October Flying - lets get those Fledgling nests cosy

[EfficientlyDecluttering]

Welcome to this long running thread, a lot of posters have been here a long time but all newbies and returners are very welcome, do join us!

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - there are too many of them.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.

There are 5 zones in the house that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism! You may need to adjust the zones to suit your house.

Habit of the month of October is paper clutter http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/october/

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out and date night (which can be anything you make it, night in, night with friends, actual dates are not always going to happen)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit - again whatever you make of it, but it is time just for you.

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
• DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit

I will try and update the links every day, but they do update automatically on the website so you can just click on the ones in this post.

Apparently the app is very useful too, I am going to try that this month, I know some are already using it.

Links are below 👇

Launch Pad : http://www.flylady.net/c/lp.php - this is the main hub of Flylady, you can find links to most of the useful info here, including the Daily Flight Plan.

Direct Link to Flight Plan here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Zones: www.flylady.net/d/zones/

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

Oh no cat feel free to sit comfy in the naughty corner and join in the chat, even without decluttering & cleaning. We are in the safe corner of mn 💐🍷

Scourgify I miss rearranging furniture! I haven't done it so much since being with DH, but when I was living at home with my parents, my mum would change things up once a month, it seems! This house makes our almost impossible to rearrange too, so I'm jealous! 😂

Elf I did my toes today! I would have done my fingers too but I felt like I couldn't with the work going on. I'm going to try to do them tomorrow.

Sing are you feeling any better? 💐
hills did you get your hair done as planned?
I'm sure I missed others, I'm sorry! 🍒👋

Ta Das:
🕷 rotated DW
🕸 emptied fridge 🤢
🕷 LOLs x2
🕸 vacuumed main floor (insulation mainly, everywhere!)
🕷 swept carport
🕸 helped DS sort through his things
🕷 painted my toes
🕸 cleaned bathroom

The insulation for sucked out of our attic space today, then replaced with non-smokey insulation, it didn't take them long!
Trusses should be getting replaced tomorrow. Painter will also be here tomorrow to work on the basement some more, as well as the electrician. It'll be a busy day! I also plan on painting my fingernails if it goes to plan, we'll see!

Morning all, sorry to hear that @JewelleryCat , feel free to stay around for the chat, the thread isn’t just about Flying.

Well, this morning we are still in the kitchen, I didn’t clean out the waste bin as the inside seems fine, the outside could do with a wipe though. Today’s mission is to clean your worktops properly, by movng things that you might just wipe round on a daily basis such as kettle and toaster

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

Tuesday is also Plan and Play day. I am also putting in a link to the Launchpad

http://www.flylady.net/c/lp.php as it is a useful one stop place for getting more details on the various aspects of Flying.

Off to work in a minute, back later

Sorry to hear that @JewelleryCat , stick around if you'd just like company, the chat here is definitely not all about housework sometimes I think it's more about avoiding it .

Things get ever sillier here. Our cold/flu thing is now confirmed as Covid and everyone has gone back to bed, apart from dog walks. The house is going to be unbearable by early November!

Sorry you have covid InandOut
I did not get the hair done hazel I got side tracked by the chaos on top of the storage of the lounge and spent several hours clearing that through and organising it. Also pulled more files etc off the shelf and moved them. Oh and cleared out the fridge.

The problem with having a library is that when you want to move it you don't want big boxes because they are just too heavy. You want shopping bags because they have the right amount of easy to use heavy. I have run out of shopping bags. Nearly out of boxes too. I need to pick up some more (and remember to put the bags in the car once done so that i always have shopping bags in the car when i go shopping for a change.

Woken up feeling ropey this morning. This could just be lack of sleep, this could be high dust levels, me forgetting my inhaler and allergy tablet yesterday, or the fact that i was trying a new food product last night and watching for allergy symptoms/reactions. Or a combination of above. As such i am going to stay put and run a covid test later. (its not like i don't have plenty to do in the house anyway) Hopefully it is not covid as i have a conference at the weekend and training next week that i would really do with going to. Plus i had covid in August and getting it again so soon is not on my to do list.

ta da
stand on scales
eat breakfast
provide breakfast to the poorly ones

Going to take a slow morning and see if i can find the motivation to get going. Or nap. several nights of less than 5hrs means stupid tired levels of not functioning. Ooooo It's planning day. I can do planning day from bed.

Ta-da's:

🌰 Morning routine
🌰 Dig out cozy autumn décor from under the bed
🌰 Shopping list
🌰 Watch some people have a fight in the street
🌰 Shredding
🌰 Pop to the shops for veggies
🌰 Clean under the microwave
🌰 Evening routine is next

Oh Balloon I am sorry to hear about COVID. Sending restorative vibes in the direction of your family.
Hills sounds like it's time for a wee rest.
Hazel it's full steam ahead in your house! How long will it all take?

Ta das:
☕De-crumbed toaster, wiped under all small kitchen appliances
☕LOLx2 to dry, including fabric shoes. I tried these Lenor scent boosters for the first time today Victim of marketing here. Excited to see how it goes..
☕Dry laundry folded and put away
☕Usual routines

Toddler is finally on the mend and is a bit less tantrum-y. I feel like we are re-connecting again properly, it all felt out of sync lately.

Monday
😷called in sick
😷printed some home ed stuff
😷did some phonics with Cagletini

Tuesday
😑ordered a stocking filler for DD1
😑put Cagletini to bed

Other than that my main achievement is catching up with GBBO 🧁🥖

I'm so tired. Obviously this is not news for anyone here. Who isn't tired?!

✅ finished the home bleurgh
✅ finally finished the crochet dress I started a year ago.
✅ went for a walk all and found a new park
✅ made a huge soup that will do for a few lunches and I've frozen 4 portions.
✅ hula hooping
✅ duolingo
✅ tutored for an hour
✅ started a crochet pumpkin

Two very lazy days but I’m not feeling better really. DS is down with it now too - hoping he’s better by Thursday so he doesn’t have to miss any lessons.

And no I can’t believe it’s been 2 years either!!! It’s been transformative to say the least.

Pompoms I’m not sure I know anyone who is full of energy at the moment!

As promised, here is a link about control journals. Some of it is a bit twee 🤮. Some of it really has been superseded by apps for most people. But the principles are sound. I must admit I have been following Flylady for years and never nailed this, I do have a bullet journal though which is SO useful for lists, notes, calendar and random information.

https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/control-journal/

Thank you 💚

Thank you and sorry to hear you all have Covid

balloon that's awful, I hope you recover very soon 💐
It actually seems a lot of your are sick or surrounded by sickness, I hope everyone feels much better soon 💐

Elf things definitely are progressing! Trusses were done today, lid on the trusses. Electricians came to wire in the ceiling fans/ lights again, as well as a bathroom fan (still one more to go) and my kitchen hood.
Painter was here also and had a visit from the project manager's boss, with not so good news 😪 Apparently the brick is hard to match, we already knew that. But not even the same size!
We may have to rebrick the entire house 🤦‍♀️. She's going to make a couple more phone calls before we resort to that. I told her the size of the brick HAS to match, we can stain the brick to finish it off.

Ta Das:
🐈‍⬛ rotated DW
👻 LOLs x3
🐈‍⬛ answered LOTS of questions re projects on house
👻 took lots of progress pictures of house
🐈‍⬛ ordered a couple of things from Amazon
👻 confirmed dinner plans with friends (we're going out to celebrate one of my friend's birthday Friday night)
🐈‍⬛ popped to the grocery store for a couple of things, including salmon, which I cooked for dinner. I still need to meal plan and grocery shop for the week 🤦‍♀️ we'll ignore that is almost Wednesday!

I spent most of my day chasing after the dogs, they wanted all our visitors to love on them and play with them. I think everyone will be happy they won't be at the house the rest of the week, although they are a cute distraction!

Morning all, sorry I’m not keeping up with the chat very well, I seem to be very busy at the moment. I took the afternoon off work spontaneously yesterday as it was warm and sunny and quiet at work and spent it gardening, which was nice. Also vacuumed DS’s room as he is coming back for the weekend.

Anyway, today’s flight plan is here - http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Our mission is to properly scrub round the kitchen taps, get rid of the gunk and limescale. Yeah, I do need to do that one.

Eww, kitchen tap gunk. Very necessary job here too, but not on my list currently, which goes
🤧 Medicate all InAndOuts
😵 Buy more sudafed (may need to get DS2 to do this and leave it on the doorstep in an airlock)😷 do enough washing that anyone has pants
🤒 Walk the dog, probably ringing a handbell and shouting "unclean"!

My BIL (lives 120 miles away) now also has Covid, so the family WhatsApp is full of people swapping where to find Covid tests online etc. @HillsBesideTheSea I hope you don't have it, it would seem most unfair if you had it in August too.

@DomesticElf hope McToddler continues to improve and you all get back in sync, it's awful when you all feel adrift. Very sorry to hear your house purchase fell through. We are on our second buyer for FIL's house and they have just decided they want a structural engineer's report, without actually having had the survey back. I am not hopeful this sale is going to fly either 😠.

@DitzyDaffodils a fight in the street? Good grief! <Possibly I am very sheltered, although I did see a fight over a mother and toddler space in Tesco car park once, 15 years ago>

@cosypompoms sorry to hear about the lack of energy. Soup and crochet pumpkins sound lovely, I am determined to master crochet so I can do that. I can knit any number of interesting ways, but crochet has always eluded me somehow. DD, on the other hand, can't knit for toffee but produces so much crochet I'm thinking of digging a basement to hold it all!

@HauntingHazel cute dogs that want to help are a pain, aren't they? BalloonDog (🤣) loves to help and many a heating engineer has found a terrier on his knee while he is ferreting in the airing cupboard.

🍒👋 to everyone else, I've forgotten all my other personals 🤦

Huge thanks, @EfficientlyDecluttering , for running this month. Everyone has so much going on and I certainly couldn't do it.

Morning all,

Well, I degunked the kitchen tap and ended up doing the bathroom ones as well because once you start noticing tap-gunk you see it everywhere. Since DS went back to uni I have been decluttering his room (with his permission, it was bad) for half an hour before bedtime but that is done now until he gets back for the weekend tomorrow and decides what to keep / throw out, so I have decided to keep up the habit and have been decluttering elsewhere in the evenings, I am finding it quite a good way to wind down. So last night I did my bedside table and dressing table.

Today our boiler is being serviced so I am WFH (only got a couple of hours work to do) and I need to clear out the understairs cupboard a bit so he can get to it (the people who lived here before us put up a shelf for hats etc which is useful but prevents the cover being taken off the boiler so I have to take it down every time). Good timing because the forecast for the weekend here is COLD.

Today is Errand Day, top of my errand list is to buy cat food or I will Be In Trouble with her ladyships.

Our mission today is to clean the surfaces of our large appliances, those coffee splashes on the door of the dishwasher etc.

The Flight Plan for the day is here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Morning!

I am determined not to waste my day off today - first of all I think I need to re-brand it, not sure what to though. 'Home blessings day' is perhaps a little bit too twee but...something like that!

Ta da:

🛎Got up at 6.30 am (as I do on work-days)
🛎Stuck to my work day routine of getting dressed etc
🛎Completed 45 minutes of perpetuals, starting at the time I usually leave for work

Productive for me definitely doesn't mean flat-out. I'm having a break and a coffee now. Feeling a bit directionless though now the perpetuals are done as there are many, many jobs I could do - this is where I usually get stuck. Might go a bit rogue and try and do something in all five zones today - so kick off with some/a zone 1 job(s) in the first hour...I shall look at the flight plan too - thanks for the link @EfficientlyDecluttering !

For decisionless times @HouseorHome we recommend the Power of Three. Not sure if its an actual Flulady thing or not but if you make a list of three smallish things and do them (breaking down larger tasks into small ones if needed), then do them and have a break. Repeat as necessary. It avoids overwhelm and procrastination.

Morning.

I 2nd a power of 3. It is easy to think of 3 things to do, and they can be small or 2 small 1 big kinda tasks.

I am not a happy bunny this morning. finally slept so feel like death (as is norm), definitely not covid. Lots of chasing and running around to be done today. And lots of up down stairs stuff. Yesterday was a whole heap of errands but i did that thing where you leave the house to get a thing that you need and come back with everything but the thing. So i am going to have to go run that errand as the thing i really needed was to enable the washing up, and i was staying in until i was sure it was not covid, and I forgot before the chaos when i had time. And yesterday i flew without a llist - which is always bad when it comes to shopping.

power of 3 here
laundry on
feed the poorly ones
run the errand (after writing it down!)

And then the rest is kitchen taming and room emptying. It feels never ending but that is simply because i have no energy to just get it done. <sigh> and ds has opinioins about helping, and it is not really help when the others are underfoot. I get so much more done when left in peace.

Thanks efficiently! I was relieved to see that it is actually zone 2 this week - for some reason I thought it was zone 3. I have a lot to do in zone 2 (kitchen)!

When I first saw that PO3 had become a thing on this thread I was very amused/pleased as I had convinced myself that introduced PO3 a few years ago (different user name) to the housekeeping forum, I've been using it for years anyway. Maybe it was already a fly lady thing but I really thought that I had made it up - copying the name from a Davina DVD I had 😂. Just done a search and cannot find any evidence to back up my claim though!

Anyway, I do need one - you're right! I've done three lots of online shopping and had my breakfast since I was last on here. Time to get on with something I can write in my cleaning log!

1. Clean coffee machine
2. Clean fridge
3. 10+ minutes cleaning kitchen cupboards

Wednesday
🥫ordered soup maker on sale (I had use of mum’s for a while and it’s a game changer)

Errrm think that’s it, although making it downstairs for dinner felt like an achievement!

No work for me at all this week, which feels very weird, but I know I’d be pushing it to manage anything today/tomorrow so I’ve told my manager I’ll be back on Monday (hopefully - not currently sure if symptoms are still virus or if I’m now in flare up of fibro/ME).

I may manage some uni work later as it’s just the intro week so no real thinking involved 🤣

It may well have been you house and I do remember reference to Davina before! 😁

@InAndOutOfTheRedBalloon well I can't knit! It's like a mysterious dark art to me.

@HouseorHome very productive day already!

😁

Ta da:

💎Cleaned coffee machine, toaster and the little nook that houses them
💎Ran an errand
💎Cleaned kitchen tap and sink
💎Cleaned kitchen window inside and out
💎Spent 10 mins cleaning outside of kitchen cupboards (more time needed)
💎Made a start on the fridge by mucking it out a bit
💎Kept on top of perpetuals (laundry, dishes, tidying)

PO3:

🛎Finish cleaning fridge
🛎Ocado order
🛎Another 10 mins on the kitchen cupboards