🍁 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/

@HazelNuttyElf thanks. I'm ok now, but I did struggle yesterday.
TaDas!
Got the dining room tidied, hot spot cleared.
Tidied bedroom, but haven't cleaned it.
Three LOLs.
Started a new clothes charity bag.

Today's ToDos.
Catch up on jobs at the field.
Help DP with sorting out the understairs junk.
Take dogs for a long walk.
Depending on energy levels clean my bedroom.

Urgh

Trailing behind as per

Can anyone direct me to the full list of Christmas missions?

Most of the Flylady website has disappeared it seems @THEbiggestsmallpersonyouwillmeet but she is sending out festive missions on the emails. I’m posting the normal ones and @HazelNuttyElf the festive ones. I’d suggest googling because there is a Flylady Cruising through the Holidays playlist on youtube and a lot of other content creators have Flylady based systems now, you might find something that suits.

Well, I have been out for the entire weekend except Saturday night, mostly parent-care related unfortunately but did go to the pub with friends last night. DH has done a few jobs round the house, vacuuming etc. So need to get back to it today.

Monday is home Blessing Day, we all work on a Monday so it doesn’t really work for us but try and split the jobs over the week, I changed and washed sheets on Friday, DH has vacuumed (he only ever does downstairs though), and the dusting badly needs doing. The other tasks are emptying bins, quick mop and purge paperwork.

Today we move into Zone 5, the living room. The mission for today is sofa diving. You know you want to…..

The babystep for today is Swish and Swipe, this is a good one, keeps our bathrooms visitor ready without too much effort. https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-24/

Hi all.. I've not caught up. Swish and swipe I should definitely add to my routine. I am not sure which one. Tomorrow (Tuesdays in general) DH leaves with ds 10 minutes before I take DD to breakfast club. So I could swish and swipe in that time. I could squirt some sort of chemical down before. But other weekdays I take DS with me to school then either to nursery or day with me. So would probably be best in the evening.

@LadyIrony I have become more sure recently that I have ADHD but haven't got round to getting myself on any list. Not menopausal yet so can keep things together most of the time.

Christmas mission:
🎄 swish, swipe, dust, vacuum and sweep. Do the main areas of the house: kitchen, living room, bathroom & your bedroom. Just a basic home bleugh, 5-10 minutes in each room.

THE there used to be a list of the holiday cruise missions, but the links do not work anymore, unfortunately 😢

ED I hope that going out with your friends was a welcome distraction. My DH is going to be home from work tomorrow, hopefully he'll jump in and help with housework too.

Cherry I'm glad you're feeling better. Don't overdo it!

I had a lovely weekend, got lots done and lots of relaxing too.

Using the app, Yesterdays morning musing was nice todays was. 🤢. Starting with step one of showing your family you love them is o look pretty.

Gawd, it’s all a bit 1950s housewife today on the email too @Alwayslearning25 nothing says I love you like having clean underwear to put on 🤮

Anyway, ignoring that. I have just put on a load of laundry. Will get DS to hang it out as he’s off work today and the forecast is dry. He has also offered to mow the lawn if it dries out enough.

Tuesday is Plan and Play day. Make your plans for the rest of the week then go and have some fun. Tuesday is choir night for me and that is fun, we have a big concert coming up though so it will be fairly intense fun tonight I think.

Our mission today is to go into the living room and look at the flat surfaces. Do they have too many objects on them, has there been a gradual accumulation of photos, nick nacks, vases etc. Think about removing a few if they don’t bring you joy. Maybe they will bring someone else joy via the charity shop.

Our babystep is to read Flytlady’s testimonal abot how it all began. It’s quite an interesting read even if it is old now.

https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/why-fly/personal-testimonial/

Must have been the same, because the underwear was one step, as well as using a quiet voice.😂

I had started to read today's entry on the app, but couldn't get past the first line!

Anyway, DH is home with me today, so hopefully I'll still get everything done that I'm hoping to do. An early start for me as DS decided to go into leadership in the band and they have meetings early morning on Tuesdays. So I only get a few more minutes sleep than my normal working days 🙄

Christmas mission:
🎄 plan & play day this one is for Thanksgiving though, so making sure the turkey is thawing in the fridge, all supplies (food especially, but also plates etc if using paper plates). Avoid going to the store tomorrow (no joke!)
However, since I'm currently reading the Christmas chronicles and following the thread, today is the day to make your Christmas cake!
I never have liked fruit cake, so that's not happening here.. but I'm going to make apricot Brandy instead.

I'm on those threads too, I have been making Nigel's Christmas cake in mini sizes for several years, made these on Friday.

Very nice ED and such a good idea to make mini ones!

Thank you, I will decorate 3 or 4 of them with discs of marzipan and fondant icing and freeze the rest, they defrost really quickly if a friend comes round.

ED I read today's entry by Nigel, and the way he describes Christmas cake, makes me want to bake one (I don't like them! But he has a way with words!). It has been forever since I've tried any, I may have been a child still, so my taste buds could have changed. We'll see if I make one this weekend or not..

Ta das:
🍁 LOLs x6, including sheets & towels
🍁 made apricot Brandy, now I just have to wait
🍁 bank, for some cash
🍁 school, to pay for the band trip to Disneyland
🍁 made my creamy pecan pie, in the muffin tin so they are individuals size instead of one big one. They are currently in the freezer, ready for Thanksgiving
🍁 S&S both bathrooms
🍁 cleared the tomato and corn plants from our vegetable garden, finally
🍁 pulled some weeds around the garden
🍁 swept the back patio
🍁 cleared the fridge out
🍁 rotated DW
🍁 handwashed dishes
🍁 figured out how to have the table on Thursday, with help from DH
🍁 all clean clothes put away by DH & me
🍁 DH mowed the grass in the back to pick up the leaves
🍁 moved my plant pots from the patio area to the vegetable garden area, ready for winter.

The weather is getting ready to change. It's supposed to snow this weekend. We'll see if it does. Now we are ready for it though.

@HazelNuttyElf yes, it’s that chapter from his memoir isn’t it. My mum bought me the CC the first year out was out and I have been reading it ever since, although now I mainly listen to the audible version I always have the book on the kitchen counter through winter. I use his “family cake” recipe but make it with soft light brown sugar instead of dark muscovado, I also add a bit of spice (pumpkin spice mix this year) and it is light and crumbly, nothing like the black treacly traditional cakes.

Flying - it’s Wednesday and that means anti-procrastination day. I finished a report at work yesterday that has been in the procrastination pile for a few weeks, so that felt good. Today I need to phone up a helpline for advice about my parents finances, I’ve been putting that off for a couple of days too. It’s finding time, I am very fortunate that I can make personal calls at work, but I am very busy at work ATM too. Also need to drop DS off at his work (and pick him up) and take my car to the garage, luckily 5 walk from work, so it’s going to be a busy one. I just spotted that my sink isn’t very shiny so I will do that before I go. DS got a load of laundry line dried yesterday on his day off.

Our mission for today is to do detailed dusting in the living room, picture frames, nick-nacks (if you didn’t get rid of them all yesterday ) etc. In my case the blinds need doing, we’ve got the wood slatted ones.

Babystep 26 is a mindset one - You Are Not Behind. This is the art of not giving up because you missed a day, just jump back in again where we are. Applies to other things in life too, such as eating healthily. don’t beat yourself up just get stuck back into your good habit the next day. Especially applicable in the festive season.

https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-26/

Christmas missions:
🎄 clean your kitchens break your kitchen down into sections, spend 15 minutes on each section. This could be wiping down the front of your cupboards, wiping the countertops, wipe your hob, wipe your microwave etc. Don't forget to shine your sink!
🎄 get all of your wrapping paper & ribbons ready for wrapping

It's Thanksgiving here today, so the kitchen mission is more focused on getting it ready for Thanksgiving.
I procrastinated yesterday and didn't get some things done that I should have, so I have to get them done today 🤦‍♀️
I do have my day planned out and reminders set in my phone.

Happy Thanksgiving @HazelNuttyElf and anyone else who might be celebrating.

Sorry I completely forgot to post this morning. Doh! And now I’m off out, hope you are all getting along OK.

Happy thanksgiving @HazelNuttyElfand anyone else celebrating. I hope today is as peaceful as possible 🦃🎃🥧

I’ve seen quite a few pictures of turkeys that are clearly black so if your turkey is anything approximating properly cooked you are winning!

I have not dusted my shelves because they are covered in Lego items and my family are not here to move them!
I’m going back to my Aloo gobi… stuff the dust!
I did switch and swipe my sinks!

Not much progress at Cherry Towers. We pulled out everything from under the stairs. Mainly camping stuff, there's 2 boxes of stuff that I'm keeping, waiting for DP to decide what he's doing with the rest.
I wonder if my dining room will ever be anything but a dumping area 🙂
I've maybe got a UTI of some sorts but waiting for test results before treatment so I'm feeling rough.

Oh my God! We had the smoothest, least stressful Thanksgiving we've ever had! Even DH commented that everything went so smooth!

We always share the load between everyone coming. FIL & MIL brought the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy (along with a couple sides and a dessert). SIL & BIL brought a vegetable tray and a pavlova, cousins brought meat and cheese tray, and we made the ham, rolls, yams and about 4 desserts! There are so many leftovers!

DD will be coming on Sunday, so we can do it all over again! Not exactly. We'll have some of the leftovers, so there shouldn't be too much to do. I do need to see if I can buy a turkey crown to cook though, we don't need a whole turkey! I will be sending leftovers with DD, we'll be sick of Thanksgiving food come Monday.

I already have the house back to normal, dishes all done, dishwasher ready to be turned on (a couple things need to be added). Everything is wiped down and clean. I even swept and mopped!

Tomorrow's plan: take Thanksgiving down and put Christmas up! I also need to do my nails, but might do that a different day over the weekend.

Cherry I hope you're feeling better soon.

doyathink I had to Google Aloo gobi as I'd never heard of it! It sounds really yummy!

ED did you do anything fun when you were out?

@HazelNuttyElf your Thanksgiving sounds amazing, and I'm in awe of how much you get done!
DP is on animal duty this Sunday so I can get more stuff done, but I think I've now got a trapped nerve in my right arm. Never rains but it pours here!

Cherry usually I would be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! But lately I've been planning things out better, putting reminders in my phone and making sure I start things early. It really helped. DH & DS helped me out too, so it wasn't all me.

Typical that your body is telling you to rest, when you have things to do. A pinched nerve in the shoulder is awful. I hope it goes away very quickly.

@HazelNuttyElf glad it went well, I was just out at a school governor’s meeting so nothing terribly exciting. More elderly parent problems have reared their heads though. Aargh.

Sorry I forgot to post again this morning. I need to go and sit in the naughty corner.