What do you do for fun when you're not gardening?

What are your hobbies, pastimes, etc.?

When I'm not gardening I read books, organize my gardening pictures, and look at gardening magazines. I spend a lot of time with my Grandchildren in the winter.

I love mysteries, and read about three a week, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen White, Sue Grafton, James Lee Burke, and Janet Evanovich are my favorites.

I'm not much for TV, but constantly have the oldies radio station on.

Lately I've spent a lot of time working on my website, but I really need a winter hobby.

How about you?

I watch a lot of TV. Actually, I watch tapes. I can't bear to waste my time on commercials, so I have five VCRs hooked up to five TV sets and I record everything that looks promising. I usually can watch two hours of recorded shows in just over an hour by zipping through the commercials and other filler.

Most of my jobs have had something to do with books, so I have enough of them to have run out of wall space long ago. I eventually had to convert my garage into a library to house them, but it sometimes depresses me to know I'll never live long enough to read them all, even if I were to quit work and read for 8 hours a day.

I used to sew all of my own clothes. My mother never spent any money on us, so my sister and I became expert at taking clothes into the dressing rooms of department stores, making sketches of them, and then making our own patterns and sewing them.

I gave up sewing -- temporarily, I thought -- when my son was born. I had nightmares of him swallowing pins and needles and didn't feel safe keeping them around the house. Besides, by then I could afford to buy clothes instead of making them myself.

When my son reached the toddler stage and turned the house into rampant chaos, I started collecting stamps. I think it was because the stamp albums were the only places in the house where everything was where it was supposed to be. It did wonders for my sanity and my vocal chords. No more shouts of despair at the mess.

I have many things I love to do! I also am a reader and prefer books by Patricia Cornwell (LOVE the Scarpetta novels!), Jodi Picoult, Nelson DeMille, Stephen King (some, not all) and Ann Rule among many, many others. I must have a book to read before bed each night. I could while away my days reading, but then nothing would ever get done around here.

I also like to knit, crochet, and sew. Love recipes and cookbooks, and even though I'm not crazy about cooking, have fun trying new recipes.

I have some favorite TV programs, both new and vintage, and will almost admit to watching a certain soap opera for almost 39 years. I also like movies, but hate going to the theater to see them - my favorites are good dramas, thrillers and comedies. Cannot stand action/adventures.

After finally getting my computer, many of my other hobbies have taken a back seat. I have a lot of fun with this!

My younger son gave me one of his digital cameras, and I have been learning this new format and enjoy taking pictures, too. I am of the old school, and worked in photo processing labs in another life. I still miss that, but digital is so much fun!

Since my gardening has become more about houseplants - and orchids, cacti and succulents in particular - I "garden" all year round. My outdoor gardens have been decimated by the local wildlife.

My sons are both out of the house for now, so I am almost an empty nester.

- Lynn

I love taking my dogs out for a run in the woods, but not until it warms up a bit. I like going to the beach also, and I'm one of the people that is actually IN the water. But that is also for later in the year. I guess I enjoy anything out of doors when the temp climbs over 50. Love a good bike ride too.

Photography, reading (mostly about gardening), listening to Dennis Miller on the Internet, cooking (when I feel like it), going out to dinner at restaurants where they do not refer to us as "You guys", tending houseplants, wallpapering, painting, music, walks on the beach combined with hunting for driftwood, looking for Garden Art, rides to "nowhere", ordering plants, playing with Harry (our dog), vacations on Cape Cod, Canada, Maine, and my kids and grand kids.

Oh, I love walking, too. We do it every other day during winter (at the mall -gak!), but in the summer and warm days, we're out there every day. We put in about 3 miles each time.

I try to walk about 3 miles a day too, Mamasita. I have a treadmill, and do it that way sometimes, but my house is a straight shot of about 90 feet, including a couple sets of steps, so I actually walk back and forth in the house. Sounds strange, eh? I crank the stereo up and walk, (Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains.......). When the weather gets nice I walk outside, too.

I wish I could do well at wallpapering and painting, Pirl. I guess practice makes better, but I'm not there yet.

I tape any TV shows I watch, too Zuzu. I think a lot of people do now. So commercials are much less effective. Not on Superbowl, of course.

I like to read, mainly fiction. Very into old music from the 50's and 60's.

Trying to get back into playing the piano after several years of only playing at Xmas
.
Love creating funky garden art out of alley finds and other discarded treasures.

I recently discovered YouTube. Need I say more ? LOL

Owned by two cats.

DESPISE cooking...unless it fits in the toaster.

HEAVY into crossword puzzles.

People watching is also quite entertaining...especially in So. Calif.

I don't even own a toaster. I bought a loaf of bread once, but it turned blue before I could finish it, so I never bought any more.

I love YouTube.

Zu...your first sentence sounds like something Rita Rudner would say !

(i.e: "It's not that no one asked me to the prom...no one would tell me where it was".)

I just love Rita Rudner. What happened to her? I never see her anymore. And do you remember crazy Judy Tenuta from the same comedy era?

You Tube is terrific!

My only contact with the toaster is cleaning it.

that therefore implies that someone is using it, right ? LOL

Yes! And it's not the dog!

One of the best things about YouTube is that you can watch the Superbowl commercials without watching the Superbowl.

this from the woman with 5 vcr's who hates commercials.
(Calling the Doctor now...)

The Super Bowl commercials are the best. So many have to share honors for the worst.

I recently 'discovered' You Tube too. I use it to assuage my need for garden shows. My local public tv doesn't carry some of the shows I got when I lived in a bigger TV market, and sadly, HGTV doesn't have the emphasis on gardening it once had. Will we ever have streaming television via internet? I'd choose another tv market than the one I've been assigned because of my zip code if I could.

That day's coming, Pam. Cable TV and others are doing their best to prevent it, or at least to find some way of profiting from it, but it's coming.

If it were here now, I wouldn't appreciate it. I don't want to be trapped in my office while I watch TV. I want to be lolling on my bed, eating popcorn and surrounded by cats. God, I sound like an ugly cartoon, don't I?

It actually sounds like great fun for you and the kitties.

Zuzu, Love your name, like the little girl in "It's a Wonderful Life". But you know, with a lap top computer you can loll on the bed surrounded by the kitties. Unless the kitties prefer a large screen tv. Hmmmmm...Here kitty, kitty, kitty.

Pam, the inspiration for my nickname actually was the gingersnap cookie, but I think that's how the Zuzu in the movie got her name too.

Hobbies...
I paint a lot, read a lot, listen to music, so, or make plans to sew these days. I have music channels on DirectV and simply leave it on all the time.
I redecorate, a room at a time, reupholster, lots of hobbies. But no TV except for the music and an occasional movie. I have to keep moving, and spin through my days like an out of control top.

I just finished the book "Mockingbird", the biography of Harper Lee. I love her words.

And now I am thinking of using some of these "logs" in my back yard for outlining more flower beds. Trouble with that is they would have to be square, and I don't do squares or angles.
Oh well, maybe I can find some long curved logs.

And I plan my gardens.

You might be able to stand some of them upright. Three of them together look nice. I'll try and find a photo of what my friend did but the photo program is still giving me grief!

Oh, like a teepee. I saw something like that in a gardening magazine. That's a great idea, thanks for reminding me.

Actually, not like a teepee but that could work, too.

Oh, wrapped together like the fencing?
Now that's an idea!

yes, like pier pilings...then you have to get yourself a sea gull to sit on them !

You can send me one, JD.

Or a pelican.

Trust me...you DON'T want a pelican in your garden...when they "let loose" it's ...well,... it just isn't nice.

That's what the pelicans say about you, JD!

oooh...low blow ! LOL

Ummmmmm.....do I detect the scent of a bit of deterioration on this thread?



Ed: scent sounded better than smell.

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 11:48 AM

nah !

LOL, fun thread, well, of course with all the usual characters, how could it not be?!
Oh, and I love HULU.com for watching shows, series episodes, SNL clips and Superbowl commercials.

Hobbies: Photography, (duh!) taking drives around Calif. and Nevada to explore areas, usually in our 4X4 Jeep so we can go offroad in some high terrain, geocaching http://www.geocaching.com/ in those areas, nursery shopping (another duh)

This is me driving out in the desert above Palm Springs back in Dec., hanging my head out the window to see where to set the tires. Front tire lost ground contact so I had to back off and try again. Whoo Hoo!

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 10:13 AM

Well, I thought that loaded too quick LOL

THAT looks like fun.

Is that like 'where the heck are we'?

Yep! We did a 2 day navigational rally a couple of years ago in high desert in Nevada and had to come up with a team name and then decided to just get the plates in that name too.

Winter after-work-time is basically reading and various crafts for me. I rediscovered knitting this winter - love the new yarns! I'm making those thin long scarves with just simple stitches. They look great because of the fun yarns. Can't wait to start digging again, though.

My daughter has been crocheting like crazy this winter as she loves the new yarns, too. She made some beautiful scarves out of them.