Weekends Are For Hobbies


There are hobbies and then there are pastimes. To me a hobby is when you create something useful or artistic, such as a garden, rebuilding an engine, writing a short story (for fun), knitting, quilting, etc. (you get the idea). A pastime is more along the lines of doing something you enjoy, hiking, reading, watching football, camping and what not.

I work pretty hard all week, as many of us here do, and while I always have chores, grocery shopping or getting together with friends and family, I still try to work on one of my hobbies every weekend. Here in CA we have a long growing season so I’m able to have a garden in the spring, summer and fall. We usually get frost sometime in Jan. or Feb. so whatever’s still out there is generally a goner by then. By March though I’m off and running again.

My husband built me a raised bed garden a few years ago, he’s awesome, and it’s so much easier gardening now because my back kills me if I’m bent over for too long. This year I found one zucchini that got a little too large hiding along the edge of one of the railroad ties.
I also create watercolor quilts when I have time. Luckily, we have a room where I can spread out fabrics and such and make a big mess, then just shut the door and ignore it for a week or two. This quilt is made from two inch squares I cut and then pinned to a large piece of batting on the wall. I kept moving the pieces around until I got what I hope is an impressionistic image of a lattice fence, with a flowering vine, and clay pot in the bottom right corner. This one took about six months to complete. As you can see from the pic of the flower pot, it looks better from a distance.

What are your hobbies?