Fledgelings winging their way out of June disasters

[DitzyDaffodils]

So this is my thread. I'm circling the drain, descending into CHAOS and this is my kickback. And I'm dragging you lucky people along for the ride 😁.

This is FlyLady. It's a system for sorting your shit out. It works, but only if you do it. It doesn't work so good if you only think about doing it. So get off your butts and clean some shite, people! 🧹🧴🧽🧼

We're fighting CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) 🧑‍🤝‍🧑🚫. You can't clean clutter so you've got to declutter 🗑️, which isn't as daunting as it sounds 🦧 because it's only 15 minutes a day. Your house didn't get skanked up overnight 🏚️ 🦠 so it's not getting de-skanked overnight either 🏠. We won't judge how skanky your house is because we are too are skank-sisters 🧟💩🦟, but trying our hardest to become blessed Queens 👸🤴 of our domestic realms, with varying success please don't sue me if you prefer to identify as a unicorn 🦄 or whatever, you're still welcome. With FlyLady as our inspiration 🧚. Be kind to yourselves and do whatever you can. Baby steps 🐾(FlyLady has those on her website), follow them.

I can't do links so there won't be any. Good start, hey? 🙄. I'm sure you'll live though. I plan to make up for it with emojis, because I like them 🌞

Today's the first of June. And if it isn't you're too early, so kindly get back to the other thread 😝. Old hands, newbies and lurkers 👀 all welcome. Come join the party 🎉

There's probably a whole bunch of stuff I was supposed to tell you but haven't. Apologies. 🍒👋 (Cherry waves, for anyone who can't see emojis) is a corruption of cheery waves, long before my time, and it's stuck - were not insanely flinging fruit at you, promise.

This morning the teen has decided to wear shorts under her skirt, no tights obviously, and no jersey on the walk to school. So I'm now expecting a phone call about the shorts.

Anyway, I did the laundry, found that even in the shade the heat was oppressive, but enjoyed staying up till it was dark and sorting out some very messy shelves. Which I will
continue with today.

Keeping up with the basics is an achievement in itself in this heat Salix

Hope you managed to let some things go in your decluttering session Cherry and filled your bag. I'm not so good at that part, I spend a lot of time deciding before letting go of each thing

Yesterday ta-da's:

🤸 Morning routine
🤸 Visit to garden centre
🤸 Food shopping
🤸 Met friend for lunch
🤸 Browsed the charity shop and picked up a few bits
🤸 Tidied kitchen
🤸 Evening routine

Peeking out of the naughty corner to see how everyone is doing ?

My life is going at full speed and I'm feeling like I can't keep up ! I'm considering getting up at 530 instead of 6 to free up some time for organising / decluttering - has anyone changed their getting up time to try and be more organised or catch up on jobs ? I feel like it's the only way but I'm so tired already I'm scared it's going to make me even more grumpy 😂

Two more shelves yesterday, with paper reduced by about half. The rest either put where it belongs, or in my pile to go through more slowly.

Must do today -

Fill garden bins, put them out.

Supermarket delivery.

Kitchen.

Continue with shelves.

I do tend to get up earlier in summer @Scourgify I have just put out some washing I did last night. I find its a good time for doing a bit of tidying, general stuff but don't tend to get stuck into proper decluttering or housework as I don't want to wake everyone else up.

Thanks, DitzyDaffodils. I did my list, even something extra, so I should be happy with that, but it just feels like very little.

For Searchingforsunnydays:
I have done that for some time, get up an hour earlier some days, when life was really really busy. I liked that hour. Some quiet before the storm.

But there were drawbacks. Looking back it wasn't really more efficient. I could do stuff in the morning, but everything took thrice as much time in the afternoon. Especially silly things, like finding my bag. Or keys. I didn't have evenings either, I just fell asleep earlier. And to top it of, I really asked too much of myself and a while later it caught up with me. Which well, wasn't very efficient either, to say the least.

So, it might work, but I would say, be careful that you're taking good care of yourself, before you're taking care of the house.

• Turns of serious mode -

Todo
Mourning routine
Lol
Water plants
Dishwasher
Bring lunch
Bring book for little library

@DitzyDaffodils I managed half a bag.
I have 2 big wardrobes with 2 deep drawers underneath, a 4+2 chest of drawers, 2 x 3 drawer bedside tables, a dressing table with 2 shallow drawers, a separate coat cupboard and they're all full 🥵.
I'm constantly trying to find a better way of putting my clothes away, does this go on a hanger, should I fold, roll, stack, I've got three similar things, should I keep things that I've "outgrown 😄"....
I grew up in a large Irish family, very poor, a lot of my clothes had been worn by 5 brothers before me, nothing that could be mended was thrown away.
So I think that I'm over compensating.

Anyway, yesterday's TaDas:
Filled half a charity bag.
Chucked my collection of purple shampoos.
Boxed up some toiletries I don't use for my daughter.
Tidied the bathroom.
Went to get my compost.
Potted my new plants.
2 LOLs
Put my dry laundry away.

Today's ToDos:
Get that charity bag filled!
Everything needs cleaning but I'm low on energy today, anything I do get done will be a bonus.

Honestly when i get to this point i have to stop and rest. I am generally not keeping up because i am too tired to do so. Pushing harder makes for burnout. Just take it easy and be kind to yourself. It is impossible to do everything and to be everything. And who ever tells you otherwise is a liar who is probably doing none of it.
Strategies help. Nothing having to cook this and last month really helped but made april busier for prepping. It's a balance and you have to be honest with yourself about your energy patterns, patterns of busy in your life. And you have to be realistic things will get dropped, what is important and what honestly isnt going to matter

Oops fell asleep without posting

Thursday is errands day

I'm too hot

Sunny at those periods in life I get more done in that first hour awake while the rest of the house still sleeps than I do the rest of the day. It only works if you can go to bed earlier though. Lack of sleep is a false economy, you don't function as efficiently and procrastinate more, make slower decisions etc. Work on your sleep and other things start falling into place. If you work, I'd take a day or two annual leave to organise the home a bit, it's easier to be efficient when things are organised. This is not a childcare day! They have to go wherever they normally go. Alternatively forget about cleaning just for one week and use that time to organize instead. Do you watch TV? Grab an armload of stuff from somewhere and declutter/fold washing/do ironing/chop food. Multitasking like this means you don't feel resentful of missing your favourite shows. FlyLady prioritises the decluttering over the cleaning. Only when your home is decluttered can you properly access everywhere to clean

Hills made me laugh with that bit about anyone saying you can do it all is a liar and not doing it themselves. I love it, it's so true

Cherry I'm the same. I'm working on letting go. If you're overrun with clothes I'd say yes to letting go of anything that doesn't fit today. I find it easier to let go the second or third etc pass through. I'll think an area is finished but then next time I look I always find more. My junk cupboard has been thinned out about 5x

If you have plenty of clothes (or whatever) try to be ruthless with anything in less-than-best condition. If you have 3 of something are they all like new/fit you now/comfortable? Get rid of any that aren't. Gradually your drawers will bulge less.

Re: mending and repurposing - ask yourself although it can be, will you realistically ever do it? Do you have the time to repair? Do you already have another that doesn't need repairing? Do you have a current use for the potential repurposing item? If it's a no, ditch it

You're doing really well with the decluttering Scourgify. Well done to the teen for finding a workaround with the shorts

Ta-da's

🦆 Morning routine
🦆 Gardening
🦆 Post office
🦆 Park to feed the ducks
🦆 Bag of donations to the clothing bank
🦆 Evening routine

https://go.skimresources.com/?id=470X756&isjs=1&jv=15.4.2-stackpath&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mumsnet.com%2Ftalk%2Fhousekeeping%2F4816971-fledgelings-winging-their-way-out-of-june-disasters%3Fpage%3D5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flylady.net%2Fc%2Ffp.php%3Ftzm%3D-60&xs=1&xtz=-60&xuuid=5b52e9afef616dce0808dbed02d19081&xjsf=other_click__touchstart%20%5B%5D

Well that went wrong. Sorry. I expect it'll still work if you click it

It's clearing out the car and handbag day today. Your mission is to clear everything off the worktops to clean them properly and clean the bathroom sink too

Happy Friday Fledgelings, soon be the weekend 🎉

TaDa's
I managed to put three more things in the charity bag. Chucked some uncomfortable knickers and socks away.
Got my spare curtains and hooks all in one box under the spare bed.
Had a go a cleaning my mattress, DP is a sweaty beast (is that a man thing?), and there was a big sweat stain from back in the day when we shared a bed.
It's much better.
And hopefully by tonight it will have dried enough for me to move out of the spare room.

@DitzyDaffodils I used to repair and patch jeans, and the children's clothes. These days I can't see well enough to thread a needle, even with a needle threader. Plus I've had two not very successful hand tendon repairs, and Duputreyns disease, you'd think I was a doctor if you saw my hand writing 😅

I made a big inroad into my horse mountain in the dining room.
Took the soft plastic recycling to the co-op. It was bin day, so went round the house collecting anything that could be chucked.

Today's todo:
More horse gear tidying.
I'm cross with myself about the mess, and very cross with the nasty little man who made things so unbearable that we had to leave the stables.
I needed some hydrogen peroxide for my mattress, and I've got a bottle somewhere amongst my stuff (it's used for treating horse's hooves) but had to buy another bottle as I couldn't find it.
I went to 5 different shops and pharmacies but its out of stock everywhere and ended up buying it from ebay.

Feeling very pleased with my TaDa today!
With DPs help I've pulled everything out of my tack room in the garden. I've filled a couple of rubbish bags. Sorted like for like piles. Swept it out.
Had to stop as I was getting tired.
Tomorrow will be the next part of the mission, take everything in the dining room outside to join the piles.
Part 3 will be organising into boxes, seeing if I need to get some smaller boxes rather than the huge ones I've currently got.
Part 4 will be distributing everything that's going to new homes, freebies to friends and Bransby, and listing what I'm selling.
I've got some really old and mostly obsolete equipment and I'm thinking of sending it to the Museum of the Horse, I'm not thinking of dying yet (😅) but would like it to go somewhere it would be appreciated, rather than a skip when I die.

Wow Cherry you have been busy. I agree with you about sending things where they'll be appreciated. I don't see the point of something sitting in a box unused and slowly decaying for years then skipped when you die. Better that it's displayed and appreciated in a museum. I used to be involved in horses but had to get out of it for similar reasons to what you've experienced. Same nonsense, different location, over and over. So I had my problematic charges, who it wouldn't have been ethical to sell, PTS and walked away from the whole sorry shit-show. I still miss them. Like you I'd amassed loads over my lifetime and although I sold a lot there's still a lot left in case I ever return to it. So I can sympathize with the endless sorting of everything you've dragged out, that won't have be a quick job or an easy decision on what to do with it all. I'm sure the charity will be glad of your donations too

I need to get on with things. I'm feeling unmotivated in this heat and I've done absolutely nothing 😖

I'm hopeless in this heat, I find it exhausting.

Managed to get through my morning routine but not much more than that except for giving all my indoor plants a bit of a primp and shredding some old paperwork.

I have dozens and dozens of paperback books that I need to get rid off. I really don't know what to do with them. Someone told me that charity shops aren't keen on book donations and that's put me off taking them there.

Swirling I know it seems awful but if it comes to it you can put them into the paper recycling box

@swirlingsnow I've a load of books that I was going to take to the Oxfam book shop near me, but my inner feminist won't let me now.
Are there any care homes who'd take them? Or those phone boxes repurposed as book swaps?
Sympathies for how you feel with the heat.
I've been drinking gallons of iced coffee, it really hits the spot for me.

Today is family fun 🏊👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🏖️ day. The habit of the month is drinking water 💧. We're still in the bathroom 🛀 and one other room. FlyLady 🧚 picks the guest bedroom 🛌 but it can be anything

I'm still melting 😎 but managed a little productivity eventually. Hope everyone is coping ok with this heat 💞

Ta-da's

🤹 Morning routine 🌞
🤹 Decluttering 🗑️📦
🤹 Cleaned the fridge out 👾
🤹 Cleared out my handbag 👜
🤹 Took a walk once the day cooled down🚶
🤹 Evening routine 🌛

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

I've been getting up a bit earlier for a few days now, to enjoy the early morning chill. It doesn't really cool down enough in the evening for me to enjoy being outside.

I tackled some tidying instead. Yesterday evening I felt rather strange, sitting beside the day's tidy shelves and not seeing the stuff out the corner of my eye, ready to topple out on me. After a while I realised I was much more relaxed.

Today is for puttering and catch-up, and podcasts.

Morning everyone, I've had a bit of a week so I haven't been on here too much . Thanks for the advice regarding getting up earlier - there is no chance of me going to bed earlier, I may try it for a few days and see how I feel. There was no chance of it happening last week as we had to take dd2 to the hospital, so one night I only had maybe an hour or so of sleep. She's ok , lost a contact lens and she couldn't tell if it was still in her eye - 1 doctor could see it , the registrar couldn't so the next day we were referred to urgent eye care at a different hospital. They couldn't see it either 🤦‍♀️ I felt like I'd wasted everyone's time but they said they were quite happy to see her and that we had done the right thing getting her checked over .

I'm looking around the house and there's so much to do 😩 my dd1 left school yesterday and she says she's really looking forward to helping me get on top of things , which is a lovely thought - I'm not sure how long it'll last though . She did fold all the clean washing last night though , which I'm grateful for. I'm out most of the day so I've chose a couple of smaller tasks that'll make a bit of a difference.

To do :
My self care
Book a table for tomorrow
Dailies
Clear out the fridge ready for the food shop
15 min declutter
15 min putting clothes away
A bit of time prepping for next week
Dd2 gymnastics
Outfit for next week
Pick up contact lens
Enjoy a costa with dd1
An hour of studying

Re charity shops - they are super picky on condition, and it depends on the charity. They are still taking book donations here IF they have room. Some charity shops are so full they are not taking donations of any kind.

Another way to do it is put a table/box at end of drive with free to good home sign - I am sure some may find a good home that way.

hospitals might be another one who might be worth asking if they will take. I am not sure what the rules are post covid but i know we donated kid books to childrens outpatients pre covid.

Having a shocking of a day to follow a shocker of a week.

Just putting one foot in front of another. what gets done gets done.

Gosh Scourgify you know your life has gone awry when you've forgotten what relaxed feels like 😱, glad you've had a reminder. The stress of visual clutter is real

Hope you're ok Hills and can get some rest

I didn't even know contact lenses could get stuck in the eye Sunny, glad DD2 is ok. It's lovely DD1 wants to help, I always find motivation is better when I've got help. FlyLady talks about this a lot, how if you get started even though it's not your job to do it all, family often feels encouraged to join in keeping the place nice

Having a lazy day. So far I've sleepily made hot chocolate, putting in apple juice by mistake instead of milk, decided to go with it and added milk too, plus threw in a cinnamon stick for good measure. Result - surprisingly nice

Morning 🌄 everyone 👋
So far I've done my animal dailies.
Watered plants, dragged a hot lips and oleander from the garden to the patio.
My friend gave me 7 tomato plants so will need to pot those up soon.
I've lugged nearly everything from my dining room to the garden.
It's very muggy here and I don't want to do anything else but one of my weather apps (I've got 3 lol) says it's going to rain at 3pm so I need to get a wriggle on.
See you on the other side!

Tada
🎉Morning self care
🎉15 minute clothes put away
🎉Booked table for exam celebration meal
🎉Emails
🎉cleaned out fridge and wrote shopping list
🎉Dd2 to gymnastics (wearing contact lens - hospital check hasn't phased her ❤️)
🎉Town with dd1 , bought 2 lovely dresses, picked up Father's Day cards and enjoyed a costa
🎉Went out for a meal

About to attempt 15 minutes decluttering in front of the tv - very rock and roll Saturday evening!!

@DitzyDaffodils the contact lens can fold over into the eye and get stuck under the top lid but it is quite rare, luckily it wasn't found in her eyes and no damage . When talking to the doctor, she said she once saw a lady with 10 lens in her eye !! Crazy she didn't realise !

Hope your day got better @HillsBesideTheSea

@CherryogDog I hope you managed your planting before any rain came !