Old style as an escape from the world?

[Deleted User]

oh my goodness, what wonderful posts, jackieO and jojo, they remind me of the poem, I shall wear purple.

My leisure time in the house at the moment, reading and spinning and sometimes I have the radio on but love the silence and the therapeutic hum of the spinning wheel, nothing but me, no outside noise and babble

I don`t like housework but I do it because I don`t let dirt accumulate, little and often is good enough. I used to be a wonderful cook but now only cook because I want to feed my body the best. My freezer is full of home cooked meals and single portions of meat and fish, it all makes grab and go easy for me. I have better things to do

My leisure pursuits are simple, the allotment, going on the steam train, again it is the chug chug chug, all good and calming and slow. A bit of sewing, pottering in my tiered garden, maybe an NT visit. I don`t want, or need to travel, I am a contented soul

I can solve complicated problems, am good at maintenance, have an intelligent brain and can see from outside the box, can trade on the stockmarket as well as any man in the city but what people see is the now-rounded, soft featured silver-haired, small motherly grandma. I am content with that, it is what happens and now, I too can wear purple and inwardly smile, knowing that I was young once

wort

I echo the wonderful words of fellow posters.
For me it was kondo that helped, I too felt if I just had enough storage I'd be fine . After kondo I was throwing storage away. Oh and the feeling of lightness when all that stuff goes is fabulous, stuff really gets you down in a mental and physical way.
The other thing from your comments is that you would like to craft, bake etc. The thing is we see that as being a perfect hobby, when if we buy all the bits then don't use them they are sat there, taunting us every time we see them. So knitting wool and needles that you pass every day would bring you down, as you are feeling you should get round to using them.
Plus very often these hobbies cost us more than we'd save.
Now the weather is hopefully improving spend time in the park or countryside just a walk or sit and look at the lovely things in nature is so relaxing and it's free.
Good luck with simplifying. :beer:

[Deleted User]

By the way I pay a healthy younger chap (he is semi-retired and around 60)to do my garden for me and I love to look out of the kitchen window and see it looking ice and neat without feeling as though my bones have given up the ghost far nicer to sit and admire with a nice glass in the summer of G&T than get stressed about weeds and cutting grass and all that bending !!! Nah not for me I like to just 'see' the world and all its glories without all the hassle.
One of the nicest things I enjoy is getting up in the morning and sitting in my study (a.k.a. tiny back bedroom) which I can see the River Medway through the trees and watching the sun come up and seeing all the colours the sky changes to from soft grey (this morning ) to sometimes gorgeous pinks,blues and violets as the warmer weather comes on and realising I have survived to face another day. A bonus for me as a breast cancer survivor. Just looking out of the window and seeing the world come alive is fantastic, I have been every where I want to go and am happy to potter around doing things as and when I feel like it. Another bonus of growing old is the 'stop and smell the coffee' times which you miss when rushing around bringing up children and working and all the things which clutter your life when younger.

I am OS maybe because I am old growing old is far better than the alternative, I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't swap it for anything .

We can all have 'what if' moments but it doesn't have to be a 'what if' in the past, change it to a 'why not' its much more fun.

Cocketts

caronc - laughter is a healing force. Occasionally creates extra laundry, but healing none the less. If you must, you can autograph the dust but never ever date it, that's just embarrassing.

I'm sure I've told this story before but when I had two babies at home under the age of 2, I noticed one morning that hubby had written 'CLEAN ME' in the dust. I wrote back 'F**K OFF' - he is now the ex-hubby:D:D:rotfl:

monnagran

Cocketts wrote: »

caronc - laughter is a healing force. Occasionally creates extra laundry, but healing none the less. If you must, you can autograph the dust but never ever date it, that's just embarrassing.

I'm sure I've told this story before but when I had two babies at home under the age of 2, I noticed one morning that hubby had written 'CLEAN ME' in the dust. I wrote back 'F**K OFF' - he is now the ex-hubby:D:D:rotfl:

Get you. Mine wrote !!!!!! in the dust on the television. He also became the ex shortly afterwards.

caronc

To me being OS is not being wasteful, I'll happily splash my cash on the things that give me pleasure. In my case my garden , decent food and having friends/family round. My home is shabby in places but warm & comfortable and most of all a happy and welcoming space. If my dining table could talk it could tell a few tales.....

[Deleted User]

For us being OS is making the most of what we have, being grateful for the things we DO have and the things we can DO and not subscribing to the general notion that you need a new one of everything imaginable in time for Easter/Christmas/Halloween/ Your Birthday/The dogs birthday/insert event of your choice, not following changing fashions in anything from food to clothes to the house contents. We don't feel the need to constantly go on holidays or out to eat or for amusement and I frankly feel that if anyone doesn't feel comfy in our worn but clean and comfortable home they needn't bother coming again! We have our passions for the garden plots and the wood pile, everyone needs a cause in life and ours don't harm anyone and are the heart of our lives. The other and biggest love is family and grandpickles who make life worth living, long may it continue and the world can go jump if it doesn't like it!

VfM4meplse

Anthem for the OSers:

LameWolf

wort wrote: »

The other thing from your comments is that you would like to craft, bake etc. The thing is we see that as being a perfect hobby, when if we buy all the bits then don't use them they are sat there, taunting us every time we see them. So knitting wool and needles that you pass every day would bring you down, as you are feeling you should get round to using them.
Plus very often these hobbies cost us more than we'd save.
Now the weather is hopefully improving spend time in the park or countryside just a walk or sit and look at the lovely things in nature is so relaxing and it's free.
Good luck with simplifying. :beer:

Imho it only really counts as a hobby if you actually like doing it. So yes, I'll spend a few Euros of my holiday money getting a cross-stitch pack of a scene in Belgium while I am there. (I now have three of these completed and in need of framing - but that's another story).

Baking - nah, you can keep it. I loathe all forms of cooking, and only do it to see the pleasure on DH's face when he eats the result. (The Labrador-clean plate at the end is good, too. Anyone who's ever owned a Labrador will understand what I mean by that).

Cocketts wrote: »

I'm sure I've told this story before but when I had two babies at home under the age of 2, I noticed one morning that hubby had written 'CLEAN ME' in the dust. I wrote back 'F**K OFF' - he is now the ex-hubby:D:D:rotfl:

Ok, so - if he had the time to write in it, why did he not have the time to get a duster and clean it himself??

[Deleted User]

I every now and then, come across an article or there is something on TV about families who have chosen a period from the past and have made their homes with things from that time. The one that appealed most was a 1940s house that had been filled with actual 1940s 'things' and it looked amazingly comfortable and very 'liveable' in. Perhaps that might appeal to you Angel Jenny as a fairly easily done way to 'escape from the world' as it is at the moment for you at home? it could be any period where charity shops, boot fairs, jumble sales and even second hand furniture shops and auctions will still have a reasonably good chance of throwing up authentic actual items from that time. I may just have a play at this when we move it would be an ongoing project for ages and so much fun. Would that appeal to you for 'escape'?