I’ve been found out (or not!)

So, my good lady Wife embarked on a large scale excercise to clean & tidy my little corner of the house...
Speaking as one of those "woman" people who wear shoes and carry purses and often play ukuleles as well, may I point out there is a perfectly simple solution to your problem:

YOU can clean your corner of the house! :cool:
 
My mom lives with me, and she is used to my hobbies. She's just glad that my ukuleles take up a lot less space than my rafting and kayaking gear. It helps if I play one of her favorite songs every so often and we have a nice sing along.
 
My better half plays Acordion and Northumbrian Pipes, not to mention piano. You should see the price of those things !
So I can get any uke I like and no criticism from her. Thank heavens she is not a shoe or bag fanatic.
 
Thanks for the humor.

Fortunately, my wife is a quilter, and has quite a fabric stash, with new acquisitions arriving much more frequently than my additions to my modest uke collection of less than 20......

As I've mentioned here before, my wife is a professional quilter who owns 12 (and counting....) sewing machines - just one of which cost over $35,000 and takes up the entire front room of our home. So since I only have three ukes so far I figure I've got plenty of room to grow.
 
Funny!

When I started with the uke I was under-employed. My wife set a limit of 2, which I managed to expand to 3. Once working regularly again, my collection has grown. I'm currently at 9 (down from my peak of 14, I think) with two more being picked up at UGH. I generally have four out (three in hangers and one on a stand) and rotate them periodically. A few weeks ago she needed something from the storage closet where those not out are kept. I was out of town and get a text:

Wife: "Wow, you have a lot of cases!"
Me: "Careful, ah, some of them have ukes in them."
Wife: "(having removed them all from the closet) It looks like a music store in here!"
Me: ;-)
Wife: "Is 15 the new "2"?
Me: "Naw, I think 12 is my limit. Any more and I cannot play them enough to not feel guilty."

She is coming to Hawaii with me for UGH. I just hope she doesn't open the plane door and push me out when she finds out I'm picking up two more. Or if she does, she waits for the return flight so I can be buried at sea with them. ;-)
 
I am fortunate to have a spouse with a fishing hobby. My UAS pales in comparison.
 
She: Do you really need all those ukes?
Me: Yes of course
She: Why?
Me: It's cheaper than therapy. :)

Truth be told my wife likes my hobby and it's rubbed off on the kids. My daughter started playing and my son has a strong interest.
 
you must try get your wife into ukuleles, like I did, now we have almost 27 ukuleles combined and still growing.
 
you must try get your wife into ukuleles, like I did, now we have almost 27 ukuleles combined and still growing.

A great project for those who have a spouse it to work out a duet to play and sing on your uke. The Uke wanter has to make sure the other spouse chooses music and sets a standard of playing to be achieved before being expected to participate. Part of the deal is that whenever feasible, all uke playing will be in the shared part of the house and criticism and performance goals to keep playing in the shared area must be accepted and worked on. Improvement is going to be much faster if you let your spouse help incentivise your musical work.
I know that couples can each have a hobby, but music is about community and inclusion. You will enjoy it most when you can include your favourite people in some way, whether it be as a happy audience, back up singer or sideman. Try to do what is required so that your spouse enjoys having musical instruments in the house.
I hate always being a naysayer, but we tried that in my house, and it didn't work. My wife used to be a very good musician and played several different instruments. Most of all she was a singer. But she hasn't really been involved with music for a long time. Anyway, when I started playing the ukulele and singing, I wanted her to sing along with me, which she did for a while. We even did a couple of gigs together. Then she won a ukulele and started playing it a little. But it didn't go so well. We argued a lot about music. I think that we finally decided the ukuleles were my thing, and music was not something she was that interested in anymore. So once in a while she will still sing a few songs with me, but not all the time. She is supportive, but I've gone off in my own with the ukulele.

Note, she doesn't count my ukuleles, but then I don't have that many ukuleles. But I'm sure she would be not be worried about how many I had unless they started cluttering up our home. She has an interior design going on that does not include ukuleles.
 
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Wouldn't work here, either. Hubby is tone deaf and disinterested in music. Luckily we have other things in common.

bratsche
 
My wife sings in church, and that’s about it. She does like dancing, but, of course, I don’t. We both kinda got into it during the “Disco” days, but it was mostly just the music and watching for me.

She mostly pals around with her knitting and quilting buddies, and I serenade the neighbors. :eek:ld:
 
I have 22 ukuleles. I have sold one (to a UU member who needed it), given one away (to a friend of a friend who is a pro musician, and needed it for a project) and have suggested selling another, but my wife won't let me, unless and until I find a replacement for it. (And I'm not currently looking, because I don't currently have the room for another.

My wife is a knitter, I am a spinner, and we have both been bitten by the weaving bug. I probably have enough roving to last me for at least 10 years, if I start spinning more than two nights a week. We won't talk about yarn. Or electronics, Or Stained Glass supplies, wine, artwork, or stuffed animals.

I have never tried to hide any of my instruments - truth be told, I provide the entertainment at the Yarn Shop during Special Events, and we all agree that different songs call for different instruments.

-Kurt​
 
I took inventory today’s. 3 ukuleles, 2 mandolins, 2 organs, 2 pianos, 6 guitars and 1 cornet.
My wife has Multiple earrings, necklaces, rings, shoes and outfits. I used to have many cars, instruments take up less space
 
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Here's my remedy; I've never been married and have 7 ukes in a cabinet in the living room, preparing for an 8th, plus 15 bass ukes hanging on a wall rack in the 2nd bedroom/office/music room with more to come.

Bwaa haaa haaa Mike. Very funny, but certainly one solution.
My wife has more ukes than I do. Now she plays her UBass in our band.
However, if I show up with another uke, I'd better have the keys to my own apartment with me....
 
Considering that it takes some time for a spouse to accept the buying of more than one, or a few, ukuleles, I wonder how a single ukulele player/collector would go about telling a date about a 10+ ukulele collection.
I didn't buy my first ukulele until after I met my wife, and she didn't quite understand why I got a second. Or the third. Or...
If she had seen a wall of ukuleles the first time she saw my flat, she might have run away!
 
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