There is something in the process of doing things that relaxes my mind.
Whether it’s splitting logs, polishing leather, patching out the guns, chopping kindling, washing dirty veg, mucking out the chook pen or tending to the vegetable patch it’s not the chore but the process that I enjoy.
I like to get things done. I take pride in the finished product at the end of some form of physical expenditure.
I love good quality practical items that I can maintain and in return they do things for me. My boots keep my feet dry and warm, my guns provide us with meat, chopped wood provids us with warmth, the veg garden feeds us, the clean chook pen will eventually provided us with clean eggs by spring.
I’m kept fairly busy with these tasks, which on top of looking after kids means that by the end of the day there isn’t much energy left to be brain drained by television. We only have one ‘telly’ in the house. It doesn’t get plugged into the antenna much, but instead it’s used for movies and documentary videos. Instead we listen to music, talk, read kids books or stare at the fire under the warmth of a woolen blanket. I recently acquired a cheap as record player to play my old LP’s, and the weekends music was an eclectic mixture, a weekend soundtrack from Bing Crosby Hawaiian, Johnny Cash to Italian traditional.
I’m not totally sure what the alternative to this lifestyle is. I’m assuming it involves blue ray players, large screen TVs, televised sports, new cars, instant heating and cooling and plenty of concrete. I think I might be living in the past, opting for semi self sufficiency and the slow life, but let me assure you, I know which one is more rewarding for the soul.
Whole Larder Love 
oh and it is about shopping, as leisure pursuit, on the weekends.
shudder.
you’re (we are) living in the future, not the past, ro. and a-men to that. x
Why do people go shopping for fun. I hate shopping. I go mad. It’s so robotic.
You can be the cult leader. I’m there.
Only if I can wear ceremonial robes and you will address me as my beardedness….
tops. made me larf so hard i spat tea out on my keyboard…Your Beardedness.
i think you are indisputably on the right path. it’s the same one i’m traveling, too, where the journey is often just as meaningful and fulfilling as the destination. keep on keepin’ on.
I truly hope so!
You make chores look so pretty. There’s nothing better than falling into bed at night bone tired from the physical labouring of chores. Beats a treadmill in an air conditioned gym by freakin’ miles.
I’ve never understood gyms. I went once or twice. The people were weird. Like little mice on treadmills. Straight from work, to the gym, then home to the couch. An odd existence.
ah yes, the gym. When I actually used to do some physical stuff for work I used to think why gym? however when you work a day job in the city its that or become a fat bastard with a bad back. It works, but yes it saddens me a little.
Oh and All Hail Beardy!
Yeah it’s a pain for city dudes. I have a stuffed back too, walking for me is the only option.
I refuse to go to an indoor swimming center. They’re odd too. A walk in the forest or over paddocks is the ticket for me. Splitting logs is a good work out to, as is gardening.
Nice post, Your Beardedness. And I concur with your comment on gyms. I may be a chubby middle-aged git, but the last thing I’m planning to do is pay hundreds of dollars a year to walk on a treadmill when I could go for a walk down the road. Lucy’s right – your (our) way of life might look old fashioned, but it’s absolutely the future.
I like that thought that we are the future. Would be nice. But I think I’ve lost faith in the general populous. Advertising and TV have such a strong hold on peoples minds.
We’re living in the past with you. And it’s so much more for being “less”.
Dude. Less is totally the way to go.
I’m adoring your blog Your Beardedness. Wish I’d stumbled on it earlier. Kindred spirits.
I could really get used to being called…your beardedness.
Thanks for the visit Margaret.
The past is a beautiful country and the ritual of chores is great meditation.
I love my little cottage with it’s big garden, my TV-free, low gadget life.
count me in, your beardedness x
Yes at the minute my evening entertainment is knitting a skill I’m just learning but thoroughly enjoying :)
Those chores are the essence of balance, your beardness.
Beautiful.
Amen.
Haley…..I love your paintings!!!
Thank you! That means so much! Maybe we can have a little collaboration some day.
Sounds like a good idea!
Thanks for reminding me… greasing my boots is on the to-do list for today… surfing the internet isn’t!
Turn off the computer and fix those boots!
I love your essay on chores and the commenter’s view that the past is the future. I’ll live vicariously for the moment by following your blog. :) Your photos are so lovely!
Thank you Leslie for your kind words!!
You’re not missing anything from the ‘real’ world! What a beautiful post!
Lovely sentiments expressed in this post.
If I lived the lifestyle that you do, I would miss museums, galleries, theaters, and libraries, and all that I used to have in Moscow and now have in Toronto. However, you can’t imagine how much I consider your lifestyle to be amazing, essential, and harmonious with nature. After we have started living in our own house and not in an apartment, I feel that herbs grown with my own hands are a real heaven – in soup, or in tea :)
Olga, I used to miss all that stuff, but I have books and internet. For now that keeps me happy. I love books.
You’re doing it, you’re doing it!! Love the dirty gloves. :)