To wonder why this is 'common'?

I seem to recall that you didn't hang washing out on a Sunday. But that was the day of garden bonfire so might have been a sensible move.

well i was always told that but if you are ok then carry on. same as do not hang washing out the front but if that is all you have so be it.
A few years ago I lived in a rough part of the city and there used to be the 'chavs' who would sit on there doorsteps morning to bed time and always in pjs! you had to walk up the road to wait for the bus and i am not sure who was more scary these women in pjs, the men in half mast shorts beer bellies on display or the feral kids running riot!

When my first baby was born in the early 1980s my mother was horrified when I mentioned the word "dummy". I could see it took all her composure not to slap me!

"It's a baby's soother, not a dummy...you do realise that's short for dummy tit! You and I will have a major fall out if I hear you call it that again."
Some people are just mental. 🤷‍♀️

It is traditionally viewed as common yes but I don’t see an issue at all provided you’re not sitting there practically naked sunbathing or blasting tinny music of course! Your set up actually sounds quite lovely.

She was making conversation and commenting on her own changing attitude. She really wasn't rude

In the old fashioned sense yes it is 'common'.

But so are a load of things we do every day, eating in the street, smoking in the street. For my grandmother, lighting her own cigarette out side the house.

In the days of smoking everywhere she would take out a cigarette, put it between her fingers and hold it out a little way for the nearest man to light it.

A woman wearing trousers was also common unless it was your uniform for working in a munitions factory.

Opening your own car door when there is a man to do it.

It’s not a thing to do where I live but if you feel comfortable doing it then carry on. Your house your rules !

I see he’s put ‘yellow bags’ on the example pictured, why’s available from Selfridges . . .

Definitely tongue in cheek.

Not part of the "common" nature of this thread, but what about stunt front garden furniture?
It's certainly a bit of a thing in my bit of Melbourne, the table and chairs or bench set out in the front garden but never used. These are gardens without high walls, obvs.

I have no room to talk as I have stunt furniture on the balcony outside my bedroom. Why not used? my back to back neighbour's horrendous pool pump and the uncomfortable fact that the Aussie sun is very quickly unbearable, even in winter.

I’d also forgotten this. She allowed canned tomato or oxtail soup and tinned ravioli/spag bol with toast but not beans. Born 1926.

I think beans (especially Branston ones) delicious on buttered toast but still don’t think to make them more than once a year or so. I have tinned soup, stew or curry about once a week though.

This.

We used to love baked beans with our breakfasts on board HMS Ark Royal' wardroom. We got a supply officer who banned them as they were not "officer like". There was a riot.

Oh yes. My mum thought they were common too, I had forgotten this. We were never allowed them.

Yes common according to my parents. Hanging out laundry was also common so I'd take everything they say with a pinch of salt.

I rented a north facing terrace with a small yard for years. Thr front doors opened direct on to the street, no front yard at all.
A couple of the older neighbours used to put their deckchairs on the pavement to enjoy the sun together! I never thought it was common, I thought it was people enjoying the home they pay for.

I think it’s so sad that people can’t understand the nuances of jokes any more.

This is so weird. I have a 25ft long front garden (terraced townhouse) with loads of plants and a patio set under the kitchen window (so about 20ft from the pavement). I sit there all the time!

This is so weird. I have a 25ft long front garden (terraced townhouse) with loads of plants and a patio set under the kitchen window (so about 20ft from the pavement). I sit there all the time!

She was joking with you!!

I'd never sit out in my front garden 🫣

I agree with @WonderingWandathat it is from days gone by when poorer people only had a yard at the back while those a step or two up the social ladder had a back garden.
“Tuppence halfpenny looking down on tuppence” as the saying goes.
On a road near me, one side of the road has houses with south/south west facing back gardens with great sunshine while the houses on the opposite side have north/north east facing back gardens that don’t get much sun and are fairly dismal.
Some homeowners with the north facing back gardens have created seating areas in their sunny front gardens with really beautiful planting to give them privacy from the road.
One that is particularly lovely has a patio with a raised bed full of large luscious white hydrangeas in front of it and patio doors at the front out onto it.

We used to live on the periphery of a very nice area in London. I once walked through during Wimbledon on a very nice day and a couple had pulled their sofa into the front garden and turned the tv to face out of the open window so that they were sitting in their front garden watching Wimbledon through the window! They had made lemonade pimms and were inviting people to join them. I couldn’t stop but it looked fun and also fancy! It’s all in how you carry it off!

Equally, seen a lot of sofas plonked in front of East London terraces that don’t have quite the same vibe, but I’m sure are equally well enjoyed on a nice day.

I HATE people walking and eating. My husband does it and it makes me cringe every time. Then my daughter has a strop because I make her sit down if she is eating "but dad does it!". I hate it, hate it, hate it!

If you absolutely must (because there are no seats or something) then at least stand still while eating.

Did I say that I hate it?

I know it's a me problem. 🤣

I love seeing people in their front gardens. It's very sociable.

It's funny what is classified as common. My dad point blank refused to let us have our ears pierced as it was 'common'. But I was in my mid twenties when a friend told me she was amazed that I would happily eat a sandwich while walking down the street, as eating in public, especially while walking, is very common.

Well, I don’t disagree, but to do this, you’re going to have to dismantle the UK class system and class aspirationalism.