Whats your hobby?

[Vanje]

What do you all do, when you aren't doing the DU?

I raise sheep, have Border collies and compete in Sheepdog trials.
I grow orchids too.

[bluesbassman]

1. Primary is music, followed by photography.

I engage in a lot of other activities but music and photography are what I would consider my "hobbies".

Yours sound very interesting Vanje. Border collies are wonderful dogs and I love orchids.

[Vanje]

19. Cool!

Do you play music with others?

I used to. Fiddle and mandolin, but I havnt for a while.
Playing music with others is the best thing ever!

[bluesbassman]

21. Love the fiddle and mandolin.

Sounds like you're into Bluegrass? Never played it myself, but enjoy listening to it.

I've been playing with the same core group of guys off and on for about fifteen years. The current lineup has five members, two guitars, drums, keyboards, and me on bass. Mostly Blues, but we do a few rock tunes. Got a gig coming up on the 28th at a place with a big outdoor patio. Be a nice end of summer show.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Photography mostly.

Gardening in the summer. My whole life is pretty much a hobby now since I'm retired. Lol.

[Vanje]

3. I'm jealous

I like my job, but it cuts into my time, something awful.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I know the feeling.

I didn't even take up photography beyond family snapshots until I was retired and they invented digital. Now I can't imagine my life without it. Life begins at 60.

[Solly Mack]

5. Photography, growing flowers, refinishing old furniture

teaching neighborhood kids arts & crafts, reading and sleeping.


I really like sleeping.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Photography and poetry!

Retirement is wonderful!

[B Calm]

7. Fishing and growing vegetables in my garden

[handmade34]

8. Hiking in the Mountains...

gardening
sewing... make new things from old
photography
playing with wood... building things
....
....
my son's photo in the White's...

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. Mostly outside stuff.

.
.
.

Just bought a house on 28 acres this Spring, so exploring it on foot, or with my 4x4 is #1 at the moment.

Property was logged 25-30 years ago, so there are many roads and trails already here -

Doing landscaping, cleaning up a good portion of the yard that previous owners used for a circular driveway - I don't need that - I want green lawn so got a dump-truck load of topsoil to fill in the ruts, momma nature will make it all green next year.

Many renovations at my new(first) real house going on at the moment, so other hobbies like playing my acoustic/electric 12 string, gardening, photography (which I just bought a $600 camera for) are on hold for a bid.

Winter time (quickly approaching) I maintain bird feeders daily, enjoy watching the different species and their habits.

Next year, a garden and greenhouse to be created in a nearby clearing which I am grooming in advance.

I'm sure I left out a few of my hobbies, camping used to be a major one, but I can camp all over my property - 2 travel trailers, lots of clearings and roads, so I expect I'll "camp" right here most of the time.

Fishing was one of the past, soon to be resumed - there is a creek 1 mile from my home, full of trout -

So I bought a canoe with that fishing thing in mind.

Someone else mentioned retirement is great.

If you have lots of interests,

it certainly is.



CC

[hobbit709]

10. Surviving.

[Raven]

11. Knitting and painting.

[Iggo]

12. I play the guitar.

I've got a Strat copy, a Les Paul, a classical (nylon string "Spanish" guitar), and a dreadnought (standard big cowboy box guitar). With those, I can make almost all the guitar sounds.

[loli phabay]

13. shooting, fishing, working on my properties, reading, parties and family

Also vacations, vacations and vacations.

[Xyzse]

14. I do a bunch of things

Since I do many things, I don't know if it constitutes as being my hobby.

I haven't painted or drawn in years, but I think I can get a passing grade on it.
I work out every day, religiously for about an hour or more, but I do that for my health, so I can't say if it is a hobby.
Every time I finish a beach body program, I reward myself with a week or two of a different sort of fitness class such as Kick Boxing, Capoeira or Parkour.
I play the guitar now and then, but have been fiddling around the ukulele more often than not. I just learned a few Korean songs on it too, not that I am Korean or anything, but I have a friend who is in to K-Pop, and I was tasked to learn. (Youtube is my buddy.)

I have a collection of coins and stamps that I have not looked at in over 10 years.

Mostly, I just read.

[HERVEPA]

15. Contra dancing and hiking

[handmade34]

23. used to LOVE

Contra dancing (until I broke my leg...)

[HERVEPA]

24. I take it that it didn't heal well enough to dance again?

If so, very sorry to hear that.

[handmade34]

26. oh no...

I can use my legs better now than ever (albeit with huge scar ) I have just changed priorities for my legs (and for a bit wasn't near any dance halls also have become a bit of a loner )... now I HIKE whenever I get the chance... started the AT this spring (had to change thru to section ) and am also working on the Long Trail...

[HERVEPA]

33. Ah, glad to hear that.

[Bunnahabhain]

16. I have several pursuits

Most of the things I do for relaxation though can be divided between music and alcohol.

My Mon-Thurs consist of 10-12 hour work days so I really regiment myself at home. Thirty minutes on the practice chanter (how you practice bagpipes without waking up the neighborhood), 30 minutes on the guitar, 30 minutes learning theory. Weekends I also work on teaching myself to compose music in Ableton my digital audio workstation software.

Fridays I try to only work 6-3 so I can attend my wine tasting group. It's a small group of several working wine buyers and sommeliers. I'm the only civilian but I'm a certified somm and they're all my friends. You have to taste, taste, taste to learn wine.

It doesn't take much of my time but I do other alcohol related things. I collect single malt Scotches, I make my own bitters, cask age cocktails in my home bar, and other things to do with this.

I also make sure to get 45-60 minutes of exercise in a day but that's more "preventive maintenance" than "hobby."

[Vanje]

28. I love bagpipes!

My dad played em.

DU could form a hell of a band!

[Bunnahabhain]

29. Thanks!

[handmade34]

86. NH Highland Games on this weekend!

I used to go every year... Love the massed bands... I used to have a boyfriend that played bagpipes; when we broke it off (I was living in a very rural area) late one night a beautiful lament started playing from atop a hill a ways behind my house... sweet and creepy at the same time

[Aristus]

17. I would say reading, but that's more of a pastime. My real hobby

is collecting autographed first editions.

I have a small but growing collection, including a first edition of "Lost Moon", the book that inspired the movie 'Apollo 13'. It's autographed by Jim Lovell.

I inherited a large number of my father's first editions when he died. I'll have to get them appraised. He collected books about the Nazis and the Third Reich. But most of them dealt with esoteric subjects, like various units and operations of the German paratroopers, etc, rather than general history. I expect they may be very valuable to collectors who are interested in those subjects.

[DFW]

18. Look at the pic--I'll bet you can all guess it!

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Vanje]

20. Jeeez! Those are beautiful!

[DFW]

61. They were made for me by an old friend from Serbia

He's in his 80s now, and after something like 60 years in the States, his English still sucks, but he's the nicest guy you could want to meet, and his 12 string guitars are legendary in some circles. He has made me several over the years, and I treasure every one of them.

[Callmecrazy]

37. There's NOTHING as beautiful as a well made twelve-string...

And that includes women!

[DFW]

62. The guy who made those for me is in his 80s now

But his 12 string guitars are the stuff of which legends are made. They resonate forEVER.

[Callmecrazy]

63. Beautiful guitars.

[DFW]

73. The wild thing is that he trained as a violin maker

He only started making guitars in earnest after emigrating to the USA, and he never learned how to play a guitar.

But that's OK, because people who DO play guitar really make his instruments sing.

[pipi_k]

22. Copper

I love it and collect small pieces.

Reading.

Dabbling in watercolor, although it's been a long time since I painted anything.

Knitting and crocheting. Occasionally I will knit or crochet a bunch of preemie hats and angel afghans and burial gowns for donation to a local NICU, although last year I gave a bunch to my grandson's girlfriend who is a NICU nurse in Colorado.

A bit of photography.

Doing my family genealogy.

I have recently started a collection of colorful bracelets.


Used to like gardening, but back and knee problems have made doing it difficult, if not impossible.

[Vanje]

27. Fantastic

My sister makes copper stuff. She pounds sheets of copper with an assortment of fancy hammers, until they become beautiful THINGS!

[Avalux]

25. All of our 'hobbies' should be what we do all the time.

Reading through these, I can feel the enthusiasm all of you have for your hobbies. Too bad we can't be compensated for what we love to do in our free time, instead of working to make a living. To those that are, bravo.

That's kind of how I'm feeling right now, as I'd rather be at home working on my art instead of sitting in meetings listening to idiots talk all day.

[Throd]

30. Declaring other people's hobbies as stupid and advocating for banning them!

Seems to be common here on DU...

Actually I'm restoring some classic Oldsmobiles. Keeps me out of trouble for the most part.

I also have about 4000+ different beer cans.

[hunter]

31. A lot of things. I'm never bored.

In total volume of household crap it would be reading. My wife and I have more books than some small town Libraries.

Collecting art, not "good" art, but mostly amateur and kid art. And we do have some excellent art purchased from local artists, or by family artists.)

It covers all our walls.

I also like photography, but not with fancy equipment. I collect cameras from thrift stores and develop film myself. I play with cheap digital cameras, removing the infrared filters, messing around with lenses, that kind of thing...

It's nothing special, but I enjoy it. These were taken with just about the worst cameras possible:






I like the surrealistic atmosphere of both.

[benld74]

32. My Family

[Boomerproud]

34. Geneaology.

I should be exercising or reading more, but I really enjoy the research involved and occasionally getting surprised by finding something I was looking for.

[The Magistrate]

35. Build Scale Model Aeroplanes, Ma'am

[REPUguy]

44. Very nice

Are these models built from kits or scratch built? Excellent work either way but if they are built from scratch they are magnificent.

[The Magistrate]

45. Thank You, Sir

The first, a Farman MF.11, is completely scratch-built.

The second, a Vickers Vimy (School), is a corrected and converted kit.

The third, a Boeing B-17D, is a kit, finished by covering it in aluminum foil.

The fourth, a Curtiss P-40N, is a kit, built 'as is' from the box.

All are in 1/72 scale ( one inch equaling six feet ).

[REPUguy]

46. You are welcome

You certainly picked the most difficult of the bunch to scratch build especially in 1/72. When I used to build kits my scale of choice was 1/32. I liked the larger size but shelf space disappears pretty fast. I don't build any more but I have a large shed with a couple hundred kits in there. I keep adding to it...maybe one of these days.

Once again, excellent work.

[hibbing]

36. Bicycling

Hi,
The Border collies sound like a pretty awesome hobby. I like bicycling and keep riding more and more miles, I think I'm about at my max though now.

Peace

[Callmecrazy]

38. I got hooked on Astronomy about 15 years ago...

but sadly here in SoFla it is often too cloudy to break out the scope and throw a star party. Now and then I go to Nokomis or the the Venice Fishing Pier on the Gulf Coast and set it up and invite passers by to gaze into the heavens and realize how insignificant our lives and troubles are. Gives you a little perspective.

And on my planet we can hear the Beatles on the radio telescopes.

[Vanje]

39. If you saw my night sky

here at the edge of the SW Idaho canyon lands, you'd be jealous enough to cry.

[Callmecrazy]

40. I bet I would...

Probably too many stars to be able to star hop around the sky. Jealous.

If you ever get a chance to view Saturn through a decent scope, do it. You will be amazed that the planet you've seen so many times in pictures is actually out there. It was profound and real and will bring a tear to your eye.

I love a clear night with my scope and lots of people around. I get to be an amateur Carl Sagen and people are pretty impressed by my self taught knowledge of the heavens.

I actually spotted a new comet once and when I reported it, it was already seen twelve hours earlier by a Japanese astronomer and he got to name it. I just missed being immortalized by naming a celestial body.

Comet Crazy. Sounds good huh?

[Vanje]

41. Comet Crazy

Excellent!

I'll hunt for saturn.
I have a 200x spotting scope for bird-watching.
It makes the shining night orbs bigger too.

[opiate69]

42. Lately, it's been mushroom foraging..

3 weeks into this season, and already it's better than all of last year was... (and really, it's kinda too early yet.. ) Here's about half of what we got a couple weeks ago.

[Vanje]

50. Oh My God!

Are those chanterelles?

[opiate69]

60. Yup.. And some lobster mushrooms...

We've been killing it on those two the last 3 weeks.

[HeiressofBickworth]

43. Genealogy, needlework, paper crafts

and movies. I go to two to three movies a weekend and a friend comes over on Fridays with DVDs. During the last Seattle International Film Festival, I went to 20 movies. This past weekend was a 70mm film festival at Cinerama. I went to two of them. Lawrence of Arabia and Patton. Oh, yes, I suppose you might say that DU is a kind of hobby. I know I check it several times a day to see what you peeps are up to.

[Major Nikon]

47. Whiskey

[applegrove]

48. I read. Go for walks. Watch movies.

[femmocrat]

49. Work pretty much wears me out, but....

in the summer I like to garden and read. My plans for retirement are to redecorate the house and eventually move to a smaller place.

[a la izquierda]

51. Gym stuff, photography, traveling.

Oh, and playing with my dogs, and foreign films.

[PoliticAverse]

52. _You_ compete in sheepdog trials??

[Vanje]

55. I do!

Heres my best girl.
Her name is Vanje, but it really is me, the hooman, who's doing the typing.

[riderinthestorm]

53. Work consumes me so I'm embarrassed to admit I don't really have any hobbies

I read a lot. I take care of my family and everything that goes with that - shopping, cooking, cleaning etc. I simply don't have much extra time.

I just started taking flying lessons. Its been on my "bucket list" forever. That may turn into my hobby. Next I'm going to take drawing lessons. Maybe that will end up being "it"....



One of these days I really want some real free time to figure it out.

[JonLP24]

54. I like to follow

sports and the economics of sports. The latter is probably more interesting to me.

[MiddleFingerMom]

56. Nero Wolfe had orchids as one of his passions.

.
.
.
Here's a link to about 20 of his radio shows. Though they don't play as prominent a role
as they do in the books. it's still enjoyable listening.
.
http://otr.net/?p=nero
.
.
.
I highly recommend the books -- they're good pulp fiction mystery/thrillers with a lot
of humor.
.
.
.

[Vanje]

57. I know!

He also loved BEER!!! As do I!

Nero and I are a lot alike. Except I live a shack in Idaho, instead of a New York brownstone. I dont really know what a Brownstone is. I dont think there are any in Homedale, Idaho.
Also, I dont solve crimes. But I would if I had my own Archie Goodwin.

Loved the books! I bet I've read every one. Fun read AND botanically accurate.

I've never heard the radio show. I bet I'll like it. Thanks for the link.

[MiddleFingerMom]

58. That website is incredible -- over 12,000 episodes from almost 170 shows.

.
.
.
I highly recommend "Gunsmoke", "Father Knows Best" and X-Minus-One" (sci-fi), but
there are plenty to explore.
.
All free streaming -- I think several players work (RealPlayer works for me) -- they can
play in the background while you're doing other things.l
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.
.
http://otr.net/
.
.
.

[The Magistrate]

74. Thank You For The Link, Sir

I read some of those when I was young, but never heard the shows.

A few years back someone did a quite decent TV adaptation.

[BlueJazz]

59. Astronomy

[Tuesday Afternoon]

64. I don't have hobbies so much as I have unfinished projects scattered about.

[davidpdx]

65. Mine are reading, watching TV programs or movies, surfing the net, and traveling

I don't get to do read for leisure or travel much lately because I'm working on my doctorate. I miss being able to sit down and read a book and get so deep into it I finish it in a few days.

[NJCher]

66. So many interests!

Nature photography, particularly my garden, but also on walks with my neighbor's dog. I like taking her on trips to explore the various parks around here.

My garden, my garden, my garden. It is my primary focus outdoors.

Reading, but it's really more than that. There is some sort of mania that has me constantly searching for books. I presently have 264 on one card of my Nook, yet this does not stop me from going to four or five different libraries on a regular basis and I currently have out around 14 titles. I take certain books with me that are appropriate for reading at stoplights.

Looking at art, interior design, craft works. Graphic arts, as in the design of labels, logos, etc. I create using Photoshop.

Computers. I just love playing around with a new program.

Cooking, especially whole foods.

Watching birds, feeding them. Squirrels, too, and other forms of wildlife around here and since I am in the woods, there's plenty.

Communicating with my relatives, especially the older ones. I like to take pictures and send them in the mail. Find little gifts, that sort of thing.


Cher

[truegrit44]

67. This thread caught my attention because

I just returned from house/farm/dog sitting at a friends place for 2 weeks because they were competing at a big sheep dog trial in Meeker, CO.

They have 12 BC's and about 60 head of sheep and a few other critters.........was a fun experience.

I guess my hobby since I'm retired is making and selling dog beds/crate pads.

[Vanje]

71. I bet I know your friends

The sheepdoggin circle is a small one. Meeker is a very prestigious trial.

[truegrit44]

75. They are a married couple that both compete and

the husband got a chance to compete at Meeker this year and was over the moon! He actually even made it to the semi finals and I guess even that is pretty special to accomplish. They know tons of sheepdoggie peeps! So it is possible, they live in Montrose, MO if that rings a bell..........

[Vanje]

76. Wow!

The semi-finals is an accomplishment. Meeker is world famous for its difficulty and tough competion in the country.
If it were horse racing, it would be the Kentucky Derby.

The Missouri sheep-dogger I know is a Scotsman.
But I'll watch for strangers from Montrose in my trialing travels.

[truegrit44]

83. I know who you mean

I use to live up there and he is a famous trainer These people moved there from NJ because of him, but they are not the same folks.
Yes, Meeker was a huge deal for them and they are still basking in the glow of just getting to the semi finals

[Goalie49009]

68. Is picking your nose a hobby?

[BainsBane]

69. beading and paper crafting

[polly7]

70. I have quite a few .... jack of all trades, master of none.

But I enjoy piano, portraits in oil pencil, horseback riding, hockey, fastball, refinishing old furniture and making reborn dolls.

[Phentex]

72. I judge barbecue contests...

so I travel to some middle of nowhere places and meet plenty of really nice people. And eat some interesting Q.

As part of my "continuing education" I seek out bbq restaurants to sample what's out there and write reviews online.

I also like to make greeting cards but I don't get a lot of time to do it.

[Sweet Freedom]

77. Acting!

Thank you.

[Vanje]

79. Oh How fun!

I wish I could act. I cant even act my age.

[politicat]

78. Textiles and bicycles.

I mostly sew. I'm learning to weave, I can crochet (can't knit, am not going to bother trying to learn again) but I prefer embroidery.

And I'm handy -- DIY is very much my ethic.

[cherokeeprogressive]

80. My newest hobby is Radio Controlled Airplanes. I have three.

I have this light-as-a-feather plane called a Mini Vapor that you can actually fly indoors. It's SO cool. The other two are EPO foam planes, one is called a Bixler and the other is a P-51 Mustang called Big Beautiful Doll. The Mustang has flaps and retractable landing gear, and a six foot wingspan. The Bixler is more a trainer than anything but still very fun to fly. All three are electric and believe it or not, I've never crashed any of them. I bought a RC Flight Simulator and must have put 50 hours in before I ever went out to fly for real.

It's absolutely amazing what they've done with lithium-polymer batteries. I have three for the Doll and at 75% throttle I can fly for about 10 minutes per charge and while I'm flying, one is charging, and one's in reserve. I can almost fly non-stop.

I just bought two receivers that have gyros in them that will allow me to fly in windy conditions, and up here it's always windy except very early in the mornings. I'm so looking forward to setting my planes up with the new receivers and seeing how they work.

[Vanje]

81. Un-manned drones!

Very cool.
It would be cool to put a camera on one of those

[cherokeeprogressive]

82. Believe it or not, you can buy a plane with camera for less than $150. Ready to fly.

A really sophisticated multi-rotor hovering copter with a GPS system and stabilization runs upward of $1500. Someday...

[Broken_Hero]

84. A handful of things

collect comics, and toys associated with comic book/cartoon characters, also play and collect Magic the Gathering cards, also read/movie/tv show buff. Also, participate in daily torture also known as exercise.

[frogmarch]

85. Playing my musical instruments and making

multi-track home recordings of my one-person orchestra is a sometimes-hobby of mine. My main instrument is Celtic harp, and my next is cello. I also play the fiddle, hammer dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, ukulele and Irish whistles (low and high). I have a didgeridoo, but I haven’t quite got the hang of it yet. Same with singing, but I think I’m getting better at it.

A while back I had the best time in my life when I made a couple of miniature dioramas. It may not become a real hobby because after I finish my castle diorama, I’ll be out of places to put another one.

I don’t know if it could be called a hobby, but sometimes in the summer I scoop up anthills and freeze them, and then in the winter, especially when I’m bored, I pick through them looking for interesting things the ants have collected. Among the treasures I’ve found are rodent teeth (some from extinct rodents) and many, many garnets.

I used to write short fiction, but I haven’t done that for several years.

I also enjoy exploring my family history.

Mostly I just dink around doing this 'n' that.

[av8rdave]

87. Motorcycles, travel, world's worst guitar player