Yvonne, I also wish I had taken figure skating lessons when I was young, as well as kept up with my piano lessons. I love to watch figure skating competitions this time of year. Some of my other interests include growing and using herbs, and walking and hiking. I would love to do some traveling, especially to other countries, but time and money need to coordinate better before I can indulge in that.

I love reading. My free time when I am not reading consists of taking the dogs for an evening walk (hubby does the morning walk), outdoor gardening during the warm months, indoor gardening during the cold ones, participating on my internet forums and of course visits with family and friends. I also like going to the gym.

I go out to lunch a lot, am active in my church, like to travel (and would do more of it if I had more money!), and am close to my family. We get together to celebrate holidays and each other's birthdays and sometimes just because.. My daughter and her family are the only ones who live in my city now; I seem to have outlived a lot of people.

I'm not much on exercise, but I do like to walk--in the neighborhood during nice weather and at the mall otherwise. I don't enjoy cooking, either, but do like baking and making desserts for special occasions. My latest was baking a chocolate-mint cake from the recipe published in the local newspaper of the blue-ribbon, prize-winning cake at this year's Kentucky State Fair. I had told a friend what I was making and took it to the monthly luncheon of the seniors group at church. By the time I arrived, gossip had done its twisty work and I was congratulated for winning the ribbon. Not true, of course, but they did eat all the cake.

Oh, and I really enjoy the daily crossword puzzle in the paper.

Carolyn.....I also love doing the daily crosswords , word jumbles and the cryptoquotes !

I am a quilted. I used to sew all my clothes (and a lot of my hubby’s) but have been primarily quilting for about ten years. I also enjoy knitting, crocheting and cross stitch.

I play clarinet in a community clarinet choir, which I enjoy a lot!

Donna

I work four days a week and don't get home until 7pm. I used to knit and do cross stitch but nowadays by the time we eat, I check email and Facebook and read a bit, it's time for bed.

I do like to exercise and run, ride an exercise bike and do weights and yoga. My husband and I do crosswords and word puzzles too, and when we get a chance, a jigsaw.

Fridays I have off and often catch up with friends for lunch or afternoon tea on those days.

I'm almost as devoted a gardener as I am a reader. I also like to sew both clothes and historic costumes. I used to make quilts but decided I had explored that as far as I wanted to, though I still admire others' work. More recently I took up knitting, but my skills are pretty basic there.

Unfortunately I injured my hand this past spring due to overuse, and I have to rest it as much as I can, possibly for a year. So just now I am not doing any of those things. I do miss them. However I can still read. And I am more diligent than I used to be about taking a daily walk.

yoyo, how do you find time to sleep?!

Really reading is my only relaxation. Most of the time is spent in day-to-day chores, cooking (but not for enjoyment) laundry, minimum of cleaning and so on.

A little light 'gardener's boy' stuff outside as DH is the head gardener. I enjoy walking and am out every day plus taking part in the family paper-round each morning . . . we do get Christmas Day off . . . and at this time of year too much time is spent gathering winter fuel especially after a day of high wind/storms. It all goes towards keeping the living room cosy.

I have joined a monthly 'sewing circle' at a local church hall, where we are meant to knit hats, mittens etc for refugees. I am a very basic knitter so rather slow and my four rows are done in the same time as a couple of the more senior members take to knit a scarf or a baby blanket, but then they work with grim determination, unsmiling and taking no part in any conversation.

Unlike Kath, I know no females who I could join for lunch/tea. We have only lived in the area of 40 years and are still regarded as incomers so have to remember 'our place'. and I don't think the true locals meet up in that way either.

Too much time is spent here, on the computer, where I do some 'ancestry' research for friends. And DH and I edit the local quarterly parish magazine. Well, he does the clever stuff of lay-out, photos etc via desk top publishing and I check incoming pieces of news for typo's and strange use of language that need modification.

Vee....lol.....it's just a menu of interests, I don't do them all the time !

Kath, I tried a 10 hour schedule for a while. At the time I had to drive both ways in the dark and I didn’t like that. Lately I’ve been considering trying it again.

Vee, whenever I go to a quilting class or sewing day there are some ladies who get very little sewing done due to the socializing, and others with that determined face who never look up from their machines. :)

I learned to knit when I was six years old, and when I was seven or eight my mom took me to knitting class at Sears. All the other attendees were older than my mom! They all took me under their wings and taught me a lot. They gave me little gifts, too, like stitch holders and patterns.

Donna

I've taken many types of art classes starting in college with watercolor ( very difficult to do since it can't be painted over ! ) . I attended a four day live-in Freehand FolkArt class in Maryland and enjoyed it very much. My friends and I also attended a Zentangle class a while back and we frequently go to the Corning Glass museum to blow a pumpkin or an ornament for fun.

I'm tempted to take a class in creative mosaic work with a local artist who has some very clever ideas and is locally quite well represented with her works. I think I might have talked a few of my friends into taking the plunge with me :0))

Here's a link to some of the amazing community mosaics she's created :

https://www.emilyjablon.com/

I'm in awe of all of you! Besides reading, I spend a lot of time on genealogy research both for myself and friends. On a daily basis the dog makes sure I keep moving, and my neighbor and I try to do a longer walk once a week. I also have a standing weekly lunch date with a friend I've known since high school. As I think about it, I spend way too much time noodling around on the computer.

Long ago I did do a little bit of sewing and crochet, but I haven't done any handcrafts of any sort in years. I wish I'd learned to knit when I was younger, I keep thinking I'd like to try my hand at that.

Yoyo, my daughter has taken two glass blowing classes and loves it. She's promised me a voucher for one class with her for Christmas. I'm really excited about trying that out. Lucky you to have the Corning Glass museum within reach.

Sheri.....what we did was accomplished by an official glass blower....all we did was supply our own air ! But it was fun . And, it is never to late to learn a skill . You can begin to knit at any age and love it. There are so many great instructional videos on line , our area has local knitting clubs which always encourage newbies and if you have a yarn shop near you there are always classes offered.

yoyo, your watercolour classes sound interesting. Many years ago I used to go to 'Life' drawing classes and took another on lithography (difficult) but nothing is offered in this area that would be challenging enough.

I also did woodwork for a couple of terms which was not easy as the teacher just told us to 'make something' which was OK for the men as they knew what they wanted to do and came to the classes for the availability of the power tools. Another girl and I just needed to learn the basic skills and weren't too bothered in producing an 'end product', although I eventually did make a bookcase with proper joints!

Your woodworking class reminded me that I also took a class on upholstering and chair caning and did a few projects that turned out nicely. But it wasn't something that I felt I wanted to pursue long term !

I gave up my car when I moved to downtown Charleston, so I spend a lot of time just walking and riding my bicycle to get around the city. I used to do yoga and ballet, but thus far have not found any classes here that I can afford.

I do enjoy cooking, but do not like to bake, as I seem to have no "sweet tooth." I love to try new dishes.

I am in a lively French conversation group that meets weekly; our "leader" is a French native.

I also enroll each semester in history classes at the nearby college, which is only 7 minutes away by bicycle. That enables me to utilize the wonderful college library. I enjoy being on campus and talking to the students.

When I have free time, I also like to explore on foot the historic neighborhoods of Charleston, and take in the gardens. Day-trips with friends to visit the plantations are also enjoyable.

I used to dabble a bit in genealogy, but seem to have gotten away from that. I do like to "surf" the Internet and am in a few "chatrooms" (forums).

It's interesting that quite a few of us like to dabble in fibre art (needlework, knitting, cross stitch, quilting, weaving etc.). I wonder what the connection (if there is one) is between reading and doing something creative with your hands...

I am also someone who dabbles around with cross-stitch, but only when I'm not so busy with school. I enjoy it, but progress is very slow at times!

I do fine arts photography (exhibitions etc.), I do occasional voice-over work for English company telephone systems ("Press One" for this, "Press Two" for that...) I work out at the gym several times/week, I am currently immersed in a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, I work (more than) FT...

Busy little life, but I love it. I have friends, but I'm also quite a solo person as well (apart from the DH). I just need my quiet time and space sometimes. Luckily, the DH understands that! :-)

And I hope that all of us do our civic duty of voting today.

Add me to the list of those who enjoy jigsaw puzzles! I do them on my iPad; it works out much better for a cat owner. :)

Donna

I am usually on my laptop when not reading or watching TV or DVDs. I had a connection to the i'net problem for the last two weeks and it really hurt! I kept wanting to check my incoming posts and research things and couldn't! The girls at the local library were helpful getting my emails when I went there a couple of times, I was worried that I was missing messages.

When I go out, I walk around the local malls or trawl the charity op-shops. I don't need much food as my family of professional cooks provide most of my dinners and a lady brings bread to the Village on Mondays on behalf of a charity, for a gold coin donation, usually $2 per person goes into the tin.

Like Carolyn, most of my friends are no longer around but I do have lunch with my daughter, her cousin and others of her friends at times. They have lost their mothers and I am a substitute in a way.