July Flylady Thread: Would July-k to join us?

[CabbageBearGoat]

Welcome to the July FlyLady thread! Need guidance with routines and keeping up with housework? This is the thread for you! FlyLady is a reliable and flexible system for keeping on top of housework, one thing at a time.

This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in at any time.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, which add one thing at a time to start off good habits and routines. If you're new to FlyLady, start with these. If you are not ready to start these at the beginning of the month you can set your own Day 1 as today and keep track by following the Baby Steps linked below.

After Baby Steps you can graduate to Zones. There are 5 Zones that we rotate through in the same order every month, week by week. Don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism! The system is designed to compensate for those days which don't go to plan, as it all repeats. As FlyLady says herself, "You are never behind. Jump in where you are".

Daily missions: (each week is the same).
Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh - a quick whizz over basic cleaning)
Tuesday: plan & play
Wednesday: anti-procrastination
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clean car & purse out. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
Saturday: family fun day
Sunday: renew your spirit (something to recharge your batteries)

Common acronyms/phrases we use:
LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
DW: dishwasher (we are not rotating wives!)
LMS: lose/lost my shit
DNLMS: did not lose my shit
BRC: box/basket of random crap
Mount Washmore: self explanatory

There are more, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day, although if you can, it's worth downloading the app, you can even have it send you notifications (useful for when the zones change). You can also modify the app's tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle. FlyLady is flexible.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you.

Launch Pad (Quick links): www.flylady.net/d/new-links/

Flight Plan (Today at a glance): flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Weekly Zones (With this month's dates): https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/

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

I’ve been tidying madly in the garden since the weekend, with one eye on the weather app, which said rain today. Sure enough, it rained a couple of hours after I finished a particularly messy spot, and I’m so pleased I managed that.

DD came round and we had a lovely blether. She took away a bag of items for gumtree. This is probably the best way for me, so that I don’t start pulling stuff out the bag again and reminiscing.

Kitchen - dishes done, scrubbed hob, putting things back where they belong after using. Eating entirely from freezer and cupboards, and avoiding unnecessary chaotic spending.

Forecast is for rain for most of tomorrow, so planning to ramp up my efforts in the house.

Wednesday, wednesday, wednesday. Hump day, but there's no need to get the hump with me because I'm just the messenger. It's anti-procrastination day!

Baby step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-10/
Today has three things. The first is a 5min Room Rescue. Pick any room in the house and clean/tidy whatever you can in five minutes. Later on in the day you're ready for the second new thing: the 15min trash hunt. Set a timer for 15 minutes and go around, collecting any rubbish or recycling and get it out the house into bins outside. Then, set the timer again for another 15 minutes and SIT THE HECK DOWN. That's your third thing - being relaxed. And, then for the routine: get dressed, shine the sink, put out a hot spot. Fly lady implies in her phrasing that you only have one hot spot in the house that you can keep coming back to each day. That's not true for ours, so I have found it helpful to have a sort of "top 5" that you go around in.

FlyBabies: 15 minute declutter of Zone 2

FlyExperts: Into the fridge we go. It's tempting to ignore the door, but today is not that day. Today is when we find out the best before date on that jar of olives, the condiments, the sauces. Check if things need replacing, rearranging or donating to science. Then, wipe it all down so it shines as beautifully as your sink does.

Daily mission: Anti-procrastination day, the day for doing the things you don't do. That thing you've been putting off? Today is your day, my friend. Do The Thing.

@HazelNotHungryLC wow you got a lot done there! I would definitely have needed a nap after that.

@Scourgify I applaud outsourcing the actual getting rid part of decluttering. I'm not good at parting with things either and often it's DW who does the trips to the charity shop for me.

Loving the lists!
My kitchen fronts are now clean, and fridge has been freed of all archaeological left overs. Toaster is decrumbed and inside the microwave is wiped.
At some point today I need to rearrange few kitchen cupboards.

It's raining outside. I am so fed up of rain. I switched on TV for the morning.

@CabbageBearGoat @HazelNotHungryLC is an absolute powerhouse, I often feel like she must have a few extra hours in the day to me, the amount she can get done! Something to aspire to!

@Scourgify I need to make a plan to work through some of our food stuffs. I generally only buy stuff we eat regularly but there are a few exceptions. We have some tinned fruit left from our brexit/Covid store. I also bought gram flour recently but everything I’ve made with it so far has been declared “disgusting”. And I have some dates to use up as well as the dried chickpeas/beans/lentils which I usually eschew in favour of tinned. Oh and the various portions of “freezer surprise”.

@SleepingIceDragons i hope you got some sleep last night and the pain is more manageable. Also I feel your frustration with the renovations, 8 years into ours (although the main stuff is done)

Character no extra hours here! Most of the things I can get done only take a few minutes each to do. My washer and dryer both take about an hour per load so if I'm on top of them I can get a lot done in a day (the both have a jingle for when they're done). I do wake up early though on Tuesdays, I think I was up at 7:30am yesterday, but I get up at 7am when DS has school.

Thursday is errand day.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-11/
Today is all about the control journal, adding an "inspiration page". Meanwhile, get dressed and ready for the day, do a 5min Room Rescue, and a 2min hot spot. She also suggests spending 15mins decluttering every day. If you didn't finish the trash hunt yesterday now is a good day to pick up where you left off. Get that sink shining and lay out the clothes for tomorrow.

FlyBabies: 15min declutter of Zone 2!

FlyExperts: Counters! Scrubbing them. Not just a spritz and a swish, oh no. Today is about elbow grease and getting it clean right behind the toaster or the kettle or the coffee maker or the blender or the food mixer or the book stand or the cheese press or the pasta maker or the waffle iron or the pizza oven or the... okay, you get the idea. Sweep out crumbs, scrubbidy bubbly, wipe, replace.

Daily mission: Okay, so errand day is fairly self-explanatory which is a good thing because chances are you know what to do and don't need me telling you all about it. Unlike yesterday, this is a Get Out The House sort of anti-procrastination. Essentially today is "Take a thing to a place" or "go to a place and bring back a thing" day. "Errand day" is more succinct, though.

Tuesday PM:
Put up wall shelf in B4
Rewired lamp
Changed sheets in B4
Vacuumed B4 carpetsq
Writing group session
Set up new smart bulbs in lounge

Wednesday:
Morning routine + S&S
Swept B1 carpet
Roomba'd B1 carpets
Put away winter blankets
Put away wedding dresses at top of B1 wardrobe
Decluttered B1 wardrobes
Dusted B1 windowsills
Changed B1 sheets
Cleaned WC sink, loo, tiles
Cleaned grotty kitchen floor grout
Wiped kitchen cabinet fronts
Yoga class! First class since 2021 ☺️

Today:
Morning routine + S&S
Emptied and cleaned kitchen bins
Wiped down cat flap
Emptied utensil drawer and cleaned
Threw away x2 broken tongs (?!)
Smashed my favourite gravy boat 😭
Threw away mouldy bamboo sushi mat 😮
Emptied "ingredients cupboard"
Discovered black mould in said cupboard - had small panic
Wiped out cupboard
Cleaned bamboo pasta pot lids of further mould
Second small panic about mould in kitchen generally
Breadmaker in progress

Tidying all the random stuff on the floor in B1 was my big anti-procrastination task. Definitely spent longer than 15 minutes but it was worth it. I always just think "it's not that many things, I'll do it another time" but the relief now of having totally clear floors in the bedroom was so lovely. And I have a dust mite allergy so leaving clutter where I sleep is ridiculous. It just builds up so slowly you don't notice it sometimes.

I don't have any errands to do today so another procrastination was that the kitchen hasn't smelled right to me all pregnancy, and recently the ingredients cupboard just smelled the worst, so today was a "F it, empty it out, check what's going on in there". And now I have a small amount of regret because now the cupboard is all wiped out and clean (?) but I'm not sure about putting food back in it if it's prone to damp. So the kitchen is in chaos. But I feel a bit vindicated that there really was something going on and not just "pregnancy nose"! Stay tuned...

Sleep is still hard to come by. I have burn out and serious mood lows which is affecting motivation.
But today i have

run the dishwasher twice
done 2 loads of washing up
got the jam jars washed, dried and place into the oven ready for making jam
picked fruit, salad and dug up potatoes from the allotment
Muttered bad words about the weather causing blight in the potatoes so i have a crop for the size of tiny perfect for fairies
pick up prescription
1 load of washing

I am about to figure out what on earth is going on for tea and then get the jam pots and things washed and ready to go for making jam tonight

And yes i am going to need hot water bottles and pain killers later. The bloodyt blight created hard work that I was not planning on dealing with this week/month

@SleepingIceDragons solidarity on the burnout and mood issues affecting productivity. Best of luck with jam making! What flavour?

This afternoon I had another writing group session and DW took over kitchen cupboard exploration with the harsher cleaning stuff I don't want to be near right now. Many things have had to be chucked but in all honesty we probably needed the nudge because the worst off things were ingredients we'd moved house with (twice!) so not used since 2022 at least. Needed a clear out.

In some ways quite cathartic. Feels like starting afresh. One of the better decluttering rules I try to live by is the "if I lost everything in a fire, would I replace this" and if not, out it should go. Now it feels like we have had that fire! I'm not so good when it comes to food because it feels wasteful. But some of those best before dates... crikey. Not sure how they've escaped months of FlyLady but here we are and it's done now.

So now we've rejigged the organisation and perishable ingredients are in a better cupboard and the troublesome one is airing out but will have crockery in - more air circulation, easer to keep an eye on things, etc.

Went out for dinner. Kitchen smells a bit like a swimming pool. Windows all open. DW currently doing another mop of the floors so maybe it'll smell like "normal citrus cleaning stuff" soon. I'm I'm charge of finding something distracting/entertaining on telly 😁

Fridges are getting tidying and cleaner every day, and I’m finally getting food shopping and deliveries under control Next I want all cans off the table and onto the shelves.

Doing the errand today. Taking DS his collection of 1p and 2p coins today. It was too heavy for me to lift, so I decanted it into jars and bags, and wheelbarrowed them to the garage.

Also today is to start on my anti-procrastination list, one item at a time. Mostly life admin.

Landfill bin out last night. I tied back a couple of plants in the front garden at the same time, then spent some time on the living-room cupboard which resulted in boxes everywhere and nowhere to sit. Remedying that this morning.

Friyay! We made it through another week, oh yes we did.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-12/
Today's message is about perfectionism: in a word, don't. It doesn't help. Doing too much in the beginning just leads to burnout. Resist. Focus on the little routines and the timed tidies and it'll all come together in time. Trust the process. Be the change you want to see in the world. Hakuna matata.

FlyBabies: You guessed it, 15 minutes decluttering in the kitchen. Where's that slow cooker going?

FlyExperts: We're onto the floors today. Sweep it like you're trying to light tiny tiny fires. Or, hey, you could vacuum it for the crumbs. Much faster. Then mop it, steam it, whatever is your torture device of choice. Don't get caught up in the details, just give it the once over it's always dreamed of.

Daily mission: Decluttering your car/bag/pockets. Once your car bag pockets are emptied you can figure out what date night means for you. Are you going out or staying home? Are you making a long phonecall, writing a letter? Focus on someone else and give the relationship a bit of love.

@Scourgify sounds like an impressive penny collection! Kudos to your DS, and then to you for wheeling it away. Good luck for the boxes!

Three different flavours. There was a problem yesterday where some of the fruit in the fridge had gone mouldy so used what was still good to make a syrup that will be used on pancakes later tonight as it will not store. Also discovered that one of the jams needed to become jelly so that was left straining over night and will go in some jelly jars rather than the larger jam jars I had prepped.

Today's plan:
2 giant pots of stock
3 types of jam (had some fresh picked fruit of the fruit that was in the fridge)
clean and prep the tatties
make thick fluffy pancakes
figure out when i can leave the house to run errand
try not to loose my shit
try not to cry from tiredness
Carry on deep cleaning the kitchen
make doctor's appointment.

Dd has discovered the guide dog (dog shaped!) collection box at the supermarket so every time we go shopping we take a 1p and a 2p from the coppers box and put them in. At this rate they'll all be gone by 2026.

Had a really good declutter yesterday. I keep complaining I've done all the easy bits and then I find another little corner giving joy. This one was last year's birthday and occasion cards. I do keep special ones.

My car and handbag are already tidy today! Am getting into the habit of tidying out as I go.

Saturday! Welcome to the weekend.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-13/
Flylady officially introduces you to the daily missions and zones. Today's baby step is to do a daily mission - not necessarily the one from today, but to take a look at the launch pad and pick one at random from this week (or you can scroll back to see my daily posts): flylady.net/c/sp.php#missions

FlyBabies and FlyExperts: you are free from the confines of the 15 minute tidies

Daily mission: Family fun day. Something special, together, building special memories. Today I have to tell you, "you're going to have fun whether you like it or not". And tell us what you've been up to!

Yesterday was a slightly stressful day in Cabbage House. We discovered the freezer door hadn't been totally shut after dinner yesterday and everything inside had defrosted and partially refrozen. The freezer is in the garage so we don't know if it was beeping at us to warn us. But that means chucking out and starting again. Off to the supermarket today. Family fun indeed.

Yesterday's wins:
Morning routine & S+S
Emptied shopping bag of receipts
Cleaned another kitchen tile grout
Framed jigsaw
Wiped down coffee table
Moved coffee table to rightful place (has been in limbo with jigsaw on)

Yesterday’s errand was to take all the jars and bags of coins to DS. He came out to my car with a strong carrier bag and I’m busy telling him which jar is very heavy and how he’ll need to carry it in separately when he just heaves the whole lot into the bag, hugs it to his chest like it’s a baby, and carries it to his door! He did stagger slightly as he neared the top of the garden steps, but still it was impressive :-))

Oh, and he asked me if I wanted the jars back and it was an unequivocal No! And the bashed biscuit tin that I couldn’t even lift when it was full is now in the recycling trolley.

Found four swim towels in the back of the cupboard. Two have David Wilkie on them. They’ve been there for about twenty years. Now they’re destined for the towel rotation, and I was able to put two boxes in that space that had been gathering dust in the hall.

And now I’m verging on churning, but it made a difference. I scooped out all the cluttery bits and pieces from the back of the rolltop engineer's desk, and an old toolbox of dad’s now slides under there perfectly. Then I cut down a cardboard box, put all the dozen or so different types of tape alongside it, and today I hope to do the same for all the batteries.

Whacked my knee moving concrete blocks up the garden, so today will be gentler outdoor tasks, and indoor box sorting.

Sorry I've been AWOL for the past few days, not really been flying, just working then getting in the pool to cool off (even though the water is actually really warm!).

Cabbage it looks like you've had a few busy, but also rough few days this week. Finding mould in the cupboard and now your freezer! It's awful, I'm sorry. We had to replace everything in our fridge freezer after our fire last year, and it was awful. Although it was actually nice to only buy what we would use at the time and have a good sort out.

Dragons have you been able to catch up on some much needed sleep & get the rest you need?

Dilly isn't it nice to realise you're able to keep on top of things easier. The little things do really make a difference!

Scourgify you're really making some progress with your decluttering and organising! That must have been especially nice to give DS all that coin. A literal weight lifted from you 😂

Not too much planned today other than meal planning, grocery shopping and getting into the pool! I do need to harvest some more of my rhubarb (I actually don't know how often I can or should harvest it! 🤷‍♀️), so I should do something with that later as well.

@HazelNotHungryLC rhubarb thoughts. I've done well to stick to the rhubarb rhules of not harvesting after July, and only ever two thirds of the stems at most. Generally I'd get 2 maybe 3 harvests each year. Twist, don't cut. Rhubarb is a bit like spring bulbs - it needs some material left alone above ground to die back over winter to keep itself going or you end up depleting its resources. Rhubarb has a second growth in July/August and if there's not enough stalks left on it it'll bolt. I've killed one by doing little and often, and another by harvesting too enthusiastically. It never recovered. We haven't yet planted a rhubarb in the new house and I miss it - shall live vicariously through you in the meantime 😁

I had a physically less demanding day yesterday. I didn’t want to work in the garden anyway as it was so cold and windy (heating on in the early evening). The bureau is looking much tidier, as can be used as a desk instead of a dumping ground for everything I can’t be bothered putting away. I’m now rounding up all the otc meds to lock away in there.

Also completed one of the anti-procrastination tasks yesterday, and it gave me a real morale boost. Another task is lined up for today.

Shifted a few things around in the living-room, now that I can’t just abandon them around the hallway. There are two empty boxes which I am determined will not be filled again.

Again trying not to churn, but focussing on getting like-with-like which will make decluttering much easier in the future.

Cabbage thank you for that!
Our old neighbour gave us a start for our rhubarb just after we moved back in 2021. It has come back every year since! It's a lemon rhubarb variety so doesn't have the dark red stalks. I never did harvest any this weekend yet, maybe I'll get to it over the next day or two. I think there's quite a bit that can be harvested right now though.

Scourgify I can't believe you had to turn the heating on in July!! 😱

We spent most of the day in the pool today! The water was 90°f (32°c)! We stayed in there until almost 9:30pm and the water was warmer than the air!
Tomorrow (Sunday) we will need to make sure DS is fully packed and load everything into the Jeep tomorrow night so I can drop it off at the school before work on Monday. It will be strange, but nice, to have a week just with DH.

Sunday! We're at the end of week 2 now. Time to recharge the batteries for another week of Flying.

Baby step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-14/
Today, repeat those daily routines (get dressed, shine the sink, think positively, timer-based tidying). There's also an essay about using a calendar: https://www.flylady.net/d/flylady-guide-on-how-to-use-a-calendar/

FlyBabies and FlyExperts: You're still off the hook from 15 minute tidying until tomorrow.

Daily mission: Renew your spirit. Doing the thing that makes you feel like you. Maybe it's getting out the house for a different context, maybe it's burrowing down with a sofa-based hobby (I see you, crafters. Get some crocheting or cross-stich done today).