Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

↑

Eric ... A Suggestion... about the start of covid, I was a mess.  I had to limit my T.V. News to once a week if that!!  But one night about 3 years ago, while I was stressing, I decided I needed a way to stress relief and I needed it fast.  I decided I was going to really apply myself and learn to draw or sketch, it was something I wanted to be, an Artist! In a way, I was one. I used to decorate multi layer wedding cakes of drawing out my plans from the  brides needs. When I started out, I was developing a skill or two from several I started to follow on line. To my surprise  they were at my fingertips & freely teaching what they knew.  I bought myself a couple cheap unlined  journals & learned how to repeatedly watch their videos while I worked on one simple drawing an evening. Nothing too fancy, just how to turn simple shapes into a figure, like triangles into a fox.  Even if you just doodle on your hand, you can still learn to draw.  Many combine drawing with painting, @andrea.nelson.art "you do you". You don't have to paint anything, just draw out what they will paint, like the fox. 

That's so wonderful to hear. I would love to be skilful at drawing/sketching, and just need to find the opportunity to.

But ditto on reducing news... even though I feel the need to keep up on American news, because what happens there affects everyone, it's just too chaotic to be steeped in it all the time. Maybe that's by design. It's better to keep up with local events and community happenings 😊 

Maybe we should start a new thread about hobbies 😉 

@veganostomy  ... Eroc! Yes! I'd love that!  I have to admit though that I have such trouble starting a new forum.  I don't even try anymore.  I sometimes fear it may be dementia like my Mom, then realize I'm okay,  bcuz I've always had trouble understanding all the things on computers.  I just can't seem to figure out how to post a picture, I've cheated before & texted you after trying to start a new forum from in another forum  and asking you to move it for me, sorry, lol! Ugh, and Liza bless her heart has even posted a few pics for me bcuz I couldn't seem to understand that either! 

I think we'd  have a bunch of crafty people here from an Author or two, lol, ( me as one),  and lots of knowledge here on VO on everything from hand crafts to gardening, poetry, carving, quilting, weaving... this could be fun & so interesting to learn from and about each other & a chance to ask questions if we're  stuck on something, eh?! . I know in my lifetime creative people have enriched what I think or do.  I started watching "Cash Cab" to keep my brain fresh with facts & hopefully keep it wired to avoid dementia if at all possible. One night I won a fair bit of non-money while watching cash cab with my now 90 yr. young Mom... at the end of the show when I doubled my winning, she in state of brain,  turned to me & said, "well, your not one of my kids are you?!!!   You won a lot of money tonight! I can still hear her laughter & I laughed so hard with her... surprise Mom, I'm actually one of your daughters! I really wasn't  sure if she had an awake moment & made a joke or was serious,  no offense taken, I sure laughed with her. It was one of those precious moments & a story for my sister's on another day.  

When I think of gardening beside an almost 3 year old, then the same child at age 5  showing me a better way to plant pea seeds, to the child now age 6 with me on a dog walk last week, she turns to me and says... "Munga, let's talk about the  Peas, how many packets will we grow this year & should we try a new variety?" OH MY!!!  I thought my ❤️ was going to burst!! I imagined me, dentures out, sitting rocking in an old creaky chair in a nursing home, wearing a shawl Miss. G  crocheted over my shoulders, made from the same pattern I'd crocheted for her Gr. Gr. Grandma and here's G & I (I'm 115,  bcuz God likes a good laugh too)  sitting, sipping our favorite teas & she's telling me all about her own gardening with a few of her kids & all the canning she'll do this summer & fall to get affordably thru winter.  At 6 she's all gungho to start the garden again this year. What's that saying..  "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day,  teach a man to fish, he eats for a life time!"  Maybe this is our time to help and inspire others to learn a new craft, whether its learning to carve a piece of wood as a group or to go  fishing, garden,  weave, knit,  crochet, cross stitch, take up a sport like archery or SUP.... maybe mechanics is the hobby.   Eric ... you may be onto something here.... we could post pics of our accomplishment or start a group where we read the same book and discuss it as we go....  hmmm... What do you all think?  Its been so very enjoyable in the lounge talking about the weather & sight seeing 👀  pics, even the video of scarey places that I'm not brave enough to go to bcuz it would be me running our of there screaming only to hit a wall trying to escape the horrors!  But to see that prison in video impressed upon me, just how brave people were in those days & now, what a chicken I am today.   Ideas anyone??  Would you all take part & suggest something?  🤔 

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

↑

I have to admit though that I have such trouble starting a new forum.  I don't even try anymore.  I sometimes fear it may be dementia like my Mom, then realize I'm okay,  bcuz I've always had trouble understanding all the things on computers.  I just can't seem to figure out how to post a picture

Hey Linda, see if this page helps with answering some questions about how to navigate/use the forum: https://www.veganostomy.ca/forum-walkthrough/

Photos can be attached by clicking on the "Browse..." button just below the box that you type text into. You will get a pop-up asking you to select the file, then after you reply, the photo should come up. It can't be a huge image (either in size or dimensions), so if you have problems seen a photo, it may need to be resized first.

Okay, here goes - I like to paint (my photo is a painting I did for my son’s girlfriend a few years ago); I’m nuts about gardening (it’s like painting, but with plants). I took up hand spinning about 30 years ago because an antique spinning wheel piqued my curiosity. I have spun almost every fibre known - wool, camel, llama, alpaca, rabbit, cat, dog, silk, linen, cotton, corn, milk, bamboo, and many more. I then weave or knit with them, or sell them at my annual guild sale. But my favourite textile art is felting. I love to make my own felt out of various fibres and then make something out of my felt, usually a garment of some kind. Again, it’s like painting, but with fibre. I’ll try to attach a photo. I also have recently begun playing the ukulele, but I’m quite lousy at it. I try to limit my playing to when I’m alone in the house, even though my husband insists he’s not bothered by it. I know he’s just being nice.

Laurie 

@tigerlily you are very talented! That vest is gorgeous!!

@tigerlily Nothing beats the arts! And you've got talent! 👍 

Are these things you enjoyed doing at a very young age?

Thanks Chelly and Eric. I guess I have always enjoyed artistic hobbies. My interest in fibre arts is like a rabbit hole that keeps evolving into something new. But aren’t we all like that? When we find something that really captures our imagination, whether it’s art or sports or whatever, it’s easy to follow wherever the path leads. We need these diversions from life’s practicalities, to recharge. I’d be despondent without hobbies.

Laurie

Laurie, that is stunning!

I tried several times to upload a picture of the couch throw/quilt that I finished recently, but the file is too large. So far I have not had success trying to reduce the size and will  try again.

Posted by: @llholiday

↑

Laurie, that is stunning!

I tried several times to upload a picture of the couch throw/quilt that I finished recently, but the file is too large. So far I have not had success trying to reduce the size and will  try again.

For quick conversions, I use this website, which processes images in your browser (not a server) : https://squoosh.app/

You have the option to resize, but it also shrinks the image with a before and after splitscreen so you can gauge how the settings will affect the final image. 

@llholiday Thanks Linda. Yes, please try again to upload your quilt photo. I have not done very much quilting, but I love how creative quilters can be! My mother had a friend who made spectacular quilted works of art, and won awards consistently. Painting, but with fabric! 

Laurie

Trying again - I make simple projects like quilts/throws (which are never as simple as I thought they’d be!).  And many thanks, Eric.

@llholiday Absolutely gorgeous! I love how colourful it is, with a strong primary colourway. And I love the different themes you’ve used - the floral/berry theme that you see instantly, and then the quieter themes - Route 66, Dr Seuss, fashion. No, these projects are never as simple as you think, but I bet you had a lot of fun designing it, and then completing it. Do you belong to a guild, or do you have a few quilting friends that inspire each other? Thanks for sharing this photo with us. 

Laurie

@llholiday beautiful work! 👌

@llholiday very nice work!!

@tigerlily I have planned only one quilt/throw; the others have been from scrap and emerge from what I find in my fabric stash. This one began with those tiny pieces left over from other projects (aprons, pot holders, tote bags) and then I used other fabric that was on hand, except for the red border - I didn’t have any really red fabric so went to the fabric store. I am not a highly skilled sewist but I enjoy it. 

What other hobbies do people have? I am a writer, also.

LLNorth that is very nice work very colorful and the smaller patches are interesting . 

Guess my hobbies would be simple . I enjoy taking care of my yard and trying to grow different plants just to see if I can get them to grow . I enjoy riding my motorcycle and my bycycle . We camp during the summer but some call it clamping Lol . We have a trailer and go with several friends . I also like BBQ smoking grilling meat etc  and trying to bake or cook different things different ways 

 Eric .  . . Thank you for starting this! Its so fun to read see what you all are up to and hey, anyone else reading along, go ahead & post what takes up your time, Or... maybe what you learned & ditched for whatever the reason.  Its been fun seeing this side of you all & Gentleman,  what you do is important too. Cooking and yard work, biking and glamping are all work & hobbies. Thank you for taking part! If anyone learns anything new, this is the place to come back & post it so we can see what you've been up to! Eric, I think maybe you can add " computering" to your list of hobbies! 

Everyone is so creative! I never realized just how many different things I've learned, been satisfied I can do them, filed it away for pulling out at times when I want to pick them up and do them again. But when I think of it, its been fun for me to do that. Maybe that's a hobby on its own and I never realized it before... 🤔 ! Lol! 

Laurie!! That felting is so beautiful! The colours are vibrant and warm all at once. Thank you for posting the pics of your Art. I remember when you said you had painted the swimming dog. I admit it was one more thing that pushed me to trying to learn to draw, so Thank you! You inspired me to even want to start a repeat of the first quilt I ever made in Grade 10. I want to do it for Gwen but only of a mix of mostly her clothes and maybe some of mine. 

Linda... Those blue forget-me-knots with the strawberries and the other fabric pieces really are beautiful together. The blueberries for the backing look so 3D to me! Wow!  I'm  so glad we got to see your quilt too.  I know your aprons are beautiful and sturdy! I wear one several times a day. They've been a game changer in my laundry pile! 

Robert... I'm the same a out trying different plants just to see if I can grow them.  Its fun and so interesting to learn.

I think anytime we pick up a craft or a hobby , it has to be good for our mental health. To be able to zone out and dissappear into something that causes no stress, I think is really important. Learning to bake, smoke foods and sew, hand stitch, garden, repair things, learning something, anything new must come from part of our brain that makes us/helps us slow down and enjoy fully the moment we are in.

You all know How much I love Gwen and the amount of things, especially gardening that we've done together, ( talked about in the hows your weather forum) allowing myself to help her learn and to learn from her even, how much joy she brings me right down to her poking five small fingers at once in fluffy soil so we can put a pea seed in each hole, verses my straight line, I think changed our relationship that day.  It brought out of her a confidence to say, stop, wait, this can work too! 

About a year ago, together we started to  watch youtube videos & We learned a lot about putting up a *live plant aquarium* for a new batch of fish. Gwen had been given a blue glo-fish, not a variety we were familiar with, but cost me almost $300.00! I decided to invest in a new & bigger  aquarium & all needed to avoid water changes.  But hey, we had a great time learning about what plants & fish can grow together and thrive and then let's give honorable mention to our window cleaners who eat algae off plants, windows and even each other's shells! We recently learned that a snail who escaped our tank, a first, whom we thought was dead as while we were all away for 5 days & 2 after we were home, our friend feeding the fish found him on the floor, dead! But he was not. He landed on his back, has an obvious Crack in his shell but its not open. He had sealed himself in and seemingly hibernated until we learned that he could survive such a thing! Our friends dog found him & she picked him up, checked him over, decided he was dead & left him on the counter for us to see what we thought. I've never had a worker snail escape  before. Back to YouTube! We learned he could still possibly be alive! We placed him xqback in a small tub of water & watched for any sign of movement for a good hour. The two of us imagining movement , getting excited then disappointed, repeat! Once back to play and some house work, looking back into the tub, he shocked us both by slowly coming out of his shell "the right way, not thru the Crack" as G said. Gwen  decided we should feed him as he had to be hungry after all the days out of water. A pinch of food and another hour later, he was roaming the little tub & eating his  buffet of sinking food flakes. Another hour later, we gently eased him back into the aquarium with his buddy snail.  That evening we watched his buddy climb on top of the cracked shell and spend TWO days there moving all over him. We decided he had to be helping him heal somehow. 16 days later, he is doing fabulous!  Talk about our biggest lesson learned together. Our worse lesson learned was listening to some newbie at the fish store who told us that  Tigger tail guppies get along great with Betta fish! NOT! Our beautiful little fish were all found nose down in the aquarium the next morning with their beautiful tails & fins all eaten off. UGH!  Poor little things had to be so terrified! We took the bully back to the store with the reciept, and pictures, pointed out the unknowledgable employee telling such lies. I should have know better, but it was amazing to be told that now, only the tigertails can live with Betta fish & we so wanted other fish in our new aquarium. Yes a disaster but a big lesson learned for both of us! Its been fun to step back when getting G at school and listening to her tell her teacher things we've done & learned together often every week. I get these looks over G's shoulder from her teacher,  like, give me a head nod that this is a true story please? Being told by a school teacher that I would make a great homeschooling parent was pretty cool! Gwen is learning things not taught in class. Her vocabulary is an asset her teacher wrote on a report card! 

I want to appologize for taking so long to chime in here.  You see one of my biggest fears with being the owner of an ostomy has happened!  I've been nursing a broken bone in my right hand. One hand operation of emptying a pouch on my own is doable! But ... UGH! What a challenging time this has been. I was vacuuming and on pulling back on the floor piece, I slammed my hand into the corner of the dresser & broke my nuckle. It was 3 days before I went for the dreaded xrays! My hand was so swollen I couldn't lower it below my ear without feeling like it was going to explode! Its an up & down break, taking with it tendon that gives your finger lift & squeeze when in use. I'm still in a splint waiting for a CT Scan then a possible hand surgeon appointment to see if a screwing the pieces back together are needed or not.  I've had little sleep. Though I'm left handed and its my right hand, I've discovered my right hand is the boss and my left is only the now weary assistant in my life! My uncoordinated moves have meant for challenging cleanups & many new learned strategies.  But hey... so much is possible in this challenging time, if you can figure out ways to keep your splint clean, empty your pouch & feed now, two dogs, not just my little Missy, it can be done.  I came home the week prior with one of my Moms 12 yr. old dogs. "Boo" who is in need of a life.  All she did was eat & sleep & become a well *ROUNDED*  little shih-tzu who looks more cocker spaniel then anything! I'm so grateful to my basement dwellers, my family who are taking the dogs out for walks & helping me feed them & then  prepping my meals as well. My doctor tried to get me some home care help but they want to evaluate first which can take up to 3 months to even step on my front stoop and another month to probably reach for my doorbell! My GP was so exasperated & made 17 phone calls trying to get me assistance but small town & a messy medical staff supply... not a great combo! 

Fortunately, my young neighbour has been a Care Aide for a year &  has been able to help with bathing & a pouch change.  She asked me, why doesn't your ostomy system smell? They have a patient where she works that is not a good experience helping bcuz of odor. I told her about the M9 & the difference it makes. Then I told her the cost of it! Probably the reason this patient doesn't buy it! 

At any rate, I need to stop texting. This has been long for my hand even with the assistance of a holder and a longer read for you I'm sure, lol. But I've so enjoyed reading about your hobbies & I still want to know how you spun corn & milk & if our gardeners have ever grown Helleborus & which is your favorite or do you prefer the Christmas Rose variety???  Please take care & avoid vacuuming, its dangerous! Lol! Thank you all for your patience. 

@llholiday The thing about hobbies is that we do them for our own enjoyment. We may give the products of our hobbies away (to appreciative recipients only!) or we may even sell them, but first, they must satisfy our our own personal needs of accomplishment. So it doesn’t really matter if we’re experts or not (really- you should hear me play the ukulele. On second thought, no, you shouldn’t!) if we enjoy the process and the outcome, that’s enough.

What do you write? 

Laurie

@dlkfiretruck Avoid vacuuming? I think it was Phyllis Diller who once said, “Housework never killed anyone, but why take a chance?” Amen to that philosophy! I’m sorry to hear about your broken finger. A setback for sure, and an annoying one! You’ll be ambidextrous by the time this is over with.

Linda, your aquarium stories are priceless, and the latest about the snail with the cracked shell is so vividly told, I can actually picture it. The aquarium sure has been a learning curve for both you and Gwen. I wish I’d been a fly on the wall when you went back to the pet store in a huff.😆

Corn fibre is called Ingeo, and is made from plant sugars. Milk fibre is made from discarded milk proteins. Both, I believe, are extruded, kind of like toothpaste. Both are very white and soft and silky feeling, and are a bit slippery to spin into yarn. When I spin a new (new to me) fibre, I will spin a bit on its own, just to get a feel for it, but I often end up blending it with other fibres, with hand carder brushes. That gives me a fibre with more shine, or softer, or better drape, or better wear, or whatever. I’m constantly learning. I’ll tell you that I can’t look at an animal same way anymore. Sometimes my husband and I will be out in public; I’ll see a dog with luxurious looking fur, and I’ll give my husband a sidelong glance. He says, “I know, I know - you could spin that dog.”🐩🐕😂

Laurie