🍁 Flylady November — Slow Days, Warm Drinks, and Shiny Sinks (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Alwayslearning25]

Well, here we are — darker evenings, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, and that slightly panicky feeling that Christmas is somehow next month. But fear not, lovely Flyladies — we’ve got this (mostly).

This thread is our little corner of calm amongst the chaos — a place to cheer each other on, share small wins, and occasionally moan about the state of the laundry mountain. Whether you’re shining your sink for the first time or just trying to keep the kitchen table visible for more than an hour, you’re in good company.

The Flylady system is all about baby steps — 15 minutes at a time, routines that mostly stick, and being kind to ourselves when life happens (because it always does). Pop in, post your list, or just lurk with a cuppa — everyone’s welcome.
Let’s make November about cosy corners, tidy-ish rooms, and gentle progress — before December sweeps in with tinsel and mince pies.
Kettle’s on. Who’s flying today? ☕🕯️🧺

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!
Zones:

1. Entryway, porch and dining room
2. Kitchen
3. Bathroom and one other room
4. Master bedroom
5. Living room

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 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. Well, they should but there is some technical difficulties on their end while they update the website. You can also check out the Facebook page Zones: https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/ Baby Steps: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

My system I'm trying to implement, someone else to is to list for a week then take to the charity shop and list the next set of items. So rotating 3 boxes.

Okay,

I have cleaned a toilet and sink!
I tidied up a hotspot and threw a whole load of things away.
I realise that my husband had not in fact put the bins out and so managed to get them to the curb just before the bin man arrived!
I tidied up the sofa in the den.
I’ve hoovered the landing.
I’ve put on a LOL.

Just off to antibac the handles and switches!

And I've totally fallen by the wayside before I'd even got properly started! I think I need to be a lot more realistic about what I can do when I'm working.

I've had a busy week and didn't even look at the Christmas missions, let alone do any of them!
Here's those missions for this week (Tuesday thru Friday):
🎄 plan your meal "accessories" wash your Christmas tablecloth, polish your best cutlery, make sure you have all the plates and glasses you need, etc.
🎄 27 fling boogie in the toy box go through the toys, get rid of what is broken or doesn't get played with anymore. If you don't need to go through toys, go through magazines, catalogues, or anything else that needs to be downsized.
🎄 purchase your non perishable foods for Christmas you should already have a list of what's needed, go buy it all and restock your cupboards
🎄 review your gift list check your budget, make sure you're on track for keeping in your budget. Make sure you haven't missed anyone either

I did actually already get my Thanksgiving food in already (non perishable foods) and I don't have toys to go through. After work tonight I got my new tablecloth out of packaging and into the wash. I guess I did do a little bit already, without realising it!

It seems you all have been doing good at keeping up with flying (or at least basics). I need to work on that this weekend.

I've done very little this week, a combination of being busy and having a bad hip.
Hot spot has appeared (out of nowhere, lol) on the dining room table, so that's today's to do.

Saturday being Family Fun Day, we are off to a live concert this morning in a city not too far away but that I've never been to before. Excited for the concert but a little stressed about the parking!

Anyone else up to anything fun?

I still haven't cleared out my fridge and I still have lots of dc birthday presents hanging around without a real home, but i am on top of the washing and the kitchen is tidy!

I also haven't made my Christmas cake yet, although we rarely eat it so i sometimes wonder why I do. Also need to sort through the tree decorations as we have too many and some can go to the charity shop before Christmas when someone might actually want them.

I’m off to take my Dad to hospital to have some more skin cancery bits chopped out. There is an M&S in the hospital so that will be fun! Not sure it counts as family fun time but 🤷‍♀️

I need to buy new baking trays. I’ve thrown them all out in a fit of cleaning rage!

@DillyDeclutterif they don’t like Christmas cake then don’t make it - or make 1/2 size or make them as individual ones or a loaf? Go for a chocolate log?

Managed to get some basic things done this week, but some things that have been lingering in the back of my mind so I feel lighter for having them done:

• Took a box of books to the charity shop that have been "waiting" in the hall for more than a year
• Had my first haircut since giving birth
• Decluttered the hallway coat rack
• Finally sorted our overpriced broadband situation
• Cleared bags for life from the garage

Plus the usuals like vacuuming the lounge, regular dishwasher rotating and laundry. Last weekend DW mowed the lawn (hopefully we're done for winter now). We recently got a dehumidifier and that's been a (horrifying) revelation for how often it needs emptying. The list continues. Hoping to chip away a few things here and there.

doyathink I hope everything goes well with your dad's procedure. M&S could be fun, but a distraction at least.

Dilly the concert sounds fun! I agree with doyathink I would either make a small cake or none at all. But I don't like it, so never make it!

Cherry I hate it when the hotspots just appear! Same here too, but not on the dining table.

To dos this weekend:
☕️ make caramels
☕️ make truffles (finish the ones I've started!)
☕️ clear out fridge
☕️ organise the pantry (groceries have been dumped in there, not put away)
☕️ redo my nails
☕️ clear flat surfaces/put things away
☕️ laundry catch up (LOLs DS didn't get washed)
☕️ meal planning for the week
☕️ grocery shopping for the week

Before I do anything, I'm going to finish the tea I'm drinking, then make myself another cup of coffee! I also need to take a shower and get ready for the day. It's just gone 8:30am here.

I ended up going to bed earlier than normal for me (asleep before 10:30pm!), and slept for over 9 hours last night! I really needed it. It really has been a very busy week, even though it was a short work week for me. I'm actually thinking that I need to take a day or two off work in December, so I can get everything done that I need, without getting too stressed!

Cabbage well done for getting those "extras" done, especially your haircut! Keeping up on the dailies really help too, I know I notice when I let things slip, like they have this week! Is baby Cabbage feeling better now?

Ta Das
Cleared out my hay store ready for new delivery.
Sat down for a quick cup of tea but kept nodding off so that was the afternoon gone 😚
Cleared half the hot spot.
Walked dogs.
Washed up bits and pieces.
Batch cooked.
Worked on some new songs.
Searched for my cleaning motivation but can't find it 😃

Hazel yes she's much better now, she seems far more into her food which is a great sign. Still has a bit of a lingering cough but apparently that can take weeks and weeks!

I’ve got the lingering cough lasting weeks and weeks too, it’s just a tickle but really annoying.

@DillyDeclutter we don’t eat much Christmas cake either but I like making it. Ithe last couple of years I have been cooking it in small baked bean tins instead of one big cake, then they are easy to give away and I have also wrapped several in cling film un-iced and frozen them to eat later in the year, nice if you have a friend round as they thaw really quickly. I use a 20cm cake mix recipe and 8 of the half sized baked bean tins.

@CabbagesCabbagesBarelyEvenHuman I am frequently horrified by how much water our dehumidifier collects but a lot of it probably does come in from outside as it correlates strongly with what the weather is doing. Our lawn badly needs cutting but it is in permanent shade at this time of year and fairly sheltered so it’s just not getting dry enough, we are all out at work every time there’s a dry sunny day it seems.

@HazelNuttyElf thank you for the Christmas missions. I have made a start on purchasing the non-perishables today. Sellotape, cheese footballs and cranberry sauce, all the important things . Last year we had a crisis with my mum being in hospital and went a bit more convenience than usual, I have still got half packets of stuffing and bread sauce mix and as we now have mum back but Dad in a nursing home (don’t know where yet, he’s in a temporary discharge placement at the moment) I don’t know what we’ll be doing on the day so I think they might come in handy again. I do like doing it all from scratch but sometimes convenience rules.

I have been a Good Fledgling this evening. Watched Strictly and went out to the garage to get clothes out of the dryer and remembered the mission earlier in the week about tidying the laundry area. I wish I had taken before and after photos of this as it was a right mess. Our dryer is in a corner of the garage with the microwave on top of it (we rarely use it). On top of that was a big jumble of heavy duty chargers for strimmer, power drill etc, 4 of them, cables all tangled up with those of the dryer, microwave and freezer. Coating the whole lot was a load of fine fluff from cleaning the filter in the dryer. It looked terrible and it was always a pain trying to find the plug you want to use.

So, I untangled all the chargers and cables, coiled them all neatly, found a basket for them, labelled the ones I could identify as well as those for freezer microwave and dryer (there’s only two sockets, one for the freezer, one for everything else so they all get jumbled up). Wiped away all the fluff. So pleased with how it looks now.

ED I'm like you, preferring to cook from scratch, but there are times convenience wins. Well done on sorting out your laundry area, out sounds like it was a big improvement!

Cabbage I'm hoping she recovers quickly from her cough, you too ED. I had my cough for over a week, but seems to be mostly gone today.

That was a good ta da list Cherry. You said you worked on new songs, do you play an instrument? Or sing? I'm sorry if you've said before, I have a terrible memory.

Ta das:
🍬 showered & dressed
🍬 LOLs x3
🍬 sorted out pantry. I gave myself 1 hour, but it took me 3 hours! But it's organised, I threw away a few things that had expired or gone stale.
🍬 made caramels
🍬 finished the dark chocolate truffles, then realised I didn't have any paper cups to put them in, so hurried and ordered more. They're supposed to arrive tomorrow (Sunday), we'll see.

We went to ILs for dinner tonight, currently sitting outside DHs work as he got called in (he's on call).

Tomorrow I'll wrap the caramels, finish the milk chocolate truffles and hopefully get some orders packaged. I do also need to get meals figured out for the week, and go grocery shopping. And redo my nails.

Here to read through and try to get tips on routine..it's just so hard to stick to

One of my long term plans for our house is to have a dryer under the stairs as that's an outside wall, it could be piped out there. I don't think there's room for a washer ther, that would have to stay in the kitchen. It would involve lots of rewiring, maybe moving pipes as the meter is really in the way. But I think a tumble dryer would be a great help. We don't have a downstairs toilet and have thought of installing one under the stairs but there's no room, the stairs turn a corner. But probably space for a tumble dryer.

I have been working on the baby steps.

Always* *you will probably find most new dryers are condensing ones and don't need an external vent.

I think I may make or buy a small Christmas cake as we essentially use it as a decoration through Advent.

Welcome Icybird yes it's about building those habits gently. Have you looked at the Flylady baby steps?

Yesterday I hoovered all the corners, behind the doors, etc that are invisible to our cleaner who never uses the hoover attachments, just the main part.

Today's another busy family day here so not much flying will be done!

We had a vented dryer in the garage at first, it had the benefit of keeping everything else stored in there totally damp free as it created a lot of air circulation. We switched to a heat pump one when it packed up and last year, a lot less expensive to run but we noticed mildew on things in there last year (camping chairs etc), this has just reminded me I want to get some of those moisture absorbing crystal things. The other thing to consider with the newer ones is emptying the water out, you either have to plumb them into a drain or empty the tank manually every time you use it. Our is by the door so we just pull the tank out and tip the water outside (there is grass next to the path so it goes on there). Indoors it helps if you are near a sink.

Bloody hell. Im really struggling to keep up atm! Disappointed as I had wanted to do the christmas missions but life is running away with me 😒

Yesterday I sorted through some of the dcs toys - 4 baskets, filled a bin bag which needs to go somewhere probably in the shed for now. One small basket left for the dc to sort through today

Power of 3ing today I think

I need to return to Flylady habits. I’m currently on a waiting list for ADHD assessment (menopause has not been kind and all my coping strategies have failed me) and my house is in chaos yet again. I followed this system - the only thing that’s ever worked for me - for over five years when my children were young but then it dwindled. There were some good habits that stuck - and I always know to start with my kitchen sink if I’m crisis cleaning.

I seem to remember that it was ‘jump in where you are’. I don’t think the baby steps will work as I still do quite a few of them. I’ll get my laptop and find her page. Do you still get bombarded with emails if you sign up? I found that overwhelming and a tidy email inbox is importantly to me as I lose urgent emails in that chaos.

Power of 3 #1
✅️ self care - shower
✅️ clean mouldy bit in shower
✅️ rotate LOL

Power of 3 #2
1️⃣ cat tray
✌️ hand wash pots
🥉strip small dc bed x3

Welcome aboard @LadyIrony - I think advice is still avoid the emails, drowning in CHAOS here so your in good company

That's good to know. I will look more into it. If we do decide to have a 3rd child, a dryer is essential. We used a dehumidifier and a small room to dry clothes in the winter/ wetand I need to empty the tank so it's the same Idea

Ta Da!
✅️ self care - shower
✅️ clean mouldy bit in shower
✅️ rotate LOL
✅️ cat tray cleaned
✅️ 2 x toilet cleaned
✅️ 2 x bathroom bins emptied
✅️ draining area cleaned
✅️ kitchen window sill tidy and cleaned
✅️ dcs pens and paper sorted and shelves cleaned
✅️ remains of halloween / autumn put away
✅️ 3 x small dc beds stripped
✅️ hand wash pots washed
✅️ dining room cupboard doors wiped

@Icybird56 welcome 👋! The baby steps were designed to build your routines. Start with shining your sink. It took flylady herself about 9 months to build up all of her routines. So it won't happen overnight, but you may see an improvement in the 1st couple months.

@LadyIrony welcome 👋! Emails are still recommended to be avoided. Her website isn't working properly (baby steps are working) and neither is the app - for daily missions. You can set up your routines on the app and see the zones, along with some missions listed. She has a Facebook page that she posts on every day, but she posts a lot, so there's lots of scrolling to get to her flight plan. That's where this thread comes in very handy!

THE I have found that if I can find an hour one day to go through the Christmas missions, it can really help. Although my DC are older, so no toys to go through. Well done on that btw!

A dryer really does help me keep on top of laundry (or catch up), I'd be drowning otherwise.

Well our plans changed.. we're heading up to see DD, and taking her a couch! Very last minute, decided less than an hour ago and we just left the house to pick up the couch from ILs.

She's having her cat put to sleep tomorrow, she's very sick with cancer and has poor quality of life right now, in pain etc, so it's the humane thing to do right now. And she texted me this morning asking if we could see her (and bring her the couch) I think she just needs a big hug and some company for a little bit and the couch is just an excuse. I'll take it though, our relationship got strained this summer and I'll do anything to repair it. It was better the last time she came to see us. We are due a trip to her though, we don't go anywhere near enough. But she's 2 1/2 hours away, so it's just about a full day trip.