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As a contrast to the other thread.
Ironing. Don't do much of it but I've always found it quite relaxing.
Cooking. Just me and some tunes in the kitchen. Again, quite relaxing.
Cutting up wood for the winter with the chainsaw. Very therapeutic.
Washing up.
Pinning clothes on the line.
As above- cutting, splitting and stacking firewood. A really good workout plus the satisfaction of having 'free' heating in twelve months time.
I adore cooking. Whilst I am competent it can be quite intimidating when the in-laws visit; they run a cookery school in the Loire Valley.
Tidying the shed/ garage/ whatever. I love it when its neat and tidy.
I never used to like hoovering, we had a large, corded, upright that you had to fight through coats and shoes to get to in the hall cupboard. Then unravel the cord, which only reached part of the house so you had to unplug and move it and was a git for doing the stair carpet with, etc.
A few months ago I bought a Shark cordless with various heads and attachments, and I almost look forward to giving the house a once over - or because it's so accessible (charger and wall mount are in the utility room) grab it whenever needed. I don't think it performs as well as the upright Dyson, but because that was a git to do it would only come out when one of us noted that the ceiling height was becoming visibly lower due to the underfoot build up. The Shark is used almost daily here and there.
is cooking menial? I love it but i'd suggest it takes some skill to do it well.
anyways.....weeding - quite relaxing and rewarding, car washing - nothing like a shiny new car just before it rains!
Hoovering, got a Shark Cordless which lights up the dust, dog hair and other detritus in front of it and it's quite satisfying sucking it up and having a full load to empty.
And Gardening, I hate weeding but love tending to the plants and seeing new stuff grow.
Washing up, cutting grass, chopping wood, ****ing, washing clothes
it’s quite satisfying sucking it up and having a full load to empty.
Never a truer word spoken.
+1 for ironing. Starting with a right mess and ending up nice and smooth.
It's also the reason I used to (many years ago) enjoy changing a really dirty nappy. A helpless baby needs you to clean it, and starting from a really gunky mess and ending with a clean and happy baby botty brought me more joy than I thought it would.
Haven't changed a really pooey one in about 17 years now though.
WashingLineTrackWorld. Love pegging out the washing. All that sorting, careful alignment, spacing, optimal peg usage. Brabantia 50m Lift-O-Matic FTW after more than ten years with a cheap small steel line that was "just to see us through a rental for six months".
I absolutely love sweeping. The physical action of it followed by the satisfaction works for me.
During lockdown I started to enjoy doing the big supermarket shop. I can have a wander around listening to a podcast and accomplish something at the end of it.
Splitting wood. Axe or a hydraulic cleaver, does not matter; love doing it. Better if it is large rounds of ash (it splits so well), but birch and spruce are also good.
If I’ve got my headphones on with some good tunes playing I can literally do anything and not get bored…..which is a good job because I’m a decorator.
Washing the car - all that bending and stretching is a nice bit of post-ride active recovery and there's a pleasant satisfaction from having it all clean and gleaming.
Cutting/splitting/stacking firewood. Basic physical grunt-work with hazardous tools. Wouldn't want to do it every day, but once or twice a year its fun.
Painting .... I blooming love it
Don't even mind the prep !!
Dullard
Hanging the washing out for sure. I love the fact that I'm using solar power to get my clothes dry as well as keeping moisture levels down inside the house.
I don't mind hoovering but I hate the half hour of tidying it takes to be able to get to the floors
Laminating.
Pairing socks. So satisfying when a pair are reunited after many months apart.
Ironing with a podcast on in the background. In term time ironing ten white shirts, two grey school trousers and two pleated schools skirts might be the highlight of my week.
Otherwise washing the car is also good, but requires too much concentration to also listen to a podcast.
VACing and pressure washing the yard.
Mowing the lawn. Only bit of gardening ai like.
Never rake, just strim first then use the mower as a hoover!
I love cleaning the bathrooms and the downstairs loo. It's a very defined activity, with a very satisfying outcome when using the right products. I like.
is cooking menial?
Good question. I bloody love cooking. I find it really relaxing. Seeing as I work from home all the time nowadays I break the day up by popping the radio on and prepping the evening meal at lunchtime. Yesterday I made a ragu sauce which I slow cooked all afternoon (it was lovely!) and I'm just about to make some pork shnitzels for this evening.
I also find ironing clothes really relaxing too
Cleaning my bike - could do it all day. Also happy to wash up as long as I'm listening to a podcast or music
Taking the bins out. It's a running joke that it's my favourite day of the week (Wednesday night for a Thursday collection).
Doing the washing and drying.
Emptying the dishwasher.
Ironing, though i don't need to much nowadays.
Weeding - though limited time and a decentbsize garden mean I'm rarely making progress
Repairing punctures in the backlog of inner tubes for the commute bike. Then squeeze all the air out to roll them up and held together with a band cut from old inner tube.
Polishing. Don't really mind what - shoes regularly to engine covers and, just yesterday, a manky silver pendent that my wife picked up cheap in an antique shop, as she knew it'd look nice once I'd finished with it (it did).
I do find doing a whole car by hand gets more like hard work though.
WashingLineTrackWorld + 2/3/4
vlad_the_invaderFull Member
Jeez, you lot need to get a life!
To be fair, there are THREE different types of peg on my washing line. Small wooden traditional, plastic clamping, AND the rubber tipped single piece plastic ones. What do I win?
Digging holes. Better if it's someone else's hole (behave) so I don't need to think about it. Just so satisfying.
To be fair, there are THREE different types of peg on my washing line. Small wooden traditional, plastic clamping, AND the rubber tipped single piece plastic ones. What do I win?
Absolutely nothing until you have the stainless steel ones!
Cleaning a sink and polishing the taps has satisfied me since I did it as a pre-school reeksy.
Polishing shoes likewise.
Manual block splitting is nice too, but hard work with the wood I have.
Giving a decent shoe a good buff is very satisfying, I'm with you on that one.
Manual block splitting is nice too, but hard work with the wood I have.
Makes it difficult to swing the axe?
I will probably wear a creased shirt to my wedding but my shoes, they will shiiiiiiine.
Does sleeping count as a menial task? I bloody love a nap, sleep, lie in etc.
Fencing, everything from setting out, digging the holes, mixing concrete in a barrow to nailing hundreds of feather edge by hand. Very satisfying.
Ahhhj shining shoes! If you also like this check the elegant Oxford on the 'tube, so relaxing.
Fixing punctured inner tubes.
Throwing sacks of fertiliser/compost/gravel around.
Clearing algae of the sides of the Koi ponds.
Can you all come over to mine whilst I go for a ride please
To be fair, there are THREE different types of peg on my washing line. Small wooden traditional, plastic clamping, AND the rubber tipped single piece plastic ones. What do I win?
Absolutely nothing until you have the stainless steel ones!
*shuffles off to google stainless steel clothes pegs. whats happened to me??
seems like one of those good ideas thatd save money long term as our sh1tty plastic ones keep breaking and im always finding half-pegs on the lawn and bits of springs. bit like that £10 tin-opener we bought a few years ago after seeing it recommended on here, we've not had to buy another since.
Even tho it's a large part of my job i still enjoy mowing our lawn.
Cleaning the bike, definitely. I enjoy that.
And a +1 for the previous posters with their Shark vacuum cleaners. Hoovering used to involve dragging the thing out, plugging it in and also dealing with a hoover bag clearly made by someone who had once been given a vague description of a hoover rather than by the actual designer of that hoover.
Now, the cordless Shark is used daily cos it's so easy. That's very satisfying.
Julienning garlic and ginger. Oddly satisfying to produce little matchsticks of flavour.
I'm with Ads678... mowing the lawn, admitted our current lawn only takes 10minutes, but growing up we had a massive lawn that took a couple of hours. Very satisfying & a great time to just think...
If I’ve got my headphones on with some good tunes playing I can literally do anything and not get bored
This but with an audiobook for the win, for me.
Cutting my toenails is the only thing that comes to mind. Strangely satisfying.