Other Hobbies

I’ve been gardening for a number of years now, and have learnt almost everything I know from Monty Don!

My favourite thing to do on Sunday mornings from March- October is to put on a podcast or some music and spend the morning pottering in the garden. I know I would have found the first lockdown very hard without it. I was also luck that I’d been given a mini greenhouse last Christmas which allowed me to grow loads of plants from seed when all the garden centres were shut. I buy the odd gardening magazine so had quite a few packets of seed at home.

Not hobbies as such but by things going online, hay festival, book prizes, gigs streamed that I'd never normally be able to get to I've expanded my interests quite a bit just by the process of joining one thing and then something else being recommended etc. So now I'm following twitter feeds/reading blogs on farming, about soil health, rotational farming, re-wiggling rivers etc. I've got interested in greek and roman mythology. Have discoverend new musicians and podcasts and re-disovered the absolute joy that music than impart. Started to discover how interesting and varied fungi is (and the various and terrifying invasion of other host wildlife that are taken over by it). Started to read more history and different periods. But all very early days as i'm possibly trying to do too much at once and there never seems to be enough time.

I wish i remembered mroe about plants, I know some basics, but like birds and other things if i didn't learn them as a child i seem incapable of remembering now.

Juggling. I learnt the 3-ball cascade at uni nearly 20 years ago, but didn’t get any further than that.

Re-took it up in March just as something to do indoors that wasn’t sitting staring at a screen, discovered YouTube tutorials, and have now learnt a bunch of tricks and found a local group that meets once a week (well, when we are allowed!).

It’s actually quite good to do in front of the TV, so it hasn’t reduced the screen time, but at least I’m standing up and waving my arms around while I am doing it.

I bought a piano and I started learning Spanish. Both things are going really well as I have time to practice every day. And the occupation helps to keep me sane.

Wow, you're all very impressive! I tell myself I would have done impressive things too if I hadn't been working but blatantly not true.
I've learnt to make chilli con carne and I'm still quite proud of that 

I love this thread, excellent idea Phantom of London. Also, some of you absolutely put me to shame. :)

The most positive thing in this whole mess, for me, has been the opportunity to listen to a lot more music than I normally would. Music is the longest-running love in my life (I caught the bug from my uncle, who was a DJ, when I was a kid), and I've been doing a lot of walking since the pandemic started, which has melted into a cherished little ritual of discovering new albums and new bands, and rediscovering old ones, on these walks. It has also meant going down a few rabbit holes of looking for YouTube live videos, reading about concepts behind the albums and things like that, for which there usually isn't much time. I know it's a pretty silly thing to say, and it's not really a hobby, but music has kept me sane through the pandemic. 

I've also decided I wanted to learn more about how music is created, so I've been watching videos/reading about the basics. Finally, I've purchased a drum practice pad and a pair of sticks to try and apply some of that in practice, and work on my hands/feet coordination. The plan is to switch to real drum lessons once all this ends, so I've also been saving up. (Although, I have to honestly confess I'm pretty bad at it so far.) It's something I've always wanted to do, but never mustered up the courage to try. Turning 37 amidst a global pandemic seemed like a good excuse to start, given that I'm not getting any younger and I literally have nothing to lose. 


 
 

In all seriousness it does get the heart rate up!

At least you have the excuse of working. I haven't worked since March & haven't done anything impressive either. All I've done is what I usually do when I'm not working - read, internet, walk - apart from not going to the theatre & watching a lot of livestreams. I have also worried about covid a lot. If I'd died of covid back in March I doubt anyone other than my mother would have noticed or missed me since.

I have loads of crafts that I have ready to try. But have struggled to find the motivation. Needle felting and crochet are the fibre arts ones. I also got an airbrush. I keep looking at starting miniature painting and then getting a resin 3D printer.

I am great at buying. Really bad at using

Very predictable but this year

- I took a keen interest in south east asian cooking, I can do an excellent Singapore laksa now
- Made a start at learning Chinese but gave up - unfortunately it cannot be done self learn style - I will need to join a class
- Did lots of walking - not new hobby, but since lockdown I made a point of going for a long walk every day, even if the weather is awful
- Gin Tonic - lots of it, at home and in home made batches in the park. I've never spent this much time in the parks of London.
- Takeaway Coffee - I dislike coffee and I used to hate spending money on it. This changed drastically since March. I still don't like the stuff but I enjoy buying it now from independent coffee shops and have a chat with my partner over it. When there is nothing else to do, drinking hot coffee on the street is a small pleasure.

Have you tried Stephen Fry's books on Greek mythology? I find the books a bit too jokey (although they might work well in audiobook format as it would be more conversational), but his stage show was fabulous, if that's been captured anywhere.

He does the books as sort of a "Dummies Guide to Greek Mythology" and if you don't need to remember the 17 offspring of Whono and Whatsis, he'll tell you that. It's not written in any sort of a serious (let alone scholarly) manner... he's telling stories around a campfire, bad puns and rude jokes included.