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jel48

Hobbies besides gardening/hostas?

jel48
14 years ago

We might have done this before, but Keana's miniatures reminded me of it. How about a thread showing some of our hobbies other then gardening and hosta growing? I don't have time to do pics now (leaving to visit my sister in about 15 minutes) but I'd sure love to see your pics and read about some of your other hobbies when I get back next week. I'll try to post some of mine then. Here's a list of some of the things I like to do:

Photography! A lifelong love.

Back yard bird watching.

Collecting cups and saucers.

Collecting plates (something Gary got me started with - we collect together)

Other antiques!

Comments (24)

  • alyciaadamo
    14 years ago

    I collect shot glasses and chicken stuff for my kitchen. I love cooking and creating "NEW" recipes.I absolutely love English lit. books. and we happen to collect HORSES! yes the live ones-thinking of selling one or two! Anything with my kids! PICTURE TIME!!!!


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  • keanaz5a
    14 years ago

    Beautiful alicia. Both the kids and the horses. I love horses too. Would have some if we had the room. Had one a years ago, but kept her boarded. Is the first pics the stallion and sire of the foals? Gorgeous.

  • alyciaadamo
    14 years ago

    Thank you. Wow how did you guess!!But he is the father of only the solid black foal(go figure no white!) and we bought the other one already bred. Which is funny because that one looks more like my stallion than his own foal!lol All our horses are boarded right now we did live on a farm but had to move, ending up selling all our animals except the horses. When we moved we had to settle for an in town house. That is why we have to sell one foal maybe even both. Still debating on who to keep and who to sell and how many we can truly afford.

  • hosta_freak
    14 years ago

    Photography,and I wouldn't call it a hobby,but I bowl in a winter league,so I always look forward to that every year! Other things are ;home improvement;a year-long job. Phil

  • Janice
    14 years ago

    Oh, I love the horses and kiddies, too!! Not an expert on horses, but those look very beautiful!
    More experienced with kids (daughters) and grandboys, but not an expert on either there, as well--but
    I'm learning even more as I go!!!

    As I mentioned on the last thread we had going on this topic, I'm newly into the jewelry making!
    I've go so much money wrapped up in gathering what I need in the way of findings, beads and even
    the tools to make my own beads, so I need to REALLY get to work. Funny thing, despite selling fine
    jewelry for awhile and the love of designing and making the jewelry--I NEVER change out my earrings and
    rarely my two necklaces. Go figure--I hope SOMEONE will want the stuff I make!!!

    Otherwise, I guess my other hobby is learning Photoshop and making my own graphics. I LOVE doing that,
    as it satisfies my limited artistic bent! I draw with a cursor now, rather than pen and ink, or paint!

    I also love decorating! I've run out of much possibilities in our own home, so I am always eager to help
    anyone else with ideas etc. and I also have made lots of specialized wreaths, floral arrangements and
    Christmas items to sell at fund-raising festivals and my wreaths to customers who contact me from time
    to time to update their decor or seasonal appointments! :o)

    Oh, and I've done the 'remodeling thing' for 40 years or more! Been there and done almost everything in
    that realm--belieeeeve me! I've learned to finish drywall--pretty darn good, too--walls and ceilings,
    not at a lightening speed--but when I'm done, I'm very satisfied with the results!

  • alyciaadamo
    14 years ago

    wow you sound like so much fun Janice I love decorating for everything but everyone just thinks I'm crazy! so I really never have anyone to talk to unless you consider peoples eyes glassing over while you talk at them talking TO someone! ;P

  • Janice
    14 years ago

    Oh--a kindred spirit, alycia? It is 'fun' isn't it, being inclined the way we are!! I mean, I ALWAYS have ideas
    but I don't have enough money to put all my ideas to work! LOL I've always said, I need to clone myself, 3
    times over, to do all I really would want to do!

    Hmmm--wasn't there a movie about doing that--Michael Keaton--oh, yeah--'Multipicity'? Was that it?
    Maybe not such a good idea, as I remember how it turned out!hehehe

    So--when you feel like 'talkin' about such as we like to do--just email me--I'm all ears, er, eyes! :O))

  • aahostas
    14 years ago

    I am a musician in my spare, spare time.I don't gig like I used to but I still got a little of it if I need it. Wrote a song in 1981 that climbed up the Gavin charts to #16 in AC .The song was "Morning Rain" with a band called Free Clinic".Our producer changed our name to "The Clinic" when we went to Cally because "Free Clinic" wasn't so funny out there. I guess that was my claim to fame. Now I am just a Hostahermit that lives in the middle of the woods. Pretty dull but a lot less complicated. I get together once in a while with former bandmates to jam and talk about the Glory Days but I would'nt go back to that lifestyle for anything..Just give me serenity and Hosta and I will live out my days in woods smiling to myself in simple pleasure.

    Denny

  • just1morehosta
    14 years ago

    Denny,you are a Musician***how wonderful is that,so, when you had your family get together a few months ago, (when people were walking around your grounds)loved that story,PEOPLE!any way, what do you play?
    Where can we hear the song you wrote?Or at least see the words?
    I love the woods also, no better place to live.Sorry, did not make it to see you this year,hubby was out of work for 9 months,YES,9.

    I make Victorian Lamp Shades.Custom orders,all hand sewn,beaded,or antique long fringe,rosettes in the center,or not.I have one now i am working on, just a small one,and not really Victorian, but a cute little shade,for the bedroom, the lady just brought it over this week.
    cAROL

  • just1morehosta
    14 years ago

    Oh, and i help my daughter and her hubby make Organic Face and Body soap,we are working on a Organic,liquid soap now,antibacterial,they do have a nice Antibacterial Bar Soap, but so many want Liquid.Next on the list,:0)
    We also make our own laundry soap.
    cAROL

  • aahostas
    14 years ago

    Carol,
    We used to have a fan club web site but that was years ago. I think cdbaby is still selling our cds and may have links to songs.Free Clinic was our name on our first cd. The Clinic was our name on the second. The first one was recorded at Private Studios in Champaign. After the airplay it recieved we recorded the second one in LA. at the House Of Blues RC (Tito Jackson's old mansion). The first one was titled Every Day Has It's Dog and the second was titled Cycles.I wrote the lyrics and sang on both. I did play some drums, guitar and piano on both as well as sing my own backup harmony.My partner wrote most of the music.He is very gifted in many areas.Maybe you can come next year.You don't need to have a job! I like everybody!

    Denny

  • just1morehosta
    14 years ago

    Denny,you are very talented,would love to hear you sing and play.
    I can not carry a tune,but i still bellowout,singing is good for the soul.

    You are too funny,no job= no money for gas.:0)
    cAROL

  • hostarhodo
    14 years ago

    Jel48
    My Mom used to collect cups/saucers. Last year after cleaning out my Dad's house my ex husband took some of the cup/saucers to make lamps for me and our daughter.

    You put a bowl on the bottom and the cups and saucers on top, usually 3 of each. Of course you have to drill a hole in them and thread the rod and the wires. I did see it in a magazine. Thought it was quite unique and something of mom's I could see everyday.

    Just in case you are interested.

    As far as hobbies, hosta, grandchildren, helping at the local community hall with meals for weddings, card parties, breakfasts, etc. Yard sales, auctions. Used to love decorating at our hospital, where I worked, for Halloween and Christmas. Home renos - forever.

    Betty

  • jel48
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I never did get back and post photos of any of our hobbies, so thought I'd do that now. We rearranged the display in what we call our 'cozy' room. The cozy room is just a very small extra room. We have it set up as an antique office/sitting room. We picked up a few new (to us) porcelain dolls the other day, so rearranged this room so that we could display them there. The six that are sitting together are the new ones.

    This first picture shows the new dolls plus a few items from our plate collection:

    Some other photos of the cozy room - as you can see, the floor really needs refinished, but that's a project for 'some' winter...

  • jel48
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    And a few photos of our china collecting hobby. We're definitely collectors. Well... maybe almost packrats! LOL! But we do love it!

    Some of my cup collection - and please realize that we have many, many more that are stored. We tend to swap them out from time to time so we get to see everything, just not all at the same time:

    Again, I was a cup and saucer collector before meeting Gary. He was a china collector before meeting me...

    Of course, photography has always been a hobby of mine and all of these photos are an example of that :-)

    We also both love antiques. At this point, our kitchen, dining room, the cozy room, and one bedroom are all 'done' in antiques.

  • jel48
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    alyciaadamo, I LOVE your horses! Horses are a life long love of mine. I literally grew up on horseback and by the time I graduated from High School I owned several of my own (purchased with my own money, not by my parents). That was in 1973. I owned several horses throughout my adult life until we moved to Minnesota in 1994 and were unable to afford an acreage with enough space to keep them. At that time, I gave my last two horses to my sister in Missouri and she still has them there, although both are old and blind now. I wish I could have a horse now, but it's just not practical (not enough space, no place to board at a reasonable cost, etc). I just love everything about them.

  • jel48
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Betty, the lamp idea sounds really pretty. Would you be able to post a picture of yours?

    What did you do when you worked at the hospital? I worked in a small hospital in Nebraska for 11 years, first as a part time cook, then later in patient billing, and ended up as MIS director before I left to go to work at IBM in MN in 1994. I had friends in pretty well all departments. Just a great bunch of people and I still keep in contact with a couple after all these years.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    14 years ago

    Denny, your music is wonderful. Wish I could have listened to it all. cdbaby won't preview all the songs-too bad. Cycles is one of my favorites from the little bits I heard. Your lyrics (what I heard) make me want to hear the whole album-oops-cd! Looks like I may have to buy the two cds they offer-after payday! In my next life, I want to be a musician! Of course, you have done it right-had fun and now living the contented life in the woods and playing for your own pleasure. Sounds perfect.

    Cynthia

  • aahostas
    14 years ago

    Cynthia,
    Thanks! I hope that you enjoy them. I try to live a contented life but I just keep wanting MORE and MORE Hosta!The music is best when it is pure and from the heart. The trouble begins when the record companies send some producer in to try to make you into something that you are not. It is kinda like painting over or adding to someone elses picture. I grew really tired of the business side of music. It is not a pretty thing! When I was in LA I would stop and watch people playing and singing on street corners that were ten times better than I was or would ever be. That is when I began to question the whole thing.
    I now enjoy the simple things..I wrote the song "Simple Things" in protest of the LA music scene and what it had become. We put it on the CD after Our producer had headed back to the UK because we knew that He would never allow it on the CD!
    I guess we kinda got the last laugh! I don't think you need to wait until your next life to be a musician,,,You can start right now!L:et's start with "Little Hostas"!

    Thanks Again,
    Denny

  • Janice
    14 years ago

    Hey Denny--Maybe you could write and record a song about 'Hosta Love' for us!! hehehe

  • hostarhodo
    14 years ago

    Jel48
    I have never tried posting pictures before, sooo type in Country Living Make a Teapot Lamp. It should come up. There are pictures and instructions how to do it.

    Actually that is different because they did not drill the cups and saucers and use a rod,(which holds everything in place), they did it the easier way by filling the top cup
    and letting the cord fall from there.

    I like the look of the teapots as well as the cup and saucers. Think it would fit right in with your collections and decor. What do you think???

    At the hospital for almost 30 years. At the front desk, which included switchboard, admissions, OPD forms, forms -other departments. Ambulance dispatch, still do fire department dispatch, because we were open 24 hrs.Had our own mini 911 system before it came about. Dealt with everyone and everything that came in the front door. So many different people - no wonder gardening is solace - after the rat race and what we dealt with.
    18 yrs midnight shift and the rest was evening shift.

    Retired last Nov 30.

    Betty

  • just1morehosta
    14 years ago

    I remember that song from last year:"Little Hosta"

    Who posted that, i thought it was great,but couldn't stop singing the darn thing for weeks after,ha ha
    cAROL

  • aahostas
    14 years ago

    cAROL,
    I am with you on that!! That song kept poppin in my head for months on end! Now it is back!

    Denny

  • just1morehosta
    14 years ago

    TEEHEEHEE
    cAROL