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Your Hobbies, Collections, and Obsessions


Brian.

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Aside from the thing we all share, a love of books, what are your hobbies? What do you collect? What are the things you love or are obsessed about?

 

Away from books I really like road cycling which I do outside in the summer and inside on a virtual platform called Zwift during the colder months. I do some photography, specifically wildlife photography and I find watching wildlife so relaxing and a great escape from the world. It can be frustrating when you miss the opportunity to get a shot of an animal which is hard to photograph but I never get home afterwards regretting having spent time outside with nature.

 

I wouldn't say I collect anything in the usual sense of the term but I do have a bit of an obsession with stationary for some reason. I have a huge pile of notebooks, both used and unused, scattered around my place and I'm constantly buying new ones in the search for the perfect notebook. I also have somewhere in the region of 100 pens of different types (i'm too scared to actually count), again searching for that perfect pen which has eluded me so far.

 

How about you lovely people?

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I crochet. Amigurumi mostly but I have made two blankets. I also like to indulge in paper crafts - origami, mask making, 3d models -  from time to time and have a wealth of paper/card that I collected for same. I also have a massive collection of rubber stamps which I use to make greetings cards, occasionally. I do love my lucetting and I have been known to do some tatting. I also have a massive collection of magazines on the subjects of paper crafting and crochet.

 

Think that's about it.

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A few creative hobbies - I love painting, especially watercolour, and I love doing ink drawings too - sadly my desire to do either of those things left me at the start of the first lockdown last year, and I'm desperate to get back into it (although my painting space is now where my home office is, which makes things more difficult). I also love writing - I've always got something on the go. I'm currently at the planning stage for an urban fantasy I've had in mind for some time. I also like knitting - I'm doing an Aran cardigan at the moment, although I had to stop that too as I recently broke my wrist and I've been worried to pick it up! I also enjoy nature, baking, growing veg, and playing ukulele.

 

I don't really collect anything, unless you count art supplies and notebooks I haven't got around to using yet. 

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Ditto pens..... and a little bit with notebooks, I only have a few but some are too nice to use!  And also little figures of owls, I only get very small ones now due to lack of shelf space.

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I love this thread Brian! And I’d love to see pictures of everyone’s creations if you have any :) 

 

This year has put a bit of a stop to it but normally I love walking and do quite a lot of camping. The best days are when you can get up in the morning, pack some food in a back back and get kind of lost in a forest for a few hours before it’s time to head back to the tent and light a nice fire to make dinner over. 

 

1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

I only have a few but some are too nice to use

Same! I never really thought about my notebooks as a collection but I suppose they are!

 

Stationary generally is probably the the thing I collect a lot of. I love nice folders and folder dividers. I have a lot of post-it notes and a special box for paper clips and bulldog clips. I can’t think what they’re called at the moment but you know those books of (not sticky) notes you can rip out? I keep thinking note book... but those anyway. I also have an tub of little pins for my cork board, where I pin those rip-out notes :lol:. I feel better when I’m organised. 
 

On 10/03/2021 at 11:43 AM, Brian. said:

searching for that perfect pen which has eluded me so far.

They’re not the perfect pen but I like papermate flex grip ultra. They last for ages. 
 

I don’t know if I’ve really done enough cross stitch to call it a hobby but I do like that, it’s very relaxing (those of you who remember Poppyshake, she got me interested in it!). When you do a kit you get a lot of extra embroidery thread so I kept that and a few weeks ago I watched a YouTube video on embroidery techniques and tried that out. I could do with some practice and can basically just do flowers but it was fun! 

I can play the guitar but I’ve hardly picked one up this year, I’m not really sure why. 
 

On 10/03/2021 at 2:19 PM, Pangolin said:

I'm doing an Aran cardigan at the moment, although I had to stop that too as I recently broke my wrist and I've been worried to pick it up!

Ouch, I hope it gets better soon! I love that kind of cable pattern in Aran knit jumpers and things. I can’t begin to imagine how you make it though. I assume some sort of wizardry :lol:


 

 

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I knit, only started a few years ago. I prefer to knit what really good knitters call "vanilla knitting" - straight forward jumpers, scarves or cardigans with just a little embellishment so i can indulge my other passion - reading - at the same time. If I'm doing lace work or cables which needs  you looking at what you're working on I listen to Audio books.

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Oooh, I’m obsessed with pens too! My present obsession is waterproof drawing pens and their relationship with pastel highlighters :rolleyes: :D.


I used to do ink and watercolours, but it’s years ago since I done it. More these days I use digital art on the iPad, mostly doing Zentangle digital art. I’m obsessed with this pattern.

6CD21DDB-491D-48F2-9D19-CA18829FDAA4.jpeg

Edited by Marie H
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Wow, that's incredible Luna! I absolutely love the cat (and your wallpaper actually, which just goes with the paper cat so perfectly!). How long did the blanket take? There are so may different layers and patterns!

 

39 minutes ago, Marie H said:

I’m obsessed with this pattern.

I can see why! It almost looks like it's folding doesn't it? Also reminds me of an art deco sort of pattern. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Hayley said:

Wow, that's incredible Luna! I absolutely love the cat (and your wallpaper actually, which just goes with the paper cat so perfectly!). How long did the blanket take? There are so may different layers and patterns!


The blanket took months during the very first lockdown and the layers repeat, so once I got the hang of it I could make it any size. I love the wallpaper too and found it a certain DIY chain and insisted that it went up. The cat actually lives on the floor next to the fireplace, it was just easier to photograph it there.

 

5 hours ago, France said:

Love your cat Luna, it's really got essence of cat!

Thank you. My father wanted to do it so he printed out all the templates, cut them all out, then went right off building it, so I finished it. It has a matching cat coming down the wall and they almost touch, it's very endearing. Not sure where we'd put that though.

 

 

Love that Zentangle pattern, Marie H, I can see why you're obsessed.

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Everyone's hobbies are pretty neat. I really like the blanket by Luna. My hobby is kinda dull in comparison to everyone else. Nevertheless, I still enjoy it. My hobby is vegetable gardening. My garden is approx. 20 feet by 16 feet in size. Probably a little on the small size as some gardens go. I recently planted the early Spring crops of spinach, leaf lettuce and onion sets for spring onions. In 2 or 3 weeks I will plant some radishes. Sometime in late April I will plant cucumbers and then plant tomatoes and 4 or 5 different types of peppers. I usually get enough cucumbers to give weekly to about 6 - 7 neighbors. I also have a surplus of tomatoes which I also share with a few of my neighbors. Very few things taste as good as a home grown tomato. Nothing tastes as good as a fresh tomato sandwich with butter on the bread and either a little salt or a wee bit of sugar on the tomato.

This is a photo of a few tomatoes that I grew last year. I usually pick about that amount every 3 - 4 days during season.

 

IMG_1925.MOV

Edited by muggle not
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4 hours ago, muggle not said:

 

Nothing tastes as good as a fresh tomato sandwich with butter on the bread and either a little salt or a wee bit of sugar on the tomato.

 

 

Never heard of putting sugar in a sandwich before!

 

Cheddar cheese, fresh tomato, coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on buttered bread - one of the best sandwiches you can get!

 

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There's some great hobbies here and very talented people!

I've done zentangles in the past, I found them very relaxing (I guess that's what the name implies.)

image.png.f515fde92ebc0b32672082730ecdc6de.png

 

I also play the guitar and piano, but not nearly as much as I used to. I like taking nature photos but I only have a simple camera and my photos are very amateurish.

I knit but my real obsession is crocheting blankets. I follow a blog called Attic 24 and she designs some wonderful patterns.

This is my latest one of hers ...

 

image.png.7510c7dba35b878e7cb3283e39aa0d21.png

 

Your tomatoes look lovely, Muggle! We've grown some in containers on our veranda this year (or our free range chickens eat them all ) but I'm having a lot of trouble with shield or stink bugs. I pick them off and get rid of them but there seems to be an unending supply! They make the tomatoes go all dry and white on the inside edge. 

ps. my favourite way to eat tomatoes is on hot buttered toast with salt and black pepper.

 

 

 

 

Edited by poppy
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Your veggie garden sounds brilliant, well done on growing your own.  I usually manage a couple of tomato plants each summer, had loads last year which I offloaded onto friends as of course I couldn't take them into work like I normally would.  It's very satisfying eating something you've grown isn't it? 

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On 13/03/2021 at 1:43 AM, Hux said:

 

And I obsessively agree to the demands of three dachshunds.

I love dachshunds and I love that picture! That is a very happy dog in action :lol:

 

On 14/03/2021 at 2:02 PM, muggle not said:

My hobby is kinda dull in comparison to everyone else. Nevertheless, I still enjoy it. My hobby is vegetable gardening.

That isn't dull! I'd love to grow my own vegetables. I did try carrots in a small space once but I didn't realise the soil type mattered and they came out all weird and curly :blush:

 

On 14/03/2021 at 7:07 PM, Raven said:

Never heard of putting sugar in a sandwich before!

If you think that's bad, both my parents have assured me that sugar sandwiches (literally just butter and sugar) were a perfectly normal treat when they were kids. I can only assume it was a weird Birmingham thing :giggle2:.

 

On 15/03/2021 at 1:49 AM, poppy said:

This is my latest one of hers ...

Do you have to make all the squares separately and then connect them to do that? Like a quilt? It's very pretty.

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On 3/14/2021 at 10:02 AM, muggle not said:

 Nothing tastes as good as a fresh tomato sandwich with butter on the bread and either a little salt or a wee bit of sugar on the tomato.

 

Raven, the key words are A "Wee Bit" of Sugar. :smile:

 

I have trouble with deer so I put up an electric fence around the garden. I bought a small $99 solar box that I mount on a metal pole and hook everything up to it. I will take a photo sometime when it isn't raining and post it.

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8 hours ago, Hayley said:

 

If you think that's bad, both my parents have assured me that sugar sandwiches (literally just butter and sugar) were a perfectly normal treat when they were kids. I can only assume it was a weird Birmingham thing :giggle2:.

 

 

Aye, 'tis a fact that no one north of Watford has any teeth.

 

8 hours ago, muggle not said:

 

Raven, the key words are A "Wee Bit" of Sugar. :smile:

 

 

You wee a bit on the sugar first? That's horrific!*

 

*I may have deliberately misread that...

 

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11 hours ago, Hayley said:

Do you have to make all the squares separately and then connect them to do that? Like a quilt? It's very pretty.

 

Yes, you make the squares separately but I've used the final row of each square to join onto the next one. It saves all the sewing together at the end. 

 

Reading about your sugar sandwiches, Hayley, do other people make Fairy Bread for children which is hundreds and thousands on buttered bread?

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21 hours ago, Raven said:

Aye, 'tis a fact that no one north of Watford has any teeth.

Hey! :giggle2: I will have you know we have very strong teeth here in Birmingham because our water has extra flouride...

 

18 hours ago, poppy said:

Yes, you make the squares separately but I've used the final row of each square to join onto the next one.

That makes sense. Maybe easier to get a neat edge too? 

 

18 hours ago, poppy said:

Reading about your sugar sandwiches, Hayley, do other people make Fairy Bread for children which is hundreds and thousands on buttered bread?

I don't think I've ever heard of hundreds and thousands with butter. I do vividly remember cutting circles out of bread and sticking them together with a bit of mixed icing (so they'd look a bit like a layered cake) and then putting sprinkles on and eating it... but I don't remember why. I guess that could have been Fairy Bread? It might just be because I was a weird child though :lol:

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