New-found Hobbies

[Eenuh]

As I said I would try and be more active, here's a new thread! 

A lot of us have recently found ourselves with more time on our hands, possibly because of being furloughed, or just from having to spend more time at home because of lockdown. And maybe during this time some of us discovered some new hobbies or have really gotten into something. Maybe you've gotten into cooking and baking, or you started learning languages or learning an instrument? Or you decided to pick up a pencil and draw or write? 

What has been your new-found hobby outside of gaming (unless gaming has become a new hobby for you of course!)?  
It doesn't have to be from during lockdown by the way, but I imagine a lot of people picked up new things to do during this time!

 

As for me, about two years ago I really started getting into owning houseplants. I'd already got a few before when we were renting, but once we had our own home, my love for plants grew and so did my collection! I started trying to grow my own plants by propagating, getting plants swaps from Facebook etc. I even started an Instagram page (which has been heavily ignored recently haha). 

Spoiler

 

This year, my love for plants transferred over to our garden. We need to do a lot of work in our garden (including replacing a long fence and getting rid of a massive hedge), but I decided to start growing things on one side of the garden. I really love flowers and have been trying to grow all sorts, such as lupins, snapdragons, dahlias, tulips, hyacinths, a hollyhock, daffodils and more. I've really fallen in love with watching things grow and I love all the different colours you get from the flowers! 
I go out every morning (and multiple times during the day haha) to see if anything else has popped up or if another flower has opened. I find it very relaxing!

 

Spoiler

Now on top of the normal gardening, I also got into trying to grow some of my own fruit and veg! For my birthday in February (so before lockdown) I had asked for a Vegtrug. I set up a nice little area in our garden for it as well. I ordered some seeds online... and then lockdown happened. I had seeds but didn't have any compost to grow in! Luckily our local garden center started doing a delivery service and I managed to get some compost ordered, as well as some strawberry plants. So I could still continue growing stuff, yay! Here is the setup we have, of the Vegtrug and then some hanging baskets for strawberries. 

This is from the start, things have grown a lot since then. There have been some successes and some failures, and I will learn from my mistakes for next year!
I've been growing 3 types of lettuce, spinach (which failed as it started bolting so I had to remove it), I've got normal onions and red onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots (some failure there too), potatoes and strawberries. It's been nice being able to eat the stuff I've grown myself, though I'm still waiting for most things to finish growing before I can harvest them.  

Spoiler

Sorry for the long post! 
So, what have you gotten into?  

 

[Goafer]

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, with my first session being just before the lockdown. Been playing over Skype since then and will hopefully be starting a podcast very soon.

Also, not a new hobby but I've got back into cycling after a 8 year or so break. 

[soag]

I've took up running,and collecting vinyls. (I used to collect vinyls back in 2005ish but give it up and sold most of the collection,but now I'm back at it)

[nightwolf]

@Eenuh I jumped on this thread to talk about houseplants as well! I'd love to know what you've got going on collection wise. Do you have a social media for them or just generally just on fb? 

I'm currently sat at about 30 plants, after discovering a love for them last year. We currently rent, so the house always felt really empty and I couldn't figure out why. So I bought a couple of plants...and now we're living in a jungle. I love it.

I've got Calatheas, pileas, palms, pothos etc all climbin around the house. I'm hoping eventually to get a rare plant (for the uk at least), but its proving rather difficult. 

[Happenstance]

I bought an e-bike during lockdown so I’ve been enjoying going out on rides with that. Nice to be able to get out of the house again. I’m planning on using it to commute the 10 miles to work occasionally when I’m unfurloughed (should be mid August). I’m also contemplating using it to go “bikepacking” and taking a tent somewhere to camp but that’s still in the early stages of looking into everything.

[bob]

I wouldn't have thought of houseplants as being a hobby, but I guess it does take up a fair amount of time, and it is really addictive. Everytime we go to the garden centre, I have to stop myself from buying another one.

We had our bathroom redone just before lockdown, and in my head, the finished look was a Victorian style filled with houseplants. Unfortunately, I've found since then, that the window just doesn't let in enough light, and so all the plants I started off with have all slowly migrated closer and closer to the window to survive (with my help, they aren't sentient).

[Cube]

I recently realised that I don't really have any creative outlet, and that I'm not a particularly creative person in general.

So I decided to start a blog to write reviews about stuff (mainly video games and board games) and post some recipes that I've adapted from elsewhere.

It's very recent so it only has one game review at the moment:

 

http://djcube.co.uk/

[Will]

Mine is more a re-found hobby. As a kid I loved Hornby trains and had a few sets and various different bits to go with it. We got close a few times to having a proper model layout but it never really materialized.

I can’t remember why exactly, but around this time last year I started looking into it again and decided to start buying some n-scale models with the intention of building a proper model railway. I’ve currently got a N700 Nozomi Shinkansen, a “Dr Yellow” Shinkansen and a Flying Scotsman steam train, so the setup won’t exactly be realistic but I don’t care.

Spoiler

My plan is to build a small Christmas layout to go around the tree while I’m still in Singapore and renting a place, then once I have my own place to build some giant permanent thing. I also have a semi-plan of investing some time into designing better software for the digital control systems now available, seems like a great opportunity for someone to do that properly.

[bob]

Mine is more a re-found hobby. As a kid I loved Hornby trains and had a few sets and various different bits to go with it. We got close a few times to having a proper model layout but it never really materialized.
I can’t remember why exactly, but around this time last year I started looking into it again and decided to start buying some n-scale models with the intention of building a proper model railway. I’ve currently got a N700 Nozomi Shinkansen, a “Dr Yellow” Shinkansen and a Flying Scotsman steam train, so the setup won’t exactly be realistic but I don’t care.
Spoiler



My plan is to build a small Christmas layout to go around the tree while I’m still in Singapore and renting a place, then once I have my own place to build some giant permanent thing. I also have a semi-plan of investing some time into designing better software for the digital control systems now available, seems like a great opportunity for someone to do that properly.

Does the Shinkansen go the appropriatly scaled speed?

[Eenuh]

1 hour ago, nightwolf said:

@Eenuh I jumped on this thread to talk about houseplants as well! I'd love to know what you've got going on collection wise. Do you have a social media for them or just generally just on fb? 

I'm currently sat at about 30 plants, after discovering a love for them last year. We currently rent, so the house always felt really empty and I couldn't figure out why. So I bought a couple of plants...and now we're living in a jungle. I love it.

I've got Calatheas, pileas, palms, pothos etc all climbin around the house. I'm hoping eventually to get a rare plant (for the uk at least), but its proving rather difficult. 

Ooh, what type of rare plant are you looking for? Are you on any plant groups on FB? I'm in "HousePlant Swap Club - UK", mostly to get advice but I've got a few cuttings/plants through there as well. I don't have a page myself really, I started an Instagram page but haven't really used that much! 

To be honest my collection isn't anything special haha. It's just stuff you can get in a garden center. Sadly we don't get much light into our house so I'm a bit limited with what we can get. Only have 3 windowsills as well, with 2 being south-facing and getting way too hot for most plants (and have to be shared with the cats). 

Spoiler

• Dracaena Fragrans 
• Dracaena Marginata
• 2 big spiderplants (1 from Jim's classroom), I took one cutting with me from Belgium when I moved and it keeps giving me babies!
• Calathea White Star (which does not like our dry living room!)
• 2 Sansevieria trifasciata Laurentii (one from Jim's classroom)
• Sansevieria Moonshine
• Marble Queen Pothos
• Neon Pothos 
• Peperomia Angulata 
• 2 Tradescantia Zebrina (one from Jim's classroom)
• Tradescantia Tricolor
• A small Philodendron cutting
• Philodendron Micans (love the velvety leaves!)
• Pilea Glauca 
• Pilea Peperomioides 
• Crassula Ovata Gollum
• Crassula Ovata
• Some echeveria types, some I brought back from Spain
• String of hearts
• Variegated String of hearts
• String of pearls
• Epiphyllum anguliger
• Oxalis Triangularis
• Watermelon Peperomia
• Fittonia
• An orchid
• A small cactus for which I have no clue what it is
• Maranta Leuconeura
• Ctenanthe burle marxii Amabilis
• Peperomia Prostrata (this bastard pretty much died on me and now won't really grow back!)
• Sedum morganianum ‘Burrito’

I would love to get more plants, especially some bigger ones like a (variegated) monstera, or more calathea (the orbifolia is on my list but I know I don't have the right space for it). Most of my plants are small, with a lot of them basically just being cuttings which I received/bought and I'm trying to grow bigger haha. Only a few were bought as actual full-grown houseplants. Also, with the cats I have to make sure I don't get any plants that are (too) toxic. Might be something you have to consider if you do look at getting cats!  

[Eenuh]

1 hour ago, bob said:

I wouldn't have thought of houseplants as being a hobby, but I guess it does take up a fair amount of time, and it is really addictive. Everytime we go to the garden centre, I have to stop myself from buying another one.

We had our bathroom redone just before lockdown, and in my head, the finished look was a Victorian style filled with houseplants. Unfortunately, I've found since then, that the window just doesn't let in enough light, and so all the plants I started off with have all slowly migrated closer and closer to the window to survive (with my help, they aren't sentient).

Of course houseplants can count as a hobby! You should see how passionate some people get about them haha.
Your bathroom looks great by the way! I can't really tell from your picture what you've got (I think I see a spiderplant and monkey mask on the left?). But plants that do great with the humidity of a bathroom and less light are calathea, maranta and ferns.  

[Will]

4 minutes ago, bob said:

Does the Shinkansen go the appropriatly scaled speed?

They do! They really do blast around the track. It wouldn't surprise me if their (scale) top speed is actually faster than their real counterparts.

[bob]

3 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

Of course houseplants can count as a hobby! You should see how passionate some people get about them haha.
Your bathroom looks great by the way! I can't really tell from your picture what you've got (I think I see a spiderplant and monkey mask on the left?). But plants that do great with the humidity of a bathroom and less light are calathea, maranta and ferns.  

Yeah, i've looked up plants that do well in low light, but the problem is that our local garden centre (well, it's a Homebase) doesn't have a very good range, so i've ended up just buying things I like the look of, and trying them out to see what survives.

I also bought a little meter thingy that is supposed to measure light levels, but it says everywhere in my house is 'dark', even when i hold it up to lights, or take it outside. Maybe it's reacting to the blackness in my heart, or maybe it's just broken.

[Ganepark32]

It wasn't intended to be a hobby but I guess its certainly come into that, at the start of the year, I just randomly decided I'd have a go at baking. I had plenty of time on my hands and I'd managed to find a vegan dry mix for brownies so gave it a go and it worked out well. Sadly no pictures but they were so good, gooey and about an inch thick with loads of chocolate chunks through them.

Since then, and since lockdown seemed inevitable, I've been baking frequently, making sweet treats to have around the house. Exactly what you need when you're stuck at home and have no place to go. I've mainly focused on different types of muffins and getting the mixture right going by various recipes and just trying out my own takes on them, with chocolate orange being a favourite and a frequent visitor to my belly in the last couple of months, but I've also tried things like using peppermint oil for mint chocolate muffins and they've worked out great.

I'd been trying for ages to get that cracked look on the top and finally cracked it with that last batch a week or so ago.

Have tried to make vegan chocolate chip cookies but the less said about them the better. The first batch of 6 literally became a slab on the baking try after the merged into one and then the second batch of 6 managed to stay cookie shaped but they tasted awful  so I'll need to try that one again at some point or find a different recipe.

Did try my hand at making sweet pretzels over the weekend and I'm impressed they turned out as well as they did.

Shape wise they could use some work but they were doughy and tasty so I chalked that up as a win. And found that the dough mixture would work really well for doughnuts so that may need to happen down the line as well.

Surprisingly, I've not really put on weight with all the baking during lockdown. Going to try my hand at making bread for the first time since I was really young and without a bread maker later this week so we'll see how that turns out.

Just generally been doing a lot of cooking during lockdown and really enjoying it, even with the stress of things not going right. Made an incredible vegan cottage pie with a mix of sweet potato and potato mash for the topping and it was delicious (sorry, no picture there but the thing was devoured so quickly by me and the missus that there probably wouldn't have been a chance )

[Happenstance]

7 minutes ago, Ganepark32 said:

It wasn't intended to be a hobby but I guess its certainly come into that, at the start of the year, I just randomly decided I'd have a go at baking. I had plenty of time on my hands and I'd managed to find a vegan dry mix for brownies so gave it a go and it worked out well. Sadly no pictures but they were so good, gooey and about an inch thick with loads of chocolate chunks through them.

Since then, and since lockdown seemed inevitable, I've been baking frequently, making sweet treats to have around the house. Exactly what you need when you're stuck at home and have no place to go. I've mainly focused on different types of muffins and getting the mixture right going by various recipes and just trying out my own takes on them, with chocolate orange being a favourite and a frequent visitor to my belly in the last couple of months, but I've also tried things like using peppermint oil for mint chocolate muffins and they've worked out great.

I'd been trying for ages to get that cracked look on the top and finally cracked it with that last batch a week or so ago.

Have tried to make vegan chocolate chip cookies but the less said about them the better. The first batch of 6 literally became a slab on the baking try after the merged into one and then the second batch of 6 managed to stay cookie shaped but they tasted awful  so I'll need to try that one again at some point or find a different recipe.

Did try my hand at making sweet pretzels over the weekend and I'm impressed they turned out as well as they did.

Shape wise they could use some work but they were doughy and tasty so I chalked that up as a win. And found that the dough mixture would work really well for doughnuts so that may need to happen down the line as well.

Surprisingly, I've not really put on weight with all the baking during lockdown. Going to try my hand at making bread for the first time since I was really young and without a bread maker later this week so we'll see how that turns out.

Just generally been doing a lot of cooking during lockdown and really enjoying it, even with the stress of things not going right. Made an incredible vegan cottage pie with a mix of sweet potato and potato mash for the topping and it was delicious (sorry, no picture there but the thing was devoured so quickly by me and the missus that there probably wouldn't have been a chance )

You should revive the cooking thread. I get tempted every now and again to bake or cook but being so incredibly lazy I haven’t gotten around to it yet...

[nightwolf]

26 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

Ooh, what type of rare plant are you looking for? Are you on any plant groups on FB? I'm in "HousePlant Swap Club - UK", mostly to get advice but I've got a few cuttings/plants through there as well. I don't have a page myself really, I started an Instagram page but haven't really used that much! 

To be honest my collection isn't anything special haha. It's just stuff you can get in a garden center. Sadly we don't get much light into our house so I'm a bit limited with what we can get. Only have 3 windowsills as well, with 2 being south-facing and getting way too hot for most plants (and have to be shared with the cats). 

  Plants I've got (Hide contents)

• Dracaena Fragrans 
• Dracaena Marginata
• 2 big spiderplants (1 from Jim's classroom), I took one cutting with me from Belgium when I moved and it keeps giving me babies!
• Calathea White Star (which does not like our dry living room!)
• 2 Sansevieria trifasciata Laurentii (one from Jim's classroom)
• Sansevieria Moonshine
• Marble Queen Pothos
• Neon Pothos 
• Peperomia Angulata 
• 2 Tradescantia Zebrina (one from Jim's classroom)
• Tradescantia Tricolor
• A small Philodendron cutting
• Philodendron Micans (love the velvety leaves!)
• Pilea Glauca 
• Pilea Peperomioides 
• Crassula Ovata Gollum
• Crassula Ovata
• Some echeveria types, some I brought back from Spain
• String of hearts
• Variegated String of hearts
• String of pearls
• Epiphyllum anguliger
• Oxalis Triangularis
• Watermelon Peperomia
• Fittonia
• An orchid
• A small cactus for which I have no clue what it is
• Maranta Leuconeura
• Ctenanthe burle marxii Amabilis
• Peperomia Prostrata (this bastard pretty much died on me and now won't really grow back!)
• Sedum morganianum ‘Burrito’

I would love to get more plants, especially some bigger ones like a (variegated) monstera, or more calathea (the orbifolia is on my list but I know I don't have the right space for it). Most of my plants are small, with a lot of them basically just being cuttings which I received/bought and I'm trying to grow bigger haha. Only a few were bought as actual full-grown houseplants. Also, with the cats I have to make sure I don't get any plants that are (too) toxic. Might be something you have to consider if you do look at getting cats!  

Therein lies the problem! If we get cats I think nearly 90% of my collection will have to be changed up and given away. 

The rare plant is a Calathea white fusion, notoriously hard to keep alive, but I've managed to keep a fair few humidity loving ones alive thus far, so would love to give it a go! You have quite the collection, some I've not gone for. I don't have any strings of anything thus far, they don't appeal for my space, but I love looking at them. 

 

Spoiler

• Kentia Palm
• Calathea Medallion
• Philodendron Birkin (two of these)
• Pothos n'joy
• Oxalis Triangularis (Purple)
• Pilea peperomioides
• Coin leaf peperomia
• Compacta Dieffenbachia
• Sansevieria Trifasciata 
• Sansevieria Moonshine (two of these as well)
• Sansevieria Trifasciata ‘Laurentii’
• Stromanthe triostar
• Stromanthe magicstar
• Banana plant (Musa Tropicana I'm pretty sure)
• Coleus, tricky as I'm trying to figure this one out, but I believe it to be a Watermelon one. 
• Cast iron plant
• Ficus Elastica Abidjan
• Golden Pothos (20)
• Peace Lily
• Jade plant (two, both just the plain variety, but another savior from work)
• Rex Begonia (two, but different types, they are notoriously difficult to name)
• Two little succulents that I've yet to identify
• A cactus downstairs I've also not identified! 
• Dracaena Marginata (two, one has been saved from work)
• Calathea White Star (that currently has bugs, the little bastard)
• Spider plant (in my partner's study)
  
  I think that's everyone for now...there's a few I've forgotten in various corners of the house! There's been a few more than that that have also gone to work, friends or plant heaven...sigh. 

 

[Eenuh]

4 hours ago, will' said:

Mine is more a re-found hobby. As a kid I loved Hornby trains and had a few sets and various different bits to go with it. We got close a few times to having a proper model layout but it never really materialized.

I can’t remember why exactly, but around this time last year I started looking into it again and decided to start buying some n-scale models with the intention of building a proper model railway. I’ve currently got a N700 Nozomi Shinkansen, a “Dr Yellow” Shinkansen and a Flying Scotsman steam train, so the setup won’t exactly be realistic but I don’t care.

  Train Pics! (Reveal hidden contents)

My plan is to build a small Christmas layout to go around the tree while I’m still in Singapore and renting a place, then once I have my own place to build some giant permanent thing. I also have a semi-plan of investing some time into designing better software for the digital control systems now available, seems like a great opportunity for someone to do that properly.

Hahaha, when I was a kid, for some reason my uncle/godfather got me a Marklin model train for my birthday (no clue why!). We only set it up once to test it out, but when we got it I kept saying how we should turn the attic into a mini landscape for the train. That never happened of course.
I actually did get a few of those model houses you have to put together yourself, I quite enjoyed doing that. But again, they just all ended up in a box because we didn't have anywhere to set it up. 

Around Christmas last year, my mom gave my train set to her partner, who gave it to his grandchildren. She said they were happy with it, so hopefully it will get used a bit now. Here's a pic of them having set everything up (these houses aren't mine I don't think).  

2 hours ago, Ganepark32 said:

It wasn't intended to be a hobby but I guess its certainly come into that, at the start of the year, I just randomly decided I'd have a go at baking. I had plenty of time on my hands and I'd managed to find a vegan dry mix for brownies so gave it a go and it worked out well. Sadly no pictures but they were so good, gooey and about an inch thick with loads of chocolate chunks through them.

Since then, and since lockdown seemed inevitable, I've been baking frequently, making sweet treats to have around the house. Exactly what you need when you're stuck at home and have no place to go. I've mainly focused on different types of muffins and getting the mixture right going by various recipes and just trying out my own takes on them, with chocolate orange being a favourite and a frequent visitor to my belly in the last couple of months, but I've also tried things like using peppermint oil for mint chocolate muffins and they've worked out great.

I'd been trying for ages to get that cracked look on the top and finally cracked it with that last batch a week or so ago.

Have tried to make vegan chocolate chip cookies but the less said about them the better. The first batch of 6 literally became a slab on the baking try after the merged into one and then the second batch of 6 managed to stay cookie shaped but they tasted awful  so I'll need to try that one again at some point or find a different recipe.

Did try my hand at making sweet pretzels over the weekend and I'm impressed they turned out as well as they did.

Shape wise they could use some work but they were doughy and tasty so I chalked that up as a win. And found that the dough mixture would work really well for doughnuts so that may need to happen down the line as well.

Surprisingly, I've not really put on weight with all the baking during lockdown. Going to try my hand at making bread for the first time since I was really young and without a bread maker later this week so we'll see how that turns out.

Just generally been doing a lot of cooking during lockdown and really enjoying it, even with the stress of things not going right. Made an incredible vegan cottage pie with a mix of sweet potato and potato mash for the topping and it was delicious (sorry, no picture there but the thing was devoured so quickly by me and the missus that there probably wouldn't have been a chance )

Oh man you're making me hungry! Those muffins look so good! 

I wish I was better at baking, it's something I've always wanted to do but never really got into properly. I've got cake and muffin tins sitting unused in a cupboard haha. Maybe it's for the best as I'd probably end up gaining too much weight. 

2 hours ago, nightwolf said:

Therein lies the problem! If we get cats I think nearly 90% of my collection will have to be changed up and given away. 

The rare plant is a Calathea white fusion, notoriously hard to keep alive, but I've managed to keep a fair few humidity loving ones alive thus far, so would love to give it a go! You have quite the collection, some I've not gone for. I don't have any strings of anything thus far, they don't appeal for my space, but I love looking at them. 

 

  Plants I can remember (Reveal hidden contents)

• Kentia Palm
• Calathea Medallion
• Philodendron Birkin (two of these)
• Pothos n'joy
• Oxalis Triangularis (Purple)
• Pilea peperomioides
• Coin leaf peperomia
• Compacta Dieffenbachia
• Sansevieria Trifasciata 
• Sansevieria Moonshine (two of these as well)
• Sansevieria Trifasciata ‘Laurentii’
• Stromanthe triostar
• Stromanthe magicstar
• Banana plant (Musa Tropicana I'm pretty sure)
• Coleus, tricky as I'm trying to figure this one out, but I believe it to be a Watermelon one. 
• Cast iron plant
• Ficus Elastica Abidjan
• Golden Pothos (20)
• Peace Lily
• Jade plant (two, both just the plain variety, but another savior from work)
• Rex Begonia (two, but different types, they are notoriously difficult to name)
• Two little succulents that I've yet to identify
• A cactus downstairs I've also not identified! 
• Dracaena Marginata (two, one has been saved from work)
• Calathea White Star (that currently has bugs, the little bastard)
• Spider plant (in my partner's study)
  
  I think that's everyone for now...there's a few I've forgotten in various corners of the house! There's been a few more than that that have also gone to work, friends or plant heaven...sigh. 

 

Ooooh I've looked at the birkin before, they are pretty! So is the calathea medallion and the stromanthe! I'd probably fill my house with calatheas, stromanthes and marantas if I had the space and right humidity levels. They are so beautiful!

As for cats, we seem to be doing quite well with ours. Of course I'm not going to buy deadly plants like lilies, but anything that might be a bit too toxic I keep out of their reach. To be honest Aya has never shown an interest in my plants, and Ico was mostly interested when he was a kitten (he would nibble on things he shouldn't). Now he mostly just nibbles on my spiderplant (which is safe) and plays with my string of hearts and pearls to annoy me and get me out of bed haha. 
If you ever want to look up if a plant is safe, this list is pretty good (doesn't have everything but has quite a few): https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/cats-plant-list

[nightwolf]

17 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

As for cats, we seem to be doing quite well with ours. Of course I'm not going to buy deadly plants like lilies, but anything that might be a bit too toxic I keep out of their reach. To be honest Aya has never shown an interest in my plants, and Ico was mostly interested when he was a kitten (he would nibble on things he shouldn't). Now he mostly just nibbles on my spiderplant (which is safe) and plays with my string of hearts and pearls to annoy me and get me out of bed haha. 
If you ever want to look up if a plant is safe, this list is pretty good (doesn't have everything but has quite a few): https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/cats-plant-list

Oh I'm in so deep already that I knew of most of that list, but its useful to have lying around! I went a bit ham on knowledge for a change. 

I'd recommend a few other places by the way for plant chatter: 

r/houseplants

r/houseplantsUK

Both really good for knowledge if you're ever about on Reddit! We'll see how it goes anyways, if we move, the plants will just come off the floor onto the ceiling. Which we cannot do right now in a rental property! 

[Jonnas]

Since my hobbies are still introverted, stay-at-home stuff, not much changed with the pandemic. If anything, I've had less time because A. I still work full time; and B. My parents have been so increasingly stressed and overworked with the situation, I feel like I had to pick up more of their chores.

Funnily enough, my most recent hobby was from before the pandemic: I was learning Tango for a good while there. For a good full year, I'd go have lessons and practice a few times a week. I ended up leaving in January for specific reasons (scheduling and fatigue), but it's good to know I'm not terrible at dancing, should I want to pursue it further.

Truth be told, this hobby actually started back in Germany, where I took a gander at ballroom dancing. Even if it was only basic steps from different dance styles, I ended up having a lot of fun, learned a lot about "conducting" women, experienced some positive discrimination ("You're from Portugal? No wonder you have good rhythm")... Even played the role of the woman a few times (and in the process learned exactly which regulars actually took care of their breath).

Right now, I think I might look to learn a new language, namely one that uses a different alphabet. As soon as I feel like I have spare time.

...Oh yeah, and I'm now writing reviews and proofreading for the website. I guess that counts as a hobby

[Ashley]

Ordered some juggling balls a few weeks back in an effort to do something away from my computer. Used them once so far... But I do plan to continue. It's just been a busy few weeks. 

[Fierce_LiNk]

How is everyone doing with their new-found hobbies? Sticking to them?

@Eenuh is still obsessed with her garden. 

[Happenstance]

With it being either too rainy or too hot I haven't actually been out on the bike much lately. Went out for a proper ride earlier this week and barely got out of the village before by rear wheel disconnected from the bike. Showing my skills at changing inner tubes then reattaching wheels right there

[Goafer]

1 hour ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

How is everyone doing with their new-found hobbies? Sticking to them?

@Eenuh is still obsessed with her garden. 

Still playing D&D, with a bunch of stuff for the podcast recorded. Should be releasing our first episodes in the next few weeks.

Still cycling too, although I've had to give it a break this week as I've hurt my neck.

[Eenuh]

5 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

How is everyone doing with their new-found hobbies? Sticking to them?

@Eenuh is still obsessed with her garden. 

I spent quite some time today just collecting seeds from my cornflowers to grow next year. Kept me busy for a bit while in quarantine. 

My big success this summer seems to have been my cherry tomatoes. They just kept coming and coming, managed to harvest a few kilos of them. I had some with my salads and turned most of them into a tomato sauce, yummm. Still have another container of ripe tomatoes ready to be turned into sauce, and more tomatoes still waiting to ripen.  

 

I'm trying to figure out what I can improve on next year, and what I can add to my garden. Will see if maybe I can grow some cucumber and courgette next year too. 
Not everything was a success though, my spinach failed at the start (trying again now), my lettuce started bolting in July and my onions didn't really do much either. And some of my carrots did better than others haha. 

 It's all a big learning curve though!  

Edited August 29, 2020 by Eenuh