Of all domestic chores, which do you most dislike?
Vacuuming. Can’t stand it. The noise. Having to move furniture and having to lug the contraption around. Cleaning it. Persuading it to work!
But it’s not something my spine allows anymore, so I don’t try. I have a Dyson hand-vacuum for small jobs which I can manage.
And I have Ralph the robot which does an amazingly good job, but in a house full of cats and their stuff, employing him involves picking up all of said stuff which strewn everywhere.
Also, you have to place barriers so Ralph doesn’t wedge himself under sofas and chairs. Or under the wooden chest where I keep cat blankets. Rescuing Ralph from it is a problem.
When Ralph comes to an edge, like the top of a staircase, he grinds to a halt, yet he is determined to insert himself where he does not fit.
So Ralph is not often called out.
Dustpan and brush and the hand-vac have to do and once a month a cleaning lady tidies us up properly.
Anyway, vacuuming is off my list.
Washing dishes? I never much minded doing that and now that I have so much entertainment outside my window, it is a positive joy.
Dusting. I used to have a thing about dust. Could not stand the sight of it. Even when the multiple cats started arriving, I still attempted to keep dust at bay.
But then I merged the foster-suite cats with my personal cats to arrive at a much greater number and that’s when my ideas about dust altered.
Not that I shall ever get as far as accepting it. Mostly I turn a blind eye and agree to live with it .
It is, after all a very dusty world we live in.
Cleaning windows is high on my list of dislikes.
Mostly because I am so bad at it and I can never seem to get both sides clean at the same time.
And on the very rare occasions when the windows are fairly respectable, you can be sure that one of my feathered friends will deliver a great splat in the middle of a pristine pane.
Or worse, a bird will fly into a window no longer obscured by weeks worth of crud. The decals I apply are not very successful.
When I purchased my previous home, being slightly less impoverished prior to my adventures in cat-rescue, I did the responsible thing and purchased bird-screens.
Even they were not totally successful, but at least they cushioned a bird’s impact. But they also darkened an already dark house.
As far as I can remember, those windows were never cleaned on the outside. It was a problematic house.
Being such an occasional chore, window-cleaning is not the most disliked.
Until the 21st Millennium, I did not own a washing machine and laundry was a drag.
Waiting around in a laundromat was such a waste of time. In most situations I can occupy myself with a book, but in the laundromat I could never concentrate.
Then I moved and advanced to having machines available in the basement of my building. I’d go down with a roll of quarters and the machines would all be busy. Or out of order.
When finally my laundry was in, I could go back upstairs, but had to monitor the time because if I returned a minute late, another tenant would be dumping my wash into a basket and scowling.
Now I am blessed with the infamous Hal, my washer-dryer combo and yes, he has been the source of considerable dissatisfaction, to the point at which we threatened to replace him.
Then, when we discovered that the house would require re-wiring to accommodate a modern appliance, we had to eat crow.
We have come to an agreement.
So laundry is not top of my list either.
It was my intention to reveal my number one disliked domestic chore, along with entertaining illustrations.
However I realise now that this will take more time than I currently have available. So I daresay it may turn into tomorrow’s topic.
I bet you can’t wait.
In the meantime, it appears that my computer has recovered from what-ever-the-hell was bugging it yesterday and has agreed to allow me to post the little footprints I found in the slush.
Artistic, aren’t they?
This will have been a possum.
Most of the others are probably squirrels and raccoons.
All of them endearing.
No artistry this morning.
More like a frenzy!
Much of the driveway was now clear and whatever remnants were left of the dainty footprints from yesterday had been obliterated by little bird feet.
I definitely dislike cleaning windows (but I like watching the birds at the bird feeder in our garden through CLEAN windows) … it’s a catch-22 situation! I loved your photos today! The sunrise colours (it is sunrise, right?) and those little footprints in the snow … beautiful!
The first set of pics are sunrise, the later ones were last night just before sunset.
The sky pictures and the creatures footprints save the day today, Carolyn!
Joanna
SAVED!
Joanna
No contest that cleaning the oven is the worst domestic chore ever! I put it off so long, it can take up to two days of hard work to get it looking half-decent.
As for housework in general, Quentin Crisp summed it up.
“There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.” He wasn’t correct of course, but I fully understand his meaning.
Best wishes, Pete.
We, being of a certain generation who aspired to have fitted carpets, now have carpets fitted all throughout the house apart from the hall and kitchen. Carpets cause dust, are terrible when it comes to vomiting cats or when coming in from outside having trodden in “something”. Why do we do it? (Yes, I do have two sets of footwear under the carport, one for gardening and feeding the birds, the other walking boots – but sometimes I “forget”! As to chores, I have no favourites!
Yes, fitted carpets do not go well with cats. I have a few old but hardy rugs that came from India via National Geographic. One of my most inspired purchases and direct from the people who created them, which was nice.
Cleaning windows and mowing lawns (never do this now), are a couple of chores. But, living on a boat for 21 years in a past life, I know exactly how you feel about hanging around wasting time in laundromats.
Love the snow photo with the house on the hill!