This post has been so fun to read. I am with a few of you who say you don't have hobbies, you have obsessions...definitely describes me. I have so many interests that I can never do all of them so rotate through them (not intentionally, I just get bored and have to move to the next interest frequently). am usually active in 3-4 of them at a time. I have been told more than once that I was born in the wrong century. Some that have always been with me and I regular go back too: Gardening- all of it. I can't remember any time not having some level of garden from the time I was big enough to walk. I love daylilies, roses, iris, herbs, veggies, hybridizing, flowering shrubs, landscaping, annuals, houseplants, native plants. I helped my parents plant & weed their veggie gardens when I was 3 yr old, helped my mom start her tomatoes & squash in the window, and at 15 taught her to enjoy growing flowers instead of only food. I take breaks from it sometimes cutting back to just a few things for several years and then..wham...I'm in it 10 times more than last time. Knitting, crochet, spinning & dying yarns. another one that has been a lifetimer. My mom taught me to knit when I was 4 and grandmother taught me to crochet at 6. I taught myself how to design my own sweaters and eventually took classes to learn how to spin/dye. Garden Photography- another life long love. I picked up my first camera at age 5 and my first picture was of my dog sitting in front of my bed of nasturtiums. I've been published a few times. Most notable the cover of a book about the history of an island my great-grandparents helped to settle. Scrapbooking- this is an on-again-off-again love. Obsessive when its on. Ditto with all kinds of other arts & crafts. Reading- I love historical fiction, especially by Christian authors. I also love "how too" and research subjects- learning is a passion. Church- Well maybe not a hobby but it leads to some. I've been active in my church even preaching a sermon to two and singing on the worship team. Geneology & historical research. This is really my mom's hobby but I'm her chief backup archivist & research assistant. Tech- well I do this for a living but I explore online communities on my own time. Cooking- this is also a necessity because I have children with food allergies. I bake all our breads, make my own mixes, and cook from scratch a lot. I make a lot of my own recipes. I also can & freeze our fruits & veggies. Outdoors- I love camping, fishing, hiking, travel to new places, exploring nature & manmade wonders, native plants. a lot of these are on hietus while the kids get a little bigger and able to join. In years past I was an expert seamstress, marksman on a rifle team, raised rabbits & ducks, and a number of other things that have not lasted the test of time.

If Noah had lived in the United States today the story may have gone something like this: And the Lord spoke to Noah and said, "In one year, I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all flesh is destroyed. But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark." In a flash of lightning, God delivered the specifications for an Ark. In fear and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the ark. "Remember," said the Lord, "you must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year." Exactly one year later, fierce storm clouds covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard weeping. "Noah!" He shouted. "Where is the Ark?" "Lord, please forgive me," cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First, I had to get a permit for construction, and your plans did not meet the building codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a sprinkler system and approved floatation devices. Then, my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission. Then, I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the U.S. Forest Service that I really needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won't let me take the 2 owls. The carpenters formed a union and went on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or hammer. Now, I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls. When I started rounding up the other animals, an animal rights group sued me. They objected to me taking only two of each kind aboard. This suit is pending. Meanwhile, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the Universe. Then, the Army Corps of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed flood plain. I sent them a globe. Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking atheists aboard. The IRS has seized my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes. I just got a notice from the state that I owe them some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a 'recreational water craft'. And finally, the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since God is flooding the earth, it's a religious event, and, therefore unconstitutional. I really don't think I can finish the Ark for another five or six years." Noah waited. The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine, and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully. "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth, Lord?" "No," He said sadly. "I don't have to. The government already has."

Sweet corn here is from Florida and it was not bad at 20 cents an ear. I put an ear in the microwave. It was 95f here yesterday, 91F the day before and we had a three day yard sale thursday, Friday and Saturday, so no cooking then either. I didn't cook one darned thing this weekend except pancakes for Bud and Makayla, who spent the weekend. Other than that we ate ice cream and cold sandwiches and the kids ran through the sprinkler while I planted artichokes and tomatoes and took a break every five minutes to stand in the sprinkler! I have two flats of tomatoes at the farm, that's 96 plants, a mix of Rutgers and Bonny Best. Here in my raised beds at the house I've limited myself to two of each variety I planted except the white tomatoes. I planted two Cherokee Purple, although they never do particularly well. Also two Pineapple, two Big Rainbow, two Golden Jubilee, two SunGold, two Mortgage lifter and a dozen of the as yet unidentified "white" tomato. Mother saved seeds from last year, I bought a container of tomato plants from the 4H kids last year that were simply labelled "white". They were one of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten, so this year I have a dozen plants, LOL. I think they may be White Queen or something similar, a beefsteak type tomato. I started two dozen artichokes inside about March, no one I know in Michigan has ever grown artichokes successfully so of course I have to try. I don't have air conditioning and the pool isn't quite clean yet, so it was way too hot to cook, even outside. Too hot to eat too. Annie

We watched "Nebraska" last winter on Maui -- a selection from Redbox ($1.25). Maybe that was the start of our 'farm kick', continued with reading Jane Smiley and this month seeing "Promised Land". "August, Osage County" was another peek at 'farmers'. (The isolation of farm life is amazing.)