It's interesting that many of the favorite things mentioned above are not so much favorites to own or look at stand-alone but rather they're used for or provide necessary functions for "favorite things to do". The "favorite thing to do" probably is the driver.

I have some favorite things like that, they're part and parcel of activities I like to do. I can't do those things without the enablers. I like all of them but I like doing what they allow me to do much, much more. All are somewhat special to me, some are subject to breakdowns or death from cumulative use - some are fixable, some not. All are replaceable. So, I really have no favorite items in that sense but I do have favorite things to do that those items are used for.

Yes to recirculating pumps or other means for instant hot water. Wise to put money into things you use or touch every day.

There are two ways to plumb instant hot water at faucets around a home. I'm going to call them the "good way" and the "bad way"

The good way is a true recirculation, a loop made of pipes. Water constantly flows in the loop from and then back to the water heater, passing the hot water faucets.

The less desireable way is the so-called "cross-over" approach. It puts pumps under sinks, which pull water out of the hot water line (as if it were running from the faucet) and puts that water into the cold water pipe. If you've ever tried the taste of hot water from the heater, you'll understand why this is undesirable. The other negative is that when you want cold water from the faucet, you have to let it run awhile for the hot water in it to pass.

That’s a good consideration, Elmer. I wonder, of the things that enable you to do things you enjoy, are there some you prefer over other of the same type? For example, a particular type of guitar string, or design of a tool, or quality and fit of protective gear?

Interesting questions, bpath. Perhaps I was looking at it a bit differently.

I have different instruments, amps and related things that I chose to buy, each to play for particular circumstances or in particular ways. But no favorites, each suits the application I use it for. I picked each out of alternatives available, for look and feel, but I could do it again. No attachment to any of them, each and every one could be replaced like for like, for the intended function.

Other "stuff" I'd describe the same way. I chose what I wanted to have for the uses I had in mind. Once that settled, the use I put them to is more important to me than any affection or preference for a particular item used in that activity. I can unemotionally replace something if it breaks or wears out. Or if I find something else that's more desirable to have, function-wise. No favorites in that sense either.

In the case of guitar strings, I have no favorite brand but I do have preferred sizes, different for each instrument. They're preferred, not favorites, and if because of the situation I need to use something different, that's fine. My real "favorite" in strings is new ones, freshly changed. I hate doing it but do it anyway because I like the end result. I do it regularly for all I happen to be playing (nothing worse than old, dull strings) despite how much I dislike doing it.

Favorite tools? You got the wrong guy!

My favorite things are my dishwasher, my cuisinart, my washer and dryer, my car and my garage door opener. The favorite things I'm sentimental about are my grandparent's mission oak dining set, along with artwork and lego creations made for me by my grandson.

Coffee, bread.and art.

Macbook Air - check

Kindle - check

car - double check. I finally found the car of my dreams. I had a RAV4 once and I loved it. But I have a Honda HR-V now and I hope it's my last car.

furniture - I love my furniture, mostly because it all belonged to family members and for me it's like having them still with me.

Saddle - back when I still had a horse, I loved every single piece of horse paraphenalia. Along with all the smells to go with it.

I have many, many things that I am partial to but the first four are enough.

@murraysmom Zone 6a OH . I have a Honda HRV as well!! I absolutely love it. Smaller, (Im a small person) and less techno than the CRV which is just too much car any more for me. The folks at my local Honda call it the CRV's little sister. Cute.

My plants…right now I have 14. I chose easy care plants

Ponytail palm plant -4

Money tree-3

Snake plant -2

Philiodendren Birkin -2

ZZ plant -2

Lucky Bamboo -1

I started getting plants after our last pekingese died in 2020.

Financially and physically didn’t want to take on another dog.

At 78 plants are my pets now.

I love my "new " house in town! 1914 craftsman bungalow on the most beautiful street in town! We've been here almost 9 years, walk the same walk every day, and love it every day! If you're old enough to remember Pollyanna, the house is 2 blocks from us! Of course, we didn't pay in the millions for our place! We're in the "bad " part of McDonald Ave!

I thought this would be easy to answer, me traditionally being such an acquisitive collector and admirer of interesting stuff.

Trying to answer made me realize that, without noticing it, I’ve become less smitten with things.

Maybe it’s just being really busy lately; maybe there’s too much other stuff to think about; maybe it’s a phase; maybe I just feel overloaded with stuff.

Very odd.

Anyway, I couldn’t really think of anything that really fits OP’s criteria. Very useful stuff, that I would be quite inconvenienced without, yes. I appreciate some of it enough to bestow it with a name. “Giselle” the steam oven, ”Hariat the Lariat” the pickup truck, “Elektra” the espresso machine, and so on.

But “love” - no longer. If Hariat was totalled and I replaced her with another Hariat, I wouldn’t feel any real loss.

My ski boots might be close . . . but really, if they disappeared I’d just buy new ones and be perfectly happy , other than being $1,500 poorer.

Weird. Maybe I’m growing up. I don’t like it. It feels . . . detached? cold? like getting old?

John, dare I say, it's not the boots themselves, but the ski trips they represent, and your intensifying dedication to a sport that demands young knees? Or maybe the spruced up camper van which will give you more time on the slopes?

I do love my Kindle App on my Ipad and Iphone. I first bought a Kindle in 2011 and it wasn’t even the paperwhite but I used it and enjoyed it until it just got to clunky to use and so I switched to the App.

But if I really search my brain, I guess my favourite things are my Staffordshire dogs. I have an old brown and white pair as well as these which are both a pair..I bought them all home from the UK in my hand luggage after a visit there in the 90’s. I like their faces, their eyebrows and their eyeliner.

John, I think that is why Hobbitmom excluded family and pets. They are unique. They can’t be replaced. Loving someone and loving something are two different things.

I understood her to be asking about things that you love because they bring you enjoyment or make your life easier. (Like a Kindle) Unless you have a sentimental attachment to them, they can be replaced. You can still love them.

I love my packing pods but I’d replace them in a second if something happened to them. Same with my lawn mower. That’s not cold.

neely, I love your dogs!

This is mine.

The other one ran away somewhere.

My Garden Cart, similar to the one pictured below, is my favorite gardening companion. I would not be without it. I had looked at these for a long time so when we finished building our home (26 years ago) I told DH I needed one, so he bought it for me for Christmas. At the time there was a small, medium and large size. Mine is the medium, and is red marine grade plywood. The bicycle tires make all the difference. And the rear panel lifts off in a channel for easy dumping. It is so easy to maneuver and handle, even when loaded with plants.

This photo is a quick one i grabbed from Amazin so I cannot vouch for this particular one but it looks very similar

I've never understood why wheelbarrows persisted after someone invented the garden cart!

You can't mix cement in a garden cart!

ETA - Reposting since I couldn’t get the other one to post yesterday. I see now it did so I deleted it.🤷‍♀️

One of the first things that came to mind are the beautiful, old oak trees all over our neighborhood.

Even when part of one comes down.🥴

My favorite is money. Money money, lots more money would make me happy.

I don't want a new big house, fancy cars. No fancy expensive wine, toy things, etc.

I just love to see the happy faces to a homeless person when I hand him/her a $20 . I want more $20s, $50s, $100s -----

Have a happy December to you all.

dcarch

Okay, things I love, or at least very much like, *having* because they make my life easier - that is more answerable for me.

I love having my new-to-me cheap pickup truck. So useful. Since a branch fell on and dented its trunklid, my old Mercedes is parked (finding a used trunklid locally for a 1994 W124 is not quick) I have been daily driving Hariat. Okay she only goes 10 miles on $4 of gasoline, and is hard to park, but it is so convenient to be able to throw things in the bed without playing Car Tetris. Lots of furniture and lumber have been hauled. DD wants me to get rid of the Mercedes and keep Hariat after the project is done.

Outsideplaying - I don't see a motor on that garden cart. It seems to be missing. How does it work? Does it come with a gardener included?

Dogs. Any dogs. Mine are in heaven, so I look to fill the void with other people's beauties. I was on the train last week, and the Seeing Eye folks were doing training (no pun intended), having them get on and off, negotiating the platforms, etc. Then, an added bonus. At the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, there was a slew of Seing Eye pups, getting used to crowds, noise and loud music. I knew not to bother them, but it gave me such a warm feeling. Dogs.

@LoneJack Zn 6a, KC, Mine has no motor attached except me when I’m using it. If i need something larger I hook up a larger cart to the 4-wheeler or DH uses his tractor scoop.

@John Liu, very true! I can just about pull or push my cart with one hand when it’s fully loaded. Can’t do that with a wheelbarrow. And i will add…I know more women who think they can handle a heavy wheelbarrow who have been injured, some pretty badly.

True you can’t mix concrete in it but i have no desire to do that. I’ll hire that sort of big job out to someone who knows what they are doing. DH can use quikrete for cementing posts in the ground which is about as far as we go.

I didn't mean anything against your lovely garden cart or garden carts in general! Mixing concrete is just a reason for the persistence of the wheelbarrow. :)

I love Wild child's saddle....and the Staffordshire dogs....I have a pair, but they are packed up. Mine have glass eyes. I was told by a collector that they are the older ones. I bought mine at an estate auction in 1980, after waiting all day for them to be brought up.

But my favorite thing is a concrete water trough. I got married in 1966, and shortly after that, we bought our first piece of property. The place had been a dairy farm, and this water trough was there, and I raised goldfish and a couple of water lilies in it. We lived there for 30 years, and sold that place and moved to live on Chocolate Bayou. I loved that trough so much, my husband moved it for me to the place on the bayou.

We lived there for 23 years, sold that place and moved to East Texas. My husband had a terminal lung disease, and I didn't ask him to move it here, but he did, with the only person helping him was a 58 yr old woman that worked for us. Not only did he move that one, but I had managed to collect 3 more....smaller ones, but not exactly little. I said I would never sell this place because those troughs meant so much to me, but I am getting ready to sell it, and I will be looking for someone to move them. To my husband, it was no big deal...he would tackle anything, but I am prepared to pay whatever it takes. They mean that much to me. Especially the one from our original place. Here my husband is leveling it up in front of the barn.

I used to have a garden cart just like that one. I bought it back in the early 70's. I believe it came from Vermont. You could put 5 bales of hay on it, and it pulled so easy,!

Outside, my mom had a garden cart just like that. I gave it to the new owners of her house. My place is so small I could not use it. I was so useful for so many years, I hated to leave it behind. I drove past mom’s house one day and could see that the new owners were using it, so it lives on.

Love the story of the trough. .

marilyn, that trough looks like it's very, very heavy. How was it moved?

On a flat bed trailer. He jacked it up on a heavy duty floor jack and pulled it onto the trailer with a tractor. I believe he put a big pipe under it as a roller.

Considering the scope of the job, Marilyn, moving the troughs was a real labor of love.

I remember that Marilyn! That was quite a feat!!!

Yes, it was. He did a lot of things like that for me. Like that old derelict house I wanted, and he remodeled it for me. There was a window that I had saved for 30 years to go in a house, and it went in that old farm house. I hated to leave it .

The story of that window is interesting, I think, and it was definitely a "favorite thing."

It was 1980. I was pregnant ..due in a few weeks. I had gone with a friend to an antique auction. I found a window that came from a library or ?? It was frosted and filigreed and had "Reading Room" on it. I thought it would be cool in a bathroom, which I have heard some people call...the reading room.

At the end of the auction, very few people left, it would continue the next night ..the auctioneer asked if anyone had any requests. For some reason, I didn't request it.

The next night, my husband and I were having dinner in a cafeteria in a mall on the Southside of Houston, and I was telling my husband about the window and how I hated that I didn't get it.

He said, "Do you want to go back and get it?"

I said it was too far ..about 60 miles, it was already 8 pm and the auction started at 7. Plus it was pouring down rain.

He said "Come on... let's go!"

We got there...pouring rain. No place to park...he let me out in front. Standing room only. He went to park the car. I went to the back ..it hadn't sold yet. He came in, and I told him it was still there. He went to the back to see it. He gave the boys some money to bring it out next

A dozen people were bidding on it. He said, "Bid!"

I said, "It is going for too much."

He said, "Buy the $#@&?$# thing!! That's what we came over here for!!!"

I did, and we bought it. Thirty years later, it went in my "dream" house.

My favorite thing is a big thing...my house. Since I collected 19th PA antiques practically all my adult life, I wanted a house to match the era of my "stuff". I found it in a 1840 farmhouse in a small town. I have now lived here half my life, and it's more than a house. My last house, newly built in a development, had zero character, but this house certainly does. In 1840, two brothers, John and Christian, owned six acres of farm and woodlands, cut down some of the trees, and built this clapboard federal style house, just the two of them. One was a wagonmaker, the other the town's blacksmith. It was a classic two-over-two large rooms. In the 1850s, John bought out his brother's share and built a two-bedroom ell. John was killed during the Civil War, but the family lived on. The next appearance was in 1908 when one of the children sold his half to his sister, Ella. In 1927, she was declared" of weak mind," and the house was almost torn down. A developer bought it , divided the six acres into lots where craftsmen's bungalows were built. The man who purchased our house in 1927 built the sunroom, back porch, a small pond, flagstone walks everywhere, and a clay tennis court(no longer here). A few owners through the years, but we have lived here the longest, other than Ella, and we have done the most restoration. So it's more than a house to me.

I'm thinking Marrilyn's things are as much about devotion as they are about the things themselves. Beautiful stories!

Mine was based on having considered total disaster and realized that much as I love things in general, and have a great many, I wouldn't be devastated by their loss. I finally have my car back, but it's the power to drive that I love. I'm fond of the car, but it, sitting doing nothing does not make my heart flutter. I have some sentimental belongings, like my mother's locket which her father gave her, my grandmother's art glass bowl, and most definitely the collapsible cutting table which I designed with my father and he made for me. These are all things I treasure, and have feelings for, but are still just things.

So what is a beloved thing? I understand the concept, and I think I've had such in the past, but perhaps my world view has changed. There are, however, the crushes. The infatuations. Transitory but intense. My current one is my hat. I'm wearing it right now. I've always had hats but the wearing of them goes in and out. Sunhats are functional, of course. I have some that look like straw but are actually paper, which makes them a lot cheaper, and a lot heavier--which means they're much harder to blow off my head and much easier to get over if they're damaged when it does happen. And recently, as an impulse buy, I got an embroidered felt hat hanging out in the middle area between fedora and cowboy, and it looks and fits great. I'm hard to fit though, and took a real chance when I decided I was cold, and tired of my old Winter hats, and desperate for some new soft ones (knit), and found a bunch of cheapo hats in catalogues. Together, the whole bunch cost what one good hat does. Lesson: the cheap ones fit better! Who knew? I guess they're after fitting the most so start big and have an adjustment for the inner band. Cool! But that was structured hats. I still needed more than the one soft beret, which frankly itches a little, but is otherwise awesome. So, I looked on Etsy. I found a nice beret with thick ribs, soft acrylic, nice color. From the same place, I found My Hat! It's a textured knit, like my old beret, but in shape a kind of beanie/slouch/stocking. hat. Neutral color. Also itch-free acrylic, not as soft as the beret, but not scratchy the way some acrylics are. And it's very light weight. And it stays put. And the band isn't tight, just stays in place. And is foldable, and there's plenty of room to stuff my hair in if I want to. And I can pull it down over my ears. And I can make fun shapes with the crown or gather it and pull it down. And it's pleasantly warm but the right weight to wear indoors. Because I've been so cold. I have all those other hats to wear outside, but my new infatuation and Loved Thing is my hat. The hat. The hat among hats.

@plllog, oh I know you didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was pointing out how well designed it is for tasks that most women don’t attempt that would require a wheelbarrow. Wheelbarrows certainly have their place in the toolshed!

@marilyn_c, I remember the story of the trough! fascinating, and i hope you will be able to find someone to move it again for you.

As far as sentimental things, I do have a couple of miniature tea sets that a sweet aunt gave me when I was around 5 or 6. One set had been hers back in the 30’s and is an old Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Steamboat Willie design) made in Japan. The other was new and is the blue and white delft pattern. She and my uncle lived a block away from us and I loved to visit her. Unfortunately she died of a rare form of leukemia when I was in 2nd grade. I have always hung on to those gifts.

Such lovely stories. Thank you for sharing.

My Bernhardt leather loveseat:

I wanted enough "leather" to reupholster my two bar stools. I answered a FREE CL add, for THIS loveseat planning on using the leather on the back, as my upholstery material. A BIG dog had stood on one seat, turning it to suede, while digging a hole in the other seat....ruining it! DH & I were carrying it out to the truck & he says to me, "You know THIS is Bernhardt don't you?" No, I didn't. (Bernhardt is one of my favorite furniture brands) So....I went to Tandy's Leather, purchased a whole cow hide for $80, matching the leather type & color...and reupholstered the seats...with new piping too. And kept it! It's NOW....a favorite piece of furniture WE own. (New, it would run $5-$7K)

Excellent!! But....what about the bar stools?

I've looked at this thread several times, thinking that I couldn't add to it. How to choose? I've had the ups and downs in life that we all go through but I think I've been blessed. So how to choose? Well, it has to be family which includes our little dog. Now the family is all grown up - even grands are getting big, the little dog gets a big chunk of our affection LOL.

I love my home and I really love where I live. Brittany is a part of France where we get great food, the natural, wild beauty of the place is stunning and you can easily get away from crowds, tourists.....

Then, I'm loving my new retirement. It's been about 6 weeks now and it's so much better than I expected! It's so good for the head!

In the winter, I love the wood-burning stove that makes the whole house feel so cozy. In the summer I love that I can walk to the beach. I love the sea and being in it.

I love our car and caravan. Freedom to go on a roadtrip - love it.

You can see how spoiled I am LOL.

@plllog....I went to an upholstery store, they sell hides, purchased leather for $40 and reupholstered the barstool seats.

Yea! I was worried about them at the end of the story. They look great. I haven't done much upholstery, and I've never used leather (really haven't worked with leather since school), so I was all invested in the outcome. Beautiful!

Islay! Born here in NYC but my whole family comes from Bretagne… I spent many summers there growing up. My parents left in 1950. If I could pick up and go anywhere that would be the place. I speak to three of my cousins regularly, but I have a lot of relatives there.

Hobbitmom….. I’ve thought about this on and off for days.

Not counting our loved ones….If I lost everything, l’d miss the books, records and photos the most.

The other objects I love are my couch and coffee table. Photo is from my avatar…. couldn’t find it so blew that up… That’s an old photo with Sunshine.

George Carlin has a really funny bit about ”stuff”. I’ll see if I can find it

Michèle, where is your family? I'm in a little town called Binic. It you look at a map and go half way between Roscoff and St Malo, I'm here!

Most family is from in and around Roudouallec. It’s on the road between Gourin and Quimper. I LOVED it there. Everything!

I was thinking how much I love the local UPS store, where one can almost always park, and the clerks are very nice--I was sending back a big awkward (defective) thing, I couldn't wrassle back into its needlessly over-protective wrappings, and just took it all to them, and let them print the label (for a worth it small fee) and figure out how to pack it themselves. Very different from the old counter at the depot where everything had to be ready and correct! Driving away, all delighted, I remember a beloved thing thing. I love it so much, it stays safe in a cabinet at my folks' house, because my attempts to find a vitrine or something for it, which will work in my house, have always been thwarted. I saw the perfect one, in a catalog, once, for too much money, but I called--the photo lied. It was totally the wrong color, and I wasn't about to refinish brand new and too expensive.

My much loved thing thing is a porceline figurine made by an artist in a small town we were visiting when I was a young teen. The artist made all these old fashioned ladies in Victorian clothes and bonnets, holding bouquets or baskets, and specialized in making the textiles look real. They might even have been real and infused with porceline. I don't remember. The one I fell in love with, however, was younger, maybe 20, dressed for indoors in more of a Regency style gown, much plainer, with bare arms (lacking definition in the elbows--obviously not usually on display (I love this fault), and with a spaniel at her feet, and another in her arms (with flat bottom as if it were made to also sit on the "floor" (I love that fault too)) She's bareheaded, with a bunch of dark curls, not easily assigned to a particular year, I knew all the issues and still loved it. It took all my holiday money from my grandparents, plus a loan for 40% more from my parents, and my mother was doubtful, but I was allowed to buy it, at the end of our stay, and house it in her display cabinet. I haven't stopped loving her after all these years, even though she's put away. (My mother was also doubtful when I chose the wallpaper for my bathroom at the age of six. It was also used to line the shelves in my closet. --Good thing! It had the be removed for repairs awhile back, and I would have been very sad and testy if some hadn't remained. The wall paper isn't babyish. I don't know why my mother thought I'd outgrow it! I love it, and have done always. So that's another "thing" I love.)