Seniors, Are You Still Doing All the Chores Around Your Home and Garden?

I notice that a majority of the posts on this thread start with the word "we". When my husband was alive, he did absolutely everything himself (with a little help from me)and helped out the neighbors too.

I use a grocery delivery service and have my laundry picked up and then delivered back all nice and clean. I have a cleaning lady that comes in twice a week and use a handyman and a landscaper as needed. I'm grateful to have this help, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live alone.
 

Aunt Marg said:
Dear husband and I have always had a good working relationship as far as household chores and duties go.

Being the fulltime homemaker that I have always been, I tackle all inside, with the exception of gardening, being that gardening is my passion, otherwise, anything related to maintenance, in addition to outside work, dear husband handles.

It's been like that since day one, and we've always found a happy balance in it.

I like it, because it reminds me of how things were when I was growing up and in my childhood home. Women's work was in the house, and a man's, outside.
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I was never a full time homemaker except for when the boys were wee little. And my husband is the 2nd oldest of 10 so he was and is, very good at housecleaning and cooking, so we share that. He LOVES to grocery shop and I hate it so that is usually all his. Outside stuff we like to do together too. (By that I mean when “we” wash the windows, he does the washing and I point out spots he missed, or when “we” plant flowers, he does 90%of the planting but I point to where they should go! 😂). Gotta love teamwork 😎
 
Autumn said:
I notice that a majority of the posts on this thread start with the word "we". When my husband was alive, he did absolutely everything himself (with a little help from me)and helped out the neighbors too.

I use a grocery delivery service and have my laundry picked up and then delivered back all nice and clean. I have a cleaning lady that comes in twice a week and use a handyman and a landscaper as needed. I'm grateful to have this help, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live alone.
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I’m so sorry about the loss of your husband ❤️
But I am happy you have those services available to you...especially the laundry part 😁!!!! Hugs to you 💕
 
Inside the house, DH does most of the cleaning. Same goes for the outside. We have gardeners as part of the complex. Last year I finally convinced him it was time to let a pro do the outside washing and windows. It also took a while to convince him that he didn’t need to change the oil or tires. I can drive to those places and get them done just as easily as he can. I was a single mother for a few years so had to be adaptable.

If anything happened to him, I do know that I’d have to find a handyman. There could be decent money made by someone who likes to putter around. Sometimes seniors centres have recommendation. It’s imperative that you check their insurance!!!
 
Wow! I cannot relate to any of this. I live alone and do all my own everything, including plumbing,electrical, painting, staining, carpentry, cleaning, handyman, weedeating, outdoor and indoor maintenence. If my finances were higher, I'd probably hire help at times.
Can't do automotive repair though! I'm pretty self-sufficient but I do admit, it would be nice to have a man around the house at times!
 
Kathleen’s Place said:
I was never a full time homemaker except for when the boys were wee little. And my husband is the 2nd oldest of 10 so he was and is, very good at housecleaning and cooking, so we share that. He LOVES to grocery shop and I hate it so that is usually all his. Outside stuff we like to do together too. (By that I mean when “we” wash the windows, he does the washing and I point out spots he missed, or when “we” plant flowers, he does 90%of the planting but I point to where they should go! 😂). Gotta love teamwork 😎
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Now that's what I call having a good thing going, Kathleen! LOL!
 
Gaer said:
Wow! I cannot relate to any of this. I live alone and do all my own everything, including plumbing,electrical, painting, staining, carpentry, cleaning, handyman, weedeating, outdoor and indoor maintenence. If my finances were higher, I'd probably hire help at times.
Can't do automotive repair though! I'm pretty self-sufficient but I do admit, it would be nice to have a man around the house at times!
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I admire you, Gaer, for being able to perform such things as plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and other handyman, I mean handywoman things. :love:
 
I do all the cleaning here and at my own pace which seems to get slower and slower these days. I get most of my groceries delivered--I do get a few myself at the store. I am in an apt. so thank God there is no yard work for me to do. There are nice grounds here and the manager takes care of them nicely. As for repairs, the manager sees to that, too.

If I could hire someone to do just the dusting I would--I am behind on that a bit. I also despise dusting! (n)o_O
 
Autumn said:
I notice that a majority of the posts on this thread start with the word "we". When my husband was alive, he did absolutely everything himself (with a little help from me)and helped out the neighbors too.

I use a grocery delivery service and have my laundry picked up and then delivered back all nice and clean. I have a cleaning lady that comes in twice a week and use a handyman and a landscaper as needed. I'm grateful to have this help, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live alone.
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...well thank goodness you do, it gives you more time to spend with us.... :giggle:..I'm only half joking, I know you have some serious health issues... and rely on that outside help
 
Gaer said:
Wow! I cannot relate to any of this. I live alone and do all my own everything, including plumbing,electrical, painting, staining, carpentry, cleaning, handyman, weedeating, outdoor and indoor maintenence. If my finances were higher, I'd probably hire help at times.
Can't do automotive repair though! I'm pretty self-sufficient but I do admit, it would be nice to have a man around the house at times!
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I used to be like that between my first and second husbands.. could do most things myself, but car repairs were beyond me.. thank goodness , my second husband although not a manual worker, is superb at all manual jobs in and outside the home

We do everything that's possible to share.. I mow the lawns and do must of the gardening overall... he cuts the trees down when they get too tall, and manages all the heavier stuff .. He repairs the cars if needed.. he rebuilt his own camper van from the bottom up.... he re plumbed my house when we married, and sorted out all the electrics which needed doing.

He re-tiled walls, and floors, he installed almost a whole new bathroom, and all the tiling as well as the toilets...

he decorated right throughout the house, and hung all new blinds...

he laid new flooring and installed lighting in what was a dark attic...

He installed an electric power shower when all the time I'd been doing with a shower on a tap over a bath... and so many other things I'd bore you telling you... but I had 16 years of doing what I could myself before he came along.. ...

...and during all this he worked and still works, sometimes anything up to 80 hours per week
 
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hollydolly said:
I used to be like that between my first and second husbands.. could do most things myself, but car repairs were beyond me.. thank goodness , my second husband although not a manual worker, is superb at all manual jobs in and outside the home

We do everything that's possible to share.. I mow the lawns and do must of the gardening overall... he cuts the trees down when they get too tall, and manages all the heavier stuff .. He repairs the cars if needed.. he rebuilt his own camper van from the bottom up.... he re plumbed my house when we married, and sorted out all the electrics which needed doing.

He re-tiled walls, and floors, he installed almost a whole new bathroom, and all the tiling as well as the toilets...

he decorated right throughout the house, and hung all new blinds...

he laid new flooring and installed lighting in what was a dark attic...

He installed an electric power shower when all the time I'd been doing with a shower on a tap over a bath... and so many other things I'd bore you telling you... but I had 16 years of doing what I could myself before he came along.. ...

...and during all this he worked and still works sometimes anything up to 80 hours per week
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Holy Cow, Holly, Hang on to HIM!!!!
 
For many, many years we've had a groundsman that mows about 6 acres and keeps up whatever part of the landscaping we want him to do...cut down small trees, trim Crepe Myrtles, etc. Found out we weren't going to live long enough to have hub mow all the time...he isn't great with keeping up "gasoline powered mowers", disliked it and it took him a long time. Pedro & Company come and do it in one day! He's a great guy and had his father before him.

Other than that, we do a lot of projects ourselves like cutting trees, clearing out gardens or preparing the soil. Hub just scrubbed the upper outside deck walkway this week. Hey, I washed some big windows...twice, because he didn't mention he was going to clean the deck...lol. Inside we share the work pretty much...not an issue, as the house is big, but just doesn't seem to get dusty much. Probably where we live. We don't live at the end of the world, but we can see it from here...lol. Nice part is its close to about everything.
 
I do everything myself.......indoor......cleaning, windows, minor repairs and maintenance.......no big plumbing.......no electrical.
Outdoor.......mowing, snow shoveling unless the driveway is too heavy, there's a business that does snow removal so i pay them to do it.
Any landscaping since i bought my house in town, i've done myself.........i think i've spread about 37 yards of stones for my projects here.........
set up 1/2 barrels for front and back for planting.......spray weeds.......pull weeds.......have put down patio blocks.......the heavy stuff is coming to an end......my body doesn't like that anymore.........Set up 3 raised gardens this past summer, halded soil in, myself........my theory is, i never create projects for someone else to do........i do them myself.
There's some pictures in some posts here of my achievements.

I hope to do all i can here for a lot of years to come.

On the farm.
I laid 8ft railroad ties.......made walkways.
Laid 24in x 30in blocks......30in x 30in blocks........some smaller ones........16 x 16, 18 x 18.
set up about 60 1/2 barrels for flowers.
Planting trees, shrubs, perennials, gardens, shelter belt trees.......kept up all the tilling in these areas with one of those arm breaking front tyne tillers......did all the mowing in the main yard, with a ride on mower.

I loved doing every bit of these things.......mostly by myself.
But........
I am paying the price with my wrecked joints and arms.

One event on the farm was........the house yard was chosen for garden tours one year......for two days.
That made it all worthwhile for me.
 
Don M. said:
I do all the outside work, and any repairs on the house or vehicles. My wife does the inside work. I keep about 1.5 acres mowed, and a walking trail though the forest. So far, working outdoors every day the weather permits has kept me in fairly good shape....hope that lasts for several more years.
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Likewise. (y)
 
Don M. said:
I do all the outside work, and any repairs on the house or vehicles. My wife does the inside work. I keep about 1.5 acres mowed, and a walking trail though the forest. So far, working outdoors every day the weather permits has kept me in fairly good shape....hope that lasts for several more years.
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1 ditto.gif....No one else to do it this cheap...
 
MickaC said:
I do everything myself.......indoor......cleaning, windows, minor repairs and maintenance.......no big plumbing.......no electrical.
Outdoor.......mowing, snow shoveling unless the driveway is too heavy, there's a business that does snow removal so i pay them to do it.
Any landscaping since i bought my house in town, i've done myself.........i think i've spread about 37 yards of stones for my projects here.........
set up 1/2 barrels for front and back for planting.......spray weeds.......pull weeds.......have put down patio blocks.......the heavy stuff is coming to an end......my body doesn't like that anymore.........Set up 3 raised gardens this past summer, halded soil in, myself........my theory is, i never create projects for someone else to do........i do them myself.
There's some pictures in some posts here of my achievements.

I hope to do all i can here for a lot of years to come.

On the farm.
I laid 8ft railroad ties.......made walkways.
Laid 24in x 30in blocks......30in x 30in blocks........some smaller ones........16 x 16, 18 x 18.
set up about 60 1/2 barrels for flowers.
Planting trees, shrubs, perennials, gardens, shelter belt trees.......kept up all the tilling in these areas with one of those arm breaking front tyne tillers......did all the mowing in the main yard, with a ride on mower.

I loved doing every bit of these things.......mostly by myself.
But........
I am paying the price with my wrecked joints and arms.

One event on the farm was........the house yard was chosen for garden tours one year......for two days.
That made it all worthwhile for me.
Click to expand...
That's how my husband and I always feel after a long, tiring, and back-breaking job, you reflect on it afterwards and thank yourself for persevering and seeing the job through.

One thing I find, and it's easy to distinguish within neighborhoods, is the amount of pride and effort people put into doing projects. Projects that are smacked-out on a weekend, look just like that, a slap-happy job, but jobs where you see a homeowner take months to do, almost always trumps that of weekend warriors.
 
I tried to use an aide for cleaning but changed my mind and am doing it myself. I am particular I guess and like the way I do it better. Living in a senior living apartment building means I have a maintenance man for anything that breaks or needs to be put in. No yard work and without a car I don't have to do snow clean up either. I did a lot of physical work as well as house work and cooking and gardening up until a year before I moved here. Once I could not do it anymore, I knew it was time to move on.
 
I do most of the inside stuff ... running laundry, cooking, cleaning, floors etc but only because I usually get to it first. 😉 Ron will run the vacuum, fold laundry, unload the dishwasher...whatever he sees that needs to be done he’ll just do. He’s also a great cook!! The only thing he doesn’t take care of inside is the houseplants. We have a lot and they’re my babies.

He does most of the maintenance too, though if I know how to do or can figure it out it I’ll take care of it. . The other day the washer door wouldn’t close..I took it apart so I could figure out what was wrong, ordered the right part, then installed it and put everything back together again.

He does all the outside maintenance and tends the vegetable garden. I take care of the back porch and tend the flowers.
 
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