Getting started ...

Do you remember when Delia Smith advised the nation that left over wine could be poured into ice cube trays and frozen??

Left over wine? What's that? Does she live on another planet?

My intervention has been one AND A HALF glasses of left over wine. Don't think much will get done this afternoon ....

Stansgran, trust me, cleaning the dustbin was an abberation.

No idea why I felt the urge to swill it round with disinfectant today after it had been emptied. I think the whiff I got from it as I took it in from the pavement affected my thinking - and jolted the neural pathways. I hope no one witnessed this strange and deviant act. (Mind you, my neighbours may now see me as a Domestic Goddess and for the sake of my reputation I could live with them being deluded.)

After that I washed out the kitchen bin too. It was an urge, one which is unfamiliar. I am in shock.

They must have put something in the water around here. Normal service has been resumed. Gransnet has my full attention and I apologise unreservedly for pricking the consciences of all you sluts out there with mucky bins

You are so right Imperfect27. I had better take it easy. The spirit is (fairly) willing, but the body is clapped out.

Day6 I think you should write that bestseller: 5 Steps to Finding Your Inner-slut and then there would be the movie rights ... Definitely needed! Hmmm - who would have the female lead????

NanaandGrampy I just love that - 'a protective covering for the furniture.' What a world class excuse that is - I shall use that now. Thank you so much.

I dislike housework very much, consider removing today's dust to allow tomorrow's to replace it a complete waste of time, and resent every moment. However, I can't bear dirt either, and sticky surfaces, dirty floors etc. wind me up even more than doing what is needed to get rid of them. I tried having a cleaner when I was at work, just to vacuum and dust through once a week, but that didn't go too well as I fear she switched the vacuum on and then must have spent the rest of the morning lying on the bed reading magazines - the house got dirtier by the week as nobody was doing anything! So, procrastination is the only thing to make this bearable; I start, and then decide I must send that email. Resume the floor washing and decide the dog looks fed up and wants a walk. Continue tidying the sitting room and feel that dead heading is a must. And the JOY when somebody rings! I can chat for hours happy in the knowledge that I'm not cleaning that awful cooker. The thief of time indeed!

paddyann and Day 6 you are both so good for my soul. I'm regularly so in tune with your lines of thinking. Makes me feel so much less isolated in my slothfulness. Thanks.

Dust is a protective covering for furniture !!

The suns out - cleaning can wait fora dull day :-)

Hey Imperfect, you are galloping towards level five! Good for you! Oh the joys of discovering one more glass of wine in the bottle and a chocolate bar you'd forgotten you had! Haven't we all been there?

We ought to revolt, down tools and create a movement which sees Grannies everywhere being totally self-indulgent slobs!

The world would probably grind to a halt.

I do hope I am at long last being a good example to my daughter who lives a clean, tidy and organised life. (I suspect she despairs of me not despairing over jobs around the house being left undone.)

Careful Carole - thinking about hoovering is a very dangerous step ... You might need an intervention ...

I have never washed a dustbin . I never will. But I do use a giant bin liner. I think
That's a move too far. I sew and I only hoover my sewinggbroom when ive finished a quilt. They can take up to three years.

Day6

I reckon I am level 2 today. I HAVE done 3 significant household jobs ... have also spent a fair bit of time cleverly calculating how little I need to do to make it look acceptable - and now I have down-tolled for lunch.

Oh -just found some left over wine and a bit of blue cheese in the fridge and realised (with far too much joy) that I have a squashed chocolate bar hiding in my handbag. I might be heading for level 5 after all ...

ah thanks for that thread, I have chuckled over the comments. I read it whilst 'having a well-earned rest' after doing a few very important jobs - cleaning out the guinea pigs, catching up on Facebook, thinking about hoovering - you know the kind of thing.

That (above) should read 'cultivating my inner slut'.

Must admit, I hate that idleness is considered a sin/vice.

I expect most of us have lead busy and hectic lives in our younger years. Being idle now in retirement is a joy, and we should cultivate it! I feel for those people who have no choice because of illness or disability but the work ethic can be destructive too.

Many people seem to have enormous pride in being busy, having everything spick and span, having routines, being on top of it all, etc, and that's fine too, but I think there is also some pressure to be good housewives, especially for women of our generation who were generally deemed to be in charge of the home.

Let's face it,there seem to be two modes on the domestic front - good housewife with clean home, or complete slut.

After years of having a sparkling home, these days I am cultivating my inner. It's very liberating. If not now, when?

To do it properly I really ought to sit round in my dressing gown all day. I think that's a level 5 slut. I haven't got there yet. I am dressed and have my face on. I have washed out all the bins this morning, including the dustbin. No idea why. This is a bit extreme for me. I think that may be it for the day.

Oh radicalnan. That gave me a much needed laugh ?

Good books can be the undoing of many, tonibolt! And "just one more cup of coffe before I go " - Leonard Cohen I think?

I have "good" days, when I get loads done, and the rest tail off to doing nothing much at all. On those lesser days, I count it an achievement to have got dressed and provided an evening meal for the two of us. I have never attained my mother's beautifully ordered domestic routine, not entirely sure why, but laziness (and a preference for a good book) is, I suspect the main reason!

I hate cleaning. I am untidy and my house is both dirty and untidy. I just dont know where to start so i dont. If anyone who is like me but has found a way, please share. I have elderly cats and one is indiscriminate.
Help! Ty to original poster. I am still in bed pmsying with the internet and it is 11.39

NanKate brilliant! That's just the excuse reasoning I can use when DH is endlessly busy and I'm feeling idle (all the time really ).
No housework today, we are grandson sitting in his own home.

Thanks for the permission to be my usual sloppy self GNetters . We live in a rented property and it is inspection day later this week so I want to spruce up a bit - nothing too major, but tidy and clean in all the important places . Next week we are away and my DD1 and family and DD2 and new girlfriend are coming to stay in our absence so I also want it to be nice for them. If I tell you that I bought the Mr Muscle (Yes, other oven cleaners are readily available) about 18 months ago ... well, that says it all really. Yes, life is too short and I tend to live it rather than clean most of the time. Still, I think it is quite funny that my DH said 'It will only take you half a day'...

I put my trousers on back to front this morning and despite the discomfort, I am already too tired to change them round.

I hate housework and am useless at it now and cooking and laundry and gardening, just keepng it all somehow respectable takes every ounce of energy I have........I also seem to have forgotten a lot of skills I used to have, sewing and cooking have just 'gone'.

I have been possessed by pain and depression for decades, I have no idea how I managed to work before retirment on do vol after.

Pain became my full time job at some point.

I do jobs in the TV ad breaks.....or have to set myself a time by which I will have washed up or washed the floor, currently that time is Christmas 2019..........where did all my energy go?

I do housework as and when the urge takes me. Loos, sinks and worktops have to be clean, but everything else can wait. It seems such a waste of life to me now I am older. It's never ending, but life is. I'd rather read, potter in the garden, see friends, watch a good film or take myself out somewhere. I used to be so houseproud too but my philosophy has changed.

I can clean all day long if visitors are due. That's the motivation I need!

I am thinking about burying the ever growing pile of ironing. Every time I do it (rarely) I find clothes I'd forgotten I have!

Kim19 I always hated housework ,when we were newly married if I saw my in laws car coming up the road I used to put all the dirty dishes in the oven and sparay Pledge polish in the air in the hall and sitting room.MIL always said ...somebody's been busy....lol.It was years later I told her the truth