. A comment by Dido on my last post got me thinking more about priorities. Time priorities, that is.
Since returning to f/t work, I watch with dismay as my weekend "to do" list grows longer and longer. Part of what makes it that way, of course, is the fact that I live alone, so things just won't get done unless I do them. I am housekeeper, cook, laundress, a do-it-yourselfer, gardener and more.
I often ponder ways to simplify my life to make things easier. That's the reason I gave up that composter I just bought. It was so in tune with my lifelong interests. For most of my life I've been the "back to the land" homesteader who saw the challenges of solo home ownership as a challenge, not a burden. That is changing, and it makes me a little sad, actually.
For the same reason, when Luther passes, I will not be getting more animals. I grew up with a dog and have had cats all my adult life. I am really sort of looking forward to less spending on cat food supplies and cat litter (not to mention hauling 40 lb boxes of litter and the canned cat food), cleaning up hairball messes on my carpets, battling fleas, the endless vacuuming and hairs all over my clothing, having to be careful about houseplants (they get chewed), not to mention the inability to have my cloth shower curtain hanging down, or long drapes or nice carpets or nice bed comforters because the cat will either claw them, knead them or otherwise destroy them over time. And I'm usually reluctant to take extended overnight trips away because I worry about him.
I have loved each and every one of my animals, but for everything there is a season, and I think it's time to start a new one.
Another thing I've done is given up the lawn mowing. I think this was the 3rd summer where I hired someone to do it. Even then, I find the yardwork in constant need of attention and is never, ever "done." There are all sorts of invasives around here, the worst being bittersweet, which are constantly encroaching on other stuff.
Even in the yard, I've given a lot of thought as to how else I could "simplify," or minimize my work. I've thought about "undoing" certain perennial beds and just turning them over to grass again so I wouldn't have to be weeding and mulching all summer. (And to think there was a time in my 30s when I sought to plant as many beds, shrubs and trees as possible so there'd be less lawn to cut and plus I wanted to live in a forest.)
The back patio is an ongoing problem. It's an old brick patio I had already redone once, and I should have used pavers like the guy urged, but at the time I loved the look of old brick. Well, that old brick does disintegrate over time, and being so small, there are a lot of weeds that come up between them. It looks like a real eyesore; every time it rains, new weeds.
I've thought about having the guy who did my beautiful driveway in pavers come and redo the back patio. He uses some kid of substance between the pavers that hardens when it gets wet and I've had no problems with weeds in either the driveway or my front stoop, which he also did.
However, he's enormous expensive, and I have so much space for gardening and puttering in my "courtyard" driveway, I don't really need a patio in back. But there are plenty of plants and shrubs out there so going back to grass would take some planning. Sigh.
After only recently deciding in sort of a gradual way that I would stay put in my home here, after so many home improvements just the way I like things, I did feel a tinge of maybe wanting to change my mind.
I would feel more "secure" in a condo, becus there would be people around me and no doubt my neighbors would be friends. I'm talking about security during bad weather. Condos and other multiple household dwellings rank higher on the list when the power company is deciding who gets power restored first. And there are some condos around here with underground utilities, which rarely lose power (like my mother's old place).
I'm so happy with my paver driveway and my dining room bookshelves, but truth be told, every time there's a storm here, it's a very scary thing. I worry about huge trees coming down on the house, and this is no idle fear, as off the top of my head, at least 5 have come down over the past 20 years. Five big ones. One giant white pine only 10 or 15 feet from the house would have caused major damage.
These are just some of the random thoughts swirling in my head sometimes.
There are a lot of ways to simplify one's life and chores specifically, but many also cost money. Like, it would be simpler if I paid for garbage pick-up here, but I did that once and found the haulers were so picky about what they took, charged more if you had more than 2 trash bins and if it didn't fit inside the bin, well, you were out of luck.
I'm delving back into the well of combined wisdom here at SA. Do you have any creative ideas for saving time in your life? I'm not willing to eat fast food or stop cooking for myself.
Time, and how we use it
November 6th, 2017 at 11:34 am
November 6th, 2017 at 01:30 pm 1509975017
And I am ready to downsize my big house. ( Yikes!)
My only timesaver idea you probably already do-- pay bills with bill pay rather than writing checks.
November 6th, 2017 at 02:25 pm 1509978326
November 6th, 2017 at 02:50 pm 1509979857
I think downsizing housing is *the* biggie. We spend absolutely -0- time on yard work and look forward to downsizing our yard even further. For now we hire it out. Finding work that is very 9-5 is important to me. Cooking wouldn't cross my mind to cut, I don't think it takes much time. But maybe because it's such a priority in our house. I am not a big house cleaner. I think most people spend 50 times more hours cleaning than I do (seriously) but I don't get the sense that is where you spend your time. The more you share of your daily routine maybe the more ideas you will get.
November 6th, 2017 at 02:53 pm 1509979990
November 6th, 2017 at 04:08 pm 1509984499
November 6th, 2017 at 06:11 pm 1509991864
What tasks are you willing to do in AM, when you've completed personal hygiene? Possibly set a timer and note timelines. How often do you inventory food supplies? Possibly shop only once every two weeks, sticking with a list from your plan? Can you prep for an entire week? Are any specific weekdays less busy ? Do you have a full load of laundry every week? Every 10 days?
November 6th, 2017 at 09:28 pm 1510003704
I used to feel bad because I don't go all-out for the holidays like my mom dad. She worked too, but she LOVED holiday decorating and endless cookies and parties. But I just don't have the time during the school year.
Have you considering automating things like catfood and litter deliveries from Amazon? I have a friend who loves that, and it saves her lots of running around.
November 6th, 2017 at 11:31 pm 1510011064
November 7th, 2017 at 03:40 am 1510026027
The list of things that *should* be done is miles long.
November 7th, 2017 at 04:25 pm 1510071934
November 8th, 2017 at 06:59 pm 1510167545
November 10th, 2017 at 09:05 pm 1510347916