H – Hobbies
I guess that most people have a Hobby or had hobbies during their life. I know of exceptions where folk are not and have not indulged in this rewarding pastime. It just has never interested them. I have always found these people to continually say that they are bored, time drags………I guess I’m crazy but I don’t understand this as I just don’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to do and have always been that way.
The main Hobbies that I concentrate on now (apart from Computers) I began at an early age… These are, Photography, Gardening (In a much smaller way now) and Music. I bought my first Computer in 1999 and since then it has been at the centre of my attention. They fascinate me and I have gained such an enormous amount of pleasure from working with them. Have no idea how I ever managed without one!!!!. Photography comes second from the time I bought my first camera when I was in my late teens. I have two cameras an Olympus Digital Compact and a Nikon DSLR. At least one goes with me almost everywhere I go. One never knows when the opportunity of a good photo will arise. The one thing I notice now is that all through the years I was the one to be taking photos and when I look back over these photos I realise that the one person missing in family photos is me as I’m the one behind the camera. Music is another love. On our farm that my father purchased, the former owner left behind a Bellows Organ and I soon discovered that I could play tunes on it that I had heard over the radio. Then my late brother and I bought our first guitars and we basically taught ourselves to play, I then taught my older sister and we became a C & W duet singing at Concerts and shows etc. This continued until we both married and she moved to a town some distance away. When my daughter showed a natural talent for music I bought a Piano and made sure that she had Music lessons (She is now a Music Teacher at a School in the City). Then I bought my first Yamaha keyboard and continued to play at different functions around the town. Now I just play for my own enjoyment.
Hobbytex was another Hobby that I loved doing. I was amazed last week when I had gone into a cafeteria to have a mug of coffee and they had a large display of Artwork . While I was waiting for the coffee to arrive I glanced around the walls and two pictures looked very familiar. I became so curious that after I had my coffee I took a close look and was surprised to find that they were two that I had done some 30 years ago and had sold. The owners of the Cafeteria were as surprised as I was to find the connection.
Just thinking back on some of the hobbies and interests that I’ve had/enjoyed through the years….At a very early age I began corresponding with other kids of my own age from various parts of Australia and the world. Back in those days it was all accomplished by ‘Snail Mail’ and letters took a long time in transit especially overseas mail which in most cases took 2-3 weeks from the date of mailing. I looked forward to receiving letters from my friends for It was so interesting to learn about their family, the area where they lived, their customs, pastimes. I always called it my ‘Armchair Travelling’…some of the pals I kept for up to 35 years. My dearest and closest friend came from North Battleford in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our Daughters were both the same age and we became very close friends making the occasional telephone call or sending voice recorded Audio tapes. After she passed away some 10 years ago her daughter and husband came to visit with us for a week. I was sorry to see them leave.
This interest/Hobby/pastime led to my interest in collecting Stamps and by the time I was in my late 20’s to 30’s I had an extensive collection not of rare stamps but of variety. Eventually I divided the collection up to share amongst the Grandchildren that were interested in the same hobby. I dabbled in Oil Painting for quite a few years until we moved house and I had no place to set up my gear….A colleague at work talked me into attending Ceramic classes with her. That is/was an extremely interesting Hobby where we all made useful and pretty items….A local store took them on consignment and we all sold most of what we made there. The man who took the Classes decided to give these away and that was the end of that hobby. Of course both Sewing and Knitting were not just a hobby but a necessity I found I had to learn…This saved us an enormous amount of money as I made most all the clothes that we wore. Now I detest having to take up a hem!!!
My love for Photography and music still continue as does gardening and Computers.
Tags: Hobbies Recreation
