May flowers & spring cleaning - flylady style

[BloomingHazel]

With spring in the air and nicer weather here/on its way, there's no better time to start a new housekeeping routine!
I will give you a heads up, I've not been on mn daily just lately, so hopefully I'll remember to post the links!

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. you have been warned! 😂

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines. Try not to do too much at once, you don't want to get overwhelmed.
There are 5 zones that we will rotate through each month, 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. I will explain these further as we come across them.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse (handbag) out. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
• Saturday: family fun day - no missions
• Sunday: renew your spirit - no missions

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.

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

Baby steps: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/ it's not technically flylady, but they're still working on the new site.

A big shout out to Positive for running April's thread, I'm sorry I didn't add much to it.

https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/
Baby Step 1: shine your sink!
Empty your sink (preferably washing your dishes etc first). Fill it up with bleach water, soak. Drain it after a few minutes, scrub and wipe dry. Shine with window cleaner and buff.
There is no one right way to do it, so do whatever works for you. The main thing is your sink is empty and shiny before you go to bed, so you walk into your kitchen in the morning and see an empty, shiny sink!
It actually makes a big difference. Don't believe me? Try it!

We are in zone 1: entryway, porch & dining room https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission
The mission hasn't updated for me yet, but hopefully it'll be updated for you! (I'm 7 hours behind you in the states).
If nothing else, spend 15 minutes at your front door: shake out your door mat, sweep your step and wipe down grubby fingerprints. Set your timer and go!

I'm currently fighting a cold. It's awful.

TMI alert: read ahead if you have an uneasy stomach or are eating!
Anyway, I did a full day of work today, came home to a house smelling of shit. Poor coco had diarrhea hit her while in her kennel (contained at least!). So, had to carefully get her outside, then try to clean everything up, before getting her back inside to give her a bath. Then she shit on me. Not fun. 🙄
I threw away her towel we had in the kennel (old hand towel, decades old). There was no trying to save it.

Okay, the worst has been said.. (for those of you who skipped the nasty stuff).
So, kennel has now been cleaned, dog bathed and floors mopped. Towels from bathing has been washed in hot water, now drying in the dryer.
Medicine given to try to settle her stomach. She seems to be feeling better now.
I was planning on relaxing on the couch with a hot toddy.
I got the hot toddy, just not sitting down!
It's bedtime!

Thanks @BloomingHazel for new thread, and thanks Positive for running April's.
LOLs up to date (but not put away), not much else going on.
Poor Coco, hope she gets better soon 💐
One of my dogs has a sensitive tummy and I know the smell far too well!
I'm going away this morning for the weekend but hope to get flying next week.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Thank you @BloomingHazel for taking on the thread once again.

Today so far:
Dw x 1
Lol x1
Some general tidying.

Need to tackle laundry mound of despair.

I'd like to do another big job this month as it really makes me feel like we are achieving. So April we painted the porch, it's made a huge difference. Still waiting for DH to caulk in bathroom as I think I could manage to paint the bathroom without too much upheavel. And I have pictures that would look good on the wall which would also be a small contribution to decluttering the spare room.

Though may just work in garden as the weather is pretty good.

Thank you @BloomingHazel sorry you've had such a shit start to May....

@Positivepositron I'm thinking about some bathroom changes too, we were thinking about having it completely redone (last done about 2001) but actually we are too busy and functionally it is OK so the cost would be a lot for essentially cosmetic changes so I'm thinking about new flooring and paint. Our tiles are a bit dated but those are harder to change.

Thanks blooming hazel. Came down to a sink full of dishes this morning. Came home early from work, cleaned the sink, put on some laundry and having a lay down. I don't think a naps going to happen so I'll get on with other jobs....soon.

Thank you @BloomingHazel

Not got much done today as I've not been well but have at least got some laundry put away and another load in, plus a quick S+S in the bathroom and kitchen.

Going to be away from home for a couple of days. How does it work with the zones at the start of the month? Do we only get 2 days in zone 1 this time? If so I think I'll need to do zone 1 next week as well as the kitchen, because my kitchen isn't awful but my hallway and stairs really do need cleaning!

Im also not planning on changing anything major in the bathroom. I have used some wicker baskets to neaten it up and want to paint it, put up pictures and maybe a shelf
Possibly replace the mirror cupboard, I've just thought about it and it is 17 years old and the condensation has got in the mirror a bit and it wasn't a particularly fancy one when I bought it.

I have folded almost all of my laundry backlog. And done a bit if general tidying. Hosting again this weekend so will be doing all over tidy, food shopping for buffet and preparing and tidying afterwards so probably won't make any forward progress this weekend, we will see.
Porch has stayed clean and tidy since last month and dining side of dining room not bad. Kitchen not bad. Hoping to go through some more cupboards. Decluttering helps so much.

kat I think it'll be changing to zone 2 next week, but I could be wrong. With the changes to the website and app it's been hard to keep up with it. I hope you're feeling better soon 💐

Cherry it is a very distinct smell! I think poor Coco was stressed out. DS & I were gone for a few days last week, DS left again yesterday morning for another band trip and DH & I were home late last night. It seems her stomach has settled again now.
I hope you have a nice weekend away!

Positive being outside when the weather is nice is a good idea! Save the bathroom job for a rainy day!

ED literally shit start to the month!, well I guess technically April ended shitty 😂

Always it sounds like you've been productive after work.

DH & I went out for dinner for a leaving meal for one of DHs coworkers. She'll come to our BBQs etc after leaving, but she got a job offer that she couldn't refuse.

DH had to clean up after Coco today on his lunch break. Hopefully it's good enough, my nose is stuffed up so I can't smell anything!

Saturday is family fun day.
There are no missions on Saturdays.

Baby Step 2: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/2/ get dressed to lace up shoes, in the morning.
We are a no shoes household, but this means get dressed and ready for the day to me. To flylady it literally means shoes, but she could have shoes for just inside. Do whatever works for you and your family.
In the evening (before bed), shine your sink.

Ds woke us up early. At 6 I got up, did nothing to get ready, we had breakfast together, did Lego now I'm crashed on the sofa, DH is taking him grosery shopping so now should be my 2nd attempt. I will tomorrow, not go downstairs until I've washed my face and got fully dressed.

Morning and happy May all!

Thanks for the threads hazel & positive

Looking forward to the long weekend here 😎

Ta da

☀️ 2 x LOL
⛱️ dc to activities
🍦 quick trip to shops
☀️ LOL on line
⛱️ cat litter changed
🍦 dishes washed
☀️ everyone fed x2 (no one dead)
⛱️ odd sock basket sorted through

Always I like your plan for mornings. I do feel I'm more motivated to get things done when I'm dressed & makeup on 1st thing.

THAT you've had a productive day today! Hopefully you've rested a bit too.

So far I've had my coffee, but it's still morning here.
To dos:
☕️ shower & get dressed etc.
☕️ repaint my nails
☕️ buy more wet dog food for Dobby, since he likes this new one we've got
☕️ go to next big town with ILs to return a not needed fence panel
☕️ stop at a couple other stores to get much needed items
☕️ dinner at ILs

I probably should wash a LoL as well, but I'm not pushing myself today. My cold does seem to be going away with each day, thankfully. I could actually smell my coffee this morning! But not much else.

What is everyone up to today? Anything fun?

I start each month with great enthusiasm, then fall by the wayside after a couple of weeks. I’m determined not to let the same thing happen this month.

With that in mind, I want to tackle the kitchen, utility area, and laundry pile today. Then follow the routine more closely.

Scourgify I think we all struggle to keep up at times.
If you need to, set a timer to get started. That's what I had to do on Tuesday so I would actually get things done, instead of sitting down on the couch and not accomplishing anything!

I did actually get everything done on my list, including a LoL!

Today I need to meal plan and go grocery shopping. I also want to get some food ready for my lunches as well.
I also want to do a version of home bleugh, and DH might actually help me, we'll see.
I also need to spend some time outside, pull some weeds and cut off the flowers from my rhubarb.

Sunday is renew your spirit day.
This is very individual as it could be anything that helps you unwind and reset for the week.

This could be a number of things: going to church, walking in nature, reading a book, taking a bath, running a marathon, hiking up a mountain, taking a nap. Anything!

You could also spend some time on self care: scrub your body in the shower/bath, apply lots of moisturiser afterwards, paint your nails (fingers/toes), dye your hair, try a face mask, use serums etc on your face.

Spend time alone or with family. Watch a movie, read a book, play board games, bake something.

Hopefully there's something in the list that might appeal to you.

Baby Step 3: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/3/
Spend some time getting familiar with Flylady. Check out her website: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission
As well as her app, that you can personalise.
The website is new, so doesn't have everything on there. Last time I looked into it she wants you to pay for the baby steps (sshhhhh 🤫).
She also has a Facebook page, that she updates a lot as in, there's multiple posts per day.

Also, don't forget to shine your sink at night (put out clean tea towels and cloths etc, as stated on the baby steps link above).
And get dressed to shoes each morning.

Monday is home bleugh.
Vacuum main areas of the floor, empty bins, change sheets, just a quick job, 10 minutes in each room. This can also be spread out through the week..

Baby Step 4: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/4/
Write down the 2 baby steps so far, on sticky notes:
🌷Shine sink
🌷Get dressed to shoes
Put these up somewhere as a reminder, like on your bathroom mirror.

Mission: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission/20260504-zone-2-mission-1-monday-your-kitchen
We are in the kitchen this week. Today's mission is to wipe down the small appliances in your kitchen. Microwave, toaster, coffee maker etc. Just do a quick job of wiping them down with a damp cloth (unplug before cleaning so you don't get a shock!). Shine them with a dry cloth afterwards.

Morning all

Aim of today is finish the home bleurgh and be my future friend - main aim there is sort uniforms for the week

Could also do with cleaning my fridge because that's looking a bit grim

What glorious weather for the bank holiday.
We had a lovely, if slightly boozy garden party yesterday.

Mostly all cleared up. Washing machine been on.
One more kitchen cupboard cleared and tidied. Another bag for life of charity shop stuff collected from room of despair. A picture frame rescued from said room and put on display.
Few bits and pieces from the spare room have been binned. Wheelie bin collection tomorrow so can start decluttering again.

Hello, I'm back. Been having a shitty time but I'm jumping back in rather than giving up. Snatched a mini victory from the jaws of defeat earlier by cleaning the dirt out of the shoe rack and washing a couple of drawers in the fridge. Washing machine and dishwasher are on too.

Been away from home this weekend so no weekly bleurgh today. Will get some of it done in bits over the week, planning on doing the sheets tomorrow.