1. I never seed tomatoes and rarely peel them. When the recipe instructions call for 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, I skip over the "peeled and seeded" and go right to the "chopped." It's roughage right.
2. I don't seed cucumbers either. I guess one could say my Gazpacho is a little "seedy" :)
3. I rarely make desserts. I don't mind the fuss of making a dessert, but that has to be the event of the day - no other cooking, cleaning etc is done just The Decadent Chocolate Cake from "The Silver Palate" or any one of their other desserts.
4. I don't clean silver, so I guess it's fortunate that I don't have any. I used to work with a woman who took a day off every December to clean her silverware for Christmas.
5. I don't collect "things" because you have to maintain your collections. If it's ceramics, they have to be dusted. I had a friend who collected those beautiful painted Easter Eggs - lovely though they are, the dust still collects on them.
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My only collection |
I am sure there are more and I have reserved the whole concept of "ironing" for another post. Here is what I do make time for in my life which many would consider a waste of time:
1. I knit. It's not so much about the finished garments, which are often cheaper to buy. It's about the rhythm of the activity, a kind of marathon for the hands.
2. I weed. Where others may put down grass for easy maintenance, I dig it up and put in gardens that require weeding. Again, it's an outdoor marathon for the hands and knees.
3. I write. Sometimes people ask me how often I blog and when I say daily, they look stunned. Now I know most people in this group blog daily. But there are a lot of people who do not write a blog, never tweet and aren't on Facebook. For them, these activities are a huge time suck!!
4. I cook from scratch. Given that I really dislike the taste of processed foods, I make most of my meals from the basics, even though a lot of the basics today are preprepared. I am seriously thinking of cooking with beans from their dried state and maybe freezing tomatoes in the Fall to avoid using the tinned ones.
5. I do crossword puzzles. Time wasters, yes, but they are absorbing and I almost never watch TV.
What do you find that's a waste of time or what do you like wasting your time doing :)
One person's time waster is another's treasure.
ReplyDeleteI pay folks to weed. But, I clean and cook myself (because I want it done my way...)
Oh, and I iron. While I watch TV. (Or, do I iron, and let the time pass as I LISTEN to TV?)
I could list tons of things like this. Menial tasks that serve little purpose. Making the bed, for example. When I was single, I only ever made it if I was expecting company or when I changed the sheets. I'm just going to climb in there and mess it up again in a matter of hours. I buy my cheese already grated and my salad already mixed too. Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI bake. I love baking! But I don't iron. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteI very rarely iron. I try to get the clothes very shortly after they finish in the dryer so the wrinkles are minimal. I take the dog for long walks and I pay someone to clean every other week. I try to cook from scratch as much as I can, but it doesn't always work that way. I play Words with Friends and Lumosity and would argue that they are not time wasters, but brain boosters! I learned to knit once and loved the rhythm of it. Somehow I lost the art over time.
ReplyDeleteI love just looking out the window in my new home - it is a great time waster!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you! I'm with you with the cucumbers and tomatoes. Having said that I do occasionnally peel tomatoes, but I can;t for the life of me understand why anybody would want to peel and pip a cucumber - what on earth would be left to eat?
ReplyDeleteI knit and am starting to choose simpler and simpler patterns so that I can knit without thought without having to perpertually count stitches, repetitive patterns suit me down to the ground.
Weeding is therapy though when it comes to the bind weed I have resorted to ssshhhh glyphosate.
Cook from scratch because I enjoy it, because I know what is in it and because sometimes there is stuff that needs using up!
Make the bed and clean the bathroom every day or I get twitchy. I have been known to make the bed just before I get in it if the other half has got out after me and I've got home late....
What silver I have is black. Haha. I will spend time cooking since I really enjoy it and I am now going to re-evaluate collections. Especially since our goal is to down size the house by 1/2. But timewasters... for certain right now it's Words with Friends. I enjoy it and usually only play while I'm on hold or watching what little TV I watch. Still I find it a little guilty pleasure....
ReplyDelete