When your sick who helps you

I have to say that this is how it plays out at my house. Men yep 5 of them in my house.
I have 13 goats, 5 sheep 1 llama, 1 horse, 1 donkey, and about 100 chickens. I sell the eggs during the Winter time to pay for their food. I sell chicks come Spring time to pay for the animals hay.

I milk my goats to use for the family, I make cheese and use our chickens eggs.
Our complete family benifit from me having my animals and chickens.
I do believe there is a kids book about a chicken wanting help with putting in some grain to grow to make a cake and no animal wanted to help her.............however in the end they all wanted to eat the cake.

That is how I feel. It would take no time at all for each person in my house to help with the animals when I am sick. Even if it was a small part it would help. I would love someone to unload my truck from feed 20 bags of feed at a time would make a difference on my back that is healing. Most of the time I too just buckle down and do all the things my animals and chickens need, cause I need too. Most of all I love having the critters, I know what they want and need to live to be happy.
My husband vacumes the house , his only job. I do the rest. I do not clean the kids rooms.

But once in a while you would think they know your sick and would think outside their box and offer some help.
Last Winter my friend was going throw breast cancer. Her husband worked away and her daughter had a brace on her leg. I looked after my animals , rode my horse then went over her house 5 days a week and looked after her animals. I wanted nothing more than a friend to get better. Knowing the love I had for my animals was the same as she had, it would have broken her heart to have sold them while going throw treatment. I gave everything I had to do that for her asked for nothing, not even gas money. I drove to the feed mill got her feed. Stayed with her at hospital when she got an infection ( Lost a kid goat that night as I was at the hospital) and still I gave more. My friend is doing good and I some how managed to think more others than myself.
I don't know how I did it but I did. It was months of Winter feeding, not easyier Summer feeding.

I wondered yesterday that if I was in hospital what would happen...... even if it was for a day. No one knows how to milk my goats in our house. This I think is important. I have friends that I have shown how to milk, but you never know if they would be available when the time comes. I am thankful for easy goats that come to their names for milking and do as they are asked.
I know that not all men out there are the same as the ones in my life.
I am just sharing how I am feeling. That when my DH is sick he lay's down and when I am sick I carry on........and on .......and on.

In the end I love what I am doing and would never change it. Animals keep me going.

farmchiq wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

LOL farmchiq you made my day

farmchiq wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

hey that is hilarious. Maybe men can "woman" up once in a while. My wife is a tough cookie and i look up to her for so many things. Especially now 7.5 months into pregnancy i do help her put her socks on and make tea etc

Piet wrote:

farmchiq wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

hey that is hilarious. Maybe men can "woman" up once in a while. My wife is a tough cookie and i look up to her for so many things. Especially now 7.5 months into pregnancy i do help her put her socks on and make tea etc

Piet that is so sweet, mind bet she would love her toes trimmed and some nail varnish as well if you want to make her feel really special. Pregnacy is a tough one for sure ......especially the birth.

Good luck on the little one

Hmmm, perhaps some women might want to adopt the 'angler fish' lifestyle.

The pertinent bit is from 0:17 to 0:49.

Very funny Fowler, very funny!

Fowler that was hilarious! Had hubby sticking his head over my shoulder and laughing too I do most of the chores as they are my animals however the kids have their own chores for their animals. Hubby helps more if I'm sick but no matter how sick I am kids and critters need care so no sick days for me. I had pneumonia for 2mnths last year and hubby was away for half that time but kids still had to eat, get to school and all the animals still needed food and water hauled at least 2times a day. Same goes for my kids when they're sick I help them out but they still have chores to do its part of having animals

Fowler, did not know you moonlighted as a Jacques Cousteau wannbe, but that smokey bedroom voice of yours is very come-hither. Can I subscribe to your youtube channel? I hear you do a fascinating narration of a cow having a cesarean. Hot stuff, man!

Whether its kids, spouses or pets...start the training early!

Am I alone here? Am I the only one who thinks the female angler fish in this hilarious video is actually very pretty?

Schipperkesue wrote:Am I alone here? Am I the only one who thinks the female angler fish in this hilarious video is actually very pretty?

Sue I am with you on that one I need a tank full of those pretty ladys lol you know just to tell the men in my life to watch the teeth they are sharp......
Laughed my ass off with the video omg way too funny.

Piet wrote:

farmchiq wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

hey that is hilarious. Maybe men can "woman" up once in a while. My wife is a tough cookie and i look up to her for so many things. Especially now 7.5 months into pregnancy i do help her put her socks on and make tea etc

off topic!

congrats Piet! Wish the best to you and your wife. Have a fun time learning!

Thanks;)

I am sick, or at least back on the upside of the hill I have spent the last 2 days asking Gordon to "killme". With a fever, headache, body aches, and then of course the expolution (sp) of everything. I was an absolute blast to be around.

However I do have to give props to my family because at midnight when I'm asking Gordon for help my hubby is standing the doorway asking me if its working I kept my whole house up off and on that night and they still did everything they could for me. They had the dishes done, mind you it is a dishwasher. My boys who are 6,8 did their laundry and my dh made all meals for them. While I lay on our living room floor dying, or at least trying very hard too!

Now the dh is getting what I had and I am done here for now. I'm still weak enough that I'm having a hard time staying upright.

Oh and congrats Piet on the bundle!! I always got laughs when I couldn't reach the counter to chop veggies because the belly was to big Take lots of pictures and enjoy every minute

Last night I had a big talk with my DH and said I needed to know he had my back. Haveing my back to me was if I could not due to sickness of in hospital he would feed and milk my animals and chickens.
He said he thought he had my back. Of course to me unless you milk my goats you don't have my back.

This morning he came out and had a go at milking. Normaly I can have someone milking with in 5 mins and they pick up speed. By the end of one goat they are normaly doing milking with 2 hands at the same time.

DH was a slow learner......thin stream of milk and one hand. I am still in shock that I got him to put his hands on my goats teats.
I am sure that it will take a few more days to get him where I know he can milk my goats no problem. I am thankful that he came out and had a go. I think I may get my youngest son out to re learn as well.

Once a year I put on a cheese course. I have done this for the last 2 years. We start off with milking the goats , pasturizing, then cheese makeing. Simple cheeses you can do in a day. This year was crazy I had people phoning to go on a waiting list and had 5 in a class for the day.
It is such a fun day and I think the milking the goats to be a great ice breaker.
Going to have to get the ballon to blow up for some hands on training in the house. that or a mirror lol

Just happy that he tried and that is all I could want.

When I had my knee replacement in May it was at the height of my hatching season and my Dear Husband bless his heart as to me he is one of a kind. He looked after all my birds, did all of the cleaning to my satisfaction as well as hatching,egg collecting, vaccinating as well as working full time. On top of that he had 2 dogs to look after and about 5 acres to mow, What a guy and he did it all without complainant and was rather upset when I said I thought I was getting around enough to start doing my chicken things myself. I know for a fact he will always step up in a pinch.
He would get up at 4:00 am every morning and spend an hour helping me get settled and spending time with the dogs he would then go out and spend an hour and ahalf doing morning chores, he would then come in and collect the Standard Poodle and the 2 of them would be off to work for the day. He would then come home about 4:30pm do the evening chores and make supper. On the weekends he would candle and set eggs and clean and move chicks etc. He was great and I am very lucky.

I reminded myself several times to let him do things his way and it always worked out and we should all be grateful for any help given.

Heather

viczoe wrote:
I reminded myself several times to let him do things his way and it always worked out and we should all be grateful for any help given.
Heather

Ah, you too have a gem of a man, for surely. Totally get what you are saying though. When I am in bed sick and I am, well, just there, I watch how my Husband will cook things. It always makes me smile. And I never say a word. Don't dare, too sensitive for that, he would probably cry . Kidding of course. I get a kick out of him though. If I am not well and cannot leave the sick bed, he will ask me what I want to eat. I think of the most easiest thing that he could possibly make. That would be the stash of sidekicks that I keep around, and the green peas frozen, which make a meal that I just LOVE. So I watch him perform this meal making and it is really quite a process for him. Noodles and peas are about one of the most simple things to make, but seriously? It seems like he was making a meal for the entire world. It is a big job for him. He is not adept in this teeny tiny little kitchen. Back in our old life, he had a kitchen the size of kingdom come, with all bells and whistles. And he could brew up a storm for me and the foster children. It is me that has honed skills of cooking in a kitchen that has no kitchen space to cook in -- here in our new life. I don't say a word, as the milk sometimes bubbles over the pot cause he got sidetracked, the peas get way overdone. But hey, my belly is full of carbohydrates and peas, and I am a happy girl in my sick bed. So ya, know what you mean, my way....

Gordon only knows what he does out at the chickens' coops that would take me about one half the length of time it takes him, maybe I don't want to know, cause I probably WOULD have to say something beautiful days, CynthiaM.

Yes for sure, if you ask for help you have to take it any way it comes, not be picky about "the exact way you usually do it" because hey you're NOT doing it and that really is the point isn't it?

I disagree, somewhat, with the 'accept any help that is offered' idea. I have heard it many times from the HUbby over the years who in actual fact was saying, "I am going to offer the very least of myself, take a very dim view of the quality and process that matters to you, and do it any way I feel, since I have nothing invested in this." No, I do NOT accept that anything is good enough and must be taken with gratitude. There are standards, there are solid reasons why things are done one way and not another. There can be far reaching consequences when things are done off kilter. Not always, but sometimes.

I used to explain this to HUbby thusly; how would it work if I poured brake fluid into the radiator, transmission fluid into the oil thingy, and Wax and Shine into the window cleaner container? Would that make him happy? Well no it would not because he would have to come behind me and fix the mess I'd made. Well then...when it falls upon him to help me when I need it (cause I'm sick or gone) then I expect him to care about my interests as much as I care about his. I recognize his feelings and preferences on many, many issues and for marriage/partnership to work, that respect must be returned.

It's one thing for a confused partenr to muddle their way willingly through some chores that they are unfamilar with. It's another thing for a partener to get it wrong because the animals are 'your thing' and they have segregated you and what interestes you out of their life as trivial and not worth noting. Hmmm...time to pack up and go back to your mommy who obviously tolerated this crap from you, but it's not going to fly in MY house! I do not dish out second rate standards or effort to anyone, and I will not accept them in return. SOrry, cannot get on the 'take what you get and be happy' bandwagon.

Interesting Uno, I hadn't looked at it that way before.

I guess I kind of think that my way is not the only way, just as I may choose to do something a little differently than someone else. If the same care and attention is applied, but it is done differently what does it matter? I would never get after hubby for loading the dishwasher 'wrong' because the way I load it I can fit more in. I am just happy to have it done. Laundry can be a bit tougher cause I hate when he shrinks my stuff, I have a enough trouble with body issues to all of a sudden have all my favourite things not fitting!!!!
But many things I am just happy to have a hand with once in a while, I have to say help with household stuff is a rare occasion. I think he does worry about doing it 'wrong' as I like things done a certain way, but I try not to be to rigid about it.

Oh Uno he knows full well how picky I am but when I say let him do it his way I mean maybe he chooses to clean pen B on Saturday as opposed to Friday or perhaps feed eveyone in an order that suits him. I think most of us have to remember that for instance my spouse still works fulltime while I am at home 24/7, he adjusted his schedule hugely to accommadate the fact that I was immobile given the fact that he travels out of town constantly, as well as having huge job pressures being a project manager and while I would do the same for him anytime as we are partners in everything I think it I as his partner trust him enough to know the jobs are done well and to let go of my pickness.

Heather