The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

It only takes five minutes

digital timerWhoever first said this horrid little phrase must have impressed Danny as he uses it regularly. Particularly when we’re allocating the mundane jobs at home. Most of mine are stamped ‘five minutes’. I used to try and do the tasks in five minutes, now I just laugh. He is also fond of the phrase, “Yes. But it’ll take hours”. I’ve noticed recently that most of his jobs are snuggled in this category.

I began to think of jobs that might only take five minutes and prepared a handy list:
Answering an unsolicited sales call
Having a pee
Parking in a large gap at the supermarket
Petting the dogs
Throwing a log on the fire
Rolling and lighting a cigarette
Having a shower
Feeding the fish
*Putting on the washing (without spraying with Vanish)
*Getting cash from the hole in the wall
Finding the ingredients to make a new batch of chutney

Then I thought about the jobs that might take a bit longer than five minutes:
Painting the outside of the house
Finding a decent recipe for anything
Re-roofing the sheds
Finding our passports
Digging over the vegetable patch
Doing the weekly shop
Cleaning out the chickens
Locating the car keys to drive to Tesco for that essential ingredient
Racking five gallons of wine
*Letting the runner beans cook for more than five minutes
*Playing with the dogs
Chopping the ingredients for the chutney
*Going through the bees
*Cooking the Sunday Roast
Making a quick call to my Mum
Hanging out the washing when the dogs have stolen most of the pegs
*Playing on eBay for research
Taking the green bin down to the composter
*Making encouraging noises

* These are Danny’s tasks


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