Heat Waves & Holidays with Flylady - August thread

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Summer holidays can be crazy! Are you looking to finally getting into a new routine with housework? Something simple to start that can be easy to add to over time? Flylady may be the answer for you!

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.
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 has a different mission for the zone we are in.

Daily focus:

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out a week. 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

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 (although I only have it for when the zones change). You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you. Although there are some issues with the website and app right now, so bear with me!

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

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

A huge thank you to Alwayslearning25 for running the July thread, you did a fantastic job, especially with being new to flylady and technical difficulties!

Thanks for the new thread Hazel and many thanks Always for July!

I anticipate being on the naughty step for the remainder of the summer holidays i.e. until the end of August! We have some bits of time away, and I am anticipating very little child free time. Been off work today but all I've managed is one LOL, the sheets, and a smidgeon of weeding.

Thanks @HazelNotHungryLC I really appreciate you picking up the thread again at short notice, I do hope to do it again soon. Thanks also to Always for July, I didn’t post much but was lurking.

Things have taken a turn for the better Chez ED in the sense that DH and the DCs have upped their game on the home front. My lists seem to have made them realise there is far more to keeping the house clean than they had realised and they are also stepping up with the meal planning, shopping and cooking while I am supporting my parents.

@HazelNotHungryLC thanks for new thread!

ED that's good news re help around the house. So much of what we do goes unnoticed, as it just always gets done!

Dilly you may say you didn't do much, but you did do something!

It's the 1st of the month so we are back to zone 1, entryway, front porch and dining room.
I actually love this zone, because when you come home, it's the first space you see and can make the biggest difference.

Today's mission is to spend 15 minutes in each room in zone 1, clearing hotspots. Set your timer and put things away where they belong (it may help to have a bag, box or basket to put things in to carry them to where they belong). Stop after 15 minutes, although it may take longer to put things away.

Friday is clear out your car and purse as well as date night. Spend some time with a loved one or even just do something nice for yourself.

Baby Step 1: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/
Shine your sink!
Clear out your sink of any dirty dishes first. She suggests filling it up with bleach water, but even just some washing up liquid will work (not even a full sink!). Scrub your sink with whatever you have on hand. Once done, rinse it out, wipe it dry and shine it with window cleaner, if desired.
I would also wipe down any clear countertops and wash whatever dishes you need to do by hand/ rotate DW etc.
I would aim to at least have an empty sink every night, and wipe it down to avoid water spots. It is so, so nice coming into the kitchen in the morning to a somewhat shiny sink 😍
Here is flylady's tutorial for shining sinks: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/shine-sink/

Thanks you. I will be joining you in a week when I'm back home with renewed energy (hopefully)

Woohoo! Enjoy your time away!

Sorry I'm late posting! We were working on getting everything ready for camping and I ran out of time last night.

There are no missions on the weekends. Saturday is family fun day and Sunday is renew your spirit day.

Today's baby step is to get dressed to shoes. Do it first thing in the morning so you're ready for the day. She does actually want you to wear lace up shoes, which can be controversial, especially in our house, as we don't wear shoes inside. But the main point is, if you're up and dressed you're more motivated to get on with your day, instead of lounging in pj's.
Don't forget to shine your sink again tonight too!
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-2/

I think I need an extra room to put things in so I have space to sort stuff out!
I woke up with a crappy migraine again, so made a slow start.
Today I've got my study room tidied, recycling and rubbish gone.
I've got some stuff in there that my family might like, after next weekend it will be going in the charity pile.
I'm currently lying on my bed wasting time but also contemplating how I'm going to sort the next area of my bedroom, which is my desk that's covered in stuff, about a foot deep.
I can't put it off any longer, see you on the other side!

Slinking in through the back door like I've been here the whole time. Hoping to start doing things by their "proper weeks" this month - July was spent doing little bits here and there and I think I'm ready.

I think I last checked in in April! But that's life. Baby cabbage is 8 months old now 😱 And we now finally have a dishwasher that makes keeping kitchen tidy so much faster. I'll be keeping things low key but aiming for just one thing a day. It all makes a difference doesn't it

Welcome back Cabbage! I was wondering how you were doing. I can't believe baby cabbage is now 8 months old! Wow, time flies!
A dishwasher makes such a huge difference, I'm glad your noticing how much it helps.

Cherry I hope you're not buried! Did your migraine clear up? Well done on getting your study tidied.

On our way home from camping (short trip). Once the campers tanks have been emptied we can get everything put away, dogs bathed and get in the shower!

I'll be back on later with the links for tomorrow.

Monday is home bleugh. Quick vacuum around the house, empty bins, change sheets on beds. Flylady says this will only take an hour, but that's not my experience! It can be spread out throughout the week though, if needed, or split up over a couple of days, whatever works for you.

Baby Step 3: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-3/
Shine sink, dressed to shoes and now check out the website. Warning: it's not really working very well, but you can still find a few links work.

Zone 2: kitchen. Scrub your stovetop (hob). Just use some hot, soapy water and some elbow grease. Only spend 15 minutes on it, remember flylady is all about "better" not "perfect".

1st wake window wins 😅:

• cleaned hob and splashback (induction, so doesn't take long!)
• emptied dishwasher
• hand washed the non-dishwasherables
• wiped down counters
• 1 LOL on
• window cleaning quote photos taken and sent
• big coffee order done

Sheets were all done yesterday as it's very much a weekend thing for me. This week I'm renewing my hunt for a new window cleaner. We've had trouble finding someone who can do attic velux windows - two separate companies who have said they could but actually didn't because the person actually doing our round didn't have their own long pole 🤦

We're off to "messy play" after this nap, so I suspect not much more done today until this evening.

Hi cabbage nice to "see" you! 8m is a lovely age, is dc on the move yet?

Hazel camping sounds fun!

We are in the grip of a massive storm, can't put the washing out as it's too windy, everything locally closed or cancelled. Hope nobody else is affected! There are lots of leaves and twigs on our path but no point sweeping until it's over. Am staying inside and looking at the cobwebs instead. If I have a burst of energy later, I might shift them.

Cabbage that was a very productive morning! I hope you're able to find a window cleaner who can actually do as agreed.

Dilly stay safe during the storm! It must be bad if places are closed! Camping was a lot of fun, it's nice to get out to the mountains.

I tweaked my back yesterday during cleaning up camp, feels like a pinched nerve. Last night was really bad, but it seems to be easing a little as the day is going. So I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get done tomorrow on my day off.

I really need to get outside and pull some weeds, dead head some roses and harvest some rhubarb! Not with my back hurting though!

Tuesday is plan & play day.

Tuesday's mission is to clean your cutlery tray. If yours is anything like mine, it may take a while.. just aim to do a little bit today, it'll be better than not at all.

Baby Step 4: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-4/
Write down the steps we are at so far.

Also I realised I'm a day behind 🤦‍♀️

Baby Step 5: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-5/
Turn any negative voices in your head around to positives. Write the positives down so you can be reminded of them.

@HazelNotHungryLC how's your back?

I've not got much further with my clearing up, I'm going to get as much possible done today, then what I haven't sorted will get boxed up to deal with next week, just so I can clean and hoover.
@DillyDeclutter hope you survived the storm, are you in Scotland?
We had some gusty weather yesterday (North Lincs) , enough to rock my little car about, but no damage.

Good morning We're having a very busy, fun holiday but this morning are all very sleepy. We went to a great science museum yesterday and we went to York on the train another day. We were going to go to the beamish museum but it's too windy and we're exhausted. So we're going to just walk to the nearby suburb area to a soft play. I will try and work out our attack plan for the house for when we get home. Maybe during ds nap time today. Would be nice to have more of a system that everyone is more coordinated.

I'm in NE England, it hasn't been too bad really, just lots of pointless preventative closures. Got my sh#t together and went to the tip with a boot full of stuff only to find that was shut too. Oh well!

2 loads of washing out on the line, drying well in the wind, and home bleugh more or less done.

Off to look at the cutlery drawer!

@DillyDeclutter no, weather is not too bad. We are mostly exhausted.

Cherry my back is still hurting, but a lot better than it was. I'm still moving slowly so I don't tweak it again! Thank you for asking.
Good luck with sorting today!

Alwayslearning25 a plan is always a good idea, especially if everyone is on board. It sounds like you've had a busy time away and a slower day is just what you need!

Dilly that would be really frustrating re the tip being closed! Well done for utilizing the wind drying your laundry

To dos:
☕️ take dogs to groomer
☕️ back to school registration (in person, at school)
☕️ clear countertops in kitchen (put things away where they belong)
☕️ harvest some rhubarb - and do something with it!
☕️ repaint my nails (fingers & toes)
☕️ laundry
☕️ meal planning
☕️ grocery shopping

I may put DS to work today, cleaning for me, even though he usually does it on Fridays.
Vacuuming, mopping and cleaning the bathrooms really should be done today as well, I just don't feel like I can today.

I'm still decluttering my bedroom, been about two hours so far. I've cracked the back but drowning in a sea of flotsam and jetsam, just those annoying little bits and pieces, like random buttons and shoe laces, charger cables etc.
It's the little bits that are taking so much time, as I'm walking backwards and forwards to put like with like.
Downstairs is probably 90% tidying, 10% decluttering and if I can get DP on board won't take long.
Tomorrow's to dos,
Finish the tidying.
Hem the curtains for my study.
Start cleaning.
I'll be over the moon if I get them done!
Then after next weekend I can get sorted for an Anglo collection after my family pick through what they want.
I've come across a couple of sentimental bits which have made me cry, but on the whole I've been quite brutal.

Thanks Hazel. Yes the counters are so much easier to keep clean when they're not being used as a holding zone for washing up!

Dilly yup baby cabbage is happily crawling and standing whenever she can. Means a lot of vacuuming! No cruising yet so hopefully we have a bit of respite before walking.