How I wish.....

I plan ahead

Cottage pie is ok to make on the day/day before, but I prep all the veg the day before.

Cake mix, I would have made in advance and popped it in the freezer.

Homemade bread, I buy the part baked rolls and cook them on the day.

Back in the day I would easily have done it all the morning guests arrived, including tidying the house and garden.

Those days have gone.

All the effort and pain was worth it yesterday. My guests throughly enjoyed their meal,the homemade rolls and sponge. Goodie bags went home with them too. It was worth it in the end. Am now sitting with feet up relaxing with a lovely cuppa.?

About once a month we have ALL the family here (15) for a large buffet lunch. Last month I said this will be the last of its kind. I’m always shattered afterwards. Baking and cooking for 2 days in advance and then all the laying up and washing up. We don’t have a dishwasher (only Dh).

Last week we had them here (twins 16th birthday). A large plate of sandwiches and cake. Paper plates and plastic glasses.
This is how it will be from now on. The important thing is to have the family altogether , it’s not about how much food I can produce.
We had a lovely afternoon and I wasn’t stressed and exhausted. ?

There comes a time when we know it is better to pop into a really good bakery and buy a nice fresh loaf. We know when we should pace ourselves so that we can enjoy visits from family without getting ourselves into a lather. We could even buy a Victoria sponge as well

Absolutely.
Surely any decent friend is more interested in their friends wellbeing rather than whether stuff is homemade or the garden is pristine.

Travelodge that sounds like a good productive day. I try to keep busy but I seem to have less and less energy.

I mowed the grass and then remembered it's no mow May.
I think you just have to pace yourself.
I used to wonder why an elderly relative laid the table in advance and made the basic meal so that all she had to do was boil the spuds or equivalent.
I have passed my supermum mantle to the next generation. They can look after me now.

How I wish I could do what you've done today travelsafar. Sounds like a lot!
I rarely bake now. Sometimes I make the scone mix and put it in the fridge until I can go back and finish it.. And visitor meals are always from M&S.
When I clean our small bathroom I do it in about 3 stages, resting in between. I used to clean the house from top to bottom in one day.
And my gardening is similar to Henetha's.

I'm extremely impressed with Monica's painting and wood cutting.
But I'm glad to hear others have less energy too, because everyone I know seems to still be able to do much more than me.

It's not much fun getting older.

I had to give up halfway through washing the kitchen floor as my back was complaining. Still, I did go back after a sit down and finished it. Once I would have vacuumed the whole place and washed the kitchen and bathroom floor in one go.
I would like to suggest a robot vacuum cleaner if you have large areas of floor to vacuum. They just get on with it while you can do something else.

Same here. Everything exhausts me. Today I was gardening but all I could manage was to plant a new shrub in a pot and tidy up some weeds, then crept in the house bent double, my back screaming at me, and flopped on the sofa utterly exhausted. Housework has the same effect.
Anyone would think I was old!

We used to live in a house with a large garden . My neighbour used to look over the fence and say how she wished she could spend a whole dy working hard in the garden . Now I would be the one doing the wishing but I accept that. My DH is the oposite he really misses the stamina he used to have to climb hills and walk for hours .

There's an absolute skill in learning when we need to slow down and putting things into practice. I learned slowly because I was raised by a lovely Mum who always said 'you can't leave that little bit' when aching towards the end of a job/chore. Indeed I could abandon a job whenever my body rebelled but it took time (and unnecessary suffering) for me to put that into practice. Nobody suffered and I did a better job when I wasn't tired. Yes, I definitely let my body do the talking now and I'm one happy bunny.

I am glad it is not just me. I sit down with the papers or my ipad between jobs, and the pause extends longer than intended. Today I managed more chores than usual, but still left some undone. I also ration the time I spend gardening ( which I hate). I work for 15 minutes maximum, then five minutes clearing up. I am slowly tidying the garage in the same way.
With me, it maybe post- Covid, or just older age.

I spend most of my days in the kitchen because I love to cook and bake. But today we went to our sons he and our DIL prepared a lovely meal so it was a nice treat.
I usually spend as much time as I can gardening but nothing heavy as my joints ache after a while. I was rather strong and able to do anything but the arthritis gets the better of me and tires me out. If I didn’t keep busy I think my joints would cease up its rather depressing but I do my best.

All that I did today was make a chicken curry (from scratch ofcourse) - my grandson occasionally pops in and he’s always “starving”. Curry turned out great - I shall keep it in the fridge for a couple of days. And if he doesn’t turn up, I shall freeze it. Now I am just relaxing with a cuppa, watching a Netflix Documentary about Jeffrey Epstein ?

This loss of stamina is the worst part of aging. I used to be the classic Durocell Bunny, keeping going when all others had keeled over with exhaustion. Now I plan activities carefully.

This morning I put a coat of paint on one wall in the living room, had a sit down, coffee, read the papers, decided that I now had the energy to help DH cut some wood. Looked at pile that we would previously got on with and cut in half an hour. Divided it into three piles, saying we will do this today, that tomorrow et . Good sit down and lunch, then did 30 minutes gardening. Later on may spend 30 carefully counted minutes tidying the garage.

Once, by now the wood would all be put and stacked, garage tidied and lots of gardening done - before lunch.

Ah well I am just grateful that I can still do all these things, if not as quickly as before and without stopping.

There comes a time when we know it is better to pop into a really good bakery and buy a nice fresh loaf. We know when we should pace ourselves so that we can enjoy visits from family without getting ourselves into a lather. We could even buy a Victoria sponge as well !

I know home-made seems more welcoming for your visitors, but they wouldn't even notice I'm sure. I think you've discovered you've reached that point!

It's picking the GC up from school and giving them their tea that wipes me out - also in lots of pain atm and that does not help one bit.

Youngest GS (7) is an absolute whirlwind and chatters non-stop - really and truly non-stop!. His poor Mum looks exhausted sometimes - she made me smile the other day describing the challenge of getting him ready for school - she gets the toothpaste on the brush, brush in his hand and heading towards his mouth and ...... he suddenly finds something new and very very important that he must say and off he goes with it full tilt!!

I find it very frustrating that I don't have as much energy now. I used to walk for around 2 hours every morning. Now I have a sore hip and knee and tire quite quickly.

I know the feeling! I have to parcel out my energy carefully these days. I’m in awe of what you’ve achieved today though, but as you say at a cost to yourself in terms of pain.

Hope you have a wonderful time with your friends tomorrow x