There's no fooling an April fledgling flyer

[MiniMarmite]

Welcome to the April edition of the fledgling flyers where shower screens are shiny and rain never stops play.

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

This is what it's all about - Babysteps each day to try to get some order back into our home with LOADS of support from our regulars.

So join in! We start this thread on April 1st (no joke), but you are welcome to dive in at any point in the month.

Splish, splash, swish and swash along to reserve your place...

Evening all.
mrsd enjoy your weekend of peace and hopefully the football will be good too!
SC have a lovely holdiay and elliepac glad you had a good time too. I hope you have a good trip to London , chairmum and sounds as though DEM had a lovely day as well.

I have done no flying and there is a sink full of pots. DD2 and DH are watching Casualty and coughing like flemmy old men. It is REALLY irritating. They sound like they should both be on screen behind a curtain somewhere. I must resolve to be more patient

DD1 is a little more cheery today and has made some progress towards revision. She is having blood tests to check thyroid and hormone levels. Somewhat bizarrely I almost hope there is something wrong, so it can be sorted out, iyswim.

I finished 'The Little Stranger' today - got better as it went on - I took a while to get into it but then it became gripping. The ending is ambiguous and I haven't quite decided what I think but it stays with you!

Yesterday I treated myself to 4 books from the charity shop - very pleased but went through them today to choose the next one and started the one I liked the look of, only to find I've read it before . Please note I don't need any more books - have got a shelful waiting to be read (and a bag in the bedroom ) This is not in the fly lady spirit as it only adds to the clutter but I do find having them about therapeutic

Right, my choices are:

• wash up and tidy kitchen
• read book
• stay on computer too long

Must do the former and then I won't feel too guilty about the other two!

MissB - I bought some new ones the other week, got home and found I already had a copy of one of them! Had to go back to Waterstones muttering about finding my MIL had just turned up with a pile of books for me with the same one in (was sort of true, except it was about 6 months earlier). Doh! I love having my books around me too and find it hard to walk past a charity shop without looking at the books. Have recently found that I can fit about 20 in the bottom drawer of my bedside cabinet having decluttered it previously, very pleased with that.

Right, going to turn off the computer, watch half an hour of telly and go to bed.

Evening Ladies

Thanks for your anniversary wishes . We had a lovely evening but I'm not sure that watching Harry Potter counts as being romantic !

Fabulous weather here today - we had a long walk (well as long as you can with a toddler in tow who feels the need to inspect every stone en route) followed by a pub lunch...and then I had a nap! DS had his first ever ice lolly today - he didn't quite understand that he had to hold the stick and not the lolly - you can imagine the mess!

Linzertorte sending some warm and sunny vibes your way .

Did you get all the passport photos done PA? That reminds me, I must renew mine.

Glad you had a good break with good weather Ellie but sorry to hear your Uncle is so unwell.

Sounds like a busy day DEM? Dinner in the garden sounds good. I had planned the same but was a bit cold by the time we got to dinner time.

Hope you enjoyed your MN meeting Chairmum, how exciting .

Sounds like you had a busy day MrsD but ice cream must have helped . I need to do my rugs too, especially after reading your earlier post! .

Sounds like a fab day Nettie, glad to hear you are taking a day off from flying.

MissB you sound like me! I have piles of books that I want to read and lots that I have read that I can't bear to part with but really need to so we can minimise the chaos!

Good morning everyone, hope everyone managed a lie-in today.

Today's babystep is one I still need to do after months of flying!

No missions or decluttering today so some time to enjoy the sunshine .

Have a great day.

Hey all

I have never ever done that page either MM

Sorry to have gone awol yet again, but sadly after posting last Sunday to say how well my dad was doing he took a bad turn, had a fall and started to bleed. It turned out one of his tumour's has ruptured and they werent able to stop the bleed and he died at 3pm on Monday. Was a huge shock to us all as you can imagine.
The funeral is on Wednesday and at the moment we are in that awful limbo stage

I am ranging between manic cleaning- scrubbed the entire lounge, kitchen, hallway and downstairs loo floors on hands and knees and couch potato-ing and have done huge amounts of de-cluttering which is massively cathartic. Oh and still loving the roomba.

Hope everyone is ok xx

sorry to hear that DTG. Cleaning is cathargic (?) healing when there is nothing else to be done. I am a manic cleaner too.

DTG, I'm so sorry, thinking of you and your family xxx

So sorry to hear that DTG ((((hugs)))). Just get through as best you can and dont expect too much of yourself.

MissB - We are friends with a lady who runs a charity book shop, which is a bit lethal. A few months ago I gave her about 3 boxes of books for her shop, then about a month later I went and browsed in her shop and came home with 10 books. Only to find that 6 of them were ones that I had passed on to her. I have never had the nerve to take them back, but now have another box to give to her once I have marked the books somehow, so that it doesn't happen again. I have a shelf of "to be read" and I love having a full shelf. Must "thin out" the other shelves though to make room for some more.

MrsD - Did you hear my DH shout when Chelsea scored yesterday? I am sure the whole of the Isle of wight did!! Certainly frightened the cats!!! Come on Pompey today we want to thrash you in the final!! Have a good day today!

We have a big church service today at the local theatre with lots of other churches and I have promised the DCs a lunch out afterwards.
All my sofa covers are in the washing machine and I will will peg them out on the line before we go.
Passport photos done, so need to sort out final bits and get them in the post first thing tomorrow.
Must try and find some time for some work that I bought home to do this week, but have not quite got round to it yet.

I am very pleased I have managed a week off without having to go and save the world by popping into the office. I have only had 4 phone calls and about 12 emails, which is brilliant as normally when I just have one day off one of my jobs I will ALWAYS have at least a couple of calls to sort something out. Back to mayhem on Tuesday I am sure!

Have a good day everyone.

DTG - so sorry to hear your news.

MrsD - westham score was not good news was it as least they are still playing and tax man hasnt done his worst yet.

Have a nice day PA

Best advice given to me recently was to be kind to myself, try to do something other then cleaning DTG

I am off out into the garden again... Ds' last day of holiday so need to keep him busy and out of trouble.

Tomorrow will be proper sort everything out day. there is a long list. A very long list.

I need a list and the guilt of having to report as i really cba today.

Clean:
sand pit out
garden toys
toy box
water feature liner
ds

Build water feature

Finish digging flower bed and plant flower seeds.

Plant strawberries
Repot ameryllis and hope.

Clear paths and barked area from last winters debrie.

Garden center to pick a plant or something for my room, and see it can get the stones wanted for water feature.

Right off for breakfast. Will be back later to report jobs done.

Just a fly through as busy cooking sunday lunch.

DTG am so sorry about your dad. ((((hugs)))) Have been through the same experience myself and there are no right or wrong ways to deal with it, just your way. Keep on cleaning if it works for you.

Thinking of you and your family. xxxxx

Hi everyone - just back from Suffolk and just caught up with the thread.

First and most importantly I just wanted to say how sorry I am DTG about your Dad. Nothing to add really to Ellies wise post but do look after yourself. Sending you really big (((hugs)))...

DEM - wow! That's all I can say regarding your gardening and DIY skills! Bet your garden looks fab now...

Whoever, suggested 'The Secret Life of Bees', thanks! I have just wrestled it back from my DD and am going to finish it today!

MissB - I know exactly how you feel regarding your DDs illness. I also hope that you can find something simple to fix! I wish my DS would get down to some revision. (AS levels next month) However, he has it 'all under control'and assures me it's far too early to start! . I think the driving test in Wednesday is taking up his thoughts atm!

Hi to everyone else! Nettie, Chairmum, MrsD (enjoy Wembley1), Pa, SC and of course MM (glad you had a nice anniversary!lol at Harry Potter and the ice lolly!)

Hi to anyone I've missed.

Must go and 1) check DS2 and DD are actually cleaning out the rabbits and 2) cook roast!

See you all tomorrow from under my ironing pile!

sorry OM but had to snigger re: your comment of looking fantastic. It is a bombsite and requires serious work to tame. but progress has been made and my back hurts. SO giving up for tonight.

Clean:
sand pit out
garden toys
toy box done onc needs redoing.
water feature liner done
ds

Build water feature done hope to put picture on profile later.

Finish digging flower bed and plant flower seeds.

Plant strawberries tried but pots need drainage holes and drill wasnt going through the metal. so need to find punch and hammer.
Repot ameryllis and hope. done got 3 out of the original pot.

Clear paths and barked area from last winters debrie.

Garden center to pick a plant or something for my room, and see it can get the stones wanted for water feature. done. Although didnt come back with plant but ok due to plant splitting and gaining.

I have also been to look for tiles as we are converting ds' little wooden ikea table (that came with wooden chairs) into a coffe table by painting and tiling so i can now pick the tiles and that will be something else that can get done.

I need to pick up my 3 boxes tomo so i can get cracking on getting cleared out. I am going to try to down size mine and ds' stuff before we move.

I also need to sort out my cv and get sent out for various job applications. HAving of course done the dreaded job search part. I hope to move by the summer, or september at the very least. That would be the ideal plan.

dtg so sorry about ur dad. Take extra special care of you!

Evening Ladies,

Why does the weekend have to go so quickly? Can't complain though as I've had a very enjoyable weekend, including having our first BBQ of the year (v important to Aussie DH)!

DTG I hope things are as well as can be expected with you and that you are managing to get some rest and comfort. We will all be thinking of you this week and especially on Wednesday when I'd like to have one of our 'quiet days reserved for sad times' on here if that's ok with you.

Glad you had a good and relatively uninterupted week off PA. I did lol at your book shopping/donating story!

DEM I am hugely impressed that you would even contemplate building a water feature, you're amazing!

Ellie hope you had a delicious Sunday lunch

OM Don't get lost under that ironing pile! I need to do mine (well I always need to do mine).

I can't remember when SR is back.

I really must change my nickname back!

Good Morning Ladies

Today's babystep is for everyone who has signed up for the flylady emails and also about keeping your routines going.

We're moving to a new Zone today: the bathroom and another room for decluttering and missions.

Have a good day.

Hey all

Thank you for all your kindness
I am doing ok- I think as someone said cleaning and decluttering can be quite cathartic especially as it makes you feel in control when you are not feeling in control of anything else

Its a really sweet offer MM and it would be lovely to have positive thoughts coming from you lovely ladies, but I really dont want to drag anyone down or make them feel they cant have fun or be frivolous. Life is most definitely too short

Thank you to you all xx

Morning all,

Have big plans for this week. Am aiming to do a big spring clean of the whole house. It is quite tidy due to me being off work so am planning to seize the day and actually get it clean rathr than just tidy.

Today, I am tackling the kitchen. You all will have shoeboxes bigger than my kitchen and it is full of clutter which makes it look even smaller. There is also the pantry which is used as a general dumping ground and also houses the tumble dryer. The plan for today looks like this:

Declutter top of fridge
Declutter worksurfaces
Declutter windowsills
Clean cupboard fronts
Wipe down all surfaces
Sort out cupboards so pantry is used as pantry bar tumble dryer
General 'keep on top' tidy of everything else
Washing ad infinitum

dtg glad you are doing as ok as poss. You are most definitely not dragging us down, we would just like to support you as best we can from this wierd little virtual world we live in

mm sunday roast was delicious even if I say so myself . It has taken 15 years since i moved out of home, but I have finally cracked how to cook a good roast, can't cook much else mind,not a strong point of mine

dem when you've finished your garden, will you nip over here and do mine, it's one task tat I hate doing, am still waiting for the lightbulb moment that I always imagined would happen when i get olf and suddenly like gardening, not happened yet .

chairmum an mn meetup, how very exciting! Who were you meeting, did it go well?

Had better go and put those big plans into practice. Very good at talking the talk me, not so good at walking the walk, we shall see....

oops, must be early, too many typos in that post to even consider correcting them all. Sorry!

Good morning Ladies,

Just enjoyed my last lie-in for a very long time!

DTG - Will be thinking of you on Wednesday.

Ellie - Good luck with your "blitz". I did a good spring clean last week and it felt sooooo good! I am with you on the gardening front. I just do not enjoy it. LOL at waiting for the "old" gene to kick in. I really dont want to feel old (older than I feel now) so will fight it all the way. DH is a manager of a garden centre and we embarrassingly have the worst garden of the street!

MM - ooooh a BBQ. Summer must be on its way!

MrsD - Well done to Pompey. I hope you had a good day, especially after the bad news on Saturday. Will you still speak to me after the final? I feel a bit bad now.

OM - Glad you had a good time away and fingers crossed for the driving test.

Waves to Chairmum and MissB and DWM and everyone else around this week.

Today I need to do a weekly shopping run. (GGrrrrr!)
A bit of therepautic cooking this afternoon I think
Replace front room cleaned sofa covers
washing mountain to be conquered
Relax and chill and enjoy one final day before work tomorrow. May go out for a long walk if DCs either want to come too, or on my own if they are busy.

Have a good day everyone.

Morning all,

After spending far too long getting sidetracked this morning (really must work on that 4th commandment), I've now been rushing round trying to get my morning routine done - time for a coffee, I think.

Very envious that you've had a weather good enough for a BBQ MiniMarmite - it's gone back to winter here (though not too much sleet in the end, thank goodness).

elliepac - hope the spring cleaning gets off to a good start. I really need to sort out my kitchen as well, as things are liable to fall out whenever I open a cupboard door and it's not going to declutter itself.

PA - hope you enjoy your last day at home. I really ought to get organised enough to do our weekly shop during the week (I'm just a bit worried about work arriving while I'm out), as I usually end up going at the weekend with the DC which is just a recipe for stress.

Chairmum - also very nosey about your MN meet up. And a bit too - I don't know any other MNers in Austria, let alone near to us.

DTG - thinking of you (and a quiet day on Wednesday sounds like an excellent idea, MiniMarmite)

List for today:
Routines
Letter to bank
27 fling boogie in kitchen
15 declutter bathroom
Mission

Waves to everyone; hope you all have a good day!

Morning!
No computer access yesterday so catching up today.
DTG so sorry to hear about your dad. You sound to be coping brilliantly and I can only echo the advice to be kind to yourself. And a quiet day Wednesday very appropriate.

PA, minim, mrsd glad I'm not the only one who is overrun by books and I did laugh at pa's tale So easily what I might do!

DEM your garden sounds wonderful! Am next in line for inspiration please!!

OM hope the driving test goes well. Am finding this revision very stressful. However, I am well on my way to an AS in Biology.

Ellie am inspired by your spring clean - is what I need to do and mentally I have done it many times

Well, I seem to have done the mission without knowing it as the bathroom got a good clean this morning whilst I was running my bath I don't, however, have a laundry room but I've got a load on the go at the moment!

Have got a week off work this week and my challenges are:
-clear out old car that is on drive and get rid (quite a challenge this as DH has filled it full of boxes which are full of who knows what!) And he needs to be involved in the clear out and as I only started talking about it 3 weeks ago and his run up time to any job is about 3 years I'm not sure how we'll get on
-buy files to create new system for paperwork (which is mentally planned out!)
-move tubs in our bedroom put there from DD2 clearing out her room
-encourage DD1 to sort out the heap of clothes in her room
-more Biology revision
-family day out
-have first part of my Christmas present which is a Clarins treatment at John Lewis

And speaking of filing systems, please can I pick your collective brains? I thought ring binders labelled as follows: house, car, financial, personal for me, personal for DH and one for each DD. Does that sound OK? I can then subdivide with dividers, e,g, car could have two sections, one for each car. Or can anyone suggest anything better? I have got to get these piles under control. (Along with the books)

Right, off to do Biology.......

Morning all,

MissB - I totally overhauled my filing before Christmas (that is went through 25years worth and kept a bit chucked the rest and started a new filing system). It works really well, but I have more files than I anticipated. I have one per tax year for things like bank statements to keep for 5 years, one per tax year (to keep things simple) for bills etc to keep for 2 years, then a separate, permanent one for each of the DCs, House (tradesmen receipts, insurance etc), 2 x car, important stuff (share certificates etc), pensions, health related stuff, personal (old letters etc), memberships etc. Sounds like you are definitely on the right track

PA - conversely will you still be speaking to me after 15th May?

Got to go, DCs are squealing, back later

I think the gardening gene generally kicks in before 10yo. I have been gardening since old enough to walk, as has ds. We do simple stuff. Potatoes in potatoe bags, low maintainance (no grass) raised beds and paths. The water feature was simple plus cam eout cheaper to build it myself then to buy made. wooden tub £10, Plastic trug £5, pump £20, grill £5, stones £5 and external plug £5. so I make that £50 and to buy made i think the average was 80ish. Need some chemicals for the water which will be coupld pounds maintance, but ds is drinking the water so need to sort that out first. I want some colourful structure so hoping to get a red cordaline to go in my silver pot.

Going to try to get some work done today and employing my newly bought 3 boughts and timer.