Other hobbies

[Crankin]

Well, if and when I can't ride as much, I guess I will step up the reading more; maybe do book groups or stuff at the library. I am a foodie, and we go out to eat a lot. The cooking thing is related.
I used to fill up a lot of time (in addition to working full time teaching at the gym part time, and teaching religious school), volunteering. I got burned out on that and now am very stingy with my time.
I enjoy just sitting and looking at the scenery during the time I am not in class, studying, working at my internship, or riding. After so many years of having no time, I don't want more hobbies to fill it up.

[tulip]

gardening - alot
cello - a little
walking my dog. I'd love to do agility with him, but I don't know where to start
kayaking (well, in my head anyways!)
oh, and yes, birding. I'm learning the bird songs now, since I hear them before I see them.

[makbike]

counted cross stitch
reading
my furry buddies

[MartianDestiny]

walking my dog. I'd love to do agility with him, but I don't know where to start

Do you know if there is a local agility club? If you can find them they can give you info about local fields and/or trainers. (A nearby regional club may even have some info for you)

I'm in a group class now with the trainer recommended most often on the local agility websites and who my friend also goes to (we carpool). Cost me $120 for a set of 6 classes (so $20 a class) which isn't too bad. She goes over basic techniques and things to try, walks around and helps you individually, but basically lets you have fun with your dog and figure it out yourself.

Some fields/clubs I think have certain nights where you can just use the field (sans trainer) for like $5-$10 to do a run or two, but that's more geared towards those that already have agility training.

You don't really need anything to start other than some basic obedience work. The dogs seem to figure the easy stuff (jumps, table, dog-walk) pretty quickly and have a lot of fun.

Luna learned how to chase her ball through the tunnel today Next we have to get her to go through the tunnel without the ball going in first, LOL.

[Jolt]

I play fiddle- Irish and contra dance music.

Cool...Irish music is fun. I have just started playing around on the tin whistle...it's fairly simple but not really that easy to sound good! So far just playing the simple tunes in the little booklet that came with the whistle--things like "Molly Malone", "The Drunken Sailor", "Danny Boy" (which I just tried today and sounded horrendous!!!) etc.

[azfiddle]

Jolt, is there a regular Irish session near you? Anyone to give you pointers?
I agree, whistle is simple in principle and hard to do well. There are a lot of little techniques for getting the right sound. I can figure out a few tunes, but can't get much beyond jigs....

[Jolt]

Jolt, is there a regular Irish session near you? Anyone to give you pointers?
I agree, whistle is simple in principle and hard to do well. There are a lot of little techniques for getting the right sound. I can figure out a few tunes, but can't get much beyond jigs....

I don't know if there's a regular session around here--that's a good question. Might be fun to check out (if I can get past the fear of embarrassing myself). Mostly the tricky thing is fine-tuning how hard to blow for certain notes--there are a couple that I always seem to have problems with and it's also just generally easy to overblow on the low notes and have them sound sharp.

[mhami]

I don't do anything on a regular basis to call it a hobby. However, if it can be called a hobby, I do volunteer work a lot.

I also like to create Excel spreadsheets. I can find almost any reason to create one. There is so much you can do with Excel. It is almost like writing a computer program.

[Fledgling]

What a talented group of women. Surely a force to be reckoned with.

I love looking at the photos posted here of others work.

mhami: my SO feels the same way about Excel spreadsheets, so that made me smile.

-I'm a fan of volunteer work, as well. Especially with Girl Scouts. I'm training to be a Rappel Assistant as we speak.
-Camping/Hiking/Backpacking
-I just made a gift out of twisting copper wire that I'd like to invest more time in (maybe sell somewhere, let me know if you want anything ). It was surprisingly easy and went over well with the recipient.

[runningteach]

Love the art work and photos. Wow, there are a lot of talented ladies here. I love taking photos and love birds but have never thought of putting them together.

I enjoy knitting when I have the time. I use to quilt but get too frustrated because I am terrible at piecing the pieces together.

[Juliegoddess]

Wow, look at all the talent here! I'll add my two cents:

I'm a clothing designer for plus sizes...have begun to dabble in designing bikewear for plus sizes.

My small biz right now focuses on fiber art, my hand-dyed wool for spinning and felting, and also knitwear design. I also design hand-spun yarns for knitting, and hand-painted yarns for knitting.

Oh, and here's my work in progress on my version of the "cycling sock"...a blend of wool/bamboo/nylon that feels great in the cycling shoe:


I'm going to play around with different designs for the cuff at the ankle, and of course, COLORS!! (I love color!)

I also love beading with seed beads...the really teeny ones, and love doing Russian beading. Crocheted ropes with seed beads are my fave right now:


Now, if I try to do gardening, I tend to kill everything in sight. And cooking is a drag to me. But if it's fashion, I'm in!

[Flybye]

The picture pretty much sums it all up:

[TsPoet]

Oh, and here's my work in progress on my version of the "cycling sock"...a blend of wool/bamboo/nylon that feels great in the cycling shoe:

That sock is gorgeous, and the materials sound comfy.

The picture pretty much sums it all up:

Well, the smile certainly does.

[Juliegoddess]

I totally agree that your smile sums it up! I love this picture...makes me happy just looking at it! (grins!!)

[jp4995]

Reading
Knitting
Spinning (yarn)
Photography