Other Hobbies

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MerlinJones

Other Hobbies

Post by MerlinJones »

I know that for many of you, modelling is the only hobby you have. ;-)
However, I also know many of you have other activities, upon which to spend your hard-earned and waste time. I thought it might be interesting, not simply to describe your other hobby, but to try and sell it to an unsuspecting Forum...
MerlinJones

Re: Other Hobbies

Post by MerlinJones »

Keeping Chickens

One of the Beloved’s lifelong dreams, was to have a cottage in the country, with roses around the door and a flock of chickens around her feet. I managed the first two, but, in spite of being comfortable in most aspects of animal husbandry, I can’t say I was overly enthused about chickens.
Then a colleague at work overheard Anne and invited us over to her home, to ‘meet’ her flock. Helen lived in a tiny house, in a small village, with about 120 square feet of garden. Within this, she had a small flock of 7 bantams and that was it…Anne wanted and Anne would get. As we left, Helen had seen me with her birds and assured me that I would become a Chicken Bruce.

Yeah.
Right. :roll:

So we did a lot of reading and Anne spent some inheritance money on a modern, plastic chicken house…an Eglu. Mites are apparently a bane of chickens everywhere and it’s a hell of a job keeping them clean and safe, as the mites like to live within the wood of your average coop. Obviously, being plastic, the Eglu holds no mites and cleaning is easy. We read up on the subject, (“Chicken Coop of the Soul”) and acquired three hens. They settled in quickly and, on our first day with them, we got our first egg and they haven’t stopped laying since. Fortunately, Anne’s a great cook and we also barter eggs for garden plants, seedling veg and the like. They’re also nice to give away to friendly postmen and their ilk.

Helen later gave us two very young bantams and, unfortunately, one turned out to be a cockerel. I say ‘unfortunately, because cockerels have a reputation and we didn’t want any extra hassle. As it turned out, Sparky has been a complete gent from Day One and he looks after his flock very gently and with great diligence. He’ll sound an alarm if worried, will call them over to a tasty treat me may’ve found and will guide them all to the coop and bed, when it’s bedtime. Did I tell you that the flock takes itself to bed? They do and all I have to do is to ensure their Eglu is closed for the night.

Now chickens produce eggs daily, naturally, regardless of a cockerel in the vicinity. If there is a cockerel, then the eggs may, or may not, be fertilised. Such eggs are exactly the same as unfertilised eggs, except that, if sat on by a broody hen for 21 days, the egg may well hatch and go cheep.

Back in June, I let one hen, who had become rather broody, keep an egg and, sure enough, 21 days later, that egg became a chick. It was fascinating watching how Daisy used her instincts to successfully rear Scruff. (“Scruff” because we don’t know if it’s a boy or girl…hopefully a girl. Whilst you can just about get away with two cockerels in a flock, the general idea is that cockerels get bred on for meat or get the chop early on. The lucky ones find a nice flock of chickens to look after.
So experiment No.1 was successful.

22 days ago, I had two broody hens and let them sit on 3 eggs. We now have 3 more chicks and care is shared between the two who sat on them. It turns out that Sparky is a good little chap and, of the 27 eggs we’ve given away to friends with hens but not cockerels, all 27 have hatched into healthy chicks.
All is cool and, if you show your Missus’ this video, she’ll go “Aaaah” and want some chickens of her own.

The only real downside to this hobby is that, since getting to know the birds, we struggle to eat chicken. Eggs, no problem, but chicken…not really. Actual care is minimal work. They get let out into their run of a morning and I close up their coop at night. In the morning, I tip their poo into a bucket and, once a month, the whole area gets a hose down. Because we feed them garlic granules and bran, there’s no smell and the poo makes ace fertiliser. Occasionally, I’ll let them loose in the garden, but have trained them not to eat the plants that are not weeds. They’re also trained to approach me and be picked up, which is useful for a variety of reasons.
If you have kids, they’re a truly great pet to have and, if you don’t, they’re still a great pet to have…and don’t forget the supply of top quality eggs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWo3cNJ ... tube_gdata;
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Motley
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Motley »

My main other hobby besides modeling would have to be cycling. To me nothing beats just getting on a bike and dissappearing off riding here there and everywhere for a few hours. As ive shown in the bike thread thats about i currently have 2 bikes and i love them both to be fair but starting to want a new one :ha: Do like watching the cycling on the tv too, watched alot of it during the Olympics and throughtly enjoyed it :)
"When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slow and gently as possible." - Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII
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jssel
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by jssel »

I do a lot of outdoors stuff. Flyfishing and hunting (upland game birds like grouse). Hiking and backpacking. Paddle sports is very big with me. I love to canoe and kayak. A few years ago a friend of mine and I built cedar strip canoes of 17 ft in length.

I am in love with my sea kayak. SWMBO is aware of it and I got her a boat too. Getting out on Lake Superior is a real delight for me. I do a 6 mile loop around a nearby island around sunset and I am just zoned. The boat was purchased during a very rough period in my life and she is named Chrysalis for the obvious reasons. It now has a rudder package, deck compass and a holder for my GPS.

My advise: Get outside and wear out, not rust out.
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JamesPerrin
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by JamesPerrin »

I used to be a Amiga computer "enthusiast" and enjoyed frottering with my system getting it to go as fast as possible. Things changed when I had to get a Window PC for work that I was doing. Now I've got the garden to look after. I don't know if it's a hobby as it needs to be looked after even if I didn't enjoy it, but I've dug a lot of lawn up and been growing my own veg for the last 4 years.
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RyanW655
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by RyanW655 »

Like any other Teenager on the Playstation (while waiting for paint to dry)
I'am more confused than a chameleon in a bag of Skittles.

My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYtLeF ... nKiwwg71Bw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Martin R
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Martin R »

Other hobbies? No.

I have 2 kids though . . . .
ShaunW
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by ShaunW »

My main additional hobbies are my MG sports car (2001 MGF), which I drive mainly at the weekends and I'm a member of the MG Car Club together with playing bass guitar (Warwick Corvette 4-string) and six-string guitar (Gibson Les Paul) although I no longer play in bands as it became too much hassle. The instruments, although not cheap at the time, will probably outlast me. Being in a band sounds cool and to an extent it is, but I found that the politics between band members that can and do arise to be a proper PITA and eventually spoiled the experience for me - although it took a few years before I finally "retired". Not everyone finds that however and a number of my ex-bandmates are still regularly playing live. One plus point was that we were paid to gig and the hobby largely paid for itself over the years. The car is a real indulgence but is reasonably cheap to run and maintain and is a lot of fun to drive. The Car Club offers much in the way of the company of fellow enthusiasts and assistance with any issues relating to the car. In winter my wife Celina and I also enjoy skiing but we can't do it often enough to be really classed as a hobby - were I to win the lottery that would change though :grin:
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Sissel
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Sissel »

Plenty of hobbies, not enough hours in the day!

Hiking
Do this weekly, with a group, no matter what the weather. Love it. It gets you out, and you don't have to get far away to get a feeling of wilderness. And it gives you lots of energy plus a great feel. Highly recommended.

Chess
Having had a break of almost five years I've decided to pick this up again. Have been playing with friends on and off a bit, but later this fall I will start training again and hopefully back to competing early next year. A hobby that takes lots of time, especially the training and preparing part!
It's a great hobby if you compete and play in a club like I did. Very social, you travel with your chess mates and simply have a lot of fun. You get to meet all sorts of people. The competing is fun, especially when you're on a team, playing in a leauge or nationals. The adrenaline you get from winning exciting and long games cannot be topped. Also playing blitzgames with a jumping heart, competetive feel, adrenaline and nervousness. When you win those "close-tight" blitz games, awesome feel.
I've also seen several great places in Europe and Norway I never would have visited if I hadn't played chess.

Painting
I paint on canvases. Mostly landscapes, some abstract. Will start to paint nature pics I've taken myself from the various trips here and there.

Dramagroup
Am part of one which can at times (especially when we have performances) be very busy and take up all days or weekends.

I also love to play pc-games, but haven't had time at all the last weeks. Not a priority you can say, allthough I have loads I wanna play.
I don't know if you can call it a hobby but I have a great interest for movies, old and new. I watch movies from the 30's till now. Special interest you can say.
I used to go fishing alot, both from land and boat. But this stopped a few years ago. Wouldn't mind picking it up again though, but there's that time issue again. I just love the feeling of being out on the sea, or just driving in between all the islets and find a good spot. With coffee, bisquits and fishing gear it's just you and the sea. Lovely.

When James mentioned his Amiga I suddenly got a flashback. I kept mine for as long as I could, and it's not that many years ago I was still playing and having fun with it. I miss it.

Sissel
Confused as always, and somewhere in hiding on the Scandinavian peninsula...
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Motley
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Motley »

jssel wrote:I do a lot of outdoors stuff. Flyfishing and hunting (upland game birds like grouse). Hiking and backpacking. Paddle sports is very big with me. I love to canoe and kayak. A few years ago a friend of mine and I built cedar strip canoes of 17 ft in length.

I am in love with my sea kayak. SWMBO is aware of it and I got her a boat too. Getting out on Lake Superior is a real delight for me. I do a 6 mile loop around a nearby island around sunset and I am just zoned. The boat was purchased during a very rough period in my life and she is named Chryalis for the obvious reasons. It now has a rudder package, deck compass and a holder for my GPS.

My advise: Get outside and wear out, not rust out.
Jssel, you are lucky with the canoing and kayaking by the sounds of it. Ive done both of them quite a few times and ive loved them every time, i would love to get into it but the real problem is there isnt any where for me to do it really and being a teenager, lack of funds :ha:

To add to mine aswell fitness has become abit of a big hobby in my life recently. After failing my medical for the RAF ive been on a real health push to loss weight so i can retake my medical and pass. Running for me use to be a chore but it really has become enjoyable for me now and i really love to work up a sweat doing allsorts of excerise now and it gives me an amazing feeling ive never got from anything else before. Its not only running but all sorts of excerise have now become really enjoyable to me for some reason but im not complaining, means im getting fit and should reach my goal of getting into the RAF :grin:
"When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slow and gently as possible." - Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII
Lyell72planes
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Lyell72planes »

My other hobby is guitar playing. When you are tired of bits of
plastic. The smell of glue and paint. When you have a song tune
stuck in you memory. Then its GUITAR TIME. Take out the old
accoustic or electric, tune up the strings and let yourself go.
For us old guys we visualise that we are young again and a real
babe magnet 8-) . We can go online now and download the
proper lyrics and chords. Order online accessories for our guitar.
Jam with our friends and family members over a few beers. Lyell
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AndrewR
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by AndrewR »

Martin R wrote:Other hobbies? No.

I have 2 kids though . . . .
That's about my situation too :grin:
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Lyell72planes
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by Lyell72planes »

Try to find a hobby you can share with the kids. When my daughter was
young she would build a few models to emulate her dad. Now she is a
grown woman and every once in a while we play guitars together. Lyell
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MerlinJones

Re: Other Hobbies

Post by MerlinJones »

Lyell72planes wrote:Try to find a hobby you can share with the kids.
Chickens!
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SJPONeill
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Re: Other Hobbies

Post by SJPONeill »

Like MJ, SWMBO wanted chickens so we got chickens...which I look after...haven't had as much joy in the chick area as MJ but our climate is a little harsher and there are more things to prey on the defenceless til they get a little smarter (as smart as chickens get anyway). That said, the girls have been in fine form this year and we have eggs up the wazoo...

Like James, I was also right into Amigas but kinda left them behind when I was lured to the dark side of Microsoft and Intel - more recently, I have started playing around with Amiga emulators on the PC so that I can play old favourites like the Amiga version of Falcon...

I'm not a DIY guy but we have a big section with lots of real and potential projects, plus an ongoing need for maintenance...when we bought this place in '04, the scrub was right up to the house and infested with rats, mice and other undesirables: we've slowly pushed it back so we can now walk from the house directly into the bush without having to fight through vines, blackberry and cutty-grass. My big project this summer will be to redevelop the new-improved lawn after someone who shall remain anonymous drove a dozer around the house while I was overseas earlier this year creating a 4-5 metre flat area (currently of mud) right around the house...
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