Fledglings Flying into November

[ExquisiteIyDesigned]

November is the month where we move from autumn into winter all are welcome as the Fledglings cosy up in their nests on this Flylady thread.

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

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day. Check in here instead or download the app, see below.

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

There are 5 zones 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!

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. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
Saturday: family fun day
Sunday: renew your spirit

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
BRC - box/basket of random clutter/crap

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. You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

November’s monthly focus is menu planning.

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

Baby Steps http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/
Monthly habit http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/november/
Launch pad http://www.flylady.net/c/lp.php
Flight Plan (all the day’s tasks in one place) http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=0
Sneak peek for the week - summary of the current week so you can plan ahead http://www.flylady.net/c/sp.php

Thank you for volunteering for the November thread ED I really appreciate you doing this!

Thank you so much for doing the last two months @HazelNuttyElf , I have been lurking even if I didn't post much. I am on trick or treat duty at the moment, it's a mild dry evening and busy out there.

Right, I am going to go back to the last thread to catch up with the chat, but for tomorrow we are moving for one day only into Zone 1, the porch, dining room and entrance hall.

Our mission for the day is a tidying up one, spend 15 mins putting away stuff in your hall, shoes, coats, mail, random stuff left on the side. This link will update overnight - the Flight Plan http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=0

Friday is clean out your handbag and car day http://www.flylady.net/d/daily-focus/daily-focus-friday/

I might not manage all the babystep posts but they are all linked from this page, http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Babystep 1 is to shine your kitchen sink, it is a really good habit to get into every evening, it is nice to come down to it empty and gleaming in the morning.

My personal plans for tomorrow are to drive up to pick DS from uni as he is coming home for the weekend and the journey is tricky on public transport. He is in a beautiful area so I am going to head off early and do a bit of exploring while he finishes lectures. So cleaning out the handbag and car may have to wait, although neither is too bad at the moment. Hopefully he will do some of the driving back, but he is a learner so I’ll have to do the motorway section.

Oh and DH and I have started decluttering the loft. We have lived here nearly 25 years and there is a LOT of clutter up there.

thanks ED for the new thread, thanks Hazel for the last thread

I'm new here but desperately swamped with toddler, adhd hub and working and a house brimming to burst! Am going to read diligently and GMST (get my shit together)!

Thanks ED for the thread and Hazel for the last one. It really helps me stay on track.

What zone do people do their stairs and landing in? Mine is disconnected from my entrance hall and it occurred to me this week that I haven't covered it at all.

ED if you like a bit of folk music there is a great song by Megson called In A Box all about clearing out the stuff they put in the attic years ago. Makes me tear up!

Checking in for November (have decided to keep the vegetable theme for NCs...), with slight trepidation as we're officially in baby due month now (phew) so she could come any second! 38 weeks now. However, I start this month with a kitchen sink to be proud of - an historically stained white plastic number that I never could "shine" despite various huge attempts back in January with using everything from bicarb + vinegar to bleach, only making a tiny dent... I somewhat LMS this week and have been working through various internet suggestions for what to do to get it pristine. Yesterday's really worked. I will share photos later today when the light is better, I'm that happy with it! 😁

Thanks as always to thread leaders past and present @HazelNuttyElf and@ExquisiteIyDesigned

@DillyDeclutter we have three sets of stairs so each one is done in a different zone that matches either the top or bottom room. We have a classic front hallway stairs in Zone 1, and the other two are in Zone 4 as they meet outside my bedroom.

@ExquisiteIyDesigned DW and I made a pact to put only seasonal things in the loft as it was frankly horrifying what we had up there in our last place when we moved house. But we do have a Box Room of Doom so I'm not sure we've entirely escaped the clutter curse. Good luck for your loft!

This month I'm going to try to stick more to the zones and missions and focus. So, today's plan includes:

1. Zone task: Our hall is totally clear so my 15mins (ha, and then some) will be spent clearing the dining table - we haven't eaten at it for a while due to how uncomfortable table eating at a table has been with a big baby bump and various symptoms! So it has become one big dumping ground and it makes me really sad to see it like that. I want it clear and plausibly usable.
2. Mission task: Car is clean and empty of clutter, but definitely needs a vacuum so that's an easy win.
3. Bonus LMS task: Zone 1 for me includes the driveway/front borders where there are some massive weeds I've been avoiding - they can be snipped back and tugged out very easily.

Exciting times, BeetrootBootreet
Love the expression "Box Room of Doom". We used to have one of those until I pointed out it could become a good place for DH's, no doubt massively outing, hobby of a model railway. It's not perfect still, but a load better since we had cupboards built in and a proper base put in for the railway.
Up until then I was beginning to think we were just going to have to saw that room off the rest of the house!

Eta Well done on the shiny sink - what was it that worked in the end?

Morning ☕️

Me and the girls have the hairdressers today , then MIL is visiting and dd2 has gymnastics so the day is pretty full but will get some shorts blasts of the housework done in between .

Thanks @HazelNuttyElf for the last few threads and @ExquisiteIyDesigned for this months, you are both appreciated

Morning all, just been pottering around putting away some of the Hallowe’en stuff and picking over some of the stuff that came out of the loft at the weekend. I brought down a box containing all the DCs primary school exercise books and have discovered a few gems, I will be cutting out and keeping a few pages but the vast majority will have to be recycled, @DillyDeclutter I do indeed like a bit of folk music, my chain of ED names over the years originally derived from a folk music reference, I’ll look for that song.

@BeetrootBootreet I was wondering how much longer till BabyBeet was due, it’s always exciting having a new baby on the thread.

@GingerLiberalFeminist welcome on board, over the years a lot of posters on these threads have turned out to be neurodivergent or have ND family members (or both) so if that applies in your case I hope the threads are helpful. I’m in the latter category, ND family members and some mild traits myself.

Anyway, bad start to the month Flying wise, I went to bed having unloaded the dishwasher, done two loads of laundry, various other jobs. leaving DH and DD to clear up the kitchen but no, it has not been done and they are both still in bed 🙄. DD is on half term from college so hopefully she can tackle it later, I am sticking to my other jobs (I do most of the food shopping and DD does a lot of the cooking so DH is supposed to clear up the kitchen). So my sink is not shiny but it will be later <determined>.

Here are my "before and afters". After a lot of trial and error, hours (!) of scrubbing and all sorts, the real hero is Vanish Oxy Action. Three scoops dissolved in the hottest water from the tap, left alone for 4 hours. Worked perfectly with no scrubbing needed. It's beautiful. A sink to be proud of.

That sink is just <chef's kiss>, BeetrootBootreet.
Very impressed - your heart must have sunk (sink-ed <groan>) when you first saw it.

Oh wow @BeetrootBootreet I think that deserves a medal 🥇

@BeetrootBootreet that's a massive difference ! You must get a sense of achievement every time you look at that shiny sink !! Exciting month ahead for you with baby due , I hope you are keeping well ❤️

Tada
🎉 quick tidy round living and dining rooms
🎉 sink cleared, scrubbed and dried
🎉 1 x handbag cleaned out (I plan to do work bag and school bags later to get ahead of back to school on Monday)
🎉 washer on
🎉 breakfast and coffee

Off to get ready for the hairdressers , I doubt I'll get much more completed in the house beforehand , I need to make dd2 a packed lunch and pack a few activities to keep her entertained at the hairdressers. It's pizza for tea tonight so no cooking prep is needed 🙂

Thanks for all the sink compliments - it really has made a huge difference!

Here's my morning completion list, and that's me pretty much done for the day now:
1hr dining table clearing (now usable, some clutter remains at one end)
Vacuumed conservatory
Vacuumed car and cleaned door handles
Removed massive driveway weeds (the rest will have to wait!)
Put away yesterday's drying up
Baked cupcakes
Washed up baking stuff
Descaled coffee machine
Cleaned coffee machine
Swept hallway
Household email admin

I'm intending to ice the cupcakes but not until I sit down with my tea and a book for a bit! They're delayed Halloween cupcakes - we have spooky cupcake cases, they're red velvet and I'll probably do green and purple icing with some spooky sprinkles and sugar eyes on them 🤣🎃

I was down and out with a migraine yesterday so today's to do list has everything that was procrastinated on, everything that didn't get done yesterday, everything that needs to be done today. And i have just realised that despite sleeping til lunch i still have the migraine. Well today is going to be cheery isn't it. <sigh>
Ignoring car, porch and hallway is not a priority,

Today is going to need coffee... and probably the good pain killers

Hazel - thank you for October.

ED - thank you for this month.

ED I had forgotten about our attic until you mentioned yours. DH went up there this morning as there are a couple of plumbing issues to resolve, and it turns out there is still some shelving to dismantle and a few carpet ends to bring down. The shelving will be useful for the playmobil collection. That will give me back my big table.

Scraped all the moss away from the wall behind the leaky downpipe.

bag and car are tidy. Clutter corner/ dumping ground in kitchen has been partly cleared.

I am very impressed at your sink Beetroot
Mine is an oatmeal or champagne coloured resin granite one over 15 years old and a pain to clean .
I use Astonish or Elbow Grease paste and I ave one of those rechargeable brushes which does make it easier .
I will try the soak I’ve got Astonish gold powder.

Last week I cleaned the hall carpet and put the dehumidifier to work . It needs a proper going over with the vacuum now

Todays tada:

🎉 me and dd2 washed & dressed
🎉 hairdressers for me &dd2 , I had to cancel dd1s appointment because she woke up full of a cold 🙁
🎉 washing hung up
🎉 meal plan for next week and written shopping list
🎉 tea
🎉 dd2 taken to gymnastics
🎉 cleaned the fridge shelves
🎉 oh has been food shopping

A very strange thing has happened - I asked dd1 to take the washing upstairs that I had taken off the airer and when she came back downstairs , she said that ds was tidying his room ! 😮 he hadn't been asked or prompted and he's tidied it - now I still need to do a few touches here and there but I am in shock !! So proud of him ❤️

You're all very welcome! I don't mind running the thread, although a break is needed!

ED we had enough accumulate when we moved after living in our old house for 14 years, so I can only imagine how it would be are 25 years!

Welcome 👋 @GingerLiberalFeminist toddlers are hard work!

Dilly I usually do my stairs between zone 5 & 1 (the Tuesday of that particular week), but will vacuum them if I've had people in wearing shoes in the house or if I've noticed leaves etc that have blown in (they go down to the basement and right by the side door that's used all the time).

Beetroot the difference in your sink is incredible! It's so beautiful and shiny! I can't believe you are ago close to having your baby, it doesn't seem that long ago that you announced it on here!

Searching I love your name change! I love Bailey's though 😍

@HazelNuttyElf that's why I disappeared last month, I love these threads but can't always sustain regular daily posting for long periods, so I had a break in order to come back fresh for this month. We get lots pf leaves blown in at this time of year, there is a horse chestnut tree across the road so bits pf leaf from that come in the front door and next door has a false acacia with gazillions of tiny leaves which come in the back.That one's finished now but the horse chestnut still has a lot of leaves.

Well DH cleared the kitchen this morning before work but left the sink covered in tea stains so I had to get the Barkeepers friend out after he'd gone (it's a white ceramic sink). Much better now. Didn't get much else done today but I was out 9 till 6 and tired when I got back.

Dragons I hope your migraine disappears!

Halloween was a hit, we had lots of trick or treaters at our house, but ended up being a late night as I took DSs friends back home.

DH & I are celebrating our 22nd anniversary tomorrow, so we have gone away for the weekend 💜 we are on our way to our destination. DH is driving. I'm looking forward to relaxing, massages and soaking in the hot springs!
We did get passports renewed for DH & DS, before leaving, so accomplished something, at least.
My Halloween decorations will be up until Sunday or Tuesday, depending on when I can get them back down again.

ED your DH tried, even though he hasn't realised how much difference a shiny sink can make! The other night my DH had wiped the countertops and stove top, it was a rare night that I was exhausted and just going to leave it for the next day. God I love him!