I love living in the country and I enjoy most everything that has to do with living out here... But, I told Cale, before we got married that I don't mow!!!

I will weed-eat and keep all of the flower beds and gardens in top shape, but I just have never learned to use the mower and I hate equipment with motors!!!!! I do have a nice quick start weed-eater that I use a lot, but I do not mow!!!

When Cale was working out of town for 2 weeks at a time, he hired a lawn company to mow! He always asks me what I will do when he is gone, and I tell him that I am going to plant it all in wildflowers and see what happens!!!

But seriously, he really likes to mow and he ahs a big mower that mows a 5 foot strip so it does not take him long to do it...

Is thee anything that you just don't like to do???

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 22, 2002

Answers

We both really like to mow, especially me. I'm not at all crazy about weed-eating( although I do eat lots of weeds) I don't like to pump gas, I do it, but I don't like it, and I can't figure out why. I also don't like to talk business stuff.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), April 22, 2002.

I can't kill anything! When I had chickens for meat, and my partner of 4 years ended the relationship just about killing time I wigged. Not only because of the end of the relationship but also because we got tohe birds because he wanted them and was going to kill them.

I rounded up three girl friends who didn't mind doing it. My banker did most of the killing, another friend gutted them and plucked them, and another cut off heads and feet. I washed them, cut them up and bagged them. I also kept the hot water hot and the cold water cold, and that the food was ready when people wanted to eat. The kids helped too. I gave away most of the birds to my friends, they deserved them.

If I truely had to subsistance farm I would be a total vegetarian. Other than that I don't think there is anything else I wouldn't do on my farm.

Susan

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), April 22, 2002.

Boy, I hate to say the word 'never', because if I do, I know it's coming. lol.

I, too, would have a hard time killing anything. When I was much younger, I said I'd never dress a chicken. It seemed too easy just to get it in the store. But, you know, if you raise chickens, you gotta do something with all those roosters. So, now it doesn't bother me too much to clean a chicken. Hubby still has to butcher.

-- mary (mlg@mlg.com), April 22, 2002.

I hate rototilling. I'll do it if I absolutely have to, but usually offer Eric copious bribes to take over for me.

-- Sharon in NY (astyk@brandeis.edu), April 22, 2002.

I hate getting rid of anything that dies and the presents the cat brings in ! My hubby or son does most .I also I can do more if I have gloves on , I know it seems funny but as long as my skin doesn't touch things I am ok.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

OK, I am a very independt,strong woman who is used to doing everything on her own. I will butcher,mow,mend fence, garden,etc....the only thing I hate and wont do is MICE!! I hate the little nasty vermin!!!!!!!!!! I have never taken one out of the trap. If my dad could not come over and get it out, I put on gloves, got the shovel and all would go out to the burn pile, double bagged!!!!!!!!(Like it's going to get out when it's dead!)LOL. I hate them and will never, and I mean never, learn to empty a trap.I have 7 cats and will get more if needed!God Bless

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), April 22, 2002.

I will do just about anything that needs to be done outside...butchering,tilling,mowing,machete work to clear brush.The ONLY exception is working around or getting rid of poison ivy.I will not touch it,even with thick gloves on.I get it very easily and end up having to take a trip to the doc for shots to get rid of it.

Oh,there is an inside chore I won't do...IRONING ! Anything that needs ironing,my DH has to do,as I put more wrinkles in than I take out.Some housewife I am,huh?

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), April 22, 2002.

I'm with Cindy I hate to put gas in anything------but I think I know why we both hate it so much---is Cindy & I are both allergic to most all chemicals---- & the smell of gas makes me sick-----maybe that is why Cindy hates it also----

I also hate to clean & repair bathroom stools!!!!! We once owned a motel & I knew everyone of those darn bathroom stools in every room on a first name basis---& there were a lot of them also!!!!!!

I could do it---but I hated it!!!!

I mow ---but hubby weed eats with the gas powered weed eater----we own many lots & orchards where we are----& I mow & he trims----he hates the way I mow--- I know he does---but we have sooooooooooooo much we have to mow-----he could never get it all done if I didn't help---- I hate to mow where the big mower tips---so hubby mows the ditches & those things & trims & I mow the rest----

We have sooo much to mow---we just get it done & we start again----

I have always been very independent----& I hate to ask anyone for help!!!! I'm doing better about that----but I hate to ask anyone to help me do anything!!! When I was younger I'd almost kill myself trying instead of asking for help-----

I have a freind who has know me since forever----she said to me the other day---ya know you never would ask anyone for help---for years & in your old age /I see you have pretty much mastered "the poor old helpless woman act"!!! ha! I think I have!!! ha!

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), April 22, 2002.

Well, so far I have refused to go under the house, in the crawl space, and look to see if we have any dead rats. One year we had a terrible problem with rats and we kept putting out rat killer. They ate it by the quart and died and then stunk but I told my husband that crawling under the house for dead rats was "man's work". He was sweet and never complained. Also I have not learned to drive the Super M tractor. Too big. If my hubby dies, God forbid, while we are still on this acreage I'll have to get a smaller tractor, more like a big lawn mower, so I can handle the snow and the garden tilling. I too love to mow. We have a really nice, used Grasshopper mower. ZTR mowers are wonderful.

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), April 22, 2002.

I knew my husband was a hunter before I married him & I enjoy eating wild game. But, before we got married, I told him, I pretty much don't have any rules in the kitchen, except this: IF YOU KILL IT, YOU CLEAN IT & COOK IT! In the past few years that has changed a bit - I still won't dress out his kills, but I will cook them.

Now, please don't think I'm a wimp - I have butchered my own meat: chickens, ducks, pigs, etc....I'd just rather not if I don't have to! ;)

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), April 22, 2002.

I hate washing laundry by hand, and doing dishes in cold water. Hate rototilling, would rather dig the garden by hand than wrassle with that obnoxious, blaring thing that chops up all the earthworms!! And while I don't enjoy killing animals, neither does my husband. I could not respect him if he did enjoy it... It has to be done, so we both do it as necessary. I don't like to bury my goats or other animals when they die unexpectedly. Newborn kids yes, but dear old friends, it's just not as easy.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 22, 2002.

asuming I could physically do anything like I used to, the one thing I would never do and will never do is to clean dead animals..uh uh..no way ..never..rather starve..I will cook them after they no longer LOOK like rabbits or deer...but I cannot bring myself to assist in the process of cleaning the skins, etc...triple yuck.Now fish are somehow different...I can stands there without a thought and whack fish and scale and clean them, but not mammals...once we were visitng an Amish family and their 14 year old boy came in after squirrel hunting...right there in the livingroom, he proceeded to nail this dead squirrel to a board and skin it...I'll tell you, I was out of there in 15 seconds flat taking very deep breaths in the cold air outside the back door while the entire family was hysterical with laughter because here was the woman who stitched them up, had babies get sick on her apron, etc. etc. was the epitome of calm in any emergency, gone nuts over skinning a tiny squirrel! Go figure.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), April 22, 2002.

Oh, that's funny! I enjoy mowing - as much as you can with sweat pouring down your face!

I've never been under a house more than to poke my head under. It looks like a haven for snakes, and I'd just as soon not go into a snakes' house!

Is anyone familiar with noodling? For fish, I mean? Now that's one thing you wouldn't catch me doing!! You can't pay me enough money to stick my arm down in a hole when I don't know what's in the hole!!

You also can't pay me enough money to get a tattoo - I don't like needles, and I'm SURE not going to pay THEM to poke me with one!!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 22, 2002.

OH Christine! I know what you mean about noodling! You never know what is hiding in those holes. I just can't do it! I don't mind the mowing, yard work, and butchering (I will process a deer or a hog by myself) but I won't noodle. I can't put a water dog on a hook for fishing either! I just can't touch the things, I have to use two pair of pliers.

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

In my case, IRON CLOTHES! Especially if I have to iron the darn thing 'right now' before I wear it. I will sooner step on one of the edges and stretch it than iron. I will do windows, and even wash the laundry, though I sometimes forget to change the temperature and get 'pink underwear' LOL. Good thing that goes below the pants :^D

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), April 22, 2002.

I hate power mowers, the push kind. My husband loves them. When he doesn't have time to mow, I put up a temporary fence and let the horses mow the lawn. They do a much better job and they do it quietly.

My Dear Spouse does the ironing, too. The night before our wedding, I ironed his good shirt. When he saw it, he ironed it again so I handed him my dress to iron also. Ironing has been his job since the beginning.

When we butcher, my hands are the ones small enough to clean out the interior of chickens and rabbits so that is my job.

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

Been fishing all my life, but never heard the term "noodling"..doesn't sound like something I would like either, but what IS it?????

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), April 22, 2002.

Lesley, here in western Ok, you climb in the water and go up and down the bank of the river, sticking your hands into underwater holes in the bank looking for fish. It's called noodling. I call it crazy! There are beaver and gar around here. Not to mention snakes! People do catch some mighty big fish doing this, but I'm too chicken to try. LOL!

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

Yeah, Lesley, basically you stick your arm down the neck of the catfish (at least you HOPE that's what you're sticking your arm down) and when they clamp down you pull it out! Sounds like LOTS of fun, huh? NOT!!!

There are catfish in Lake Eufaula (Eastern part of Oklahoma) that when divers went down to check the dam (this was years ago, mind you), that they thought were logs or tree trunks laying on the floor of the lake - they were not! When the divers figured out they were CATFISH and not trees they left! Can you imagine how wide a catfish that was six feet or longer could open its mouth? I would love to see one, but you won't catch me going down there to look!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 22, 2002.

Oh, and just in case you haven't figured it out yet - noodling is something usually done in pairs. After all, you have to have someone there to pry that thing off your hand, right?

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 22, 2002.

why arent any men answering???

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 22, 2002.

That's right Christine! And I'm the one that gets stuck trying to pry the thing off an arm or a torso! LOL! (While I mumble about how CHEAP chicken is at the store).

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

For noodling, is there a reason to use your hand instead of a gig?

Thanks for asking the question, Lesley, I wanted to know too, but didn't want to ask!

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

My father was from OK (Bowlegs) and I have been houseboating on Lake Eufala, but I have never in my life heard of noodling..good grief..you gotta either be nuts or have had a few too many Buds to be doing that! LOL...I fell into the lake once and saw first hand what had to be the "one that got away"..we called that old catfish Moby Dick and the name was well deserved..stick your HAND into a mud hole???????????? Sure...my response would be OK, you go first! No WAY! Folks really DO that??????????And they are sober at the time?????

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), April 22, 2002.

I used to be willing to take on almost anything, now I am very limited in what I can do physically. Of what I CAN do, there isn't much I can think of that I would refuse to do, altho I do have my likes & dislikes.

Crawling under the house would be high on my list of dislikes. Same with dh. When he has to do it, he puts on his "haz-mat suit" - overalls with rubber bands around all the cuffs, boots, gloves and a stocking cap. He'll squish bugs in the house with bare hands or feet, but can't stand one crawling on him.

I do NOT like killing animals...I can make myself do it if an animal is suffering and dh isn't around, but I HATE it. I could butcher if I had to, but would rather not. I'm not squeamish, just don't like the killing.

I don't much care for most housework but just consider it something that needs to be dealt with daily. I would much rather muck out the barn, fix fence or trim hooves, but since I'm now so limited physically my dh does the heavy work and I'm stuck with the housework. Dh is very capable and willing to do housework, but I can't ask him to do that when he has to do so much outside work. Ironing is one of my most despised chores, therefore I don't buy stuff that needs ironing, LOL.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@nospam.com), April 22, 2002.

Melissa, your hubby needs to get you a riding lawnmower. My wife too was the same way...would not ever touch a walk-behind mower even a self-propelled one. At our place in the country, we have a riding mower, and I never get to use it. One of the first thing she worries about when we get down there is getting that yard mowed! She likes to drive the tractor too but the brush hog scares her, so I still get to have some fun! As far as what I refuse to do....nah, I'll reserve that for her. There are plenty of things on her list. Why else would she keep me around?

-- SteveD(TX) (smdann@swbell.net), April 22, 2002.

Laura, some people do use gigs and some just love to noodle! They actually stick their whole arm up into dark, deep holes under the bank where the big ones rest during the day. I've seen people go clear under water reaching into deep holes. It makes me shiver to think about it! LOL! They sure do catch some big fish this way though.

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 22, 2002.

We do have a riding mower!!! I just would rather do the weed- eating.... Cale has a tendency to think eveything is weeds!!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), April 22, 2002.

I don't mind killing animals, mowing, or most anything (I LOVE ironing- its my favorite job), but I absolutely REFUSE to do anything to my car. I won't check the water, oil, windshield washer fluid, or anything. Don't know how, won't learn. I have enough to do, thank you. I also won't clean the pigpen. Any other animal, OK, but I can't tolerate the smell of pigs.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 22, 2002.

I agree with a lot of you I hate ironing. I can stomp mice with the best of them, kill bugs, cook wash dishes, I love to vaccuum. But I hate to iron. If it's not tooo bad then I will wear it or find something else, if I can't do that then I will iron but then won't do it again for a long time.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), April 23, 2002.

I don't like motors either-I don't like mowers or tractors or rototillers-I'm putting my little garden up in raised beds to avoid rototilling!-Fortunantly my husband and father-in-law, LOVE big noisy smokebelching machines-but HATE to grocery shop or cook-which I Rather enjoy, so that works out pretty well. I don't mind weeding the garden-they HATE it so we swap that out. I don't like butchering- I don't like cleaning and dressing chickens either but I would rather do that than killing, and of course my husband would rather do the butchering than the cleaning. Its taking me a while to be able to dispose of mouse bodies-I would take them out of the trap either, but now we have cats so we don't use traps-I just have to dispose of a mangled little body.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002.

Oh, I forgot. For the last 3 years, I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding, so I don't have anything to do with gas or chemicals. We don't use a lot of chems - certainly, we garden organically, etc... but if it becomes necessary, Eric's on duty so that nothing can be transmitted to me or the babies.

-- Sharon in NY (astyk@brandeis.edu), April 23, 2002.

Gayle, you can do my ironing, I'll be happy to check your water & oil. :) The only ironing I ever do is when my dh goes on a business trip, which isn't too often thank heaven. But that's still too much ironing in my book.

Mice I don't worry about with 13 cats on the place. We have 60 "ride-on" mowers (horses) so a gas mower only gets used once a year (just before my folks show up, hee hee). I can tolerate about any animal smell outside of skunks and buck goats, so even cleaning pig pens is preferable to cleaning house, sigh. Guess I was just born to be outdoors. My aunts all complain that they had to do most of the housework when they were kids because grandma always wanted to be outdoors doing chores. So guess I come by it naturally.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@nospam.com), April 24, 2002.

I don't empty the mousetraps either! We've been lucky to not have any mice for the last year and a half or so, but Lance got lots of laughs watching me chase them around the house when I saw one for the first two years we lived here! I would chase them up and down the hall, into the coat closet, under the washer, anywhere trying to get them either with a glue trap or a shoe!

When they do get in a trap (those glue traps are useless, I don't even waste my money on them anymore - little monsters just jump over them!), I just throw the whole thing away! The first time, Lance said "You're supposed to take it out and use it for the next one" and I told him if he wanted to use it over HE could take it out. He decided mousetraps are cheap and I could do whatever I wanted with them!! (score one for my side!)

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 24, 2002.

Hey Lennette! You'd better be careful, I might take you up on your offer. I think I'd have the better deal. I've never been stranded in the middle of nowhere because of a wrinkle in my blouse.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.

Oh yeah. Last night after three hours of folding clothes I decided I hate that more than ironing. I hate folding over and over and then one kid comes in knocks them over then the whole process starts over.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002.