On Friday I had cleaned out the freezer so I can pick up our pig from the butcher tomorrow. In the fall when Vince butchered the deer, he cleaned them, but instead of grinding the meat, we just cut it into big hunks, vacuum sealed it and froze it. He wanted to make jerky that you extrude from the jerky gun and figured he would grind the meat and do it later. Because I desperately needed room in the freezer, I took about about a third of the venison, put it in the fridge to partially defrost so it could be ground and made into jerky.
You would think that a smart husband would learn that there are some things you just don’t say . . ever! Several times in the not so distant past, during a discussion, Vince has said “I wish I had your life. All you do is sit and knit all day!” Really? Is that what he thinks? Yes, I sit and knit all day! The garden plants itself. The weeds shrivel up and die with no help from me. The non-existent rain waters the garden and fruit trees. The plants in our yard never need fertilizer or trimming. The laundry washes, dries, folds and puts itself away. His shirts starch and iron themselves. The menus for each week magically appear and the groceries are delivered by the grocery elves. The jars of home canned food are dropped off by the Amish ladies in the neighborhood . . all while I sit and knit all day. Dinner is cooked, served and cleaned up simply by twitching my nose from my easy chair. Hey . . it worked for Samantha!
Vince in the Kitchen
Instead of trying to explain to Vince that all the cooking, canning, gardening, housework I do takes a bit more time than he apparently realizes, I decided . . OK, Honey! You can do all the meat grinding by yourself today and see how much knitting time there is in most of my days.
Vince: We need to get started on the venison.
Me: The meat grinder is upstairs in the shop. The dehydrator is by the washer in the shop.
Vince: Are you going to help?
Me: No . . I think I’ll work out in the garden today.
Vince: (After getting the grinder and dehydrator) Does all this stuff need to be washed and sanitized?
Me: Yes! I always clean both before I use them since they’re stored in the shop.
About an hour later . . after wiping down everything in the kitchen and cleaning the grinder and dehydrator but before starting on the meat:
Vince: This takes a lot of time!
Me: Yes, everything seems to take more time than I think it should!
By the time he was ready to trim the meat, he was tired and set up a little work station at the kitchen table so he could sit down while doing it! 🙂
During the week, I’m home alone so when I go out to work in the garden, I fix a container of ice water and carry it out to the garden with me. When he’s home working on weekends, he wants me to bring ice water out to him and sometimes I get busy . . knitting I’m sure . . and I forget and then I hear “Thanks for remembering to bring me ice water!” 🙁
So, I was out working in the garden. He was sitting at the table trimming meat. I came in and said “Goodness . . I thought maybe you would bring me something to drink.” His response: I’m kinda busy!
I ended up having mercy on him and I put the meat through the grinder, weighed it all up and put it in 1 pound packages, put it in the fridge and then cleaned up the mess.
I’m wondering . . will he ever again say “All you do is sit and knit all day?”
A lot of times in the mornings when he’s getting ready to leave for work, I’ll sit down and pick up my knitting just to be out of his way and then when it’s time for him to get home for lunch, once everything is ready, I’ll sit down and knit while waiting for him to get home so I guess when he leaves the house, he sees me sitting in the chair knitting, and then when he gets home for lunch, I’m sitting in the same chair knitting, it’s easy for him to assume I haven’t gotten out of the chair for the past four hours. I wish things worked that way!
Marion Morgan says
Oh Judy, you and Vince continue to amuse and amaze me. Men, so true, so true. I have to comments that I do think Vince has lost lots of weight from what I could see. Cheers for him.
Tinkerfeet says
It’s funny how the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence! Lol
Karen says
I think all men are like that – when mine retired I think he soon realized that I really barely sit down to quilt or sew until the evening hours or when it is so hot outside that I spend the afternoon in the A/C. When he says “why don’t you sit and relax for awhile” I will ask him if he has plans to help clean the house or do the yard work or whatever it is that I have been busy doing.
Judy says
Judy, tell Vince he’s got it good and that my husband can’t read the blog anymore because he’ll think I’m a slacker! 🙂 I love how the two of you rely on each other to do your part.
Dawn says
it is so so true. a woman’s work is never done. unfortunately WE make it look easy so THEY think we slack. mine is the same. I am up at 5am have done 3 or 4 projects by 8 am and then later in the day after dinner and twenty more things I have done he will say, you are gonna sit at the computer? DUH……..try following in my footsteps all day and let me know how you make out. men! too funny!
Kay Sorensen says
This reminds me of kids in preschool.
They cry when Mom leaves them.
They ask the teacher is it time for Mom to pick me up?
If it is they start to dry again.
Mom thinks they have been drying all morning and they let her think that!
At least you can introduce Vince to something that really happens.
Karen says
This made me laugh so hard.
Sandy says
I think you should have let Vince do the whole job by himself, including cleaning up the kitchen! Men don’t seem to realize all the work women do to keep a household running.
Vivian Oaks says
Been there, done that! I know exactly what you’re talking about, Judy. Let’s just hope he got the message the first time. If it happens again, more tends to be said, and feelings are involved. Not always nice….
Rebecca in SoCal says
Yes, funny men! My DH does sometimes wash dishes, but always comments on how soon there are more dirty ones. Welcome to the kitchen, dear!
Jackie says
How perfect, my husband said the same thing but quilting not knitting on Friday and it didn’t go well. I read him your blog and he laughed and said he wouldn’t say anything like that Lol. He did say “see I’m not the only one who puts his foot in it”
Carolyn says
LOL you crack me up thanks!!!!
Donna Williams says
Ahem. Uhm. Could you please send me the contact for the grocery elf? Okay, thanks, I am kinda busy knitting over here and my list is a mile long. HA! I know exactly what you are saying – Mr Louis thinks when he retires he is just going to play golf and all the other fun stuff he likes to do. Boy is HE ever gonna be surprised. 😀 Thanks, Judy, this made me laugh.
Jean says
For years I told my hubby we needed a dishwasher. When I was having radiology and he had to wash the dishes, we suddenly had a dishwasher 3 days later. It helps a lot when they have to take over the household chores. Hey, maybe I should get sick again and see what new appliances I end up with.
Susan T says
My DH is retired and seems to be aware of what I do to fill my days. Last year I had serious knee problems, and he had to take on more household tasks, as standing for any length of time was difficult. My knee is much better, but he still shares a lot more of the everyday tasks than he used to do!