July's Fledgling Flyers : The dc's drive us round the bend, the school holidays descend, our sanity we will lend, and flying will be our friend

[elliepac]

Welcome to the July edition of the Fledgling Flyers where we are going to attempt to restore order in our houses, chatting as we go.

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

For those who are curious, these are the Babysteps, which we all hope will restore order in our homes and make our lives a little bit easier with lots of support (and chat, and wine, and a little more chat )

So please come and join us, old and new, from July 1st.

Well done Ellie, back with the round ups.

Hello Nick and MissB

Ooh, I'm tired again.

DH is away, DS is leaping round the house commentating on the Uruguay-Germany game (PLEASE don't go into extra time!), DD is playing because she is not going to go to bed till her brother does.

Today have been out mostly again, so still not much Flying

DCs swimming lessons - done
Home for lunch - done
DCs to trampolining and soft play (Sports Centre relatively cool so OK) - done
Weekly Sainsburys shop with DCs in tow, gulp, done
Tea - done
Clearing up - done
Gardening, 1/2 hour - done
Play football with Ds on and off all day - done.
One lot of washing - done

Never thought I'd hear myself say this, me being a big football fan, but I'll be glad to see the back of this World Cup.

that's the really good thing about being here - no-one is remotely interested in the world cup, so i've barely registered it's on!!!

missb - you're just showing off now - sure i only had 350 cubs at camp, but boys are much harder work...

i have been flying!
today (apart from the usual sink/ dw saga) i've washed all of our winter coats and ski gear (boy do we have a lot of it) and it has all been airing in the sunshine! (i know it's a month or so overdue, but it was still snowing here in june lol...)

and, and i've been sorting out the kitchen cupboards and reorganising.
we've got a (sounds posh but isn't) little place in the mountains that has been rented out, but we've decided to give our tenant notice so thast we can use it ourselves. this month we've booked less than two weeks accom in the same town, and have spent 3 months rental income. the money just doesn't add up, so we're biting the bullet and trying to manage to pay a mortgage and rent for a bit...

so i've been organising the much clutter to divide it in half... if you spread our mess out over two properties it must make it look less catastrophic, right?

ellie, no tales of coyotes or prairie oysters, but we saw lots of deer, some elk, some really skanky mountain goats/ sheep

Evening. cant sleep too hot, cant breath properally as it hurts. trip to doc on monday me thinks. But am feeling better then i have been. Done more today then the last few days which is nice. no ds here for a week so rest and lie in tomo. monday is a take it gentle day then tuesday is booked for sorting the material mountain. which means I should hopefully get a lounge back. yippee. Got huge pile of ufos to work though so might tackle a few of those tomo as gentle.

Quick question for the more experienced fliers: Does ufo (unfinished objects) clearing count as flying?

Nick - hope you are having a lovely evening.

Morning everyone,

No spring in my step this morning as like dem couldn't sleep last night for the heat and have got a stinking headache .

dem clearing ufo's i think would definitely come under decluttering wouldn't it! Well Done!

nick bear! How exciting your life is!

NOt sure what I am going to do today but am going to take some drugs and see how I feel!

Back in a mo for steps!

The babystep for today is inspiration.

Not feeling very inspirational this morning yet...will think on this one!

MissB - DD is one of the 2000 and very, very excited

I'm off to flat to clean carpets and give it a once-over. Its been empty for too long now and needs a bit of tarting up. Ad in paper today so fingers crossed. At least it seems cooler ATM.
Think DS and DH will be playing football in park/garden and watching Grand Prix

Trying to do Bank rec (up working early as I was awake and next week is mad again - fracture clinic (any bets on how long this time?), DS's Sports Day, secret party at school, Barn Dance, etc, etc, etc) and only thing I need now is in cheque book that DH seems to have hidden and he's asleep - grrrrrr.

Hope everyone has a more fun day than me, espec MissB

Morning ellie - x-posted. Hope drugs make day feel better

Ellie hope you feel better soon.

Here's something to put a smile on your face: You asked for a picture of my home as proof of my hard work, well,they borrowed my home for this

And did you mention pork pies??

DH and I went out last evening, which was fun, but leaving a group of teenagers in the house on a Saturday evening after filling the fridge (with food that was supposed to last for the week) was a mistake!!

So top of list today is:
Clean kitchen and find sink!

Are any of you watching the tour de france on eurosport each evening? If you are, you will have seen the "Wiggle" advert. You know when the cyclecrazed man puts his bike on the wall, obviously in the lounge as a central piece? Well, DH thinks thats the best thing since sliced bread and nudges me every time it come on. I am beginning to dread leaving him in the house alone and worried about what I may return home to. The only saving grace is that his DIY expertese could not stretch as far as drilling a hole in a wall!

Off to find kitchen.

OMG - the next week is going to really tough.

Got the keys to new place and went to start painting yesterday. Turns out we have to strip the paper in ds's room and no way can I manage to paper so we have to get someone in quick - move in on Friday

The bath is totally scratched and marked so Monday I have to run about getting paper, paint and ringing the flat owner to tell her we need a new bath.

38 degrees this weekend and I haven't fed the dc since Friday, they aren't hungry due to heat but I'm stressed and can't even think about starting to cook or do anything. Painting went OK in dd's room but still not finished.

I always fail at these sorts of tasks, very fed up .

Hello everyone,

Visitors number2 set are here totally disorganised, messy hoose! I dinay think it been this bad since pre flylady!

Dh turn this morning so chaos ensued and all kitchen
covered in rice crispies. Ds helped his dsis and himself to a humungous bowl overflowing with milk!

Have almost done morning routine and it's 3.17pm!!! But feeling bit better so that good!!

pa lol at showhome link! I couldn't see any picture but I'm sure it is somewhat comparable to the spagetti household! A true pleasure to behold!!!
ellie hope you feeling better
linzer have a fab holiday
admylin hope you get everything done. Moving is so hard and making it your own is too
feetheart good luck with flat sprucing. Hope your recon goes well.
dem hope you had a lovely lie in today and you have a lovely week too
nick that is way too cool bear and a bear cub! And elks (I know they good for vegetarian vampires . I'm very of you.
mrsd omg your stories of ds football antics are scaring me! I think I better get my ds interested in something else quick!! enjoy final match
missb wow 2000 brownies and guides! Can I come ? I loved brownies
toffee have lovely time at seaside

waves to dwm chairmum qod*scsr and anyone else I missed.

Off to set up the Bbq

Evening. Hope everyone is ok and enjoying the day.

I have been working on the UFO/USP piles and succssfully:
made a painting apron for ds
finished making 2 bags
primed and 1st coated mirror frame
found the chickens to finish sewing, stuffing and glue eyes on
made sun screens for dad's hobby room.
Cut 4 of 7 bases for the coasters which will match the table made over last month.

Plan for the rest of the evening is to:
finish cutting bases, sand and prime
tie off loose ends of blanket, wrap and parcel up to be sent tomo
stitch the chickens
And if i am still up later to tile the bases.

PLan of action for tomo as hoping to stay off the internet until long after lunch is:

Monday:
discover lounge
collect post from sorting office
send parcel
docs if poss
more UFO's and USP's

Evening!
Well the 2000 enjoyed the zoo! It all went very well and I had an ice cream
NOT am sure all those cubs would be much harder work - the wonderful thing about Guides is you can send them off in groups of 4 or 5 and then haveacupoftea stay in a safe prearranged place and await their return

But I am VERY TIRED now and got home to tackle a couple of hours of work for tomorrow

Am keeping up with the clean pants but not much else .......and the heat doesn't help!

PA loved your links, especially the pork pie!!!

pork pie v good, but i want to get my name down for his orthodontist...

DEM i am astounded by your UFO finishing - extremely productive!

missb - pants and ice cream are all you need

today i managed a couple of hours trying to find the floor in dd2's room. in deference to the feminist threads, i have ditched the 'girl's world' that i found under the bed, and am considering ditching the play kitchen and accompanying clutter. she's 7 in september, and hasn't played with it for yonks... thoughts please? i have a huge plastic box of assorted claggage that she has to go through and make sense of, and i have confiscated the entire soft toy collection (except 'bunny', or none of us will sleep) until it is done.

tonight is ironing. but mil has been doing a sterling job of helping to conquer the ironing mountain, so we're only talking kilimanjaro rather than everest, currently...

work again tomorrow, but i've had a lovely weekend off. lots of jobs done, but also time for a monopoly marathon (i lost), and a walk in the coulee with the dogs so they could swim.

really have to get the hoovering and dusting under control this week (out on the prairies it's fighting a losing battle) as dd2's squint surgery is on friday, and i've been told no dusty environments during recovery... .

v jealous of seaside though. and bbq. dh moved the fence back to the perimeter of the yard again today (long story - think i mentioned our lawn/ turf/ dirt saga) so this week we might manage to get the gazebo up and a bbq on... but somehow i suspect not. a girl can dream though...

enjoy monday morning, fly ladies,

my jobs for tomorrow are:

wm
dw
work

(mil gets to do swim lessons )

think of something for dinner...
cancel aug summer camp (mum is visiting so i can save child care fees )
drop passport photos off

nag dh about giving tenant notice
nag dh about getting shipping quotes/ timings

quite an easy day! i love the holidays!

Just going to bed after staying up all night working to meet deadline this morning. Might get an hour and a half's sleep, then have to go to DC's sports day.

House is a mess. Amazing how it slides into carnage so quickly.

Needless to say, I am doing the bare minimum of flying, although I did shine my mum's sink for her when I visited her at the weekend.

Think I'd better set several alarms to make sure I wake up in time to get the DC to school. Wonder if I'll wake up in time?

Morning Its a beautiful Monday morning the rains are here wahey (nettie runs round doing a rain dance)

I have quite a list this morning before my visitors arrive from the caravan.

Get up/dressed/shoes
air whole house (please let there be air as well as rain)
strip beds
get wm on totally mountwashmore here! Did have it up to date but then dh filled basket to overflow and I got I'll and have been piling it up on top ever since [grrr]
sweep floors
mop kitchen

fingers crossed my dd is in better mood today or I'll get nothing done at all.

toffee hope you get some sleep
nick can I move in? Bears, elks, coyotis and monopoly marathons [excited geek emotion] I love monopoly!!

Right I'm up...bbl

MOrning all,

I just did a really long post and then it disappeared so am afraid you will have to cope without a round-up for yesterday as haven't got time to re-do. Grrrrr.

The babystep for today is deleting e-mails.

The mission for today is here.

Back later.

MissB - glad you survived the heat and 2000 Brownies/Guides, I hope the Guides and their parents were very, very grateful, I certainly am.
DD had a WONDERFUL time though for some reason went very teary just before she was due to get on the coach - first BIG trip away I think but it left me a bit sad waving her off

Busy day today (and a very busy week) so need to get on.
Have done:

• Morning routine
• 2 mins Hotspot
• Finished bank Rec on my own (BIG Hurrah as its first time )
• 5 mins Room Rescue in kitchen and living room
• look for Vax liquid on-line (borrowed a friend's Vax to do carpets in flat and need to replace stuff)
• texts re dancing
• menu-plan and shopping list

Still to do:

• Shop
• 5 mins in all 3 bedrooms
• Vax at least one room (tempted to pick smallest though its DD's and I can't see floor )
• Roast peppers
• Make Courgette and Leek soup
• Find recipe and make Nigella's Courgette cake (bought rather a lot on Friday and now ours are ready too!)
• Pick up DC
• Afternoon/evening routine
• Meeting brainstorming with wine here tonight to plan Yr 6 Leavers Party. They would like a Beach Party so all ideas welcome please.
• Would be nice to have an early night but doubt it

Right, that's MN time up, Asda here I come.
Have a good day everyone

Good day to you all.

5 minute break at work, so a flying visit.

MissB Glad you enjoyed your day at the zoo. Hope you feel refreshed after a good nights sleep.

Feetheart - I am heavily into courgettes at the mo. We had them in Greece and DD3 loved them, so since our return i have cooked more of them than I have for the past 40+ years added together!! A bit of a courgette convert.

Toffee Hope you manage to get some sleep today.

Nick I have not got the patience for Monopoly. It drives me crazy!!

Waves to MrsD SC Nettie Ellie DEM DWM and everyone else.

DS was nearly strangled last evening when he suddenly announced mid football game that he had cookery today at school and we did have all the ingredients, didn't we????? These school cookery classes always use obscure, random things, so no I do not always keep everything in my cupboard. So, this morning, guess who was stood outside the supermarket, in the rain, to get these stupid random things at 8am? - I consider my stock cupboard to be fairly well stocked, but really!!!!

Dishwasher has been loaded
kitchen sorted
Morning routines completed before work

Then off to a presentation assembly at local school. DD4 got a certificate for achievement. But major gripe. She has been there for 4 years and they STILL cannot pronounce her name correctly. It really is quite simple!!! It only has 5 letters, but they insist on pronouncing it like the English sounding name, that only has 4 letters. Its Russian and not the same name at all!!!! It really drives me insane and I ALWAYS feel like shouting out, "Do you mean **?" (I do shout that out when at the DR, Dentist, Hospital, or anywhere else, but the thought of doing that in front of 600+ pupils and 30+ staff was a little too daunting, even for me!!!) - luckily for DD4, she would have shrivelled on the spot if I had opened my mouth. Instead I shook my head and rolled my eyes!!

When I get home I need to:
hoover (if I can be bothered - so probably not, then)
Cook curry for DH tea
Dig over area for the rabbit run ready for turfs (although raining, so may have to be left for another day)
load car with stuff for tip (drive past tomorrow on way to work)
Drive some teenagers from the church youth group to a beach BBQ, wait for them and drive them home again! - Good book reading time, me thinks!! (may go and have a look at an old house I saw in the local paper at the weekend that needs total renovation, but could be lovely in 20 a few years time, and see if its worth persuading DH to come and have a proper look with me!)
home in time for Tour de France highlights.

Of course, Ellie, because my home is now up to show home standards, could I please have the next 3 months off???

Must get back to work, the sooner I get done here, the sooner I get home for feet up time to start the housework!!

well, i'm going to do the first bit of the mission before i shower this morning (yeah, yeah, i know, i'm up, mning and have yet to get dressed to shoes ) otherwise it won't get done. and weirdly, i sort of did the laundry bit yesterday... apparently if you shove a bounce sheet down a gopher hole before you fill it with dirt, they don't re-tunnel there... so we had the bounce sheets out to test the theory. will report back

feetheart, oo, if you find a link to the cake can you post it pretty please? it's one i've always meant to find but haven't got round to!

pa - urgh at cookery ingredients. in the uk i was always having to go to the supermarket for something or other on the way to school. at least here i can just say 'nope, not happening'. definitely can't fit an hour and a half round trip in before the bell goes!

nettie - sure you can move in - but can you wait until mil goes? and you have to promise to do as much ironing as she does...

right, mission, shower, off to work. see y'all later!

I am declutering. more ufo's and usp's today. put a picky up of apron on profile in a mo.

toffee - bare minimum is still flying and you will notice a difference to preflying.

Nettie - garden looks better for the rain - could you keep doing the rain dance for a few more days please.

MissB - hope you can rest as much as you need to recover from your very busy zoo trip

Nick - I like your "encouragement" of dd wrt decluttering.

Feetheart- probably too late but i can often pick up vax liquid in large tesco/sainsburys stores

PA - we has similar issue wrt ds' name. Thankfully for me he hates the english version and will vermently put anyone straight.

Ellie - thanks for looking after the thread.

Evening everyone!

Quiet day on here today, hope everyone is ok!
Have managed to get quite a bit done today!

WM on
Tumbler on (sorry to any eco people but it was raining all day here!)
DW on
Tidy kitchen/living room
Bagged up 300 exam papers to send back to examining board
RElax with wine dem kindly left.

Tomorrow is DS's sports day which i can't go to...again . However, BIL is going instead and then DS is going to stay at DSis house overnight! I then have works do at posh restaurant over which i have wardrobe trauma as I don't do posh .

Now tis round-up time .

dem has been tackling ufo's and usp's and doing rather well. I have one massive unidentified flying object...my house .

nick is being a bit of a rebel and flying without lace-up shoes on...lines for you..'I ust put my shoes on' 30 times . She also found uses for bounce sheets which i didn't know existed .

pa hada typically lazy day, just sat around and did nothing really not that she needs to with her showhome . And no, you can't have 3 months off, i need tales of bike stroking, crazy cats and pigeons to keep me amused. Clearly you don't need our flying wisdom but we need you .

feetheart is going courgette crazy and being super busy into the bargain!

nettie revealed that she and her rain dances are responsible for the crapola weather today, I may not thank her but my garden does .

toffeefudge please don't get downhearted. The best thing about flying is that you can just pick up where you left off and it will be easier to pick up...pinky promise .

Big waves to everyone else. Have a lovely evening!

Evening,

Not a particularly good couple of days, I feel very irritable with various (non-family) people and events, house looks like a tip. Hoping to be back and a bit more cheerful tomorrow.

Good evening everyone.

Sitting in bed trying to find some room. Dcat has been to vets today with lovely pus filled wounds on her head and has a lampshade in her head. She can't get through banisters to get out. Can't get out cat flap. Can't quite reach her food and can't get into her pooh bin. Feeling very sorry for herself and as a consequence she is lying asleep on her bed immovable!! Hence my awake unable to
get comfy = mn time!!

Get up/dressed/shoes-done
air whole house (please let there be air as well as rain)-done
strip beds-remade done
get wm on totally mountwashmore here! Did have it up to date but then dh filled basket to overflow and I got I'll and have been piling it up on top ever since [grrr]-started then dbil filled with his stuff.
sweep floors-done
mop kitchen-done

also cooked chilli for dc and dneice. Went to zoo. Ate Indian food, watched New Moon.

.ellie fab round up! I feel your pain, went to a wedding Saturday night and discovered just as about to put on what I consider gladrags that it was black tie and cocktail dresses. Aw well.
nick ah ironing I don't do at all. I'm a good little slow cooker cook though, go on
go on.

Right gonna try and get comfy with cat.

iPhone gone all funny typed too much couldn't add anymore?!?

mrsd hope tomorrow is better
dem love apron very clever. I'm sorry I took my eye off ball and it stopped raining most of the afternoon
ellie have a lovely night
feetheart well done on recon! That's brill!
pa you were doorstepping the supermarket I always used to wonder what was so important people had to wait for it to open. Now I know

right I am off waves to the sleeping masses

Everyone is doing so well!

I have just joined but the move has got in the way - and the 38 degree heat wave here in Germany.

Packing today
Painting and decorating 3 bedrooms Wednesday and Thursday
Move on Friday
Internet connection back on Monday

Have managed to feed the dc, melon and salad and today will do mushrooms in creamy sauce with baguette. I bought them 2 big bottles of Sprite for next 2 days thinking that'll give them calories to keep going!