I was sure there was a thread on here someplace that talked about our Winter Hobbies. I can not find it so I am going to start this one. If it is a duplicate I apologize.

Please feel free to join in and share what you do to keep yourself busy when your plants/gardens are not No. l on your spare time list. Be nice, Be kind and Be Careful......you may just find a new Winter Hobby.

I know I have been having problems keeping busy this winter because I was limited physically due to an injury. So, at my old age I finally learned how to crochet, and loom knit.

I would love to see and hear from anyone who does either of these. I made hats for the homeless around the holidays on the loom and I am still making them. They go so fast and my arthritis in my fingers seem to do o.k. with the loom. Loom knitting is not as easy as I thought it would be, but I am not good at reading and following directions. I am o.k. as long as I stay with the round loom. BEGINNER IS MY SPEED.

JB, the knitting is probably GOOD for your arthritic fingers...........keeps them moving. I started having arthritic twinges in my early 30's. The computer/typing and piano/organ playing has kept it at bay and I have had no more of that junk.

Winter hobbies.............doing more with my music..............the hammer dulcimer, my accordion, playing every Sunday for church on organ, and weekly City Band rehearsals and playing my alto saxophone there. And of course, I CONSTANTLY have reading material; my iPad goes with me most everywhere so if I had a couple minutes I read.

I'm not familiar with loom knitting, JB. I crochet and knit and think your hats are great! I make preemie hats for hospitals to use in the NICU units.

I also dabble in quilting, and have a king sized one I should be working on. It's in pieces right now! I love to read and do mosaics and a bit of stained glass work. I have a window and a lamp in the beginning stages. The lamp will be Tiffany style using seaglass and seashells. I have a greenhouse full of tropical plants, so I sit out there and enjoy the flowers and warmth.

Winter hobbies, hmmmm.
Coffee
Going to movies.
Beer
Shoveling snow
Coffee
Going to Casinos
Beer
Reading and beer
Trying new coffees
Buying new beers
Gun shows
Snowmobile shows
Cruising joints to find the best beer and burger joints
Tex-Mex cooking
Beer
Used to go skiing and wabbit hunting but my friends got old and it not as much fun by yourself.
Used to love to try new beers but with the asinine, and I read in a beer magazine this very same attitude by a beer expert, glut of new beers being bitter, finding a good true German style lager is hard to impossible unless you buy an old standard, so it is not as much fun as it used to be.
Bad Frog, which is/was a good new beer is gone from around here at least partly because the label is deemed improper as the frog, who has four fingers is displaying one finger.
My, my in an era when perversion is supposed to be accepted, Hollywood makes non x rated movies about it, and this is what politicians are concerned about.

@AnnaZ Wow you are talented. I played the piano many years ago but found it was just not for me. Only because I hated to practice and as much as love music I was too much of a play girl to do what now, I wish I had done. Because of my vision problems I use audible books. They are great and I do have a tablet that reads to me as well as I can read it, I find I use my phone more often since it is smaller. I like Mystery Novels and I have been reading some others lately. It has been a long winter for me.

@Plantmanager I started a quilt one time. My Amish friend taught me how to quilt and I can not remember ever finishing it. I remember I had to embroider it first...I did finish that, but I do not remember quilting it. That takes a long time and I loved doing it but I guess my kids came first and the quilt never got done. Too much time in the barn with the horses.
I have only begun to use the loom. I find it easier on the hands and I drop less stitches. I spent some time in the Greenhouse yesterday but there was a lot to be done before the storm, so I could only make sure everyone there was happy before I came inside. I see one Easter Cactus has some beautiful red buds on it. The others are just beginning and they are slow in starting.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you stick around and tell your friends. Show pictures if you have any.

Quilting...well piecing, I never get to the quilting it seems
Buying fabric
Buying more fabric
Planning and planting garden
Trying new recipes, as in the summer I just really hate to turn the stove or oven on. Or, unless something Im really craving
I will admit...my summer, is your winter. I just cant take the heat and mosquitos. Chilly but sunny day here, so Ive been moving daylily pots. Doing some sewing, and look forward to finishing some blocks the end of this week. Also, with 6 dogs

Wow @RpR you must be a happy person. All that beer would do two things to me. Make me fat and giggly. I do like my beer, but not as much as wine. It fills me up too soon. I have been to Germany and visited the Lowenbrau brewery. It was in the morning and they gave you free, a 16 oz glass of beer and a big piece of sausage. We felt like sleeping after that. Otherwise, I just drink Bud Light small bottles when I drink beer. Thanks for sharing your hobbies.

Hi @Gardenglory, I envy you today. I am chilly here in NJ and it is all ice and snow in the barnyard. It is pretty just now. I live on a Christmas Tree Farm and the snow looks so pretty on the trees. The babies love this cold ....they are dormant just now so they just soak up the water.

If I lived in the South I would not be knitting hats for sure. I would be soaking up the sun with my feet in the ocean. My grandson is in Law School at Stetson University School of Law and lives in So. Pasadena near St. Petersburg.

Here is what our trees look like in the snow. This is the one field. About 1000 trees on this field. The front field is bigger. This is looking from my South Deck that actually looks out on the daffodil field. They are taking a hit today for sure. Some were in bud and I know will freeze tonight.

Six dogs..................what kind @gardenaglory?

It seems my hobby this winter has been procrastinating about my hobby. I am making a king sized quilt for my daughter, it should have been done and gifted to her st Christmas, the blocks aren't even half made. She understands, I had to make two quilts last year for my new grandson.
I do spend too much time on my Kindle, surfing the internet, the time gets away from you.

@robinbunch5 I can relate to that. I have several projects just sitting here and I am on the internet. I have found that since the there is so much hate and discontent on the internet, that I come here to get away from it and just enjoy the peace and quiet of this group. I know we all have our personal preferences and ideas but at least here we talk about the things that make us happy, not anxious or depressed.

I never tried the block quilts. I am sure I would not finish it unless it was for a tiny bed. I have tried large projects and find I get bored and just put them down after awhile. I need hobbies that are short and quick and I can see my results in weeks instead of months. I did really like to needlefelt. I felted little birds and animals and it was fun but it takes a strong arm or arms and my arms are both not as strong as they used to be due to an injury and so I actually put all the wool and equipment in the loft hoping one day I would get it out and try again. It gives you a chance to be creative as well as it is fun. I recommend it to anyone over the age of 15. The needles are very sharp and a youngster could really cause themselves hurtful harm.




This one was my favorite. I sold it on eBay and now I wish I had not done so.

Very nice JB
I thought I would make felt Christmas ornaments but did not get around to buying the kit after the holidays as we were traveling.

I volunteer at the elementary school.
I work in political arenas volunteering
I cook..a lot
I knit and crochet but just scarves... (there are needles and hooks for arthritic hands )
I move things around in the house
I declutter wintertime.
We take short trips
Catch up on pottery shows and such
Dream about the garden and ways to sterilize deer
Spend time in the SANDBOX

Rosie, that is a great list of hobbies. I do wish I lived in NC. That is my favorite state. I lived there in the 50s with my Marine husband and they were the happiest days of my life. I was on Wrightsville Beach.

You mentioned needles for arthritic fingers...please tell me under what name are they found?

We have so many deer but they do not bother the plants we have. They are not too fond of Christmas Trees and of course our gardens are Iris and Daffodils and pussy willow, holly and that is about it. We have some roses but they are too close to the house and barn for them to venture in to eat them.

So glad you stopped by, hope you come back again and share some recipe's with us. Simple comfort food is what I need now. I am going to bake a chicken potpie today. It is clouding up and is snowing in parts of the state already. Oh well, thanks to Garden Org we have a place to hang out.

I love your felted bird, JB! It looks like fun, but I haven't tried it.

I buy, trade, and buy more seeds to winter sow and start inside.
Reading, baking and trying new recipes for my grankids. I tried crochet last year but didn't pick it up again this year.
The hours can get away from me playing in photoshop

I forgot about reading,! Hahahahaha HOW??? I LOVE it!


JB I air fry more and more ( NO GREASE another mess...potatoes and yellow and orange sweet pepper and shallots this morning for a frittata tonight ...

Yesterday, I stuffed big bells with rice and chopped meat ...
I do a lot of extra cooking and freezing somInget breaks

Go on Amazon and type in crochet needles for arthritic hands or similar
I got a big set for $12.99 ..or $14.99 I forget

Wrightsville is nice...and the 50/'s magical especially newly married..everything smells like fresh white linens hanging a clothesline in the hot sun under blue skies and white billowy clouds. I REMEMBER MY EARLY MARRIED DAYS..IN Jamaica Queens NY..that overhead train rumbling by at all hours...Italian ices and catholic feasts with zeppoli and sausage and pepper hoagies ... ... those memories make me feel glad and sad.. smiling thru tears... I am still that young girl inside this carcass!

Karen.....I have more to show later.

Ronnie, I would love to be able to use photoshop. I seem to mess it up when I play with it.

Rosie, I know how you feel, I keep saying my body does not know I have refused to get older than 65. When I hit 75 everything started to wear out except my mind. I kept on plugging away and worked part time in an office I set up many years earlier,,, they loved having the old lady around. I outworked the young girls. Oh well. I am not getting old gracefully. I am fighting it every minute of the day.

Rosie, my first husband was Italian and I had to learn how to cook Italian. Being Spanish but raised in the Pennsylvania Dutch area, I never learned at home. We had a cook and a housekeeper and my Spanish Grandmother did nothing but sit on her rocker and talk to her parrot and drink beer. Yes, we had wine at every meal and I learned to drink at home....never thought a thing of it since it was part of our culture.

I would not like to live in Queens, I used to like to go to see a show when I was young and could take the kids in to NYC to see the Christmas lights. Gotta go check my Chicken Pie . I cooked tonight since both the kids were going to be late and I am iced in.

We lived in Kew Gardens/ Forest and Richmond .Hill...it has changed over the years but the old Victorian homes with a great deal of rock in the landscape were quite beautiful,..the German chocolate shops, the Italian restaurants, the Irish pubs, and Jewish delis... I would not trade all those memories and sights and smells and sounds and tastes for anything!

Memories keep me alive. I am getting tired of the winter weather and I can not move South because my daughter would never be able to handle that. She must have me closer just now.
I guess once a mother, always a mother. She is going through some nasty kidney stone removals and thank God she has no children and a wonderful husband. She never misses a days work and is always there for anyone in distress, but when it comes to me, she is such a baby. Makes me crazy. Now my son is another story, he only talks to me when I call him or text him and he visits once a year. LOL. He is a good man and has a nice family as well as a successful criminal trial attorney, so I just chalk it up to another part of being a mother.