September Flylady: Fledglings inspired to make a fresh start at the beginning of a brand new term!

[mixedpeel]

Whether you're starting to build a new routine, stuck in a rut, or been around for years, join us on the monthly Flylady thread! Flylady has created a series of daily and weekly prompts to help anyone who finds it tricky to get or keep their house clean and tidy. She totally gets it if you feel overwhelmed or don't even know where to start - as do we! The best thing about Flylady is that you are never behind - just jump in at whatever point you are at, and do what you can.

This is a long running thread, but as a newbie myself I can confirm everyone is very friendly and all are welcome to join in. We spur each other on, but also commiserate when life gets in the way and we don't get as much done as we might have wanted to.

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
We usually link to the daily missions (jobs to do in whichever zone we're in) every day, but the new website doesn't seem to be working for me right now. I will keep trying, but they should update every day so you can click the link yourself to check. We will post the missions in the thread too so don't worry about missing anything. Most importantly, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day. I have taken one for the team but use a junk email address. I will check them periodically and report anything interesting / useful

Flylady also tries to help us get into habits so that eventually we do things without even having to think about them. She has 31 baby steps to gradually pick up (on the previous website, since the link isn't working on the new site yet): https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/

Daily focus: each day of the week has a different focus. It's not all jobs jobs jobs by the way.
Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
Tuesday: plan & play
Wednesday: anti-procrastination
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clean car & purse out day. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
Saturday: family fun day
Sunday: renew your spirit

If you can, it's worth downloading the app (link on the flylady website), you can even have it send you notifications. You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle. There is a paid version and a free version, though the missions haven't been updating on the free app.

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

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 probably more, feel free to ask us to explain something!

@KitsyWitsy your sewing room is wonderful. Thanks for the bonus dog too! Glad to know you’re still making progress with the house. Tip run and vinted sales in particular are good highlights from the past week.

You’ve got a big week coming up, what with job interview and viva. I wish you all the best in both. I’m more than slightly curious about your Apps - one of my DSs was keen to create an App a couple of years ago, but of course you need the idea first! No need to give any more details if you don’t wish to.

I’ve had a very restorative weekend with all of us here for the first time in ages. DS1 moved out just before DS2 returned from uni back in the summer. It’s nice to find we do all still like each other! We went to the cinema yesterday afternoon and ate there afterwards, then played Wingspan in the evening. Today we had a lovely walk with the dog along the river, then did an afternoon session of Wingspan so we could fit in an evening game of Ticket to Ride after dinner.

Amongst all this I’ve done S&S without thinking about it, 2 LOLs, cleaned out the rabbit, tidied the kitchen, DS2 has done his LOLs, I did the food shop after the walk today, and walked the dog (just her and me) yesterday. Plus went to the gym yesterday morning. The low bike is really good for my hip mobility, and also is the only way I can get out of breath for some good cardio exercise. My walking is just too slow (waiting for hip replacement on second side - the right hip was done last December and is so fab I can’t wait to have the left sorted too!)

Hope everyone has had something enjoyable this weekend.

Today’s update.

✅2 x LOL - got it out early and it was just dry before it rained
✅grass cut in the short interval between the dew drying and the rain starting
✅baked bread in the air fryer - success! Only did a small loaf in case it hit the roof but think I could double it next time
✅menu planning and food shopping - first big shop for a couple of weeks, we have been winging it.
✅total clear out of the main fridge shelves (did salad drawer yesterday, door can wait)
✅mini clear out of the garage fridge
✅admin - loads of it
✅DW on

my routines all slipped when I went away last weekend, but I am getting back on track. I haven’t stuck to zones very well this month but considering I’ve been away for a few days twice and DH still has his broken arm things aren’t too bad. I am also tackling DD’s room, she doesn’t seem to have taken much back to uni and it is a mess in there so I am setting my timer for 10 mins most days to tackle that.

@ExpertlyDecluttering that air fryer bread looks like a barnstorming success! Another thing that won’t need the big oven on… I fancy the air fryer is saving even more energy at the very hot temperatures compared to an oven, but don’t have any figures to prove it. Talking of proving, did you just use a standard method for making the dough? It really looks beautiful inside.

Glad to know the house is not too bad despite one-armed DH and your absences. Best of luck with DD’s room, and hope your routines get back on track. Your mention of mowing the lawn reminded me that ours is really out of hand. Which is extraordinary when it was a yellow desert a few short weeks ago. Nature really bounces back as much as it possibly can, doesn’t it. I’ve found myself really moved by all the birds and wildlife busying themselves about. I look at them and think “you brought up your families and survived through those endless dry weeks and months” - honestly I don’t know how they managed. I’m sure some have suffered, and maybe others didn’t make it, but all those flying around now, or burying nuts in the squirrels’ case, lived through it either as parents or young growing into adults. Just amazing.

@ExpertlyDecluttering that loaf looks great especially in an air fryer. My cheap bread maker always left the paddle in the loaf. I thought they all did that till I realised my new one definitely doesn’t except maybe on the rare occasion. It always irked me cutting down on the metal and having huge annoying gaps especially as it only made small loaves so half was just a hole. I won’t be sorry to leave that experience behind.

DS has been away a few days and was just 🤦‍♀️ what have you bought now and why. He loves my sourdough bread best but it’s such a long winded pfaff. And to me fresh bread then toast is just the best no matter what type it is. My sourdough is pretty amazing though but now the weather is getting colder it takes so long to bulk ferment. Was easier during the heatwave.

@KitsyWitsy good luck 🤞 re your job we’re all rooting for you.

@mixedpeel yes I do hope many animals survived the relentless heat.

My Ta Da was to sit down and concentrate on reading my book which I’m thoroughly enjoying. It’s ’All The Light We Cannot See’ by Anthony Doerr. I S&S and am now always happy walking into my kitchen which I’m keeping very clean and tidy despite all the appliances the surface itself is wiped down and all dishes in DW or washed up soon after use.

Welcome to the start of another week, everyone. Glad the Panasonic is already working out for you, @PeonyBulb. Nice to have a paddle-free loaf after all this time!

Babystep 28: take time for yourself
https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/28/
This is such an important reminder. In all the whirl of looking after the household and everyone in it, it’s very easy to push our own needs down to the bottom of the list. All the phrases about this are true: you can’t pour from an empty cup, you need to put your own oxygen mask on first, etc etc. It’s crucial to consider your own wellbeing as well as everyone else’s. So make sure you do at least one thing you want to do every single day.

Monday is of course Home Blessing/Home Bleugh day. Quick once over of visible floors with the hoover, empty the bins and change the beds. Do this today or another day which is more convenient for you. Several people do this in parts over different days. Whenever you choose to do it, the principle is a speedy 10 minutes or so per room.

New week, new zone: the living room. We will be here Monday to Wednesday. Today head in there and deal with any hotspots that have built up. Everyone’s will be different.

We have a dog who by temperament is the most good-natured creature you would wish to meet, but is also part terrier so sees it as essential to rip any dog toy to shreds. The whole living room is currently decorated with the fluffy innards of her most recent victim, plus tiny unrecognisable pieces of its outer fabric. I’m pleased to see though that the teetering pile of books and stuff I cleared from a side table last month has not returned. I think the pile had gradually grown taller and more teetering over the past six or seven months. So I hadn’t bothered to take 2 minutes to move stuff elsewhere for all that time. I do appreciate that in busier households the ‘nature abhors a vacuum’ rule often applies, and a clear surface is quickly monopolised by other people’s stuff. This definitely used to happen here, but only one DS is currently living with us, and he keeps all his stuff in his own room. He’s just one of those people who (as an adult at least) naturally doesn’t garnish the whole house with his things. DH does have numerous piles on and around his wfh desk area, but I don’t count those.

Read on for a sneak peek of the next two missions:

Zone 5: Mission 2 Tuesday

Flylady prescribes a proper dusting of all your ornaments, picture frames, lamps etc. While you’re aiming to do a proper job, she advises us to stick some music on and move quickly round - you might be surprised how fast you finish, possibly even in as little as 5 minutes!

Zone 5: Mission 3 Wednesday

To the living room for the final time this month. Flylady says this is one her favourite missions in this space: the sofa and chair dive! What delights will you find down the back or under the cushions? If it’s anything like our house you’ll need to arm yourself with the hoover to suck up a mountain of goodness knows what, but before you switch it on definitely use your magpie eyes to spot any lost treasure.

I've stalled for a few days because I've got a dicky tummy, only just caught up with the thread.
@KitsyWitsy your room is lovely!

My attempts to make "normal" bread haven't been very successful, but I can make a decent soda loaf/farls when the mood takes me.
I was watching Facebook reels last night, cleaning with a gypsy mum, it inspired me to go sort out the kitchen, wiped everything down, washed pots, put DW on and shone my sink.

Thank you @mixedpeel , I wondered how the zones would work out this week. Just had the idea to copy and paste your zone paragraphs into my phone calendar thingy as a handy reminder.

Gave the washbasin and WC a better than usual S&S, dusted upstairs, swept stairs hall and kitchen and will mop them all before we go out. Thanks to the thread on grubby cups I've discovered the joy of sodium percarbonate, amazing stuff! The mop is having a soak even as we type. First lol on the go, the poor old bed blanket after being sicked on again, then it's a load of towels.

Happy flying!

@mixedpeel it was a milk dough, which has butter and milk and a tiny bit of sugar, so it is quite cakey in texture, I use the recipes to make rolls usually. I think I will try a conventional flour/water dough next time. I'd like to get back to making brad regularly. I do have a sourdough starter but find it hard remember to get it all going three days before I want the bread and although it's fairly easy it does need regular attention on day 2. I also struggle a bit with kitchen temperature, ours being too warm as we have an Everhot range cooker which is always on to some extent, so the second, overnight rise tends to overflow. I've tried the fridge but that is too cold. The shed sometimes works depending on the outside temperature. But it is all a bit of a faff and it goes hard very quickly once it's been cut into. So tasty though.

Thanks for all the kind words about my sewing room. I have cleared a few bits out of it already but im going to take a picture of what it's like now before I really start to clear it out. No doubt, I wont have sewing room in any new house so want to make some things up first. I will be taking my machine and my favourite things but just not everything... so more fabric being sold on vinted coming soon! I have a packed loft as well. I need to list at least 20 items a day to keep on top of it.

My partner left this morning to go back to Chicago. I am sad but also too busy to be too sad. Got to drop my son off at his adult day centre then go for coffee with friend. Then the rest of the day, I am prepping for the interview tomorrow with some flyladying in between.

The other zones are landing - so that's a clear win.. only carpet to clear/hoover, window to clean and windowsill / bannister/ top end of steps to clean and im calling that done.

main room is full of vinted stuff so I will just tidy it up and hoover around.

I regret my decision to go to Lidl after dropping my daughter then son off at school and nursery. It only gave me less than 2 hours at home, then I have midwife appointment at 12, then pick my son up at the same place at 1:30. Was hoping to pop to town to sort library books, but some other things... might just rest in my car instead....
Shopping is not unpacked, and nothing is done. My car windscreen is a top priority as last time I drove in cold morning sun, theres what looks like salty residue (we live miles from the sea though) on the front the wiper wash doesn't do a good job of. It's really dangerous. Ok today as not sunny but that is top priority as I could crash.

I'm going to do one of the reframing baby steps about Challenging negative thoughts
'Shopping is not unpacked, and nothing is done'
Bought some dry goods, safely stored in the hallway, I made chicken soup for my lunch, the. Rested, looking after myself and my unborn baby,'

@KitsyWitsy good luck with your interview tomorrow

@Alwaysgrowing I like your re-framing there! Spot on! Hope you can get your windscreen sorted soon.

My plan tonight is to pick up some bits from supermarket, make tea, and do home blessing.

Only hot spot in the lounge at the moment is a pile of blankets stacked up on top of a box of train set that DD never plays with anymore. We do use blankets a fair bit but don't really need 8 of them. Train set is useful when friends with young children visit and we build a track around Christmas tree in December. . . but it doesn't need to be in the lounge all year round. But where should it live?

Not got an answer to that yet. My loft dumping ground is already full of homeless items

✅️ stripped bed, freshened and vacuumed mattress, DP turned it round for me (it'll probably feel really hard now my bum shape dip is on the other side 😄), remade bed with my heavier duvet.
✅️ 4 LOLs, bedding and towels.
✅️ sorted my bag of socks out.
✅️ put clean laundry from last week away.
✅️ tidied up the huge pile of family photos that I got out months away to sort through and got bored of doing. They still need sorting but for now they're tidy.
✅️ started new charity bag.
Back on it on Wednesday.
Feel like I've done loads, just a steady plod through the day.

As the missions are quite short this week I found a detailed cleaning list for this zone on the Diane in Denmark site @Frumpyunicorn found: https://dianedenmark.com/2020/05/24/printables-zone-5-cleaningdeclutter-list/

Just in case anyone wanted some more ideas of how to use their 15 minutes today!

@CherryogDog sorry you’ve had tummy trouble. Looks like you’re back on it pretty well today. You’ve reminded me that I woke up really cold in the night so I could do with changing to a warmer duvet. Thanks for the prompt to do that.

@PamelaColmansMustard oh your poor cat is creating more LOLs than you might wish to do… hope she’s not actually feeling too poorly though. Am off to find out what sodium percarbonate is after this post - intrigued.

@ExpertlyDecluttering one of my failsafe bread recipes is an enriched dough which definitely has milk and butter in it, and like you I usually make it for small rolls (or iced buns, shhh!) so I’m inspired to try baking them in the air fryer next time.

@KitsyWitsy hope you feel ready for tomorrow’s interview. You can justifiably use words like enterprising, self-motivated, self-directed, creative to describe yourself… there is evidence for all that on this thread. Plus all the skills you will have developed in caring for and advocating for your son. You have a lot to offer.

@Alwaysgrowing I needed the reminder to reframe negative thoughts, thanks. After quite a period of improvement, I’ve had a busy couple of weeks work wise and lost two weekends (to nice things!), and I was finding myself a little bit down over how this housework stuff just needs attention all the blinking time… we have visitors again this coming weekend and there are too many areas which not as good as I now know they can be. However, what I need to say is that I know exactly what needs to be done, and I know that doing bits in 10 or 15 minutes of spare time will actually make a difference. Also, ‘progress not perfection’. Come on, mixedpeel, listen to yourself!

@HedgehogNotes, let us know if you find a spot for the train box. Can it live with your other Christmas decorations?

Ta das

Work, including nasty early start and horrible journey home (public transport in chaos)

To dos
Living room hotspot mission (mostly picking up pieces of dog toy)
Tidy kitchen after DH cooks dinner (I will eat dinner first!)
Bath and early night.

Well well well, Flylady is spot on today - she is reminding us how long it takes to establish new habits, and to take things slowly. One habit at a time, step by step, not getting bogged down in giant lists of things we ‘should’ be doing: https://flylady.net/morning-musing/are-you-piling-on

@mixedpeel Thank you, she's always been a bit of a puker; she's fine, but she's now a very old lady. Hoping she gets to her 19th in November!

Definitely progress not perfection; I used to wear myself down cleaning before visitors, and really they were here to have a good laugh and enjoy the craic, not inspect my skirting boards! You'll get there, but it's not a race and we can enjoy the journey. Sodium percarbonate is brilliant - like bleach but without the stench and you can use it in a coloureds wash too (although, I wouldn't risk something I was a bit precious about, just in case). Mopped the floors after giving the mop a soak in it - I emptied the bucket then mopped with some rose handwash then left the house; when we came back the floors were dried and looked (and smelled) really nice.

I'm getting no time for flying this week, I have 2 job applications to complete one due Wednesday and the other Friday. I will continue with s&s and lol and try and hoover under the sofa but other than that I'm not going to pressure myself this week.

After the lunchtime lull I had some afternoon energy when out.Tadas
👍Went to the library
👍Got to both gymnastics and school in good time.
👍Made a simple dinner
👍 Unpacked the shopping

Todo
👉Clean windscreen
👉 Evening routine.

@mixedpeel Your son would be able to make his app fairly easily these days. It's all vibe coding. You just learn as you go. The first app took me a couple of months to get used to all the different software etc, but now I can get an app to store within a week, no problem.. Probably less but I spread myself thin with all my endeavours. He would need pro claude at least the £20 a month version. I use the one that's £100 because I burn through tokens like nobody's business.

So today, I have been sad at my partner going. Ive been up since 5 and had coffee with friend, I did cleaning, interview prep, cooked tea for son and I've just been to body balance. Settling down with a cup of tea and missing my love so much. He is a couple of hours away from Chicago now. Going to get an early night and plan to get up early to get ready for this interview. I have a grey, knee length whistles dress. Do you think that will be OK for the interview? I have no idea what to wear :/. There's no cleavage or anything on it. It's very modest!

@KitsyWitsy Sorry you are sad that your man has gone to Chicago. It does feel very far away. November will be here in a few weeks x

Thanks for the recommendations on app-building. His main sticking point at the time was that he couldn’t think of an idea which he wanted to run with.

And the dress sounds absolutely ideal. Go in, be confident, see what happens.

My bread maker arrived and I made a delicious basic white loaf. So much better than the previous machine. And the best part is the paddle no longer stays stuck inside. I’ve preset it to make a loaf automatically for the morning.

I made some chicken stock from leftover roast chicken and washed everything up after and cleaned up the kitchen counter.

DW
LOL
S&S
Bit tricky to take a decent photo in the light but this gives a general idea.

And if anyone’s interested this is how my sourdough usually looks like. I’m making some sourdough tomorrow but not in the bread maker. I’ll experiment another time to see if I can make it successfully in there or just knead and prove it in there especially when my kitchen gets colder as bulk fermentation takes hours and hours in winter. A 2 day process is a lot, mixing, stretching and folding then bulk fermentation proving for hours, then overnight to cold prove in baneton then bake. There is a rise only function so I can try that out for the warmth.

Your bread looks lovely! Do you have a bread slicer too or just really good at cutting bread? I'm too cack handed to cut anything straight!
I've got a cheese slicer, with the wire and I still can't get a straight even slice!

@PeonyBulb that looks brilliant!

Ooh love the sourdough chat! Pleased the bread machine has worked for you @PeonyBulb - you have reminded me of another reason we don’t have one any more our house is open plan and cooking smells waft up the stairs, when we had a bread machine we couldn’t set it overnight as the smell of bread would wake me up at 5am.

@CherryogDog I never used to be able to cut bread straight, but it turned out the culprit was our cheap bread knife, someone gave us a very big sharp heavy one a few years ago and it has been a gamechanger, unfortunately it doesn’t have the brand on it, but it might be worth splashing out if you can find good reviews somewhere.

Woke up a bit early today (6am) and decided to get up after 10 mins or so, so one LOL is on the line and the next will be ready to go out very soon, DW unloaded, sink and drainer cleared and shined. I did the kitchen straight after dinner tonight and swept and mopped the floor, I know if we leave the kitchen till later no one can be bothered with the floor.

Welcome to Tuesday!

Babystep 29: write down self-care ideas
https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/29/
Yeaterday we were encouraged to take time out of each day to do something just for us. This step acknowledges that it’s common to almost have lost sight of what would even count as self-care. So use today to let your mind wander and remember what helps you recharge or lifts your spirits. Maybe there are things you realise you’d like to try but have never got round to. Start a new page in your journal to write your ideas in a list, so you can always refer back to them. Looking after mind and body is a vital part of life.

Tuesday is Plan and Play Day
A day to take time to check you’re ready for important dates in the next week or more. Other planning ideas would be to meal plan for the week, and add necessary ingredients to the shopping list. I find it really helpful to be actually in the kitchen when meal planning so you can see what’s already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. Make sure you plan in some fun! Plans don’t all mean tedious admin, they can be exciting too!

We’re still in Zone 5: the living room
Mission 2
Flylady prescribes a proper dusting of all your ornaments, picture frames, lamps etc. While you’re aiming to do a proper job, she advises us to stick some music on and move quickly round - you might be surprised how fast you finish, possibly even in as little as 5 minutes!

And read on for a sneak peek of Wednesday

Zone 5: Mission 3 Wednesday
To the living room for the final time this month. Flylady says this is one her favourite missions in this space: the sofa and chair dive! What delights will you find down the back or under the cushions? If it’s anything like our house you’ll need to arm yourself with the hoover to suck up a mountain of goodness knows what, but before you switch it on definitely use your magpie eyes to spot any lost treasure.