💕Longer days, shorter month: February Flylady thread 💕

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Love is in the air! But do you love your housework/cleaning routine?

Whether you're starting to build a new routine, stuck in a rut, or been around for years, join us on the Flylady thread. I'll try to keep us on track for the month, with baby steps, daily missions and weekly zones.

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:
🩷Entryway, porch and dining room
🩷Bathroom & one other room
🩷Kitchen
🩷Master bedroom & master bathroom
🩷Living room

Don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Daily focus: each day of the week has a different 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 😆
• S&S: Swish & Swipe (wipe the bathroom sink & toilet)
• 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, if I can get them to work, she's updated the website! Although if you can, it's worth downloading the newly updated 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 👇

Daily missions (for the zone we are in): https://beta.flylady.net/daily-mission

Baby steps (on a different website, since the link isn't working on the new site yet): https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, some of us have been doing Flylady for a very long time, as well as others just starting out. We may have other things to add that we have found works for us that could help you too!

DH is a romantic, although he's not one to buy flowers "just because". He does make an effort to not have me do things around the house, say on my birthday, which is really nice!

Always that sounds tough with your DH, it does sound like he has more going on than just tired though.
Enjoy your 4 days off work!

ED that's so impressive!

Winter I definitely agree it's important to keep the spark going, whatever that means for each individual couple. I do love that flylady is so easy to jump in and out of.

THAT there's no such thing as the worst flyer! Just jump back in! You have a very busy life, so it's understandable. Enjoy your couple days off.

THAT I forgot to add: you've been busy and have quite a ta da list there!

Oooh I have a special place for
my kitchen sharpie too @WinterFrogs , we get milk from the milkman and the BB date is stamped into the foil lid but I'm the only ome who can read them so I mark the bottles up before they go in the fridge.

Morning all!

Slow start to the day here so going in with power of 3

1️⃣ dryer on
✌️ washer on
🥉 check out tesco order

Hello! Washing on, swish and swipe done, menu planning done.

Apart from making soup this afternoon, I have big plans to sit down and get my nose in a book. That counts as renewing the spirit, right?

Hi, can't remember when I last came on. Had a few days of no time to think. Going to spend this afternoon getting a few jobs done. Hopefully back later with some tadas.

Have washed and rehung the shower curtains in the upstairs bathroom. Not doing a lot this week - have been feeling really groggy after getting my first ever shingles jab on Monday. The side effects (if any) are only supposed to last for around three days.

THAT thank you for the reminder that I have laundry I need to work on today!

Winter yes! Reading definitely counts as renewing your spirit! I also need to get my meal planning sorted out for the week.

Welcome back Jumping 👋

Weary I wonder if you need to see your doctor again if you're still not feeling great tomorrow?

To dos:
☕️ shower, get dressed etc.
☕️ meal plan for the week
☕️ grocery shopping
☕️ general tidy
☕️ handwash dishes from last night 🫣 I did put the DW on 3 times yesterday, and handwashed dishes throughout the day, but there's things from dinner last night that still need to be handwashed from dinner last night (like the stemless wine glasses we used)
☕️ laundry.. lots and lots of laundry!

Sunday is renew your spirit day. Church, reading, walk in nature, bath, extreme sports like bungee jumping, whatever suits you and gets you ready for the week.

No missions on Sundays.

Baby Step 15: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/15/
Make your bed. I know this one can cause some controversy, make it, air it out, whatever your want to do. Just don't leave your sheets all in a crumpled mess!
Make your bed inviting when it's bedtime. If you air it out, fold the sheets over nicely, if you have throw pillows you like to add after making the bed, put them on.
Whatever you do, try to do that in the morning when getting out of bed (I know, I'm late today, but it's not bedtime yet!). So if you haven't done that already today, go do it now! It only takes a minute or two.

Don't forget the other baby steps as part of your routines. They are listed on the link.

Yesterday I made some chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate rum cheesecake for dessert. I really like how they turned out!
we'll ignore the fact that the strawberries I got for Valentine's day were not decorated very well at all, tasted nice, but terrible to look at! I did not take pictures

@HazelNotHungryLC Thanks. I'll see how I am. I'm definitely better than I was.

I suspect that the problem is that I tried to do too much while I was feeling wobbly. I was okay Monday afternoon, but on Tuesday I had the car booked in for a wheel realignment and didn't want to cancel at the last minute, so I dropped off the car and then walked home.

Of course, I'm trying to improve my fitness, so I walked at quite a brisk pace and I suspect that I didn't do myself any good. By Wednesday morning I had every single side effect listed.

Most of the side effects have gone, thank goodness - I just feel tired and wobbly now.

Oh wow! That confectionary is seriously impressive @HazelNotHungryLC !

Ah, I see! It is crazy what we put ourselves through when we shouldn't. I'm glad you're feeling better than you were.

Thank you Weary 😊 I enjoy doing it. Last night MIL said she's waiting for the day I open up my own shop. It won't happen. Right now I create my treats because I enjoy doing it, I think I would lose that if it became my job!

Ta das:
❤️ LOLs x4
🩷 handwashed dishes
❤️ put clean dishes away
🩷 rotated DW
❤️ general tidy in main living area
🩷 took a nap!
❤️ wiped down kitchen countertops
🩷 wiped sink

I'm off tomorrow. I plan to clean the carpets, but we'll see how I feel about doing it when that time comes!

Monday is home bleugh day. Quick vacuum, empty bins, change bedding. Only spend 10 minutes in each room, or at least on each task in each room (although emptying the bins is maybe 2 minutes). It should only be an hour total 🙄

We are moving into the bathroom & one other room (laundry room).

Monday's mission: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission/20260216-zone-3-mission-1-monday-main-bathroom
Declutter empty bottles, tubes and boxes in both your bathroom and laundry room (or laundry area if you don't have a whole room). Check under the sink, in cupboards, as well as in plain sight.

Baby Step 16: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/16/
Look for encouragement. Check out flylady testimonials https://www.flylady.net/morning-musing although I have to warn you, a lot of them are a little twee and cringe worthy.

Morning all

I did complete my power of three yesterday, i just then didnt do much else!

Off work today so i'm about to get dressed and crack on ....

Ta da
🌸 dressed to shoes
❤️ first LOL on
🌸 last nights LOL in dryer
❤️ DW on
🌸 handwash pans soaking
❤️ hall swept & mopped
🌸 Tesco shop away
❤️ Fridays Tesco order started

Great ta da list THAT!

I didn't do much today in the end. I did actually do today's mission though! I keep forgetting to throw away the empty shower gel bottle that's been in there about a week, so got that gone today.
I washed 2 LOLs. DS cleaned the bathrooms and rotated the DW. I finished filling it up and got it started. Carpets aren't getting cleaned right now. But, DH did make a good point: we're getting some wet and cold weather again so it'll take longer to dry. Supposed to start snowing (or raining) overnight.

Tuesday is plan & play day.

Tuesday's mission: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission/20260217-zone3-mission-2-tuesday-your-main-bathroom
Sort through your old towels & linens. Get rid of those that are worn out. Animals shelters take all sorts of towels, bedding and blankets here. I would assume the UK is the same?
In the laundry room search behind your washer & dryer for any odd socks and dust bunnies.

Baby Step 17: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/17/
Go to bed at a decent time.
I struggle with this. I'm trying, I swear! But I have a hard time going to bed before 11pm, sometimes 11:30pm, even when I have to wake up at 5:30am for work!
Don't forget your morning and bedtime routines!

Thanks Hazel

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped yesterday. Today is my last day off so i think I will make a list and try to stick to it.

One of the big dc did a not bad tidy of the kitchen after I went to bed so this morning Ive sprayed and wiped all the surfaces. I will aim to sweep and mop in there today.

Happy pancake day!

Ta da so far
🥞 kitchen sides wiped clean
🥞 dryer on
🥞 dw on
🥞 started filling washer (have reached bottom of downstairs basket!)
🥞 cat fed

To do list
🧹 clean out cat
🪣 empty upstairs bins
🧽 keep on top of LOL
🧹 sweep and mop kitchen
🪣 sweep and mop dining room
🧽 try and sort some of the living room toys
🧹 clean both toilets
🪣 hoover stairs and landing

Oooh, thank you for the reminder that it's pancake day!
Getting to the bottom of the basket is worthy of a celebration THAT! 🥳 it looks like a good list of ta das and to dos! Don't forget to get some rest in there also.

Today I've got a couple appts so not as lazy today. DS is home sick as well, again.

To dos:
☕️ get hair done/ makeup on/ ready for the day
☕️ take dogs to groomer
☕️ hair appt for me
☕️ bank
☕️ shopping (I need to find some shoes for me, and maybe some boots)
☕️ laundry (mainly sheets & towels)
☕️ grocery shopping (shouldn't be much as we have quite a bit of leftovers)
☕️ vacuum & mop
☕️ clean both bathrooms

I'm really not sure I can get everything done, I should have done more yesterday, but it was nice to relax.

Morning, i have spent the last 4 days in bed with a horrible bug. Up and about today (rather gingerly) so tadas:
💝4 LOLs
💝2 LOLs then dried folded and put away
💝 bathroom cleaned
💝 bedroom aired

ED I've had my tubs stored with lids on for a couple of years and it's made such a difference. Only (and I'm sure this won't apply to you!) we find we have to be a little more diligent than we were about washing and drying properly, because if they are not completely clean they can fester a bit.

Yes, I put it off for a while because of that, I've found the same with water bottles stored with lids on they get musty but separately they get lost. We leave all tubs and lids overnight on the drainer to get them properly dry, not just teatowel dry so 🤞

Happy pancake day.

@DillyDeclutter sorry to hear you've been poorly.

@THATflowersandheartsbullshit I'm looking forward to the stage of parenting when DC clean the kitchen after I'm in bed...I know we need to work more on getting DD 7 to tidy.

I'm trying to ignore piles of my mess and doing some babysteps...in the theme of decluttering, I also listed a whole load of outgrown clothes on vinted, mostly £1 each but was actually disappointed when one sold, as I had to pack it and take it to a parcel shop. I'd even commented on it how worn it was. I'll stick to buddles from now on. And I'm giving a bag to a relative tomorrow.

I am tired, work is busy with people off sick, and I could apply for a promotion but I'm procrastinating...the vinted listings also less productive things. It seems like the natural step, but I don't know if I want the stress.

So housework has taken a back seat for me. I'm doing swish and swipe and kitchen sink cleaning.