Why my husband mustn't leave me!

He takes things back to complain
He deals with workmen if they need to work in the house
He set up the new smart TV I hadn't got a clue.

Rods the drains when they get blocked - one of the perils of country living.

Mows four lawns and a one acre field. OK, I could do it but when he was ill I managed to chew up a chunk of lawn when I couldn't get the ride-on in reverse.

All the hedge trimming - I can't lift the damn thing above my shoulders.

Saws all the logs for our very greedy woodburner.

Cleans out the shower trap as I refuse to do it after I found a dead baby rat in it just after we moved in.

I'd better not show him this list or he might go on strike!

kitty , just wondering why you had a problem with the dead mouse? I appreciate that many people have problems with rats and mice, but would you have had a problem with a quick dust pan and brush job to get rid of it?

(No criticism implied, just a genuine question, we all have our "things" when I lived in Windsor Castle I once had to phone the chaps at the trade door entrance to come and deal with a crane fly! )

Goes to lock the outbuildings when it is DARK!!! I am a scaredy cat even though we have bright lights which come on!
There are lots more things too such as fixing any plumbing or electric issue, eating any food I cannot manage when we are out !

Hedge trimming
Log sawing
Lawn mowing ( I could manage that though)
Car washing
Investigating any sinister sounding noises (?usually hedgehogs)
Going up into the loft for anything

He does all the DIY in the house, repairs things I would declare beyond such things, he bigs me up - and when I am down, boy does that take some doing, he puts up with the grumpy version of me...what the heck, i fancy him too!

Ooooh, I'd forgotten the loft, lemongrove and, if we had a cellar, he'd have to do that too.

Phoenix, the mouse might not have been properly dead!!!!

I've told the story before of DD2 phoning us from home while we were on holiday in Scotland because there was a spider outside her bedroom door and she couldn't get out!

Haha,kitty was the spider throwing it’s weight against the side of the door????

No, just sitting looking menacingly at her. DD2'S (then) boyfriend had to come round, catch the spider and release it on the High Street - well away from the house!

At last our value is being recognised.

This is not about husbands, it's about a mouse. We once had a little visitor. My daughter sat on the stairs - in the hall with the door shut to the sitting room. My son was just about as scared (they were 22 and 18 at the time) and I was frightened because we didn't know where it had gone.

Eventually we found it, after much scouting in corners and turning over of cushions and backing off at speed. It was sat under the cushions on the sofa. None of us was prepared to do anything until my son got manly and said "we have to think out of the box". My daughter and I agreed and looked at him for more. Pressure on he said "Mouse on sofa. Mouse needs to be in garden. Carry sofa into garden." Which is what we did. The mouse stayed (thank heavens) cowering on the sofa and when we got into the garden we shut the French doors we had come out of, got behind the sofa and used a tennis racket to bat the mouse gently to encourage it to run off into the garden. It wasn't keen but eventually it went. We then carried the sofa back into the house.

I had only moved in to the house a couple of weeks before and so, so hoped my neighbours didn't think a mad women had moved in, but at least we could sleep soundly and mouse free.

I divorced mine, but as he was useless and helpless, there is nothing he did which I miss! I just get on with it. There is no such thing as a man's job here.

I keep a rubber mallet in the house to finish off any injured wildlife brought in by the cats.

Dealing with rodents of any sort, dead or alive
Dealing with anything dead in the garden - birds, rodents, frogs whatever
Protecting me from live frogs, can't stand them
Removing the huge spiders (I can deal with little ones)
Cleaning the oven
Cleaning the bathroom
Washing the car
Fixing well, everything that breaks that is fixable
Dealing with cleaning up anything messy; such as vomit or blood, once a huge mug of black coffee on a cream carpet, he got it pristine

And, yes, I quite like him, he's got a good heart and miracle of miracles he seems to quite like me.

I hope you realise kitty that you have probably deeply offended the kitten by rejecting her gift
DH does spiders, wasps and other creepy things especially the two legged variety who ring the doorbell.

I had to deal with a dead hedgehog on my front door step this morning! No man here to help so I used a magazine from the recycling bin to flip it into a biodegradable food waste bag and it went in my green bin with the grass cuttings. I then scrubbed my hands with disinfectant even though I did not touch the hedgehog and used jeyes fluid on my step. It now smells like a public urinal but at least it is clean!

He sees to car-related things such as keeping the tyres at the right pressure and making sure (usually) that there is enough water to keep the windscreen clean. Without him, I would have to learn how to open the bonnet!

That's about it, really.

Just thought of another - he kindly holds the stepladder for me so I can climb into the loft to check for signs of rats if he thinks he has heard something up there. Oh, and does quality control checks after I have trimmed the hedges!

My aunt's only question when I announced we were divorcing was about changing lightbulbs.
She was taken aback when I told her things would be the same as ever and I'd go on changing them as I'd always done!

I'm fine with most DIY and taught my son the art of wallpapering - something his father never did.

Maybe those of us who are reluctant DIYers are the same ones who stay in marriages that are long dead.
Confidence in one's own abilities to cope with the basics might provide the incentive to go when it becomes necessary!

He used to kill all the insects and creepy crawlies that got in the house.
Changed plugs and lightbulbs.
For the past year I`ve lived in dread of anything of that ilk getting into the house when none of the rest of my family are visiting. Luckily it hasn`t happened yet. Nothing animal would faze me, I`ve taken several live mice off Mia, not keen on removing dead ones, but can just about manage it, and frogs and toads I quite like as well. Haven`t come up against a rat yet, but until I do, they`re just big mice!

shysal I had one of those useless ones as well, so no great loss!!

I must admit though looking at the 'mouse' stories, the time the pest control put poison down for the mice was quite traumatic! Apparently the poison makes them swell up and die in their runs but not the one who was struggling on my kitchen floor. I felt so sorry for it so I decided to put it out of its misery by whacking it with a shovel. It exploded! I'm afraid I had to leave it to go cold before I could shovel it up and put it in the bin.

Yes mcm we can have confidence in our own abilities, especially when there is no choice. I'm pretty sure he would not have done anything anyway, even if he had been there.

Divorced and then remarried nine years later so I had a time of 'doing it all', but it is nice to hand over some tasks.

DH is good for ...
... taking the bins out - we have quite a trek across a farm site to the front gate
... disposing of headless rabbits (yes, thank cat!) - I don't mind doing the moce. birds etc., but prefer to leave these 'kills' to him
... quite a lot of cooking in the week

I think he thinks I am good for ...
... ironing his work shirts - I seem to get better creases!
... general admin, household bills payments and the like
... changing the loo roll EVERYTIME (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cos he's a much better cook than me and actually enjoys doing it too.
Having seen friends whose DH's have died being left unable to do anything have always tried to be able to do most things or know who I can hold of to do something. And having seen friends who have divorced and ONLY missed their husband's ability to do certain jobs!
Fortunately we do rather like each other too!

He is brilliant at transforming my 'could we' ideas into reality and he gives the bestest cuddles ever.

Without him I would be unable to :
Do anything that involved going more than two rungs up a ladder;
Access programmes on the smart TV box;
Take down the overhead shower head to clean it and, more importantly, get it back on!
Remove trapped mice (though we have not seen any in this house);
Painting and decorating;
Cleaning the outside windows (yes I could get a window cleaner);
Drive anywhere that involved going on a motorway;
Cleaning out the dustbin.
I can wash the car but, being vertically challenged, I would have to get someone to do the roof!
He does not like to
Cook - we would live on tinned soup and jelly!
Remove bees and wasps without killing them first. I will not allow him to kill bees;
Iron (he can; it just takes him twice as long as it takes me!);
Plant things;
Weed the garden (we would have no flowers - he can't tell the difference);
Dust things.
His attempts at DIY usually end up as a dogs breakfast, so I don't encourage him, or complain about his shortcomings. And he is a very nice man, which is beyond price.

Ah yes nice kind men are beyond price. I treasure mine. I occasionally read Mumsnet and wonder what they see in their men in the first place. Some of them seem so cruel.