb and strawberry sounds very summery!

Waving to everyone else 👋

Todays tada
✅ LOL in the wash
✅ read a chapter of my book with a coffee whilst dc were still in bed
✅ 15 minutes on the room of doom - can actually see a bit of the floor now ! Going to get another 15 mins in there before getting ready for the day 😊

Hoping to take dd2 to the craft session at the library this morning, then dd1 has her prom dress fitting this afternoon , dd2 has gymnastics tonight and ds is having a sleepover at his friends house so the rest of the day will be here and there housework wise !